I am struggling to understand all of the various parts associated with an Ian Canada DAC. I have printed out almost all of the manuals for each device and intend to pour through then to understand how they all connect together. I was wondering if someone has a sort of a diagram that indicates how the various parts connect together and which ones are required or optional. I am particularly looking to understand a core system that would be based on a raspberry pi. I would like to get something working with the bare minimum and then expand things over time. I would appreciate any help possible.
One of Ian's most successful products is FIFO_Pi, now IIRC in its third iteration. Ian's dac, the dual ES9038Q3M dac does not include an output stage (although transformer and opamp-based options exist), nor power supplies. Ian may also have a product to drive modern commercial dacs that have LVDS I2S digital inputs. IMHO to get the most out of Ian's designs requires use of multiple products, which can add up to $$$ over time. Whether or not to go down that path depends on what someone would like to do as a hobby.