@ Kim: you have PM! I'm sorry if I couldn't answer you earlier... my laptop died on me 1.5 weeks before Christmas ... the "perfect" moment for such nasty things!
Anyway, I'll try to answer to all the messages as soon as possible and, meanwhile, try to live the current holidays at maximum (for as much as I can). Wish you to do the same: Merry Christmas!
Anyway, I'll try to answer to all the messages as soon as possible and, meanwhile, try to live the current holidays at maximum (for as much as I can). Wish you to do the same: Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year to all of you! I managed to get back to work.. slowly....
@ Micael: do you have any improvements on your tests with external clock? I'm here if you'll need my help!
@ Kim: as we spoke through PMs, we have a deal! I'm still 'fighting' with four PCB manufacturers in the same time and I'm gathering infos from all of them hoping that somewhere at the middle of January to have a finished PCB rev of BW to test and see where those damn clicks are getting from.
The batch will be a short run, I guess up to 5 pcs. in total as my goal is to fix the problem and not get into mass production.
I'll keep you in touch,
L
@ Micael: do you have any improvements on your tests with external clock? I'm here if you'll need my help!
@ Kim: as we spoke through PMs, we have a deal! I'm still 'fighting' with four PCB manufacturers in the same time and I'm gathering infos from all of them hoping that somewhere at the middle of January to have a finished PCB rev of BW to test and see where those damn clicks are getting from.
The batch will be a short run, I guess up to 5 pcs. in total as my goal is to fix the problem and not get into mass production.
I'll keep you in touch,
L
Happy New Year to all of you! I managed to get back to work.. slowly....
@ Micael: do you have any improvements on your tests with external clock? I'm here if you'll need my help!
Happy 2018!
I tried it, but realized that I'll need a PCB jumper on J2 & J3 to make it work (as written on the first page of this thread). Since I am not sure which kind of PCB jumper that fits the BluWave board this project have come to a halt. I would appreciate if you could give me a link to which kind jumper I would need and how solder it to the board.
I am really very satisfied with the BluWave without the external clocking, but it would be fun to try it out.
Micael
Well, the whole point of JP2 and JP3 was to replace any jumper that could create problems over time (like those I used at power selection on WaveIO boards) and make the contacts by using on-board solder bumps instead.
If it helps you, tomorrow I'll post a couple of pictures about how those jumpers on clock signals should look like!
I'm done using regular/ordinary jumpers because are not feasible, especially when it comes to preserve the signal integrity of the external clock sources that's why I designed the JP2/3 pads in such a way one cannot solder any ordinary jumpers so easily (otherwise the PCB pads could broke easily). Because of that, I cannot recommend you any jumpers and pin headers
One more thing: it is mandatory to have both of the clock signals enabled before powering up / plug in the BW on the USB port otherwise the driver (on Windows) will not initiate properly. On the future PCB releases, this is on my ToDo list.
Kind regards,
L
If it helps you, tomorrow I'll post a couple of pictures about how those jumpers on clock signals should look like!
I'm done using regular/ordinary jumpers because are not feasible, especially when it comes to preserve the signal integrity of the external clock sources that's why I designed the JP2/3 pads in such a way one cannot solder any ordinary jumpers so easily (otherwise the PCB pads could broke easily). Because of that, I cannot recommend you any jumpers and pin headers
One more thing: it is mandatory to have both of the clock signals enabled before powering up / plug in the BW on the USB port otherwise the driver (on Windows) will not initiate properly. On the future PCB releases, this is on my ToDo list.
Kind regards,
L
Well, the whole point of JP2 and JP3 was to replace any jumper that could create problems over time (like those I used at power selection on WaveIO boards) and make the contacts by using on-board solder bumps instead.
If it helps you, tomorrow I'll post a couple of pictures about how those jumpers on clock signals should look like!
I'm done using regular/ordinary jumpers because are not feasible, especially when it comes to preserve the signal integrity of the external clock sources that's why I designed the JP2/3 pads in such a way one cannot solder any ordinary jumpers so easily (otherwise the PCB pads could broke easily). Because of that, I cannot recommend you any jumpers and pin headers
One more thing: it is mandatory to have both of the clock signals enabled before powering up / plug in the BW on the USB port otherwise the driver (on Windows) will not initiate properly. On the future PCB releases, this is on my ToDo list.
Kind regards,
L
Thanks! I would appreciate pictures how the jumpers and clock signals look like. Do I understand you correctly that you do not really recommend this route? It really sounds great in my setup as is, so I really do not have to go the external clock route. It is just my curiousity that wants to find out how it turns out, but if you think I am better off without it I am fine with it as well!
Another thing that I have thought about is to connect the BluWave output to a Hosa ODL-312 format converter to be able to connect it to the AES/EBU on my Brooklyn DAC. Any experiences if this is something that could improve things or not?
Hosa Odl-312 Digital Audio Converter Interface SPDIF Optical to AES EBU Cable | eBay
Kind regards,
Micael
Thanks @abanico!
Did you notice any SQ difference for the better using a pseudo balanced connection or did you just do it for stricktly practical reasons?
The output level of the bluwave card is 5v , so i tried one week each . Spdif with a resistor divider and direct connection to Aes .Bluwave is sitting on the top of the dac and the cable is a three wire + shield floating at receiver 15 cm long . If there is a difference it's subtle . The balanced connection is working on the two dacs i have.
My board gone wrong one more time , soldering issue i think , it's a great board but it is too small ,pad are so tiny , it so hard to do some soldering on it !!!
i wish the board will be larger , and easier to deal with , some time small doesn't help at all !!!
any reason today for things to be that small , no matter what !!!
.
i wish the board will be larger , and easier to deal with , some time small doesn't help at all !!!
any reason today for things to be that small , no matter what !!!
.
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@ Cornan: here the weather is rather nasty (cloudy, cold and wet), to say at least so I had no chance to take some clear photos of those jumpers, I'm sorry! But I'll try to do it today!
@ abanico: thank you very much for your input! One side note though: the output voltage threshold of BW is NOT 5V but 3.3Vpp (it's AC-coupled).
On the SPDIF output side, the 5V from any external PSU or even USB pass through a 3.3Vdc Vreg (U11) before spreading out to any local logic chips found on that side of the PCB. Maybe this is something to be taken into account when one is counting on BW to drive any external devices. I have to admit that usual 5V can be driven by 3.3V logic levels but I'm sure there are some exceptions...
@ fabrice63: I hear you! The main goal for this BW revision was to be ... cheap and good. On the next revision I'll simply focus on the USB clicking issue so until that problem is solved I'll not do anything else major to this PCB layout. BUT, after that problem is gone, I have plans to remove any of such tiny jumpers from the future boards so there will be no problems with tiny "things" anymore!
BTW, if you want to repair your BW or there's any way I can help you regarding this issue please PM me.
Kind regards,
L
@ abanico: thank you very much for your input! One side note though: the output voltage threshold of BW is NOT 5V but 3.3Vpp (it's AC-coupled).
On the SPDIF output side, the 5V from any external PSU or even USB pass through a 3.3Vdc Vreg (U11) before spreading out to any local logic chips found on that side of the PCB. Maybe this is something to be taken into account when one is counting on BW to drive any external devices. I have to admit that usual 5V can be driven by 3.3V logic levels but I'm sure there are some exceptions...
@ fabrice63: I hear you!
The main goal for this BW revision was to be ... cheap and good. On the next revision I'll simply focus on the USB clicking issue so until that problem is solved I'll not do anything else major to this PCB layout. BUT, after that problem is gone, I have plans to remove any of such tiny jumpers from the future boards so there will be no problems with tiny "things" anymore!BTW, if you want to repair your BW or there's any way I can help you regarding this issue please PM me.
Kind regards,
L
Hi all! After some way too much time spent in solving that BW issue with clicking noise on Windows and instability on Linux I have to say that I gave up on this product in its actual form.
There will be no more support from me related to actual hardware revisions since my focus now is to rebuild this design form scratch, this time using top parts, not cheap ones like I used till now. Perhaps that's the main reason for which Wave IO is working stable while BW is a stubborn piece of nightmare. I should change the title of this thread in : "BluWave - a miniature devil"
Obviously I won't as there's no benefit in doing that!
I want to thank you all for help and support and I'm really sorry it ended up like this but it seems that I wasn't made to build cheap things!
Kind regards,
L
There will be no more support from me related to actual hardware revisions since my focus now is to rebuild this design form scratch, this time using top parts, not cheap ones like I used till now. Perhaps that's the main reason for which Wave IO is working stable while BW is a stubborn piece of nightmare. I should change the title of this thread in : "BluWave - a miniature devil"
Obviously I won't as there's no benefit in doing that!
I want to thank you all for help and support and I'm really sorry it ended up like this but it seems that I wasn't made to build cheap things!
Kind regards,
L
Hi all! After some way too much time spent in solving that BW issue with clicking noise on Windows and instability on Linux I have to say that I gave up on this product in its actual form.
There will be no more support from me related to actual hardware revisions since my focus now is to rebuild this design form scratch, this time using top parts, not cheap ones like I used till now. Perhaps that's the main reason for which Wave IO is working stable while BW is a stubborn piece of nightmare. I should change the title of this thread in : "BluWave - a miniature devil"
Obviously I won't as there's no benefit in doing that!
I want to thank you all for help and support and I'm really sorry it ended up like this but it seems that I wasn't made to build cheap things!
Kind regards,
L
Thanks for the update Lucian, you have certainly tried hard to solve the problem with the Bluwave. I’ve been enjoying mine for months now. Looking forward to a bigger and better version. You know how to make them!
Hi all! After some way too much time spent in solving that BW issue with clicking noise on Windows and instability on Linux I have to say that I gave up on this product in its actual form.
There will be no more support from me related to actual hardware revisions since my focus now is to rebuild this design form scratch, this time using top parts, not cheap ones like I used till now. Perhaps that's the main reason for which Wave IO is working stable while BW is a stubborn piece of nightmare. I should change the title of this thread in : "BluWave - a miniature devil"
Obviously I won't as there's no benefit in doing that!
I want to thank you all for help and support and I'm really sorry it ended up like this but it seems that I wasn't made to build cheap things!
Kind regards,
L
Sorry to hear all the problems you have gone through with the BW board. I am still enjoying mine immensely without issues. Good luck with the new board. All the best!
/Micael
Thank you all for support and kind words! I may starting to have a clue on what is happening to my board but I'm far from fixing it. The problems seems to lie in firmware. Most likely there's something need to be adjusted there but have no clue yet what it might be. Still digging!
On another hand, I already star gathering some infos and documents about the new design. TirNaOg told me to implement the Linear (now AD) linear Vregs which I will definitely do but I'm having some troubles in deciding if the SPDIF input would be something useful for the incoming board or not and if I shoudl go for a case besides the bare board.
If there are some wishes you like to see on the new card which are worth mentioning then we can start talking about them.
Cheers,
L
On another hand, I already star gathering some infos and documents about the new design. TirNaOg told me to implement the Linear (now AD) linear Vregs which I will definitely do but I'm having some troubles in deciding if the SPDIF input would be something useful for the incoming board or not and if I shoudl go for a case besides the bare board.
If there are some wishes you like to see on the new card which are worth mentioning then we can start talking about them.
Cheers,
L
Hi Lorian (or is it Lucian?),
Not sure what your plans are for a new board and it's a shame that BluWave has been such a painful experience for you. Personally I like the way BluWave sounds - for me it sounds better than WaveIO even though I do get occasional 'clicks'. We all understand why you want to call an end to BluWave and go on to design something new. Your efforts in trying to track down the problems are appreciated by everyone and you are right in looking for a new design.
I like the BluWave sound and from my own experience in trying to get it working with different Operating Systems on different hardware platforms, I'm fairly sure you are correct in putting the problem down to a firmware issue. If it is possible to correct the problem through firmware I for one would be grateful.
If you are thinking of designing a case as well as a new card I would support that - it's a good idea.
Bob
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