TPA - USB Transport

[Nelson Bass]

I prefer TPA keep their works confidential like Apple. Better to be excited by a real released product than being excited about vapor ware...

I bought the BII back in 2010 after TPA indicated that they worked hard on a USB-interface. In my part of the world 'hard work' means 'results' will be archived soon.

After 2 years my BII died and I bought the ultimate solution dual BIII, dual Legato, 5 shunt regulator PSUs and more. Afterwards I waited for months to get some info about the USB-interface from TPA, not even the PCB size could I get information about so I couldn't order a custom made cabinet for the new DAC.

So I bought a new Italian USB-interface at a very reasonable cost and now just waiting for a custom made chassis to arrive to build the ultimate DAC (for me at least).

During the 2 year period TPA continued to develop other things and even updated shunt regulators and the B-DAC. But no sight of an USB-interface from TPA...which was the reason I bought the BII back in 2010... Am I pissed? Sort of.

I know that TPA work in their spare time but if I were in their pants I wouldn't indicate that I was working hard on something without giving a release date for the product... You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

That said TPA makes the most serious DIY products of their kind and the kits are impressive! It takes a h*ll lot of time to put small labels on components to make the life easier for the customer to build the kits.

[Russ White]

TPA is not anything close to a company like Apple. It is a couple of DIY enthusiasts working in our spare time to bring cool stuff to people like you.

Remember this is a hobby for us too and priorities sometimes shift.

Cheers!
Russ

[Duffy Moon]

Originally Posted by Russ White

TPA is not anything close to a ocmpany like Apple.

A good thing too. I'll happily give money to TP, but never a penny to Apple.

It seems that Russ doesn't tend to announce new products until they're close to being available now, which avoids the issue of delay.

[Russ White]

Thanks for the support.

I acknowlege that we have probably been optimisitc about talking about releasing the new USB module.

But keep this in mind... I have already built a few prototypes and testef several ideas - some of which are XMOS based, but not all.

We just are not comfortable releasing what we have tried - just yet.

I am sorry if anyone is put off by the delay. It is not our intention to offend. It is our intention to produce sometyhing that will sound as good for you as it does for us.

Cheers!
Russ

[ichiban]

Anything worth having , is worth waiting for.

[Russ White]

Just let you guys see I am still actively working on this. This is a new layout I am working on. Not all of the components are shown - and some are on the bottom.

The dimensions may change. The board as shown is design to slip into a case - with the LEDs in front, and the connectors on the back.

Note it has a teleporter compatible LVDS output.

[NicMac]

Originally Posted by Russ White

Note it has a teleporter compatible LVDS output.

I.e. with a LVDS transmitter onboard?

Output both I2S and DSD - and send a signal to BIII SE telling it to change registers accordingly?

Cheers,

Nic

[barrows]

Originally Posted by NicMac

I.e. with a LVDS transmitter onboard?

Output both I2S and DSD - and send a signal to BIII SE telling it to change registers accordingly?

Cheers,

Nic

ESS 9018 will auto select for I2S/DSD when properly set up to do so. The only thing you "might" want to change woudl be the filters, but this is not really necessary to play DSD. I built a B-III DAC for a friend, and set the inputs up in the same config as on the B-II, and he has no problem playing back both DSD and PCM through the same (I2S) input path. He is using a USB interface which multiplexes dSD and I2S on the same output to suit...

[Russ White]

As far as I know the XMOS firmware does not support DSD.

[barrows]

I could not find my link, sorry, but there are those who do have the XMOS chip working with DSD, that is by the DoP protocals. My understandning is that doing this requires writing new code, but some of the developments are shared as open source.

here's one:

http://www.xcore.com/projects/dsd-audio-over-usb