Another one hoping to make a few bucks out of this?
Nah lorriman - keep it coming. I do understand that this in an noissue to the majority. Nevertheless any input is better than silence!
Brgds
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That would go against my principles of only working for nothing. And if you don't like that...well, 200 bucks will do.
IMO it goes a long long long way
I just finished up my O2 board work and went through the testing. My transformer (a surplus 50¢ Condor WP350312, 12VAC 250mA) reads 14.3 volts with my cheapo meter and 14.9 volts with my Fluke 79. Only 3mV offset at the P2 outputs. Looking good! I still haven't purchased batteries so I'll only be using AC power for now, but it's getting close to audition time. I need to charge my camera battery before I can post some photos.
I've been taking my time with this build... it's been awhile since I got in on the PCB group buy back in late August. I plan on taking my O2 along for portable use a lot of the time. So I've worked out an auxiliary charger for USB and 12VDC, designed it and obtained its parts, and have very little preliminaries to do still. If there's interest in it I'll keep that in mind when I start on that build and share pics and docs on its construction.
Turbon, settle down, Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but we don't need to turn this into a flame war. We need to pragmatic here. It's RS's design, he can do with it what he wants, according to his own views. He had done a great job with the O2, providing a design that is simple to build, sounds good and has met with considerable success. He's not going to please everyone, but he's done a tremendous job pleasing a LOT of people. The beauty of what he is doing is that anyone can take what he has developed and use it as a foundation for something different(better or not).
To all of you - I'm not interested in any flamewar... I'm only in for getting the best out of the odac - from a technical point of view. But it is probably to late anyway to have any impact. But what the heck - we haven't seen the ugly bird yet
But still - there are decisions to be made and RS is the one who solemnly seems to decide..
And of course - make it right from the beginning to support whats comming in the close future.
Brgds
But still - there are decisions to be made and RS is the one who solemnly seems to decide..
And of course - make it right from the beginning to support whats comming in the close future.
Brgds
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You're kidding, right? Of *course* he's the one who gets to decide. It's his freaking design.
Am I missing something here? You're treating this as though he's making a product which people will purchase and give him money for. Viewed through that lens, your comments -somewhat- make sense. But viewed through the lens of reality (a DIY project that he's giving us for free), you're only stirring the pot...not adding anything to the conversation.
Which (incidentally) should be in another thread entirely, but I digress...
Now there was another point of view. I can't say you are wrong. RS has clearly pointed out that no money goes to him so there was a small glitch. Now, if RS isn't supposed to take input from the very DIY forum he's posting in - what the heck is he doing here in the first place? Now don't take it wrong- I love to have RS with us.
Brgds
Listening to some FLACs off my laptop... Van Morrison 'Wavelength' and King Crimson 'Discipline.'
I plugged in a pair of Sony MDR-G42s. I picked these up a few years ago when I was out of town and wanted some headphones quickly. They're not real bad, but I always thought they had an exaggerated low end. I still think so, but the O2 makes them sound better than my Cmoy w/EQ could do.
Next I plugged in some old Koss MAC5s. "Sheltering Sky" came on and I cranked it up. I could feel the headphones themselves vibrating on my ears from Tony Levin's bass. Still sounded darn good, though. The O2 is tickling my ears in more ways than one.
NwAvGuy, I know you've put a lot of effort into this project. It's the most thoroughly documented electronics project I'm aware of, bar none. Dead silent, on/off thump is insignificant, more volume than a person needs. And my regulators are barely warm, BTW. Huge thanks! Got my Grados plugged in now and loving every minute.
I plugged in a pair of Sony MDR-G42s. I picked these up a few years ago when I was out of town and wanted some headphones quickly. They're not real bad, but I always thought they had an exaggerated low end. I still think so, but the O2 makes them sound better than my Cmoy w/EQ could do.
Next I plugged in some old Koss MAC5s. "Sheltering Sky" came on and I cranked it up. I could feel the headphones themselves vibrating on my ears from Tony Levin's bass. Still sounded darn good, though. The O2 is tickling my ears in more ways than one.
NwAvGuy, I know you've put a lot of effort into this project. It's the most thoroughly documented electronics project I'm aware of, bar none. Dead silent, on/off thump is insignificant, more volume than a person needs. And my regulators are barely warm, BTW. Huge thanks! Got my Grados plugged in now and loving every minute.
Here's my O2
a) Gain set at 2.5x and 5.5x. With the sources & cans I've used so far, that's turned out well. The volume for most listening is about one-third to two-thirds. Need to find the aluminum insert for that volume knob. It's around here somewhere.
b) Working with this photo, I noticed the 2068 wasn't fully seated. Fixed that. You'll also see I used plain ol' 9V battery connectors. That's probably better shown in the third photo. I had also, at one point, fashioned a pair of regulator heatsinks that extended horizontally toward the rear of the enclosure. When I received the enclosure, I found I would have to replace the hardware to make it fit. I just jetted the heatsinks instead. I did place a piece of thermal insulation between the regs and the caps. That's the red piece you see.
c) I don't have the permanent batteries yet. The ones in the photos are some 7.2V 150mAh that I had laying around. I made small hooks from clipped off diode leads and soldered them into the B2 battery terminal hole near C9 and the two mounting holes at either side of the batteries. I also made 2 small notches at the corner of the PCB to hold the rubber band and allow easy in-out of the board. Works great; I can shake the case and there's no rattle at all. I used the battery connectors because it should make it easier to install my planned mods.
a) Gain set at 2.5x and 5.5x. With the sources & cans I've used so far, that's turned out well. The volume for most listening is about one-third to two-thirds. Need to find the aluminum insert for that volume knob. It's around here somewhere.
b) Working with this photo, I noticed the 2068 wasn't fully seated. Fixed that. You'll also see I used plain ol' 9V battery connectors. That's probably better shown in the third photo. I had also, at one point, fashioned a pair of regulator heatsinks that extended horizontally toward the rear of the enclosure. When I received the enclosure, I found I would have to replace the hardware to make it fit. I just jetted the heatsinks instead. I did place a piece of thermal insulation between the regs and the caps. That's the red piece you see.
c) I don't have the permanent batteries yet. The ones in the photos are some 7.2V 150mAh that I had laying around. I made small hooks from clipped off diode leads and soldered them into the B2 battery terminal hole near C9 and the two mounting holes at either side of the batteries. I also made 2 small notches at the corner of the PCB to hold the rubber band and allow easy in-out of the board. Works great; I can shake the case and there's no rattle at all. I used the battery connectors because it should make it easier to install my planned mods.
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I'm not sure where this thread derailed, but I'm not about to let it drift into Audiocheapskate territory. This thread is about the O2. The upcoming ODA and ODAC, not having their own thread, have been somewhat discussed here as a side issue. But it's not the primary topic.
I stand by what I've said about UAC1 vs UAC2. The burden of proof really should not be on me given the circumstances here. UAC1 does 24/96 2 channel playback wonderfully on virtually 100% of PC's in use with no drivers required. Go read the half dozen glowing Benchmark reviews if you don't believe me. Many DACs perform better below 30 Khz at 96K sampling compared to 192K.
@Turbon, I already directed you to a UAC2 DAC project. You're free to go have fun with it or do your own. But please don't dilute this thread with two dozen posts beating the same horse. Either you don't understand the difference between UAC1 and UAC2 for two channel playback or you're just trolling for a fight.
You further don't seem to care that a UAC2 DAC is unusable to about 90% of the world without proprietary drivers. Some might argue it's rather selfish to be one of the 10% and scream loudly when your preferences, that have no audible benefit, are not honored. UAC2 is a big can of worms. It's not some trivial component swap or firmware change. It would be an entirely different architecture for the ODAC that would add a lot of cost and compromise many other things. It would also reset the clock back to near zero and add many months to the timeframe.
I stand by what I've said about UAC1 vs UAC2. The burden of proof really should not be on me given the circumstances here. UAC1 does 24/96 2 channel playback wonderfully on virtually 100% of PC's in use with no drivers required. Go read the half dozen glowing Benchmark reviews if you don't believe me. Many DACs perform better below 30 Khz at 96K sampling compared to 192K.
@Turbon, I already directed you to a UAC2 DAC project. You're free to go have fun with it or do your own. But please don't dilute this thread with two dozen posts beating the same horse. Either you don't understand the difference between UAC1 and UAC2 for two channel playback or you're just trolling for a fight.
You further don't seem to care that a UAC2 DAC is unusable to about 90% of the world without proprietary drivers. Some might argue it's rather selfish to be one of the 10% and scream loudly when your preferences, that have no audible benefit, are not honored. UAC2 is a big can of worms. It's not some trivial component swap or firmware change. It would be an entirely different architecture for the ODAC that would add a lot of cost and compromise many other things. It would also reset the clock back to near zero and add many months to the timeframe.
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It's great to see so many people enjoying a project they've built which was designed, not out of excessive want (though the origin may have beeen such), but in tempering the want with sound reason, knowledge, and judgement. The O2 is excellent. Thank you, RS, for this contribution.
Turbon, enjoy your two weeks away... and may you return a wiser and humbler person because of it.
Turbon, enjoy your two weeks away... and may you return a wiser and humbler person because of it.
Great new amp. My front panel arrived today so posting some piccies to share the love.
I've gone for the blacked out ninja version rather than the black and blue
Sweet, but are we going to see any pics of this ninja version?
Sweet, but are we going to see any pics of this ninja version?
Mate, I've been trying to get some shots, but as we know....
I tend to stick little feet on the bottom so that it grips and doesn't slide around and scratch desk surfaces etc.
Like these ones:
3M Bumpon SJ 5012 Stick on Feet, 28pcs/sheet | eBay
I think many of the people in the Aussies GB now have their kits, but are still waiting on the front panels, which were due to ship this week. The GB is getting sorted slowly, but still some issues to resolve... sadly
Hi all,
I ran into a small issue (maybe big?) I want to get started tonight after work. I have all the pieces/parts, but realized I have no solder........oops. I do have some radio shack 60/40 size .032. RS said not to use it in the construction notes of the blog. Would it be okay to use it and carefully clean the board afterwards? I don't want to have to wait to order some Kester 44 or the like. It seems mouser is out of the recommended solder as well. Opinions? Thanks everyone. I can't wait to hear this!!!
I ran into a small issue (maybe big?) I want to get started tonight after work. I have all the pieces/parts, but realized I have no solder........oops. I do have some radio shack 60/40 size .032. RS said not to use it in the construction notes of the blog. Would it be okay to use it and carefully clean the board afterwards? I don't want to have to wait to order some Kester 44 or the like. It seems mouser is out of the recommended solder as well. Opinions? Thanks everyone. I can't wait to hear this!!!
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