Downloaded. Will set it up, waiting for a bit before messing with the board (led's / resistors). @clivem, you first 😉
Thanks!
Cool!
Last edited:
@cdsgames: Off topic (non FIFO) in the mean time... regarding those parallel Dacs. How close is it to differential balanced? Could you set it to that in software, and attach some XLR's out? (Did you plan for that?)
Attachments
Last edited:
Scott,
I was thinking the same thing when I first looked at that DAC. One should be able to setup a filter to do nothing but invert the output of one channel on each DAC, load that to replace the sub xover filters, then kludge-in a couple of XLRs.
Greg in Mississippi
P.S. Prob worth taking this over to the thread on the DAC.
Last edited:
Good point, I'd move it if I could and too late to edit... re-posting there.
Last edited:
I didn't swap the resistors or remove the LEDs. I just removed the resistors. I ran i2cdetect to get the bus slave address of the DAC chips.
Code:
$ sudo i2cdetect 1
WARNING! This program can confuse your I2C bus, cause data loss and worse!
I will probe file /dev/i2c-1.
I will probe address range 0x03-0x77.
Continue? [Y/n]
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 a b c d e f
00: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
10: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
20: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
30: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
40: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 4c 4d -- --
50: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
60: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
70: -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --4c for one of the (left and right) PCM5 DAC's and 4d for the (subwoofer) other.
IQAudIO DAC's use 4c, so if you just want the Piano to work with any current distro as a 2channel DAC, just pretend it is an IQAudIO DAC+, "dtoverlay=iqaudio-dacplus".
That's what I had playing music, Pi2B/Kali/Piano, last night. (I think a little work is going to be required on the driver side of things to have it functioning as a 2.1 channel DAC and the driver available in the current distributions.)
Attachments
@clivem
Nice! I removed the resistors like you, and using the "dtoverlay=iqaudio-dacplus" it's running in 2.0 mode-- 🙂 interesting soundwise isn't it?
Attachments
Check that the right channel is really the right and left, the left. I think the channels are swapped.
I'm just gonna say this.... A pig is a pig. Put a dress on it and paint it with lipstick and it still OINKS!!!! 😉 I'm way too familiar with the TI junk.... Minus the Kali, the Piano is no better or worse than half a dozen other TI PCM5x DAC's that have been though my hands. The CM.... Not sure. (I've been using the AMP, complete stack, this afternoon). I can't hear any sound difference with or without the CM. (Perhaps that says more about the quality of the Dell laptop PS than anything else....) The AMP board is not better/worse than several similar products that I'm also familiar with. ie. the HB and IQ variants with TI chips.
The unique selling point of the Piano DAC is the 2.1. The way the upload of DSP is implemented from the kernel driver, rather than userspace, means it is unlikely to find its way into any distribution in current form. Meaning this DAC is gonna be 2 channel only unless you are willing to run their own distribution.....
I also find it objectionable, that there is way too much gain with the amp, that you need to attenuate so heavily in the digital domain. -36db, for my usual listening level and I'm not using particularly sensitive speakers. (In any case, I wouldn't dream of connecting this type of kit to the horns...)
Attachments
Yeah, noticed that right away... thought it must just be cables switched on my amp side and didn't check it.
Screw-up on their board, me thinks. Same with the amp, you'll need to connect the left speaker to the terminal, silk-screened "Right". I added a couple of new mixer controls to the PCM512x codec driver, specifically for register 24, so for left/right DAC data path you can choose, "MUTE", "LEFT", "RIGHT"...... and reverse it there. At some point I'll submit that patch to ALSA dev mailing list....
I really get what you are saying, after being fairly familiar with the D+Pro PCM5xxx! It's like Kali is giving thick focused details top to bottom, yet that same-old character is there-- need to listen more (headphones and big system), that's for sure. The Kali is the cool thing.
Looks like max2play is the plan for their own dist... but yeah, starting small in 2.0 mode is probably the way to go, to get in the official dist!
Then figure out the 2.1 DSP after that. Only way to make it really popular!
Last edited:
I see on the AMP... have not touched that yet. On the CM are you just inputting the normal 5V DC?
Last edited:
5V to the Kali barrel and 19V laptop PS to the CM barrel, which is then plugged into AMP board.
Well, it would have done, but for the fact that I'm wise to these things, so before I rebooted with the AMP board attached, I full attenuated the "Digital" volume control. Then I'm using squeezelite with "-V Digital", so it's using the DAC hardware volume control when I'm adjusting from LMS, if that makes sense.
Yeah, the Kali is the cool thing and I've had the chance to head-to-head with Ian FIFO, with and without isolation. It would seem a little unfair talking about using one part of the solution to improve other products, in this thread..... That's why I asked for your email addy. I'll send you some more thoughts over the weekend, but I don't really want to go saying much in public until cdgames lets us know what the retail price of his products is.
It would be unfair to be harsh if they are "cheap", relatively speaking. However, if they end up being loads more $$$$'s than the "usual suspects" for no real benefit...... I'm keen to know what the price points are going to be.
Is that what you downloaded yesterday... the image from Google Drive..... It was based on max2play?
Exactly. Get an overlay into the RPi kernel git and Raspbian kernel (and the usual suspect distros) for 2 channel support quickly, and deal with the DSP afterwards. I've offered to help......
Last edited:
@clivem: Did you notice you can run the piano w/out the kali? At first thought it may have relied on it