james,
congratulations on your achievements !!!!
would very much like to hear this the other day ???
Hi All,
this is my first msg on this thread and forum. glad to join this special dac family.
I have received my 4 deck kit last week and quickly build it up. Almost all stock and just want to share some interesting build observation here if this can help anyone.
I started with 1 deck and instead of using waveio board I have use Pi B P5 header I2S into main board running Picoreplayer. I power on the unit happily and observe only mV signal on my scope. Tried spdif same mV signal. I troubleshoot for 2 days and finally decided that the only thing i never do is connect the waveio board. So I plug in and connect to USB and turn on. Viola, there is signal. After playing for few hrs I disconnect the waveio board and reconnect the Pi, this time it works. So I though maybe something I have done wrong somewhere but I dun know where. I reboot the system few time and even change to spdif and another I2S player. All works flawlessly.
This morning I stack the second deck. Again no signal on scope. Then after few hrs troubleshooting I decided to do the same trick again and plug in the waveio board again, viola, music comes. Happily playing music now.
So is there some initialisation in the waveio board into the dddac? Hope this help anyone who has the same problem as me...
ck
this is my first msg on this thread and forum. glad to join this special dac family.
I have received my 4 deck kit last week and quickly build it up. Almost all stock and just want to share some interesting build observation here if this can help anyone.
I started with 1 deck and instead of using waveio board I have use Pi B P5 header I2S into main board running Picoreplayer. I power on the unit happily and observe only mV signal on my scope. Tried spdif same mV signal. I troubleshoot for 2 days and finally decided that the only thing i never do is connect the waveio board. So I plug in and connect to USB and turn on. Viola, there is signal. After playing for few hrs I disconnect the waveio board and reconnect the Pi, this time it works. So I though maybe something I have done wrong somewhere but I dun know where. I reboot the system few time and even change to spdif and another I2S player. All works flawlessly.
This morning I stack the second deck. Again no signal on scope. Then after few hrs troubleshooting I decided to do the same trick again and plug in the waveio board again, viola, music comes. Happily playing music now.
So is there some initialisation in the waveio board into the dddac? Hope this help anyone who has the same problem as me...
ck
Very nice. Once I'm back up and running in my new home, this mod is top of my list..
Hi CK,
This sounds very akward and I assume you are the only one having this. Question, did you connect a selection switch to the usb or spdif select pin? For me it seems your board is in 3state mode in the I2S bus. You cannot leave the pin open, you have to select something. Connecting the WAVEIO could have caused this.
This sounds very akward and I assume you are the only one having this. Question, did you connect a selection switch to the usb or spdif select pin? For me it seems your board is in 3state mode in the I2S bus. You cannot leave the pin open, you have to select something. Connecting the WAVEIO could have caused this.
Hi Doede,
Yes I did...I connect a jumper to it and measure it is shorted to the correct USB/I2S position. All I got is the signal as my attached waveform below.
Then after I connect the waveio board and it works. I disconnect the waveio and then without changing anything I reconnect the Pi. It works flawlessly also. Dac board all stock. My friend is building his dac also and not power on yet. I have asked him to try this and see whether any sound if the first bootup is not waveio board. I will keep posted the result.
Anyway seems like an initialization and then it works, problem solved.
cheers
ck
Yes I did...I connect a jumper to it and measure it is shorted to the correct USB/I2S position. All I got is the signal as my attached waveform below.
Then after I connect the waveio board and it works. I disconnect the waveio and then without changing anything I reconnect the Pi. It works flawlessly also. Dac board all stock. My friend is building his dac also and not power on yet. I have asked him to try this and see whether any sound if the first bootup is not waveio board. I will keep posted the result.
Anyway seems like an initialization and then it works, problem solved.
cheers
ck
Attachments
Hi Doede,
I remember I had problems connecting a philips cd-pro loader with I2S to your Dac. You may remember the discussion we had at that time.
If I remember correctly there was a problem with word length, maybe you can elaborate?
Regards,
Sure remember... but... that point was not the number of bits (Resolution), but the complete word length of only 24 bits (FS48) where "normal" I2S is 32 bit word length (FS64)
Hi all,
Just want to update on the bug that I encountered. The first power on must connect the waveio board or the output will be at max and no signal. My friend building his kit also encounter same problem and eventually solve connecting the waveio board.
Hope this can help anyone.
Cheers
Ck
Just want to update on the bug that I encountered. The first power on must connect the waveio board or the output will be at max and no signal. My friend building his kit also encounter same problem and eventually solve connecting the waveio board.
Hope this can help anyone.
Cheers
Ck
Just a little update from me. I swapped my vcom caps out for Silmic II. I'm leaving it to burn in now but from my very quick listen, I'm sure there's a nice richness to it now.
I have to say MAN, I LOVE THIS DDDAC 🙂 It's really very special now.
How are people getting on with testing ccs solutions for pin20? It's gone a little quiet of late. I'm still on the 2sk246y and loving it, but I'd be keen to hear from those trying out cascoded ccs...
I have to say MAN, I LOVE THIS DDDAC 🙂 It's really very special now.
How are people getting on with testing ccs solutions for pin20? It's gone a little quiet of late. I'm still on the 2sk246y and loving it, but I'd be keen to hear from those trying out cascoded ccs...
CCS Testing
The 2SK208"o" cascoded CCS (circuit in post 3293) has about 300 hours of music play time on it. Sounds much better than the cascoded 2SK170, but I can't say it sounds better than the2SK246Y which has a very balanced, clean, and dynamic sound. Nige2000 posted earlier that the 2SK208"r" is his favorite so far.
dwJames: I am a reclocker short of joining you in the promised land of fully tweaked single board DDDAC musical Nirvana. I want to install a reclocker on my WaveIO before removing the cascode on the 2SK208"o" and trying it alone. I have some Acko SO3 bare boards on order, but I will try to build a simplified version on adaptor boards this weekend since I have all the parts.
I have been looking for 2.2V LED or Zener diodes to shift more of the voltage drop across the JFET and less across the ZTX450 per WJung, but so far no luck. The 2.2V Zeners I just received all measured around 1.95V - which is what the green LED is doing in my CCS.
The 2SK208"o" cascoded CCS (circuit in post 3293) has about 300 hours of music play time on it. Sounds much better than the cascoded 2SK170, but I can't say it sounds better than the2SK246Y which has a very balanced, clean, and dynamic sound. Nige2000 posted earlier that the 2SK208"r" is his favorite so far.
dwJames: I am a reclocker short of joining you in the promised land of fully tweaked single board DDDAC musical Nirvana. I want to install a reclocker on my WaveIO before removing the cascode on the 2SK208"o" and trying it alone. I have some Acko SO3 bare boards on order, but I will try to build a simplified version on adaptor boards this weekend since I have all the parts.
I have been looking for 2.2V LED or Zener diodes to shift more of the voltage drop across the JFET and less across the ZTX450 per WJung, but so far no luck. The 2.2V Zeners I just received all measured around 1.95V - which is what the green LED is doing in my CCS.
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to mod or not to mod
Hello,
I did start reading this thread some months ago when the main subject seemed to be changing the power supply connected to the boards.
Now it seems to get diy in a true diy spirit. That is, it will make people doubt buying this unit. People will say just out of the box it is was above the competition. But every mod describred will take it to a new level. So adding some of the mods we will end up at what level?
Maybe maybe wait for Doede to come up with an improved model that will satisfy more customers ands needs only to be mutilated by changing some caps or resistors.
Sincere greetings, Edward
Hello,
I did start reading this thread some months ago when the main subject seemed to be changing the power supply connected to the boards.
Now it seems to get diy in a true diy spirit. That is, it will make people doubt buying this unit. People will say just out of the box it is was above the competition. But every mod describred will take it to a new level. So adding some of the mods we will end up at what level?
Maybe maybe wait for Doede to come up with an improved model that will satisfy more customers ands needs only to be mutilated by changing some caps or resistors.
Sincere greetings, Edward
Exactly what I have been thinking too eduard.
But, anyway I have ordered a 4 deck dddac with the usb mainboard, and have decided to just do a few changes.
1. Bigger trafo for the mainboard with 4 decks.
2. 2 watt Shinko tantalum resistors on the mainboard.
3. Elna Cerafine caps to replace the Nicikon's on the analog side on the dac boards, the mainboard and psu's. ( I see many prefer the silmic cap, but I simply don't like the sound signature of this cap. In my ears and in my setup it sounds dull and "boomy" in the lower end )
My plan is to do a head to head shootout against my tweaked Buffalo IIIse dual mono with bigger trafo's and with Takman non magnetic carbon resistors all over.
If the dddac perform as many describe, it should give the Buffalo a hard time i guess.
Time will tell.
But, anyway I have ordered a 4 deck dddac with the usb mainboard, and have decided to just do a few changes.
1. Bigger trafo for the mainboard with 4 decks.
2. 2 watt Shinko tantalum resistors on the mainboard.
3. Elna Cerafine caps to replace the Nicikon's on the analog side on the dac boards, the mainboard and psu's. ( I see many prefer the silmic cap, but I simply don't like the sound signature of this cap. In my ears and in my setup it sounds dull and "boomy" in the lower end )
My plan is to do a head to head shootout against my tweaked Buffalo IIIse dual mono with bigger trafo's and with Takman non magnetic carbon resistors all over.
If the dddac perform as many describe, it should give the Buffalo a hard time i guess.
Time will tell.
Thanks Ross. Look forward to hearing your impressions. Give a shout if you need to compare any s03 stuff to make your simplified reclocker board.
Eduard, I would encourage anyone who has the slightest interest in Diy audio to buy this dddac kit. The beauty of the solution is that it caters for all levels.
For me, I enjoy learning what everything does, how they work and what difference can be made by altering or changing things. That doesn't mean that you can't put a standard kit together and enjoy it, it just means there are many other possibilities if you get the itch at a later date 🙂
Eduard, I would encourage anyone who has the slightest interest in Diy audio to buy this dddac kit. The beauty of the solution is that it caters for all levels.
For me, I enjoy learning what everything does, how they work and what difference can be made by altering or changing things. That doesn't mean that you can't put a standard kit together and enjoy it, it just means there are many other possibilities if you get the itch at a later date 🙂
DAC Improvements
By doing all the mods supported by general consensus of the forum - you will end up with a DAC that sounds so musically real that it can compete with any price-is-no-object DAC in the world. Besides, tweaking is fun. Some of the changes I made changed the sound character of the DAC a lot but was better sounding overall. The change is sound is often much greater than the actual sq improvement. That's why the stated improvements seem exaggerated. I hope this makes sense.
By doing all the mods supported by general consensus of the forum - you will end up with a DAC that sounds so musically real that it can compete with any price-is-no-object DAC in the world. Besides, tweaking is fun. Some of the changes I made changed the sound character of the DAC a lot but was better sounding overall. The change is sound is often much greater than the actual sq improvement. That's why the stated improvements seem exaggerated. I hope this makes sense.
Sounds like you ordered the red main board. Four out of four forum members report that adding a 1/2 clock delay circuit makes a significant positive improvement in sq and is a MUST for the red board. It's an inexpensive but time consuming upgrade, but well worth it. I strongly recommend that Doede make this a standard feature in the red main board in the future.
what are the values of Ra and Rb in the circuit?
http://www.dddac.com/documents/dddac1794_nos_ver30.pdf
http://www.dddac.com/documents/dddac1794_nos_ver30.pdf
Ra and Rb are for the I/V conversion. They are connected to the same place, so they work in parallel if they're both populated. They should equal 133r divided by the number of dac decks you have fitted.
You can see a little table at the top right of page 3 of the document you posted.
I now completed separate choke psus for digital and analogue using belleson regs all round. Sound quality with one board is stunning, much better than four decks, but of course I do have the upgraded clock delay on the new board too.
But USB is a level above SPDIF, particularly with regard to bass. Is this 'normal'? Does it depend on the transport or is the data reclocked by the Tent clock?
Thanks
David
But USB is a level above SPDIF, particularly with regard to bass. Is this 'normal'? Does it depend on the transport or is the data reclocked by the Tent clock?
Thanks
David