Thanks for the additional info, Ray, looks like I need to read up on the Broskie Balun.
Are you able to tell whether I would need the Aikido buffer or similar for my setup with the Tubelab SSE?
Difficult to answer. I'm not familiar with the SSE and couldn't see the specs when I had a quick look but that wouldn't give you a definitive answer anyway; on paper my amps (derivatives of the Transcendent 300B OTL design) are an easy load (750mV input sensitivity and 100K input impedance) but they sound better when driven actively with some current.
Ray
I'm taking my FlipFlop/BCF project along to a small gathering of audio enthusiasts today so it will be interesting to hear what they make of its qualities. Will let you know...
Ray
Ray
I finally got is working, but it's really a fine tuning you have to do.
I'm courious about FlipFlop board, but for now the SE is working great!
Notice for Single-Ended PCB users
ciccio1112 has been kind enough to point out that an error has crept into the last batch of single-ended PCBs that I want to make people aware of.
It seems that I reversed the labels on the power connector pads for the 'clean side' section of the PCB in the very last batch. Please check your single-ended PCBs and if they look lie this;
You need to reverse the pads in the bottom right corner of the PCB so that your 5V supply connects to the pad labelled 'G' and your PS ground connects to the pad labelled '5V'. To be absolutely certain you need to ensure that the 5V supply connects to pin 12 and ground to pin 11.
I must apologise for the error; I was experimenting with including a solid state buffer on the PCB and perhaps doing an SMT version and can only think that I was careless with the versions.
Thanks to ciccio1112 for bringing this to my attention.
Ray
ciccio1112 has been kind enough to point out that an error has crept into the last batch of single-ended PCBs that I want to make people aware of.
It seems that I reversed the labels on the power connector pads for the 'clean side' section of the PCB in the very last batch. Please check your single-ended PCBs and if they look lie this;
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
You need to reverse the pads in the bottom right corner of the PCB so that your 5V supply connects to the pad labelled 'G' and your PS ground connects to the pad labelled '5V'. To be absolutely certain you need to ensure that the 5V supply connects to pin 12 and ground to pin 11.
I must apologise for the error; I was experimenting with including a solid state buffer on the PCB and perhaps doing an SMT version and can only think that I was careless with the versions.
Thanks to ciccio1112 for bringing this to my attention.
Ray
In the end there wasn't a lot of time to try my no-dac today as there was a power amp issue and some auditioning of speakers took priority. In a brief comparison with a Beresford DAC the no-dac was better at detail and you could hear more into the musician's performances and techniques and everything was clearly but separately placed across the soundstage; this held up very well when there was a lot going on too. On the other hand, the no-dac produced a lighter overall balance with a little less weight. The no-dac was connected via an HQPlayer NAA back end whereas the Beresford was via a RPi/Roon backend.
Ray
A promising description! In my own endeavors with audio fidelity, I find three desirable things are associated with good soundstage (i.e. the enhanced positional clarity and more obvious representation of the recording environment's acoustics). Namely: i) a certain loss of 'weight' that is attributable to better clarity, ii) the 'disappearance' of the speakers as a focal source of sound, and iii) when increasing the playback volume, the music really doesn't seem proportionally "louder" - rather it seems to contain more energy. ...perhaps related to point 1...
I should get sound out of my flip-flop board fairly soon now. 😀
Frank
Frank, my experience with my own system aligns with your comments, the musicians/instruments are quite tangible 3D objects.
Ray
Ray
Finally my SE board is singing. Crystal clear. 🙂🙂🙂
Power is from USB. Because of labeling and wireing I will ask four correct +- when it is time four that.
Problems:
- Play pop. Fine tuning trimmer did not help me. Start pop is loud. Turning and turning got me only frustration.😡
- Pop, like start, when there is different kHz song. 44.1->96 or 192 or DSD64 or DSD128... Any combination.
Sample:
flac44 - starting pop
flac44 - ok
flac44 - ok
flac96 - pop
flac96 - ok
flas44 - pop
flac192- pop
flac 192 - ok
flac 192 - ok
dsd64 - pop
...
I am using Win10+JRiver.
Power is from USB. Because of labeling and wireing I will ask four correct +- when it is time four that.
Problems:
- Play pop. Fine tuning trimmer did not help me. Start pop is loud. Turning and turning got me only frustration.😡
- Pop, like start, when there is different kHz song. 44.1->96 or 192 or DSD64 or DSD128... Any combination.
Sample:
flac44 - starting pop
flac44 - ok
flac44 - ok
flac96 - pop
flac96 - ok
flas44 - pop
flac192- pop
flac 192 - ok
flac 192 - ok
dsd64 - pop
...
I am using Win10+JRiver.
What USB-I2S are you using?
The PC with powerful processor is only necessary when re-sampling on the fly, if you convert to DSD and store (now is cheap the HDD) you can play high DSD files without a powerful processor.
The PC with powerful processor is only necessary when re-sampling on the fly, if you convert to DSD and store (now is cheap the HDD) you can play high DSD files without a powerful processor.
I use JLSound I2S.
My music is majority flac so converting to DSD on the fly is must. My son took my i7 laptop and that's that.
Do You know any good converter? Sound, on the fly, from HQPlayer, Daphile... is getting beater and beater so finding good converter is not so easy.