M2TECH Hiface USB->SPDIF 24/192Khz asynch

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regal

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Joined 2004
Spartacus said:
Gotta disagree here .... I listen to internet radio plenty on my hi-res system and don't feel it's wasted at all.
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I saw internet radio and asummed he was talking about Sirrus or whatever sattelite crap I tried. I guess its concieveable that internet radio would stream RBCD uncompressed, but I don't know. Just hate to see a guy spend $170 on a USB device that has a slight improvement even with a high end headphone rig with genuine RBCD lossless.
 
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Spartacus

Member
Joined 2002
regal said:
I saw internet radio and asummed he was talking about Sirrus or whatever sattelite crap I tried. I guess its concieveable that internet radio would stream RBCD uncompressed, but I don't know. Just hate to see a guy spend $170 on a USB device that has a slight improvement even with a high end headphone rig with genuine RBCD lossless.
Click to expand...

Most is internet radio is compressed as you say, but that doesn't mean it necessarily sounds bad or is not capable of sounding better on a better system. As to whether it is worth it .... that depends on any number of things, but the Hiface is certainly capable of bringing improvement to formats of lower quality than RBCD.
 
merlin el mago

merlin el mago

Member
Joined 2009
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GuidoR said:
Modding HiFace: how to

The board is very small, so only limited mods are possible.
Here the most important ones.
Taking out I2S: the points are on the following resistors:
MCLK -> R3
SCLK -> R5
LRCK -> R6
SDATA -> R7
In theory, it could be better to steal the signal upstream of the res, in case of long wires, downstream in case of short ones.
The "up" is the side near the DIT for R5 and R6, the opposite for R3 and R7.
In fact, due to the extremely small dimension of the 47R res (0603) is not advisable to attach wires directly on them, the risk of burning them (as I did :() is very high. (you can see from the pics that I replaced the 0603 with 0805, but due to the limited space one has to be mounted on edge:eek:).
DO NOT REMOVE THOSE RESISTORS!!!!
My solution, after some disasters :(, has been oriented to the better "mechanical" solution, in order to avoid any stress to the very fragile pads. Following the tracks from the resistors, you can see four vias that are connected, the other side, to the Xilinx chip (the one with the big green dot).
I ran copper wires (0,35mm - AWG 27), duly bent and tinned, applied some flux, lined them up on the legs of the chip and just a tip of a soldering iron - a magnifier is a must. The attentive reader can note that the connexions are mixed - upstream and downstream: it works just the same.
You can steal the ground connection from the second uninsulated pad on the side of the board (near the square one).

Replacing PS: the HiFace is fed by USB, so we can isolate the V input.
To make the change reversible, I disconnected the Vin pin by only lifting them, and connecting an insulated wire. The wire is fixed with a tie-wrap to improve the mech (and to avoid stress to the pads).

On the pics I have evidenced in red the vias and the contacts.

Enjoy (I did!!) :D:D
Click to expand...

Where do you connect the gnd of the external PSU? pin 4 USB?
 
merlin el mago

merlin el mago

Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
GuidoR said:
See post #30, second pic. The ground is common

"You can steal the ground connection from the second uninsulated pad on the side of the board (near the square one)."


Enjoy

Guido
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Ciao / Hi, Guido

Doesn't work, F2K can't see "Output Device: Kernel Streaming hiFace or other hiFace output device"

USB Pin nº 1 = connected specific PSU positive +5V

USB Pin nº 4 = no connected to gnd laptop/pc, desoldering the connexion I break the Pcb pad so is the reason I asked you where connect the gnd of the specific PSU

PCB Gnd connected specific gnd PSU as per your photo under wrote in PCB R9, right?

Need to be connected the gnd laptop/pc & the gnd specific PSU togheter?

Thanks in advance for help

Best

Felipe
 
Last edited:
GuidoR

GuidoR

Member
Joined 2006
merlin el mago said:
Ciao / Hi, Guido

Doesn't work, F2K can't see "Output Device: Kernel Streaming hiFace or other hiFace output device"

USB Pin nº 1 = connected specific PSU positive +5V

USB Pin nº 4 = no connected to gnd laptop/pc, desoldering the connexion I break the Pcb pad so is the reason I asked you where connect the gnd of the specific PSU

PCB Gnd connected specific gnd PSU as per your photo under wrote in PCB R9, right?

Need to be connected the gnd laptop/pc & the gnd specific PSU togheter?

Thanks in advance for help

Best

Felipe
Click to expand...

Hi Felipe,
Yes, the gnd from pc has to be connected to HiFace. Try to fix the broken contact.
See pics in post #43, I lifted the +5v pin from USB to HiFace, and connected here the new 5v supply (there is a choke, you can solder before or after, I preferred to gently lift the USB pin and make use of the larger pad of the pin itself) . All Gnd (power and I2S signal) are connected to the pin 2 of the (unused) J3 (yes, under "R9" writing).
Feel free to contact me by p.m. in case of further need


Ciao

Guido
 
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