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"The Wire" Official Boards for All Projects Available Here! BAL-BAL, SE-SE, LPUHP

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#561
Ordering is simple

The prices are in the first post. There is a spreadsheet, accessible from a link on the first post, that totals and adds shipping based in the quantities of each module ordered. opc will send you a pm requesting payment by paypal.
 
#564
Any news on the new batch?

If there are Gerber files available, I would order some PCBs from China (wanted to test some manufacturers anyway), and would gladly distribute any "rests" in Europe.
Price would be calculated as:
PCB Cost +
Shipping in EU +
Whatever Owen would like for the IP (Profit, donations, whatever, not my decision 😉 ).

I haven't been able to get in touch with Owen, so let's hope to find out something soon...


Cheers
Nikola
 
#565
NikolaVeber said:
Any news on the new batch?

If there are Gerber files available, I would order some PCBs from China (wanted to test some manufacturers anyway), and would gladly distribute any "rests" in Europe.
Price would be calculated as:
PCB Cost +
Shipping in EU +
Whatever Owen would like for the IP (Profit, donations, whatever, not my decision 😉 ).

I haven't been able to get in touch with Owen, so let's hope to find out something soon...


Cheers
Nikola
Click to expand...

I had an email from Owen not too long ago (intentionally vague) - that email was about new developments he mentioned in a teaser post a while back. In that email he mentioned that he had been very busy with life stuff - work and family etc. I wouldn't stress out. Have had conversations previously with him about gerbers (back when original LPUHP came out I asked for cad file to get dimensions off and he was worried about me distributing that file and people using it to produce a cheap knockoff) so, understandably, that is basically a no-deal. Now that boards are available just follow the process in post one and patience if there are any out of stock at that point in time. Regardless, the boards are well worth the wait 🙂 :cheers:


Cheers,
Chris
 
#566
Hi Chris,

thanks for the update!
I have full understanding for both personal stuff and avoiding cheap knockoffs, so I'll have to sit back and relax 🙂
(only that my fingers are itchy for some soldering, and given that I got no feedback whatsoever, I might have demonstrated something which could be interpreted as impatience 😉 )

Are there any elaborate listening impressions, to back up the drooling in anticipation?
 
#567
For very impatient mate, I would say that:
wire SE-SE sounds like my (German) Violectric hpa-v100 on my low impedance cans. It's a typical solid state sound with great control over bottom end with my fostex Th900 (better than o2 in this regard). I quite miss the spacious (artificial?) soundstage found on Eddie Current valve amplifiers. It's quite large there is not much depth in front.
Background is of course fully silent (you wouldn't expect anything else with those fantastic measurements)
 
#568
NikolaVeber said:
Hi Chris,

thanks for the update!
I have full understanding for both personal stuff and avoiding cheap knockoffs, so I'll have to sit back and relax 🙂
(only that my fingers are itchy for some soldering, and given that I got no feedback whatsoever, I might have demonstrated something which could be interpreted as impatience 😉 )

Are there any elaborate listening impressions, to back up the drooling in anticipation?
Click to expand...

Hi Nikola,

I don't know of any elaborate listening impressions off the top of my head ... I'm one of those that are entirely missing the ability to write in that style. I'm an engineer ....

I have an O2, an SE-SE (built on a BAL-SE board from the last batch of green boards) and a BAL-SE (the final BAL-SE version that was ever released, not the first version with headphone jack on board). I have enjoyed both of The Wire amps so much that I gave the O2 to my wife and she uses it with a QNKTC DAC (AB1.1) and look forward to using the new 4 layer white PCB variant of BAL-BAL with The Wire DAC ...

I currently use the SE-SE after one of Acko's Teflon AKD23P boards (an old design with sub 1uV RMS noise PSU on board for DAC).

I have heard qups's BAL-BAL that runs as IV for a BII as well as headphone amp in that portable system and his other BAL-BAL that runs as headphone amp after a tricked out NTD1 after an ackoDAC ... all very very nice gear indeed.

The Wire headphone amps are, for me, 'final headphone amp' territory and give me peace of mind to play with other parts of the system 🙂

I've also got ClassAB LME49830 amps with DPS600 (regulated 65/55V rails for input / output respectively) and the first LPUHP. I'm using those to power midwoofer and compression driver in my active speakers that are currently in construction so I haven't heard those amps yet.


Something of an opc fanboi really I suppose 😱 but I'm just a nerd engineer that likes to build something better than average and have confidence that it won't get in the way of the other things so hopefully by next year or so I can focus on testing out some DSP development that I've been toying with and helmotz absorbers for bass treatments etc etc ... never ending hobby but so much fun!!

I think I remember some listening impressions burried in the previous (long) development thread ... Wolfsin probably made a few I think amongst his experiments with franken-wirez when Owen made a mistake with a batch of SE-SE boards.

Regards,
Chris
 
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#571
Drooling is appropriate

NikolaVeber said:
Are there any elaborate listening impressions, to back up the drooling in anticipation?
Click to expand...

I am neither the engineer that Hochopeper is nor the audiophile that many on this site seem to be but opc has delivered more than I ever expected. I have completed converting my entire listening chain to Wolfson balanced. rippedBits->usb->WaveIO->WM8740->IvyIII->Bal-Bal-Wire->(re)cabledHD-600. It took a while. It is dead silent without an input signal.

Even 44.1KHz Redbook material sounds good to me without equalization. Keep in mind that I am not young and suffer high frequency hearing loss. The highs are there but simply overpowered by the bass with Sennheisers. I am a believer in engineered solutions so, like Hochopeper, will not attempt to express what I hear other than to say that it sounds very, very precise and musical.
 
#576
opc said:
Indeed, this is what they were really designed for. I'm running mine at 3.5V for AVCC, but I think they should be good for 3.8V. You may want to bump the input supply up to 5.5V if you go that high, but it will probably work as-is.



It is certainly possible to solder them by hand, but it is very high on the difficulty scale, especially the power pad. To get good dissipation to the back plane, you really should be using 5 to 9 smaller vias, which makes soldering tricky.

My original plan was to have a run of TO-247 size regulator daughterboards built up, and provide these along with the PSU to allow people to use to TPS7A4700. These boards were designed to bolt up to a heatsink just like a TO-247 pack, and the power pad is brought back to the rear ground plane to allow for good dissipation. I use these for prototyping, but decided that buying all the regs and having a panel built wasn't the best path forward. It would have dramatically increased the cost of the PSU, and if people really want the 4700 regulators, they can always look into the finished products I'm working on 🙂

As for the mystery board, you went a little too far in the opposite direction.

It's a low voltage DC coupled NTD1. It uses the NTD1 as an I/V converter, but with lower gain and much lower resistor values which allows the current to stay high (150mA) with reduced voltage rails. It's also makes the common mode DC voltage at the output low enough to feed directly into a OPA1632 which makes up for the lower voltage gain of the NTD1 by applying some additional voltage gain. This circuit allows the I/V to do what it does best, and the op-amp to do what it does best, all while keeping power dissipation in check. It simulates beautifully, but we'll see how it makes out in the real world next week! I know people have been anxious to get rid of the coupling caps, and this is one way to do it.

Cheers,
Owen
Click to expand...

Hi Owen,

Have you tried the ADM7151 series of regulators? They're even quieter than the TPS7A4700 and others which are very good for noise at low voltage but if you check the specs, at 15V they're not so noiseless anymore. Now here it's not bad because we're dealing with 1.2V, 3.3V and 5V but take a look at the ADM parts, ideal for digital circuits.

Ciao!
Do
 
#577
opc said:
Hi Crom,

Work is coming along on the new NTD1 boards, and I'm guessing it will be about a month before I'm ready to release the boards to fab. After that, it should be a few weeks for delivery and testing.

Here's the current plan:

There will be 4 variants of the circuit, and the boards themselves will be offered as the output circuitry only, so no PSU on board. I will likely use the existing PSU V2 to power everything, so people can choose their supplies if they prefer. I may develop a higher voltage supply for the classic, but this may not happen.

The four variants will be:

NTD1 Classic

PSU will be off-board, and circuit/layout will be re-routed to optimized for four layers. This will allow users run any voltage rails they like, and use either the existing PSU V2 or a supply of their choosing. Circuit will remain the same as the current NTD1 but I may change the footprints for the output coupling caps to allow for more options.

NTD1 - DC Coupled

Uses a diff op-amp at the output instead of using coupling caps, so no caps in the signal chain. the NTD1 provides I/V conversion but has much less gain, allowing for lower value resistors, and much higher current with lower voltage rails. The diff op-amp provides a voltage gain of 4x to maintain the same 2VRMS @ 0dBFS gain of the current design. This allows the NTD1 to do what it does best (I/V) and lets the op-amp do what it does best (voltage gain). This circuit measures better than the NTD1 classic, but I know some people won't like the op-amp.

NTD1 - SERVO

This variant uses a servo to keep the input at exactly 1/2 AVCC and has sub 10 mohm input impedance. It requires no adjustment or biasing, and dissipates less power than the classic NTD1 while hopefully delivering significantly improved performance. I say hopefully because I've only simulated this one, and it looks incredibly promising. Proto boards are one the way soon for a real world test

NTD1 - EVO - DC

This will be a combination of the EVO and the DC coupled version. Again, I have only simulated this one, but performance is incredible and offers DC coupling. If you aren't afraid of op-amps in your circuits, and want the ultimate in performance, this will probably be the one to go with.

I will of course have test data for every one of these, so people can draw their own conclusions on which best suits their needs. I will also offer a "Chef's Tasting Menu" option where you can buy all four PCB variants for a little less. These things are dirt cheap to build up, so it might be fun to try them all and pick your own favorite.

I'm also considering doing a P-channel variant that is DC coupled and doesn't use caps or an op-amp on the output. The downside is that output voltage swing is limited to about 500mVRMS. This might be perfect for some headphones, so it will probably be done separately as a headphone specific option.

Cheers,
Owen
Click to expand...

Hi Owen,

Do you have any news on the NTD1 Servo and Evo? ETA?

Thanks
Do
 
#579
Hello everyone.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the dimension for the mount holes of the LPUHP?

I need to put them down on a cad software so I can send it to a local case modder to get the holes drilled for mounting purposes.

Thank you.
 
#580
hello,

I just finished my "pro" monitoring preamp, fully balanced, with OPA16112 and OPA1632 on line amp, and "wire" headamp and PSU boards : it is perfect.

The sound quality is very, very high !!!

Thank you Owen and all the guys who made this big project !

regards,

Richard
 
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