Build thread for Diyinhk ES9018 DAC on Ebay

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However, keep the 100R zobel, and

Trafo sees

(BNC 75R||R5) + R3 + R4 = 75

BNC sees

(Trafo 100R + R3 + R4)||R5 = 75

works for R5 = ~125R and R3 and R4 are ~12R.

All good ?
 
thganks for your kind answers, I will be ordering the smd components and build it this way to see how it sounds. many preffer direct non-isolated spdif, so without a trafo and even without the 0.1 cap...I wonder why? I don't have many experience in this spdif field so my ears will be the judge as you have stated
 
luxury, those values are wrong. I asked you - all good ? If you did the maths you should see they are not. Sorry if I was not clear about this.

In fact, it's impossible to get it exactly right as it is. Try doing some maths so you can follow it and understand how to change it to suit your needs.

Also read this thread and take the time to follow the ideas and maths.

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-source/67247-s-pdif-digital-output.html

Then order parts. Or ask. I'll try to help if I can.
 
Another update : I fitted the SAW as previously described. Here's a photo to show connections. It's a temporary job so please excuse the through hole cap, too much heat, blah blah. The jumper disables the Crystek and provides a ground for the SAW so it switches on. It works as expected.

In terms of sound quality, I'm not sure. At first I thought it had introduced a bit of unwelcome sibilance so I've been going back and forth between the two xo's and in fact, it seems to be better detail.... more revealing. For some female voices, that's not so welcome so I can see why some people would prefer the Crystek. The stereo image seems deeper and more defined and the very deep bass seems to have got a little more definition. However, these are first impressions. So I'm going to keep listening and trying but it certainly seems after a few hours that I prefer the SAW.

The point of this is to say: try it. It isn't a reject like the 125Mhz turned out to be.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
Love Wednesday = "working" from home.

Here's some more pics - the finalised underside with Epson SAW, and smd ferrites, and the tl1963a has gone. The next test is Epson SAW vs synchronised clock from CM6631A. For the CM, it is running off USB power via an RC filter 6.8R + 220uF. So I'll try cleaner power for that too.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
KlipschKid said:
With the 125Mhz clock, the 12R drops 3.2V from the unregulated voltage of 10.7V, so that means the wm8805 + DAC's digital use 266mA with a 125Mhz clock.

At the other extreme, the 12R drops 1.51V from 11.8V = 126mA with a 22.5792Mhz clock.

I was really surprised by the difference so I double checked those voltages - they are correct. I know the wm8805 board uses 70mA so we have a 56mA to 196mA range just by changing the clock. This is at 3.76V AVCC, which is independent . 196mA is close to the ADP151 limit so the 125Mhz clock is risky.
Click to expand...

Just to add some extra data - the AVDD + DVDD + lt1084 regulator use 135mA @ 192Khz and 110mA @ 44.1Khz with the 50Mhz SAW. AVCC is from the sigma11 @ 3.8V, but I haven't bothered to measure mA for that. It can handle far more than ~90mA it should be using.

So we have a total consumption of about 225mA and to that I'll add the CM6631A @ 135mA, so that means the 9-0 transformer will be supplying ~360mA or 3.5VA, so doubling that is wise and 7VA is the minimum, and of course higher ratings will have lower source impedance, which might help the DAC kick even harder.
 
Does it fit with what we already know about power consumption ? I assume it must.

How's the build going ? I think you have got distracted with the 12p ? 🙂 Perfectly understandable ! Speakers drivers... I still remember when I got a set of Dynaudio drivers many years ago. "Very Carefully Made In Denmark" the box said.... damn they were so cool.

I'm nearly at the end of the journey. I stayed up late listening to the difference between sync from the CM6631A's 45Mhz Fox Xpresso xo, and the 50Mhz SAW. The SAW has more impact; the CM clock is softer, with sweeter treble but slightly more strident mids. I prefer the SAW.

There's a photo of this on the first page. The I2S interconnects are mf12 22R resistors and as short as I can get them. And I'm using u.fl cable to send the synch clock in, so that's as good as I can do it too.

I've decided to make this a usb-only DAC. I disconnected the USB power so the only noise that can get in to the DAC is through the USB D+/D- data lines. I don't know how much noise this is, but I clearly heard the improvement of not using USB power for the CM, and this, plus the SAW is as good as I've heard from this DAC.

It's actually very impressive. It's much the same as the 384Khz DAC except it is much more dynamic. I should say that again because it really is the WOW factor for this DAC.

So, at the weekend, I'll finish the boxing up.... and it's done. Except I still can't commit to op amps. OPA1641 / ADA4627 and OPA627 all sound good. I think I'm going to stick with OPA1641 - best for my system.

I hope you do finish yours - I'm really curious to know how it stacks up against the Buffalo.

Cheers
 
Yeah, the current numbers fit within the ball park.
I have not touched the DAC, have to order the bypass ceramic caps. I have to see if I can solder 0603 size otherwise I'll have to order 0805.
Will also order a 75MHz SAW in 5x7 package. Thanks for sharing your experiences on the SAW clocks.

One of the modern challenges is that the components are getting smaller and smaller. The other day I ordered some common and differential mode chokes to isolate USB lines and they are so small!

And yes, the Alpair12p is very distracting 🙂
 
Yes, GLT has posted that photo on hifiduino too, and it shows a complete ground plane, which is great, but so far, I haven't seen the other side with the circuit layout. Anybody seen this ? Is there a photo anywhere ?
 
Finally finished my build of the board I got in January. I used some older TP Tridents and an AVCC to power the board. These took some work to make them fit but they do work. I am using cheap LM 317 / 337 PS to power the Tridents and analog section. The opamps are LME 49710's. I used PRP resistors since they are not that expensive and I had to order most of the values anyway.

I did get the matching USB to work, but it is limited to 16 bit input so I could not use JRiver, which I use for my normal rig, (which is a BIII with a Legato 3 fed by the exaU2I USB board). I gave up on the USB board and used PCM instead.

I was actually somewhat impressed with it the first time I listened to it. It is a bit harsh in the high end and a little brighter then I like. But overall it sounded pretty good. It will be interesting to see how it sounds after I put some hours on it. Not a bad DAC for the $200 I have in it. Its pretty sloppy looking so I may not want to put up pictures 🙂. I may use it for some experiments that I am too afraid to do with my BIII. (clone of the ARC CD8 DAC section).
 
Hey Johnmarkp,

Good to hear you got yours built. Are you using LME49710 in I/V ? If so, then that explains the harsh brightness. Switch them for fets like opa132, opa1641, opa627 or ada4627. They all sound much better.

cheers
 
It's a shame - you have a great DAC with bad I/V op amps and a mediocre xo, for the sake of $15. How can I encourage you to make just two changes ? Change the xo for an Epson SAW and for pity's sake change the op amps. Seriously, I've tried a lot and they are the worst for the I/V. Nasty sound. Please, you owe it to yourself after all the time you spent building it. 🙂
 
KlipschKid,

I am trying to keep this cheap for now. The OPA134 are pretty cheap. How did you like them for the IV. Also what mated well with them for the buffer in your opinion? I will probably give this to a buddy of mine, but will listen to it for a while with my system, which would not be called mellow by most people. (exaU2I, BIII, ARC ref5, ARC VS115 feeding Quad 2805's).

John
 
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