soekris: Was this ever considered as a Kickstarter (or other crowdfunded) project?
Why or why not?
As nige2000 already said, I already have my own company, with funding and resources, would be stupid wasting all that time on crowdfunding when I don't need it....
Seems that the crowd would've been plenty supportive. And not just DIY ... maybe even commercial interest, as your DAC could easily be incorporated into Ayre, Rotel, Oppo, etc.
This is a LONG and dense thread so my query may've been prev. addressed.
The crowd here has already been pretty supportive 🙂
And the dam1121 is targeted for OEM use....
I've got two questions:
If I've desoldered the output opamps from the board, do I still need a negative voltage power supply?
Do the positive and negative voltage supplies for Vref need to be tracking each other?
Yes, both + and - vref are needed for DAC function, and they need to track very close otherwise you will get increased 2nd harmonic distortion, have been discussed earlier on the thread....
Re: random sync loss.
I've used this Amanero before with other DACs without issue (and same PC), so that suggests to me the chain from PC to Amanero is OK.
I am using 10cm jumper wires from Amanero to dam1021, with a 1:1 signal:ground wiring scheme.
However, I am supplying the 3.3V from the Amanero. I've never used my Amanero's 3.3V power before, perhaps my PC's USB doesn't supply enough current for both the Amanero and the I2S isolation circuit? If this is indeed the case, and given how infrequently it happens, could I just drop a capacitor across the Amanero's 3.3V and GND pins? If so, what's a reasonable value?
Alternatively, can I use the 3.3V header from J2 to power the I2S isolation circuit?
Seen before with substandard signal integrity.... The I2S interface have high speed digital signals that require short wires and good gnd, preferable one gnd per signal wire. Also ensure that the isolated side have the needed 3.3V power, it can actually work without, but not that good....
I've used this Amanero before with other DACs without issue (and same PC), so that suggests to me the chain from PC to Amanero is OK.
I am using 10cm jumper wires from Amanero to dam1021, with a 1:1 signal:ground wiring scheme.
However, I am supplying the 3.3V from the Amanero. I've never used my Amanero's 3.3V power before, perhaps my PC's USB doesn't supply enough current for both the Amanero and the I2S isolation circuit? If this is indeed the case, and given how infrequently it happens, could I just drop a capacitor across the Amanero's 3.3V and GND pins? If so, what's a reasonable value?
Alternatively, can I use the 3.3V header from J2 to power the I2S isolation circuit?
DS DAC's work perfectly fine with a steady signal, like a 1 Khz sine, but once you feed them music strange things happens, those 5th order modulators are impossible to control, although some mfg are getting good at reducing the side effects....
Yes, that's on my list, the new LTC2380-24 look amazing, coupled to a FPGA with decimation filters and with discrete input buffers....
It's funny how you relatively easy can make a very good SAR ADC, but it's pretty hard to make R-2R DAC chips, probably because the SAR ADC use switched capacitor networks, which can't really be used for R-2R DAC's, they need R-2R networks. (Yes, I know the early Philips DAC's, but we're talking 24 bits at 1.5 Mhz).
DS ADC's have the same problem as DS DAC's, a DS ADC is in fact a DS DAC with a comparator. You can then say: but most music are recorded using DS ADC's ? I have a theory that multi channel recording reduce the DS problems as each track is simpler than the finished master track.... And nowadays most recordings are made at high sample rates with also reduce the problems....
A/D converter? Sigh I am gonna be poor at this rate, take my money some more. Hopefully after the discrete headphone buffer. 🙂
Active RIAA filtering for vinyl preamp... yay.
Yes, both + and - vref are needed for DAC function, and they need to track very close otherwise you will get increased 2nd harmonic distortion, have been discussed earlier on the thread....
I'm surprised nobody has built a vref disbalancer for tunable euphonics 🙂
But seriously, I wonder if small vref unbalance may be one of the reasons some people prefer the sound of battery powered DAM.
I'm surprised nobody has built a vref disbalancer for tunable euphonics 🙂
But seriously, I wonder if small vref unbalance may be one of the reasons some people prefer the sound of battery powered DAM.
i dunno what the story is
even at 1v skew there's nothing obviously noticeable wrong about the sound
come to think of it i actually demo'd a few tracks with a 1 v skew one day to a few people before balancing them out again for the rest of the testing and no-one noticed anything
results in practice mean more to me than results in theory
anyway i was able to get vref balanced to 3 decimal places to keep the figures looking more right 🙂
not just battery powered (term is too broad) their lifepo4 powered
I'm surprised nobody has built a vref disbalancer for tunable euphonics 🙂
But seriously, I wonder if small vref unbalance may be one of the reasons some people prefer the sound of battery powered DAM.
The batteries are an improvement over the onboard regulators. It's not a matter of euphonic distortion
The batteries are an improvement over the onboard regulators. It's not a matter of euphonic distortion
Can we please keep this type of discussion out of this thread and stick to real, and independently verifyable facts, thank you.
if your stuck nearby etc i can remove/put on the relevant parts for you
Thanks for the offer Nige 🙂
However I am in a different country these days.
Thanks for the offer Nige 🙂
However I am in a different country these days.
Somewhere dry i bet
Can we please keep this type of discussion out of this thread and stick to real, and independently verifyable facts, thank you.
Why?
Who says your verification works for others?
And vice versa?
I am quite satisfied with Nige2000's comments, thank you!
Greg in Mississippi
Can we please keep this type of discussion out of this thread and stick to real, and independently verifyable facts, thank you.
You could verify this by your own independent self. Purchase two Soekris dacs. Keep one stock for control. Buy two lifepo4 batteries and cheap regs to charge them. Pull out the onboard regulators from the shift registers. Connect the batteries. Listen. Compare. Swap out the batteries for a shunt regulator or any other regulator of choice. Listen. Compare.
I prefer the shunt regulator, but the lifepo4 surprised me.
You seem think that the knowledge you own based on your theoretical understanding and engineering practice is the criteria that the rest of us should use to make our assessments and engage in discourse. Would it be incorrect to say that you will only test something IRL if it conforms to what you understand is sound engineering theory? If so, this doesn't seem to account for the possibility that you may not have all of the information you need to close your decision making process.
I'm not an engineer. It has been a great pleasure for me to try and understand how what I'm hearing relates to what you all as engineers do. The pursuit of a digital front-end that competes with the turntable brought me here. I have been told for years that I wasn't hearing what I was hearing. Well, now there is information otherwise. For someone like me it's useful to listen first and let the engineers (psychologists?) duke it out about why that is so. The ear/brain is a sensitive, if imperfect instrument, but it's the best I have.
You could verify this by your own independent self. Purchase two Soekris dacs. Keep one stock for control. Buy two lifepo4 batteries and cheap regs to charge them. Pull out the onboard regulators from the shift registers. Connect the batteries. Listen. Compare. Swap out the batteries for a shunt regulator or any other regulator of choice. Listen. Compare.
I prefer the shunt regulator, but the lifepo4 surprised me.
You seem think that the knowledge you own based on your theoretical understanding and engineering practice is the criteria that the rest of us should use to make our assessments and engage in discourse. Would it be incorrect to say that you will only test something IRL if it conforms to what you understand is sound engineering theory? If so, this doesn't seem to account for the possibility that you may not have all of the information you need to close your decision making process.
I'm not an engineer. It has been a great pleasure for me to try and understand how what I'm hearing relates to what you all as engineers do. The pursuit of a digital front-end that competes with the turntable brought me here. I have been told for years that I wasn't hearing what I was hearing. Well, now there is information otherwise. For someone like me it's useful to listen first and let the engineers (psychologists?) duke it out about why that is so. The ear/brain is a sensitive, if imperfect instrument, but it's the best I have.
what kinda shunts are you using?
O.k.; I purchased one of those little usb to Serial converters:FT232RL FTDI USB zu TTL Serial Konverter Adapter Modul 5V 3.3V Für Arduino 3321 | eBay
Downloaded Tera Term and Extraputty, connected to DAC -> strong impulse to throw all of it out of the window and switch on the turntable and forget about all this %$§"/( digital stuff.
Doesn't work; computer connects to the module, I can open the command window, but can't connect to the Dac.
DimDim's blog says, probably it is the wrong output format from the small board.
But why is it working in Spikestabbers setup?
And is there any other recommended converter?
Apart from this the Dac sounds fabulous with a Salas Shunt for 10V Input, huge difference in my setup.
Downloaded Tera Term and Extraputty, connected to DAC -> strong impulse to throw all of it out of the window and switch on the turntable and forget about all this %$§"/( digital stuff.
Doesn't work; computer connects to the module, I can open the command window, but can't connect to the Dac.
DimDim's blog says, probably it is the wrong output format from the small board.
But why is it working in Spikestabbers setup?
And is there any other recommended converter?
Apart from this the Dac sounds fabulous with a Salas Shunt for 10V Input, huge difference in my setup.
As nige2000 already said, I already have my own company, with funding and resources, would be stupid wasting all that time on crowdfunding when I don't need it....
The crowd here has already been pretty supportive 🙂
And the dam1121 is targeted for OEM use....
True. It seems the majority of the business for soren comes from the other networking gear that he is already in great shape. Hifi is a boon and yes we all appreciate what you have contributed to hifi.
Please reply back on this guys say big thanks to him... 🙂

O.k.; I purchased one of those little usb to Serial converters:FT232RL FTDI USB zu TTL Serial Konverter Adapter Modul 5V 3.3V Für Arduino 3321 | eBay
Downloaded Tera Term and Extraputty, connected to DAC -> strong impulse to throw all of it out of the window and switch on the turntable and forget about all this %$§"/( digital stuff.
Doesn't work; computer connects to the module, I can open the command window, but can't connect to the Dac.
DimDim's blog says, probably it is the wrong output format from the small board.
But why is it working in Spikestabbers setup?
And is there any other recommended converter?
Apart from this the Dac sounds fabulous with a Salas Shunt for 10V Input, huge difference in my setup.
The board that you bought is only suitable for connecting to the isolated serial port of the DAM.
You should also make sure that you set the little board for 3.3V operation (there is usualy a jumper for that) and that you are indeed powering the isolated side of the DAM with 3.3V.
Remember, the USB board's TX & RX must go to the DAM's respective RX and TX and you should also connect a GND line.
Thanks DimDim, triple checked everything, used isolated serial, 3.3V are connected anyway because I use the I2S connection, iso ground is connected.
Probably the board is DOA, will get another one. Fortunately the Dac sounds so good, that there is no hurry to try other filters.
Any other suggestion for a safely working converter board?
Probably the board is DOA, will get another one. Fortunately the Dac sounds so good, that there is no hurry to try other filters.
Any other suggestion for a safely working converter board?
Thanks DimDim, triple checked everything, used isolated serial, 3.3V are connected anyway because I use the I2S connection, iso ground is connected.
Probably the board is DOA, will get another one. Fortunately the Dac sounds so good, that there is no hurry to try other filters.
Any other suggestion for a safely working converter board?
In order to rule out obvious mistakes I would start with listing what and how you have things connected, and what procedure you follow to connect to the DAC.
There's many small gotchas that are second nature to people well versed in electronics that you may have omitted.
So going forward I would suggest you detail:
1) What do you have connected where? Pictures?
2) What is receiving power from what/where?
3) Have you verified with a DVM that power XYZ is indeed present on pins ABC?
4) What procedure are you following on the PC side?
5) Etc.
This will allow others to spot any obvious mistakes, because as usual the devil is in the details and honest mistakes are easily made.

Enough! Several posts and their collateral have been deleted. If your going to argue the merits and counter merits of some technique then do it on technical merit. Anymore insulting posts will see penalties handed down.
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Totally agree with the devil and the Details.
1) As said, connections are made according to Manual from board to iso Dac Input, Rx, Tx and ground to iso ground.
2) 3.3 Volt are coming from Salas Shunt to the isolated ports of the Dac, and as the Dac is working via I2s, I assume that this should not be an issue.
Jumper is set to 3.3V on the converter board. Measured spot on 3.3V at the board VCC Pins.
3)Tried both Extraputty and Teraterm, window opens, connection from board to computer is fine, but there seems to be no connection from Dac to board, as it is not possible to communicate with the Dac. Entering +++ doesn't appear on the screen. All settings are as they should be, Baud and so on. I checked it lots of times and tried numerous times to no avail.
Hence the thought that the board might be the culprit, and it is not terribly expensive to try another one. If a new one also fails, then Houston has a problem and it might be something embarrassing

Good thing is, that there must be a reason😉
1) As said, connections are made according to Manual from board to iso Dac Input, Rx, Tx and ground to iso ground.
2) 3.3 Volt are coming from Salas Shunt to the isolated ports of the Dac, and as the Dac is working via I2s, I assume that this should not be an issue.
Jumper is set to 3.3V on the converter board. Measured spot on 3.3V at the board VCC Pins.
3)Tried both Extraputty and Teraterm, window opens, connection from board to computer is fine, but there seems to be no connection from Dac to board, as it is not possible to communicate with the Dac. Entering +++ doesn't appear on the screen. All settings are as they should be, Baud and so on. I checked it lots of times and tried numerous times to no avail.
Hence the thought that the board might be the culprit, and it is not terribly expensive to try another one. If a new one also fails, then Houston has a problem and it might be something embarrassing

Good thing is, that there must be a reason😉
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