If that's the case count me in for four boards. I'm not too good of a soldering fool, so chances are I'll screw up one or two anyways 😛
for $37 each (I assume USD) then count me in for 4
- I was expecting them to cost more, but $37 is quite inexpensive for a ready made board, and trafo.
edit - yes, I know I have to get the rest of the components, I meant the board itself...
- I was expecting them to cost more, but $37 is quite inexpensive for a ready made board, and trafo.
edit - yes, I know I have to get the rest of the components, I meant the board itself...
Modification of analog output of 980H and 981HD
Risking a slightly "off topic" post here.
In addition to the great Rossl Hi-Rez stereo PCM output, it is also nice to upgrade the regular analog outputs of the OPPO players.
Recently we modded one 980H and one 981HD as follows:
980H: The NE5532 opamp was swapped with a BurrBrown OPA2604 dual FET opamp which we have experienced is one of the better sounding dual opamps with a detailed and neutral "Class A" sound. The coupling caps for this opamp was exchanged with better grade Nichicon Fine Gold caps (47u/16v) . The 980H originally had a slightly peaky, upward (frequency-wise) tilted sound. After the modification it became much more relaxed with a fuller bass range, as well as a rich and better defined sound.
981HD: This had a F4558 cheap dual opamp, which again was swapped with a BurrBrown OPA2604 dual FET opamp. The coupling caps between the DAC and opamp were replaced with Nichicon Fine Gold 100u/16V, and the coupling caps between opamp and output were exchanged with Black gate 100u/16V. The unmodified 981HD already had sounded much more relaxed and wide-range as compared to the unmodified 980H, and after the modification it became much better still delivering believable rendered in space images of performers and instruments. It should be quite competitive with quite high-end single-box CD/SACD/DVD audio players. It may switch duties with a SONY SCD-1 as a first try.
CAUTION: The OPPO boards' copper seems to be very thin. Be careful when applying heat on the board while soldering. Remove opamps with a dedicated nipper for this purpose to avoid applying force to solder joints that may lead to pealing off copper trails. When snapping off the opamps, cut as close to the opamp housing as possible to avoid mechanical friction.
Cheers!
🙂
Risking a slightly "off topic" post here.
In addition to the great Rossl Hi-Rez stereo PCM output, it is also nice to upgrade the regular analog outputs of the OPPO players.
Recently we modded one 980H and one 981HD as follows:
980H: The NE5532 opamp was swapped with a BurrBrown OPA2604 dual FET opamp which we have experienced is one of the better sounding dual opamps with a detailed and neutral "Class A" sound. The coupling caps for this opamp was exchanged with better grade Nichicon Fine Gold caps (47u/16v) . The 980H originally had a slightly peaky, upward (frequency-wise) tilted sound. After the modification it became much more relaxed with a fuller bass range, as well as a rich and better defined sound.
981HD: This had a F4558 cheap dual opamp, which again was swapped with a BurrBrown OPA2604 dual FET opamp. The coupling caps between the DAC and opamp were replaced with Nichicon Fine Gold 100u/16V, and the coupling caps between opamp and output were exchanged with Black gate 100u/16V. The unmodified 981HD already had sounded much more relaxed and wide-range as compared to the unmodified 980H, and after the modification it became much better still delivering believable rendered in space images of performers and instruments. It should be quite competitive with quite high-end single-box CD/SACD/DVD audio players. It may switch duties with a SONY SCD-1 as a first try.
CAUTION: The OPPO boards' copper seems to be very thin. Be careful when applying heat on the board while soldering. Remove opamps with a dedicated nipper for this purpose to avoid applying force to solder joints that may lead to pealing off copper trails. When snapping off the opamps, cut as close to the opamp housing as possible to avoid mechanical friction.
Cheers!
🙂
I received an email with the following question.
~~~ question:
I hope you do not mind I ask you in a private mail how to set up (or
modify) the Hi Rez board to upsample to 88.2 kHz (instead of 96 kHz
or 192 kHz) etc.?
~~~
Answer:
The crystal oscillator Y2 is 24.576MHz. This is divided by the Cirrus Logic CS8406 by either 256 or 128, depending on the jumper setting, to get 96K or 192K.
The CS8406 uses this clock to ask for a sample at the correct time from the ASRC chip.
So, instead if you used a 22.5792MHz oscillator for Y2 and set the jumper to 96K, it would actually resample to 88.2K.
I investigated this when I designed the board because I thought it would be a good option to have. Part of the resampling problem is that you need to use a low-jitter oscillator. DigiKey has a 22.5792MHz oscillator but it is in a larger SMT package and it has a moderate amount of jitter.
You could also use a 11.2896MHz oscillator and set the jumper to 192K. This would also work. I couldn't find an acceptable low jitter clock in either frequency, so I didn't pursue the issue any more after that.
The resampling clock must be low jitter, otherwise you will modulate the music with the jitter in the clock.
Digikey didn't have either frequency in the CTX low jitter series:
http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T073/P1276.pdf
Mouser didn't have either frequency in the Crystec 0.5psec jitter series:
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/631/773.pdf
Maybe someone on the board knows of another source for a low jitter oscillator.
~~~ question:
I hope you do not mind I ask you in a private mail how to set up (or
modify) the Hi Rez board to upsample to 88.2 kHz (instead of 96 kHz
or 192 kHz) etc.?
~~~
Answer:
The crystal oscillator Y2 is 24.576MHz. This is divided by the Cirrus Logic CS8406 by either 256 or 128, depending on the jumper setting, to get 96K or 192K.
The CS8406 uses this clock to ask for a sample at the correct time from the ASRC chip.
So, instead if you used a 22.5792MHz oscillator for Y2 and set the jumper to 96K, it would actually resample to 88.2K.
I investigated this when I designed the board because I thought it would be a good option to have. Part of the resampling problem is that you need to use a low-jitter oscillator. DigiKey has a 22.5792MHz oscillator but it is in a larger SMT package and it has a moderate amount of jitter.
You could also use a 11.2896MHz oscillator and set the jumper to 192K. This would also work. I couldn't find an acceptable low jitter clock in either frequency, so I didn't pursue the issue any more after that.
The resampling clock must be low jitter, otherwise you will modulate the music with the jitter in the clock.
Digikey didn't have either frequency in the CTX low jitter series:
http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T073/P1276.pdf
Mouser didn't have either frequency in the Crystec 0.5psec jitter series:
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/631/773.pdf
Maybe someone on the board knows of another source for a low jitter oscillator.
With a little help from GOOGLE I found:
http://www.audioworkshop.com.hk/order/order.htm
Item part no.: XO_22M
Item Name: 22.5792MHz Oscillator (half size)
This is the manufacturer:
http://www.txc.com.tw/en/c_products/01.html
Problem is that XO_22M is nowhere to be found on their site.
Anyone else?
http://www.audioworkshop.com.hk/order/order.htm
Item part no.: XO_22M
Item Name: 22.5792MHz Oscillator (half size)
This is the manufacturer:
http://www.txc.com.tw/en/c_products/01.html
Problem is that XO_22M is nowhere to be found on their site.
Anyone else?
group buy
I have been using the board for a few months now and the 981 sounds great. I would like to get 4 of the sc947-02 transformers, to try to retrofit to my older boards.
Ross I would also like to add a switch on the 981 to change between 96 and 192 kHz. Can one use a dpdt switch to reset the board and switch between 96 and 192kHz?
Thanks
Jims
I have been using the board for a few months now and the 981 sounds great. I would like to get 4 of the sc947-02 transformers, to try to retrofit to my older boards.
Ross I would also like to add a switch on the 981 to change between 96 and 192 kHz. Can one use a dpdt switch to reset the board and switch between 96 and 192kHz?
Thanks
Jims
Hi jims,
You will need a SPDT switch to replace the jumpers.
To reset the ASRC you will need a momentary pushbutton switch to ground the connection to pin 1 of U2. That connection is the junction of R10, C8 and CR2.
You will need a SPDT switch to replace the jumpers.
To reset the ASRC you will need a momentary pushbutton switch to ground the connection to pin 1 of U2. That connection is the junction of R10, C8 and CR2.
Here's another bump to keep up the interest in this device. I'd like at least 2 boards. What I'd like to see in the next revision is a third jumper setting (in addition to 96K and 192K) that bypasses sample rate conversion completely. On the other hand, I would be just as happy with a design described in post 13:
""The nice little connector on the Oppo981 also presents another opportunity if we revisit the simple but incomplete adapter solution. If I were to give up sample rate conversion and 192K capability, a very small board could be built with just a connector, a CS8406, and a few resistors and caps. This could be done at a low cost. The output could be wired to the existing coax jack and would be a very simple mod that would provide SACD at 24/88 and DVD, DVD-A, and HDCD all at their natural sample rate and full bit depth. It would be a mod that a lot of DIYers could do easily.""
Hope there is another group buy soon. By my count we are at around 22 already!
Regards, Peter
""The nice little connector on the Oppo981 also presents another opportunity if we revisit the simple but incomplete adapter solution. If I were to give up sample rate conversion and 192K capability, a very small board could be built with just a connector, a CS8406, and a few resistors and caps. This could be done at a low cost. The output could be wired to the existing coax jack and would be a very simple mod that would provide SACD at 24/88 and DVD, DVD-A, and HDCD all at their natural sample rate and full bit depth. It would be a mod that a lot of DIYers could do easily.""
Hope there is another group buy soon. By my count we are at around 22 already!
Regards, Peter
SC947-02
Ross!
I would like to buy one your board and 4 digital audio transformers SC947-02. So include me in the pool if it possible.
Andrey
Ross!
I would like to buy one your board and 4 digital audio transformers SC947-02. So include me in the pool if it possible.
Andrey
FWIW Twisted Pear has some boards that should allow performing an equivalent mod. They already have an spdif xmitter available, and I'm pretty sure you can just hook it up directly to the 981 I2S lines if you don't mind having variable sampleing frequency output. There is an ASRC board in the works as well, and when complete I think the combo will duplicate the functionality of the original mod.
I have a 981 and the Twisted Pear spdif board, but haven't gotten around to trying the mod yet.
I have a 981 and the Twisted Pear spdif board, but haven't gotten around to trying the mod yet.
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