Regarding the stock power suply, I discovered that it was killing my ethernet over power powerline connectivity. I swapped it out for an old Lenovo 20v 2amp power supply I had lying around and the Q5 Pro still goes plenty clean and loud enough despite being 3 amps down on the claimed output of the original 19v supply.
Q5 Pro voltage regulators replacement
I got my S.M.S.L Q5 Pro (v4.5) couple of weeks ago under 100€. I guess from mods point of view the most rewarding act would be voltage regulators replacement. Visual inspection reveal 4 regs:
1. 78M12 that takes 19v in and feed TAS5342 digital parts and TAS5508 subwoofer-out related op-amp
2. PWM buck DC/DC converter XL1509 that takes 19v in and hopefully? only feed two AMS1117 regs downstream.
3. First 3.3v AMS1117 feed TAS55508, Cirrus 8422 mux and related LC244A buffer. Also 2 small 13.5 MHz and 24.57 Mhz crystals are under influence of this reg.
4. Second 3.3v AMS1117 feed STC15W1K16S controller, LCD related chips and maybe? also Cirrus 5341CZZ A/D converter.
TAS1020 usb controller and related chips power source is unclear. it can either of AMS1117s or those chips can even be usb powered.
If my assumptions are correct then most rewarding mod would be first 3.3v AMS1117 reg replacement. If there is more room left then second mod would be replacement of 78M12.
I got my S.M.S.L Q5 Pro (v4.5) couple of weeks ago under 100€. I guess from mods point of view the most rewarding act would be voltage regulators replacement. Visual inspection reveal 4 regs:
1. 78M12 that takes 19v in and feed TAS5342 digital parts and TAS5508 subwoofer-out related op-amp
2. PWM buck DC/DC converter XL1509 that takes 19v in and hopefully? only feed two AMS1117 regs downstream.
3. First 3.3v AMS1117 feed TAS55508, Cirrus 8422 mux and related LC244A buffer. Also 2 small 13.5 MHz and 24.57 Mhz crystals are under influence of this reg.
4. Second 3.3v AMS1117 feed STC15W1K16S controller, LCD related chips and maybe? also Cirrus 5341CZZ A/D converter.
TAS1020 usb controller and related chips power source is unclear. it can either of AMS1117s or those chips can even be usb powered.
If my assumptions are correct then most rewarding mod would be first 3.3v AMS1117 reg replacement. If there is more room left then second mod would be replacement of 78M12.
Attachments
SMSL Q5 Pro after power mods
As expected sound quality changed to better, now rendering far more micro-detail than before.
PS. There is 10 ohm smd resistor in down-left corner of board for controlling inrush current. I don't know was mine faulty or is it generally underrated but had to replace it because it burned down after 3 months of use.
As expected sound quality changed to better, now rendering far more micro-detail than before.
PS. There is 10 ohm smd resistor in down-left corner of board for controlling inrush current. I don't know was mine faulty or is it generally underrated but had to replace it because it burned down after 3 months of use.
Attachments
I'm currently working on a mod after disassembling SMSL AD18, and I think the power configuration is almost the same as Q5. I'm going to remove the first switchgreg, indicator, 5V to 3.3Vreg and put in a supercapacitor module I made from the outside. If this succeeds, it will be able to apply the same to Q5.