jkeny you need to keep the i2s lines as short as possible. At 10cm should be ok, but you may get interference from the refrigerator motor/washing machine or fluorescent lights turning on. At 5cm you will probably not get the interference.
Erin
You better whisper things like that. I got into lots of trouble for daring to suggest things like that in another thread.😀
Alex
P.S.
USB stick sounds even better from a PC when used with a Linear +5V supply too .😉
email me if you would like more details.
Hi Patric
Does the people at QSL sell boards for this digital player?
And for the Ultimate Source, did you build your self the board or bought somewhere else...?
> Does the people at QSL sell boards for this digital player?
Why don't you ask them direct ?
> And for the Ultimate Source, did you build your self the board or bought somewhere else...?
My own.
Patrick
Why don't you ask them direct ?
> And for the Ultimate Source, did you build your self the board or bought somewhere else...?
My own.
Patrick
Thanks Patrick, I've plenty of other dacs to try with the QA550 I2S direct too.
Regarding the 9022, I was just looking at this , nice little board BTW 😉 http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digi...card-16-44-1-wav-transport-9.html#post2092994
Obviously be much tighter layout than mine lashed up on vero/matrix . I built it pretty much standard to whats shown in the datasheet but didn't fit the output filter. I've actually got a spare 50mhz crystek I brought when building the AYA dac
What you don't see in that photo are the Sanyo SEP polymer caps and WIMA MKP2 output filter caps. There are on the back side.
Patrick
Patrick
Ignore them Alex , If they can't even be bothered to compare these simple things first thats their problem 😉
Nice! I like how it just plugs into the I2S socket to keep the lines as short as possible , it looks like you added low value resistors on the I2S lines too .
I have a ES9022 spare so must have another bash
Thanks Erin, I know this one & my cables are 1" mini-coax
Yes, it may be because I'm using the MCLK from the QA550 into the DAC. I 'll try asynchronous. Apart from the clicks, I'm also getting buzzes & when I left it run for about 5-10 mins it turned into a continuous buzz!
Hi jkeny,
Did you try re-format?
You can find SDcard format software QLS recommends on their forum.
I had met continuous clicky & buzz on playback too, via spdif and i2s.
After reformatting, this continuous noisy playback was gone.
I sometimes still get click on playback when using my transcend 16GB card,
but its not continuous.
Cheers,
Did you try re-format?
You can find SDcard format software QLS recommends on their forum.
I had met continuous clicky & buzz on playback too, via spdif and i2s.
After reformatting, this continuous noisy playback was gone.
I sometimes still get click on playback when using my transcend 16GB card,
but its not continuous.
Cheers,
Thanks wktk,
Yes it is a transcend SD card so even if I reformat it I may still get clicks. I have a Crucial card - are these better supported? Is there a clickfree SD card as his is a show-stopper!
BTW, I'm putting WAV files in the root of the SD card as it seemed the only way it would find any music on the card. Are folders (1 deep) not supported?
Aha, now that's a lot better - excellent even. The Crucial SD card works flawlessly!
It now plays into the ES9022 DAC via I2S & gives a sound that I would be happy with. I'll have to compare it ABX with my best sources but from memory I think it's up there with it, maybe missing a little in frequency extremes but this hasn't had any change of clock (I'm still using the MCLK from QA550 on the ES9022 DAC & not a local DAC clock) or attention to the on-board PS. I'm running it off 3 LifePO4 batteries in series (~10V) which should be helping it.
It now plays into the ES9022 DAC via I2S & gives a sound that I would be happy with. I'll have to compare it ABX with my best sources but from memory I think it's up there with it, maybe missing a little in frequency extremes but this hasn't had any change of clock (I'm still using the MCLK from QA550 on the ES9022 DAC & not a local DAC clock) or attention to the on-board PS. I'm running it off 3 LifePO4 batteries in series (~10V) which should be helping it.
I looked at the WD when it first came out. At that time audio was resampled to 48K. Is it 44.1K now? Thanks.
New firmware released:
QLS electronics Forum's - QA-550 new firmware VB8 Version
It looks like support for 32GB cards has been added.
QLS electronics Forum's - QA-550 new firmware VB8 Version
It looks like support for 32GB cards has been added.
Thanks Alazira,
I have a borrowed QA550 & will update the firmware. There is no problem with this, is there, as I don't want to brick the device?
Erin,
I'll probably do some mods to the QA550 rather than go the network media tank route as I already have a device with great interface & a better sound than the QA550 - only issue is that it is tethered to the PC.
I will address the weaknesses I see on the QA, (as far as I can) purely as an experiment in how good this device can sound. My tests above were done with a pack of LiFePO4 batteries as the external supply which I'm sure raised it's performance up a notch or two.
As I see it the weaknesses are mainly layout & PS related. Here are my preliminary thoughts - the on-board regs would need to go. If focussing on I2S out (which is my intention) then the AM117 is the only one that needs changing - it powers the DSP chip (I'll lift it's output leg & apply LiFePO4 power). The decoupling around the DSP might have to be improved. The clock should be changed & powered independently (LiFePO4). The SPDIF DIT should be powered off. The I2S lines could be shorter but may require a different board in that case, although I've traced the I2S lines back to the SMD resistors closer to the DSP.
Short of a tighter, better de-coupled layout, this will probably reveal the best that this design can do?
I have a borrowed QA550 & will update the firmware. There is no problem with this, is there, as I don't want to brick the device?
Erin,
I'll probably do some mods to the QA550 rather than go the network media tank route as I already have a device with great interface & a better sound than the QA550 - only issue is that it is tethered to the PC.
I will address the weaknesses I see on the QA, (as far as I can) purely as an experiment in how good this device can sound. My tests above were done with a pack of LiFePO4 batteries as the external supply which I'm sure raised it's performance up a notch or two.
As I see it the weaknesses are mainly layout & PS related. Here are my preliminary thoughts - the on-board regs would need to go. If focussing on I2S out (which is my intention) then the AM117 is the only one that needs changing - it powers the DSP chip (I'll lift it's output leg & apply LiFePO4 power). The decoupling around the DSP might have to be improved. The clock should be changed & powered independently (LiFePO4). The SPDIF DIT should be powered off. The I2S lines could be shorter but may require a different board in that case, although I've traced the I2S lines back to the SMD resistors closer to the DSP.
Short of a tighter, better de-coupled layout, this will probably reveal the best that this design can do?
I'd go for the XO area first John 😉 I compared things in stages with this one and found the XO reg and upgraded XO gave quite a noticeable boost in SQ, to my ears anyway.
Give the bat feeding the stock XO a try first, it should be a good starter. I used a Tent XO mainly because I had it sat spare but there may be cheaper or even better XO alternatives .
Give the bat feeding the stock XO a try first, it should be a good starter. I used a Tent XO mainly because I had it sat spare but there may be cheaper or even better XO alternatives .