Hi all.
I purchased from ebay a USB isolator hub naked unit
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...570.l1313&_nkw=usb+isolator+quad+hub&_sacat=0
With no external power connected to it, the host PC did not see the USB to I2S device connected downstream of the USB isolator hub (which it was detected and functional when the isolator was not in between).
Therefore I connected an external 5Vdc source to the isolator (voltage and polarity tested) to see if the unit will function properly.
Well, immediately, light, smoke and smell came out from behind the USB-out area of the isolator PCB.
Post-mortem inspection revealed two ‘V05’ ICs (ED3, ED5 on the PCB, which are protection diode arrays) as well as the ADUM3160 IC having visible damage (surface bulging).
I can take the chance for buying a-non functional unit from ebay from time to time, but the really bad news here is that, what happened with this 15.754Euro useless USB isolator, took with it the downstream USB to I2S device (Amanero clone) costing 29.51Euro.
So, this comes as a warning.
If anyone has some similar or different experience with these units, I would like to know.
George
I purchased from ebay a USB isolator hub naked unit
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...570.l1313&_nkw=usb+isolator+quad+hub&_sacat=0
With no external power connected to it, the host PC did not see the USB to I2S device connected downstream of the USB isolator hub (which it was detected and functional when the isolator was not in between).
Therefore I connected an external 5Vdc source to the isolator (voltage and polarity tested) to see if the unit will function properly.
Well, immediately, light, smoke and smell came out from behind the USB-out area of the isolator PCB.
Post-mortem inspection revealed two ‘V05’ ICs (ED3, ED5 on the PCB, which are protection diode arrays) as well as the ADUM3160 IC having visible damage (surface bulging).
I can take the chance for buying a-non functional unit from ebay from time to time, but the really bad news here is that, what happened with this 15.754Euro useless USB isolator, took with it the downstream USB to I2S device (Amanero clone) costing 29.51Euro.
So, this comes as a warning.
If anyone has some similar or different experience with these units, I would like to know.
George
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Very sorry to hear of your double misfortune here George.
The hub-isolator already has two DC/DC converters on it (those black boxes next to the ADuM chip) so I'm wondering if the unit has a way to disable those when applying external power.
The hub-isolator already has two DC/DC converters on it (those black boxes next to the ADuM chip) so I'm wondering if the unit has a way to disable those when applying external power.
Doesn't amanero require USB2? The isolator linked to doesn't actually support anything over USB1.1 (12MHz) even though it claims compatibility it isn't.. Plug it into a USB2 socket and the USB port will run in USB1.1 mode and devices requiring higher speeds will not work. I haven't tried hard but I've never found an affordable isolator that supports UAC2/USB2 audio devices.
Good point there. The price of high-speed USB isolators has been coming down, under $70 now for this one from Topping : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...!sea!HK!2609685283&curPageLogUid=sHeflFJ9kKJ3
No-name isolators are even cheaper : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...!sea!HK!2609685283&curPageLogUid=JD45EOhb2mBr
No-name isolators are even cheaper : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...!sea!HK!2609685283&curPageLogUid=JD45EOhb2mBr
Hi Abrax
Unfortunatelly, there is no recognisable way of doing this with that PCB, nor anything in writing (instructions ect).
Hi Kevin
This is probably why the host PC wasn't seing the USB to U2S device.
I'll try one more time my ebay luck with another USB isolator and then with a I2S line isolator.
I' ll let you know 🙂
George
My suggestion based on my experience with 3 of their dacs would be to go with one of the Topping USB2 compatible devices like the HS01. Nothing using the AD chip is going to work with modern USB2 audio devices.
A long time ago (5-6 years ago) a high-speed USB2 isolator price was $200-300, but things have changed.
The problem is the shortage of chips. All my isolators were sold out (mostly for Cosmos ADC) a month ago, no ISOUSB, no ADUM3165. There is 4165 at the Digikey, but they have a different case, the board needs to be re-layout 🙁
Alex.
Yeah, I have been designing around the supply shortage issues for the past few years both for home projects and work.
Recently got an HS01 just to check out. Found if anything it created new problems. For one thing it seems to generate a lot of EMI/RFI that can radiate across galvanic isolation barriers with ease. Also, every different +5v power supply I tried with HS01 made the dac sound different. Putting a metal shield between the USB board and the rest of the dac helped some. It also sometimes caused the USB board to drop out and start generating noise at the dac output. Removing HS01 fixed all the above symptoms at once. DAC always sounded good without such a device. It was just a random experiment to see if it had any effect at all, which as it turned out it did.
BTW, this happened using I2SoverUSB. Its dirty side is by default powered by USB. The clean side uses a dedicated clean +5v supply from inside the dac. Its also possible to operate the dirty (or USB interface side) from a separate clean +5v supply. Maybe that would have avoided the HS01 problems, but Topping claims the device works with USB powered dacs if auxiliary 5v power is fed in through a USB-C power connector on the side of HS01.
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The hole in the ground is too deep
I was testing different PSUs for my laptop which I use as digital source (Laptop USB out to a CM6631A USB to I2S board).
I was sitting close to the loudspeakers of my system so I could listen to the difference in electric noise from the Laptop PSUs (that was the intent).
The laptop had fully charged batteries, one month old, properly seasoned (Li-ion, 11.1V/4.4Ah)
Tested options:
-No external PSU, only the internal battery.
-Two 19V SMPS bricks (one the original (3.4A), the other a generic (4.7A)
-A dedicated 19V hefty (4.5A) linear stabilized PSU (LM350K)
-An adjustable bench stabilized 10A PSU set to 19V, no current limit
The PC was drawing 1.5A with periodic bursts of up to 2.5A (I had an analog shunt A meter in series)
Apart from the noise, the surprise was that the details of the music did also change with the PC’s different PSUs.
I could hear differences in music even from a main’s current limiter (a series power resistor) in front of the bench PSU switching it in and out.
Mark, the USB side of the JlSound unit draws a hefty 355mA (measured). Better feed it from a dedicated PSU 🙂
George
One of the +5v supplies was a USB battery power pack. It uses some kind of switching regulator inside to maintain a constant output voltage. There was a linear regulator capable of supplying 3A. There was an ifi 5v wall wart, etc.
BTW, an undocumented feature of HS01 seems to be that if a dac requires USB power and no power is connected to the aux power USB-C port on HS01, then HS01 passes about 3.9v from the PC USB +5v power to the USB board anyway. I2SoverUSB still ran that way, and the dac sounded yet again different from every other power supply.
Anyway, I agree its probably time to add dedicated power for the USB side of I2SoverUSB.
BTW, an undocumented feature of HS01 seems to be that if a dac requires USB power and no power is connected to the aux power USB-C port on HS01, then HS01 passes about 3.9v from the PC USB +5v power to the USB board anyway. I2SoverUSB still ran that way, and the dac sounded yet again different from every other power supply.
Anyway, I agree its probably time to add dedicated power for the USB side of I2SoverUSB.
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