Hi MisterRogers,
The latest update is that everything is coming together, the new input board that provides switching between 8 S/PDIF inputs, and two channels for I2S or DSD (post #25) works great. The Amanero adapter board providing synchronous clocking is done. The PCB gerbers went out yesterday so I should have the boards by tomorrow, and start testing by early next week. The final touches on the DAC/Amp/Controller/PS and supporting boards are complete. The gerbers for those boards will start going out today. The firmware looks solid when no known issues. Luckily I've had this week off from work and been able to make some good progress.
My plan at the moment that could change depending on my regular work schedule is to have the final BOM and pricing complete by mid October, and have all the boards tested by the end of October to early November. If all goes well start shipping to those interested sometime in mid to late November.
If anybody has any questions please feel free to ask. I'll keep you all posted on any new developments.
Best regards,
Al
The latest update is that everything is coming together, the new input board that provides switching between 8 S/PDIF inputs, and two channels for I2S or DSD (post #25) works great. The Amanero adapter board providing synchronous clocking is done. The PCB gerbers went out yesterday so I should have the boards by tomorrow, and start testing by early next week. The final touches on the DAC/Amp/Controller/PS and supporting boards are complete. The gerbers for those boards will start going out today. The firmware looks solid when no known issues. Luckily I've had this week off from work and been able to make some good progress.
My plan at the moment that could change depending on my regular work schedule is to have the final BOM and pricing complete by mid October, and have all the boards tested by the end of October to early November. If all goes well start shipping to those interested sometime in mid to late November.
If anybody has any questions please feel free to ask. I'll keep you all posted on any new developments.
Best regards,
Al
Very interested in 8-channel, USB input version with dual ES9018 - count me in!
There are lots of stereo ES9018 dacs available, but the market is very short of high quality 8-ch DACs. I know only two, exaSound e28 and TPA Buffalo III.
Your 8-ch design will get higher attention, IMO. Ideal for digital multi-way XOs.
Keep up the great work!
There are lots of stereo ES9018 dacs available, but the market is very short of high quality 8-ch DACs. I know only two, exaSound e28 and TPA Buffalo III.
Your 8-ch design will get higher attention, IMO. Ideal for digital multi-way XOs.
Keep up the great work!
Hi Everybody,
First let me thank everybody that has expressed interest in this project. I really really appreciate it. I've been working diligently nights and weekends to complete the design so that I can make it available to everybody soon. I'm still on track to meet my completion time frame in post #65.
I'm happy to report that Amanero is working flawlessly with the new adapter board that provides synchronous re-clocking. The adapter connects directly to the DAC for those that prefer USB input only operation, or it can be connected to the Input board that provides switching between 8 stereo channels of S/PDIF, or two separate channels of I2S or DSD with all 8 channels available ideal for digital crossovers or surround sound.
I've attached three pics. The first pic shows Amanero plus the adapter board connected directly to the DAC. It's resting on top of the S/PDIF board, but the S/PDIF board is not connected. The second pic is a close up of Amanero plus adapter board connected directly to the input board. The third pic is just an overall view with foobar2000 playing in the background.
If anybody has any questions please feel free to ask.
Best regards,
Al
First let me thank everybody that has expressed interest in this project. I really really appreciate it. I've been working diligently nights and weekends to complete the design so that I can make it available to everybody soon. I'm still on track to meet my completion time frame in post #65.
I'm happy to report that Amanero is working flawlessly with the new adapter board that provides synchronous re-clocking. The adapter connects directly to the DAC for those that prefer USB input only operation, or it can be connected to the Input board that provides switching between 8 stereo channels of S/PDIF, or two separate channels of I2S or DSD with all 8 channels available ideal for digital crossovers or surround sound.
I've attached three pics. The first pic shows Amanero plus the adapter board connected directly to the DAC. It's resting on top of the S/PDIF board, but the S/PDIF board is not connected. The second pic is a close up of Amanero plus adapter board connected directly to the input board. The third pic is just an overall view with foobar2000 playing in the background.
If anybody has any questions please feel free to ask.
Best regards,
Al
Attachments
Hi Al,
Thanks for the update.
I'm interested in a stereo kit. I have few questions for you.
1. Why did you re-clock the the input from Amanero usb board? If the USB board has re-clocking after isolation from usb receiver chip, can I connect it directly and get the same advantage?
2. Can I connect one i2s input and spdif input directly to DAC board and use the ES9018's on-board multiplexer to toggle between the inputs?
Thanks
Ravi
Thanks for the update.
I'm interested in a stereo kit. I have few questions for you.
1. Why did you re-clock the the input from Amanero usb board? If the USB board has re-clocking after isolation from usb receiver chip, can I connect it directly and get the same advantage?
2. Can I connect one i2s input and spdif input directly to DAC board and use the ES9018's on-board multiplexer to toggle between the inputs?
Thanks
Ravi
Hi Ravi,
The Amanero does not provide isolation on the outputs. The outputs come out of a CPLD and then connect to the output header. The Atmel USB chip provides the input data to the CPLD. I re-clocked the CPLD I2S/DSD outputs to reduce CPLD additive jitter.
You can connect I2S/DSD and S/PDIF inputs to the DAC directly but you'll need a way of controlling the necessary on-board registers to toggle between the two inputs. The ES9018 will not do it automatically.
Thanks for the interest. I'll put you down for a stereo kit.
Best regards,
Al
The Amanero does not provide isolation on the outputs. The outputs come out of a CPLD and then connect to the output header. The Atmel USB chip provides the input data to the CPLD. I re-clocked the CPLD I2S/DSD outputs to reduce CPLD additive jitter.
You can connect I2S/DSD and S/PDIF inputs to the DAC directly but you'll need a way of controlling the necessary on-board registers to toggle between the two inputs. The ES9018 will not do it automatically.
Thanks for the interest. I'll put you down for a stereo kit.
Best regards,
Al
AAK,
I just came across your excellent project. You did outstanding job, my hat to you. This is great package that avoids many small boards and solves many issues. I am sure it took lots of work to do design, construction and programming. There are few questions I have, and I hope you will understand, some might sound funny to you since in the area of programming and microcontrolers I know nothing about. I am particularly interested in switchable input for I2S and microcontroler. Here are my few questions:
1. Does I/V converter reside on the same board with DACs or is separate?
2. Since I already have Acko's DAC boards with ESS 9012 would it be possible to use main control board and input board separately from your DAC and I/V board and control registers in my DACs through I2C connection?
3. How would digital crossover be implemented ? Would you drop Mini Sharc between Input Board and DACs? Does that means there are separate I2S inputs to DAC board?
4. Since you are synchronizing clocks between DACs and Amanero and reclocking, how that will work with MiniSharc that functions at 96KHz only? Obviously, I am not sure you are using MiniSharc, but cannot understand how would you use Mini DSP with this set up.
5. Any reason that you decided to use PIC microcontrolers and not Arduino, since Arduino is very popular as controller for ESS DACs. Obviously just a curiosity question, not a statement here
Thank you and one more time - very impressive achievement!
I just came across your excellent project. You did outstanding job, my hat to you. This is great package that avoids many small boards and solves many issues. I am sure it took lots of work to do design, construction and programming. There are few questions I have, and I hope you will understand, some might sound funny to you since in the area of programming and microcontrolers I know nothing about. I am particularly interested in switchable input for I2S and microcontroler. Here are my few questions:
1. Does I/V converter reside on the same board with DACs or is separate?
2. Since I already have Acko's DAC boards with ESS 9012 would it be possible to use main control board and input board separately from your DAC and I/V board and control registers in my DACs through I2C connection?
3. How would digital crossover be implemented ? Would you drop Mini Sharc between Input Board and DACs? Does that means there are separate I2S inputs to DAC board?
4. Since you are synchronizing clocks between DACs and Amanero and reclocking, how that will work with MiniSharc that functions at 96KHz only? Obviously, I am not sure you are using MiniSharc, but cannot understand how would you use Mini DSP with this set up.
5. Any reason that you decided to use PIC microcontrolers and not Arduino, since Arduino is very popular as controller for ESS DACs. Obviously just a curiosity question, not a statement here
Thank you and one more time - very impressive achievement!
Hi AR2,
Thanks for the complements. To your questions.
1. Does I/V converter reside on the same board with DACs or is separate?
Nop. The I'V is a separate board that connects to the DAC through headers. The I/V stacks below the DAC. If you look at post #2 you'll see a picture of the I/V board. On each side you'll see female headers that connect to the DAC's male headers. Adjacent to each female header you'll see a male header for connecting the DACs outputs to the I/V section using jumpers. Since I'm using 4 DACs in parallel per channel there's a jumper in every position.
2. Since I already have Acko's DAC boards with ESS 9012 would it be possible to use main control board and input board separately from your DAC and I/V board and control registers in my DACs through I2C connection?
I don't see why not, the I2C signals are available on a 8-pin header, but currently I don't have a separate controller board. The MCU is on the DAC board. If there's enough interest I could provide a separate controller board.
3. How would digital crossover be implemented ? Would you drop Mini Sharc between Input Board and DACs? Does that means there are separate I2S inputs to DAC board?
For the moment I'm thinking of using a miniDSP. All the I2S signals that I need for stereo 2-way crossovers are available on one of the headers. If you were using a Sharc, it would connect directly to the DAC, or you could use the input board if you need more than one input. It board provides two additional inputs to the DAC. The MCU allows the user to select between the three different inputs.
4. Since you are synchronizing clocks between DACs and Amanero and reclocking, how that will work with MiniSharc that functions at 96KHz only? Obviously, I am not sure you are using MiniSharc, but cannot understand how would you use Mini DSP with this set up.
My DAC setup will work with any audio standard with the flexibility to switch between synchronous or asynchronous clocking.
5. Any reason that you decided to use PIC microcontrolers and not Arduino, since Arduino is very popular as controller for ESS DACs.
No real reason. It's what I had in-house so I went with it.
I hope the answers help. If not let me know. Thanks again.
Best regards,
Al
Thanks for the complements. To your questions.
1. Does I/V converter reside on the same board with DACs or is separate?
Nop. The I'V is a separate board that connects to the DAC through headers. The I/V stacks below the DAC. If you look at post #2 you'll see a picture of the I/V board. On each side you'll see female headers that connect to the DAC's male headers. Adjacent to each female header you'll see a male header for connecting the DACs outputs to the I/V section using jumpers. Since I'm using 4 DACs in parallel per channel there's a jumper in every position.
2. Since I already have Acko's DAC boards with ESS 9012 would it be possible to use main control board and input board separately from your DAC and I/V board and control registers in my DACs through I2C connection?
I don't see why not, the I2C signals are available on a 8-pin header, but currently I don't have a separate controller board. The MCU is on the DAC board. If there's enough interest I could provide a separate controller board.
3. How would digital crossover be implemented ? Would you drop Mini Sharc between Input Board and DACs? Does that means there are separate I2S inputs to DAC board?
For the moment I'm thinking of using a miniDSP. All the I2S signals that I need for stereo 2-way crossovers are available on one of the headers. If you were using a Sharc, it would connect directly to the DAC, or you could use the input board if you need more than one input. It board provides two additional inputs to the DAC. The MCU allows the user to select between the three different inputs.
4. Since you are synchronizing clocks between DACs and Amanero and reclocking, how that will work with MiniSharc that functions at 96KHz only? Obviously, I am not sure you are using MiniSharc, but cannot understand how would you use Mini DSP with this set up.
My DAC setup will work with any audio standard with the flexibility to switch between synchronous or asynchronous clocking.
5. Any reason that you decided to use PIC microcontrolers and not Arduino, since Arduino is very popular as controller for ESS DACs.
No real reason. It's what I had in-house so I went with it.
I hope the answers help. If not let me know. Thanks again.
Best regards,
Al
Hi Al, you project is absolutely brilliant! It's have such great potential to be number one in DIY community (given that price is right-like AMANERO). I like scalability future of it where one can start from simple stereo DAC and adding more modules expand to full 24+ channel semi profy system! Or having simple LCD module and then upgrade to a full OLED screen with graphics. Lego land in DIY HiFi world.....stacking DAC's modules on the top of each another may push limit of standard size case, so would it be possible to have all this stacked modules rotated and mount them horizontally?
Regarding DSP, my personal view is that best way to do it(easy to experiment, upgrade, modify etc) is to have all done virtually in PC and transport this over USB to DAC... something like this: "https://sites.google.com/site/koonaudioprojects/sse-fir-vst-plugin"
Now, I do have 2xBIII in dual mono configuration and unfortunately TP team is shortcoming when it comes to I2S/DSD input modules (8channels+), and because of this I am very interested in your 8channel I2S input board (SPDIF I found shortcoming and obsolete for HiRes). Also I am interested in stand alone controller board if and when became available. With this controller board would it be possible for end user to upgrade firmware when a new one is released? How about using apple remote control like HiFiDuno?
Also, AMANERO board with your adapter board, how much jitter improvement did you measure? Would like to get one and test it in synchronous mode.
cheers
Danny
Regarding DSP, my personal view is that best way to do it(easy to experiment, upgrade, modify etc) is to have all done virtually in PC and transport this over USB to DAC... something like this: "https://sites.google.com/site/koonaudioprojects/sse-fir-vst-plugin"
Now, I do have 2xBIII in dual mono configuration and unfortunately TP team is shortcoming when it comes to I2S/DSD input modules (8channels+), and because of this I am very interested in your 8channel I2S input board (SPDIF I found shortcoming and obsolete for HiRes). Also I am interested in stand alone controller board if and when became available. With this controller board would it be possible for end user to upgrade firmware when a new one is released? How about using apple remote control like HiFiDuno?
Also, AMANERO board with your adapter board, how much jitter improvement did you measure? Would like to get one and test it in synchronous mode.
cheers
Danny
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