IanCanada's Latest RPi GB Goodies Impressions... and your tweaks, mods and hints...

Hello Ian!

I recently made an experiment and want to share my impression.
I removed three polymer capacitors and ceramic ones from the VCCA, DVCC, AVCC power pads from the DAC board.
I installed 3 x Sanyo OS-CON 820uF. The result was found positive for sound quality. The power wires come from the bottom of each pad.
Along with the advantages, one drawback appeared. When the LiFePo4 PSU shuts down on a timer after 5 hours, I hear a loud bang and a humming decay sound. This feature appeared after the replacement of capacitors. I'm scared to burn my speakers’ tweets.
What did I do wrong and how can I fix it?

IMG_5896.jpg
 
Hi
I have problem with RPi 3b and Ian's HATs. There is Volumio installed and it is working perfectly only on RPi, but when HATs installed there is no any output. I have Isolator, 9028 DAC, DAC controller, and I/V STD board. Regulated PS is connected to Isolator board and suplly RPi and DAC, I/V board has separated regulated supply. All lights are on and controller as well. Strange thing is on controller as it after power on constantly filling the dots on the bottom and not change the image. In Volumio I've tried generic i2s dac and Hifiberry DAC+ as advised in manual. All jumpers are in default position. I do not even remember what different setting I try in Volumio with no result so if somebody has some experience please advise.

Danijel
 
Hi Ian, Hi everybody
I made a mistake. Changing a battery on my LifePO4 mkII, i inverted the polarity of the battery in the BT6 position (i saw some sparks but nothing more).
Now when I turn on the system i have the correct voltage on J1 and J2 (i'm using the system with 4 battery but i'm using only J1 and J2)
BUT
when I turn off the system and it goes in "charging" mode, the BT6 doesn't charge the battery.
All other 3 batteries are charged properly.
the problem is that if battery BT6 is below the threshold, the system charges the other batteries continuously without interrupting (and therefore overcharges them).
If I remove the battery BT6 (to try to use the system only with the other 3 battery, BT7, BT5 and BT2) the voltage meter on the board measures around 2V, and so again try to overcharge the battery.
I suppose I burned something but I don't know what.
Can you suggest me something to control or to change on the board ?
There is another way to avoid using the BT6 battery ?

Thanks in advance
Paolo
 
Hi all
Waiting for a support may i suggest a crazy idea? Considering i'm using only two output on the lifepo4 (j1 and j2), to avoid the recharging problem may i put the battery in BT5 position connected in parallel with the BT6?
In this way when the system is ON on j1 i have two battery connected in parallel.
During the recharge phase both battery are recharged via BT5
I don't have the electric schema of the board and so i'm not sure to make a good thing or i will destroy everything
Hoping someone can answer me i salute you
Regards
Paolo
 
I'm finishing up my V3 of my Ian's DAC stack. I'm using the standard clocks that come installed on the FiFoPiQ3 and want to install some better ones. The FiFoP1 user guide recommends the Crystek and NDK clocks as ones to consider. What's the current state of clocks like we use in our DAC stacks? Have any better ones become available since late 2020 when I was building my original V2 version? Or, should I just stick to the recommended ones.
 
Crystek or NDK are a good upgrade. The difference between the two maybe subjective.
After that you're probably looking at an Andrea Mori product which even having sampled the entry level clock, does give a noticeable improvement. All in my ears of course!
 
Doede did a very good review of a few clocks. If you have not seen it, it is a good overview.
In addition to Crystek which are similar to NDK he also covers Accusilicon which looks interesting. They are easy to use like Crystek but likely a step up. I also think Andre's first generation Driscol is a great compromise if you can find one. If you build it without the oven, it can deliver 80% of the sound without a requiring a bulky enclosure. While I am happy with Andrea's latest and greatest, I think Accusilicon is a great choice. The stock clock supplied with Fifo is only for testing. For me, NDK was a big step up from that.
His blog is http://blog.dddac.com/the-clock-tests-part-3/
 
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Thanks guys. I think I'll go with the Crysteks. I prefer the easiest to install. I've found the 2 I need at Digi-Key, but now it appears they need a small PCB to fit the 4-pins needed on the FiFoPi board. Their SMD pads are underneath. Is there a link to the type of breakout board I will need, or a part number? I can solder SMDs provided they're not the very tiny little suckers. 🙂 I haven't looked at the Accusilicon yet, but are they an easy drop-in replacement that would fit the FiFoPi w/o an adapte?