Soekris' DAC implementations

Thinking of getting me a Soekris,and I have a pair of Jensen 600/600ohms trafos,are there any bennefit of using it at the RAW output?
Or is it just another component in the signal path?
Or using them at the ballanced out?😱

Use them for galvanic isolation if you have ground loop / noise issues. If not, they are just another not-that-transparent component in the signal path.
 
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Any people tried replacing the Si514 oscillator with Si570, which is the highest grade in the Silicon Labs ?
It is pin compatible ...
but whether the stock crystal cmos or differential output?

I doubt that it would make any difference with the current topology. I would think that the increased accuracy would be engulfed by the FPGA. But if the clock was used to re-clock what came out of the Spartan I think it could make for an improvement - at least measurement wise. I must admit that I have had to re-assess my thinking about jitter impact after using the DAM.

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Also interested in this mod.
Si570 has higher power consumption though...

.... And are not software compatible. I am planning to add firmware support for the Si570, have some other projects I'm working on....

Power is not a problem if the dam1021 is supplied with lower voltage, like +- 7V DC, otherwise the added 0.1A will be a thermal problem for the 3.3V linear regulator.

But I doubt that anybody would be able to hear any difference in a controlled ABX listening test, even if the design is updated to have the clock not pass though the FPGA....
 
Hi folks.

Is there a common view about the "best" USB-I2S interface for the DAM?

I have seen that many people use the Amanero because it provides the 3.3V required for the isolator -- if I'm not mistaken.
However. I had a look at the Audio-GD version of the Amanero board. It looks quite different from the stock version. Especially buffer/decoupling caps seem to be added.
It seems there's space for improvement.

Then there's the DiyinHk module. They claim to run the newest XMOS chip with 48MHz clock. And they also claim to be best on the market. OkOk. But they also need external 3.3V.


Then there's the JLsounds and the WaveIO.
I do own a JLSOUND. But that's tied to a JLSounds DAC. That one required tweaking to perform best. Beside that it requires another piggy back oscillator board to perform best as it seems. And it also requires external power to perform best.

Please let me know your preference and how you've powered it.

Beside that I'd like to know if anybody uses USB filter(s) on the USB link and the chosen USB interface.

Thx.
 
Given that the DAM is very well protected (galvanically and clocking wise), there haven't been a lot of reports of differences. I personally don't think it matter. And there are technical reasons supporting this view.

Get the cheapest one that works well I'd say.

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