Hi to all.
After longer use in my own DAC project and studying the circuit, i thought about some X2 modifications.
1st was the PSU.
The +5V line is now driven by one of my +5V Salas shunt reg. modules,
witch gave a big step forward in SQ.
A 2nd shunt reg. for the 3.3V line is nearly ready to fire up.
I am really curious about this step.
2nd was the adding of an USB-Isolator between my iMac and the USB input.
You could read a small review here.
3rd step yesterday was the clock on the X2, witch i swapped to a Tentlabs HighEnd XO.
Here a short descripiton:
Desoldered original TCXO.
DIP14 socked with additional RF choke and decoupling cap.
Soldered socket.
Tentlab XO in position.
Conclusion:
All three mod. shift the SQ to a higher level and are highly recommended.
After longer use in my own DAC project and studying the circuit, i thought about some X2 modifications.
1st was the PSU.
The +5V line is now driven by one of my +5V Salas shunt reg. modules,
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
witch gave a big step forward in SQ.
A 2nd shunt reg. for the 3.3V line is nearly ready to fire up.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I am really curious about this step.
2nd was the adding of an USB-Isolator between my iMac and the USB input.
You could read a small review here.
3rd step yesterday was the clock on the X2, witch i swapped to a Tentlabs HighEnd XO.
Here a short descripiton:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Desoldered original TCXO.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
DIP14 socked with additional RF choke and decoupling cap.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Soldered socket.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Tentlab XO in position.
Conclusion:
All three mod. shift the SQ to a higher level and are highly recommended.
H Oliver,
nice work! I also have a Teralink and was pretty underwhelmed by its performance in the beginning, but now, after burn-in and with a shunt its really nice.
Is the Tent-Clock also working with 5V?
Please tell all of us about the 3.3V shunt thng, this is also what I am planning to do, but always good when someone else can share experiences first.
I guess the ADUM chip would benefit from a shunt, too...
cheers,
Juergen
nice work! I also have a Teralink and was pretty underwhelmed by its performance in the beginning, but now, after burn-in and with a shunt its really nice.
Is the Tent-Clock also working with 5V?
Please tell all of us about the 3.3V shunt thng, this is also what I am planning to do, but always good when someone else can share experiences first.
I guess the ADUM chip would benefit from a shunt, too...
cheers,
Juergen
Hallo Jogi,
The Tentlab XO runs also with +5V, yes. So it´s very easy to integrate it on the pcb.
As we have two voltage lines in the X2 (+5V & +3.3V), i am planning to feed the +3.3V line also with one of my
shunt modules and get rid of this onboard 3.3V line regulator.
For this, the +5V shunt module must be lightly modified, as you could see on the photo above. That´s all.
Viele Grüße
Oliver
The Tentlab XO runs also with +5V, yes. So it´s very easy to integrate it on the pcb.
As we have two voltage lines in the X2 (+5V & +3.3V), i am planning to feed the +3.3V line also with one of my
shunt modules and get rid of this onboard 3.3V line regulator.
For this, the +5V shunt module must be lightly modified, as you could see on the photo above. That´s all.
Viele Grüße
Oliver
Shunts board
hi Oliver,
I was told that for 3.3V operation for the shunt board, output cap and the cap near the trimmer can be change to 47uF and 1000uF-2000uF for better bandwidth...I did this and it works well.
heat sink is hot (60-70°C) but works fine, maybe because of the high Vi.
BTW do you have M2Tech hiface to compares with the X2 after this mod???
hi Oliver,
I was told that for 3.3V operation for the shunt board, output cap and the cap near the trimmer can be change to 47uF and 1000uF-2000uF for better bandwidth...I did this and it works well.
heat sink is hot (60-70°C) but works fine, maybe because of the high Vi.
BTW do you have M2Tech hiface to compares with the X2 after this mod???
Hi,
for my DAC i use only I2S input, so only the M2Tech hiface-EVO works.
I don´t have a hiface-EVO and couldn´t do this comparsion, sorry.
Thanks Oliver...
Btw there is another GB from Quanghao for low voltage shunt boards, the 1,5-5V version is included. I have them here, nice and easy to work with and reasonably small, including rectification and smoothing cap. I am so happy about these Salas shunts, big big sound for small small $$$...
I would also be interested in a comparison M2tech and Teralink; biggest advantage for the Teralink is the possibility to use the Adum isolator, and it is easier to tweak, due to its size.
So far I really like the Teralink, but i do not have something to compare it to...Changing the little green 0,1µF caps in the output and the resistors for something better also gave a nice improvement. I had some nice film/foil caps and 330R/100R Takman resistors in the box, so no big deal to try out.
Btw there is another GB from Quanghao for low voltage shunt boards, the 1,5-5V version is included. I have them here, nice and easy to work with and reasonably small, including rectification and smoothing cap. I am so happy about these Salas shunts, big big sound for small small $$$...
I would also be interested in a comparison M2tech and Teralink; biggest advantage for the Teralink is the possibility to use the Adum isolator, and it is easier to tweak, due to its size.
So far I really like the Teralink, but i do not have something to compare it to...Changing the little green 0,1µF caps in the output and the resistors for something better also gave a nice improvement. I had some nice film/foil caps and 330R/100R Takman resistors in the box, so no big deal to try out.
Here is the overview of the lead positions
The X2 can handle up to 96KHz/24bit.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The X2 can handle up to 96KHz/24bit.
Hi, What a amazing work, I have an External Teradak DSIX + Re-Clock board, do you think the TXCO can be swapped like you did? Thanks.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Last edited:
thanks oliver,
BTW for this kinda mod can it be applies and implemented to every digital devices with a XO like a CDP or maybe a DAC board or any usb converter?
Regarding you USB isolator is it necessary to runs it with a Independent shunts?
Hi Jeffery,
that is no problem.
But don´t forget that the XO needs a perfect clean +5V line to keep a low jitter clock output signal.
The build in LM1084 should be swapped to a good shunt regulator. Therefore you could use an external or the plug in version from Guido here.
Sure you could apply Guido´s XO in every CDP or DAC. You find all needed informations on his Tentlabs webside.
The USB-Isolator runs with the same shunt as the X2.
What i am thinking about is to cancel the onboard LC-Filter on the X2.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
This is for the standard TCXO and i don´t want to go back.
Oppsss
Sorry Oliver, maybe I've said it wrongly. I beg your pardon.. What I mean from my question previously is that does the additional RF choke and decoupling cap for the XO really help improve the sound for each digital devices with XO?
So is this means that X2 and the USB-Isolator sharing the same shunt OR X2 and the USB-Isolator has its own shunt each...sorry for this confusing part
Oppsss
Sorry Oliver, maybe I've said it wrongly. I beg your pardon.. What I mean from my question previously is that does the additional RF choke and decoupling cap for the XO really help improve the sound for each digital devices with XO?
So is this means that X2 and the USB-Isolator sharing the same shunt OR X2 and the USB-Isolator has its own shunt each...sorry for this confusing part
The additional RF choke and decoupling cap for the XO is recommended by Tentlabs and comes with the order.
The X2 and the USB-Isolator sharing the same shunt!
Thanks Oliver.
This might be a good cheap M2Tech hi Face replacement for me. Can't wait to do this....
Thanks Oliver, but this board request 12V-1A, and I can't find anyplace to purchase Tentlab XO in both Taiwan and China, so I think I have to give up, but I want keep seeing your great work, maybe I can learn something from you in the future, thanks again.
Jefery,
your pcb works with +5V (LM1084-5 output = +5V).
What would be interesting is the needed current. BTW, never ever 1A!
Measure the current. If it is under 80mA, you could use the Tentlab plugin shunt.
If it´s more, you could use quanghao´s Salas shunt here.
I am sure Guido Tent ships also to Taiwan
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