I bought some parts from Schuro last year. They are indeed sometimes quite slow to respond, but in the end I got what I needed.
To my first mail (inquiry) they responded very quick, but the mail containing the order seemed to be missed by them for a month or so.
Frans
To my first mail (inquiry) they responded very quick, but the mail containing the order seemed to be missed by them for a month or so.
Frans
first test
Last night I connected my 5 channel amp (with only two channels) to my prepro and tried a cd. It actually works! I still haven't got the loudspeaker connectors, but clamped the wires to my loudspeaker cables.
I of course first checked the voltage before powering up the UcD400's and it measured a nice (something like) 56,6V DC , + and - alike.
It seemed to sound very good, but my wife was watching TV so I could'nt listen too well
Now I have to wait for the loudspeaker connectors and have to tidy up inside the enclosure (wires etc.).
Frans
Last night I connected my 5 channel amp (with only two channels) to my prepro and tried a cd. It actually works! I still haven't got the loudspeaker connectors, but clamped the wires to my loudspeaker cables.
I of course first checked the voltage before powering up the UcD400's and it measured a nice (something like) 56,6V DC , + and - alike.
It seemed to sound very good, but my wife was watching TV so I could'nt listen too well
Now I have to wait for the loudspeaker connectors and have to tidy up inside the enclosure (wires etc.).
Frans
FransDHT said:
Bruno Putzeys said:
Hi Bruno and all,
There seems to have been some confusion over how an asymmetric source should be connected to the UcD using a microphone cable (2 leads+shield). The way I understand it:
- One lead from GND(RCA) to Pin3(XLR)=IN-(UcD)
- The other lead from Signal(RCA) to Pin2(XLR)=IN+(UcD)
- Shield should be connected only to Pin1(XLR), which must be connected to the UcD's signal ground.
Is this correct?
Cheers,
Michel
better late than never...
mlihl,
amplimo (www.amplimo.nl) makes pretty good transformers. No shielding though. Build quality is pretty good and i've never had any problems with them. No mechanical hum whatsoever and they don;t really get warm either.
mlihl,
amplimo (www.amplimo.nl) makes pretty good transformers. No shielding though. Build quality is pretty good and i've never had any problems with them. No mechanical hum whatsoever and they don;t really get warm either.
I don't see why there is any confusion over wiring up a balanced input? It's been covered so many times now...
You wire up all three pins as normal on the amp side. However, on the source side you connect the cold and the ground together.
Bruno suggested that this is better than tying the cold and ground together on the amp side
You wire up all three pins as normal on the amp side. However, on the source side you connect the cold and the ground together.
Bruno suggested that this is better than tying the cold and ground together on the amp side
ewildgoose said:
So it's like I said, plus you connect source ground and amp ground together via the shield. Isn't there a risk this creates a ground loop if both source and amp have their grounds earthed?
Golgoth said:
The point to note with this wiring (as described by ewildgoose above) is that the ground currents would be carried by the shield and not the signal reference (or -IN ). And no current == no voltage.
Unbalanced to balanced
Thanks Ewildgoose and Nickywicky for your answers!
So to put it straight so that it can be used as a future reference by others who might be as confused as I was:
To connect un unbalanced output source (RCA output) to a balanced input amp such as the UcD 400, one should use a microphone cable (2 leads + shield) with an RCA connector at source end and an XLR connector at amp end, wired as follows:
- First ("cold") lead from GND(RCA) to Pin3(XLR)=IN-(UcD)
- Second ("hot") lead from Signal(RCA) to Pin2(XLR)=IN+(UcD)
- Amp end of shield must be connected to Pin1(XLR)=SignalGND(UcD)
- Source end of shield must be connected to GND(RCA), together with first lead.
Now, should one also make sure that source ground and amp ground aren't both tied to their respective mains earth leads, or doesn't this matter if connections are as above?
Cheers
nickywicky said:
Thanks Ewildgoose and Nickywicky for your answers!
So to put it straight so that it can be used as a future reference by others who might be as confused as I was:
To connect un unbalanced output source (RCA output) to a balanced input amp such as the UcD 400, one should use a microphone cable (2 leads + shield) with an RCA connector at source end and an XLR connector at amp end, wired as follows:
- First ("cold") lead from GND(RCA) to Pin3(XLR)=IN-(UcD)
- Second ("hot") lead from Signal(RCA) to Pin2(XLR)=IN+(UcD)
- Amp end of shield must be connected to Pin1(XLR)=SignalGND(UcD)
- Source end of shield must be connected to GND(RCA), together with first lead.
Now, should one also make sure that source ground and amp ground aren't both tied to their respective mains earth leads, or doesn't this matter if connections are as above?
Cheers
I thought I was clear but now I am a bit confused by this balanced wiring issue, I have not tied any wires together I have 3 wires running from the XLR connection to the amp board as follows :-
Amp In- to XLR pin 3
Amp GND to XLR pin 1
Amp In+ to XLR pin 2
What I have not done is used a shielded cable mine are just bits of wire stripped from Cat 5 cable. Should this be a shieled cable with Amp GND on the shield? There seems to be confusion about XLR connections???
Have I done it wrongly???
Or are you talking about connecting balanced to unbalanced? I am using a blanced XLR output from my preamp to a balanced input on my amp.
Amp In- to XLR pin 3
Amp GND to XLR pin 1
Amp In+ to XLR pin 2
What I have not done is used a shielded cable mine are just bits of wire stripped from Cat 5 cable. Should this be a shieled cable with Amp GND on the shield? There seems to be confusion about XLR connections???
Have I done it wrongly???
Or are you talking about connecting balanced to unbalanced? I am using a blanced XLR output from my preamp to a balanced input on my amp.
As you are connecting balanced to balanced you are fine. If you were to connect an unbalanced source to the UcD400 then connect just as Golgoth stated.
If you are using e.g. Cat5 then forget about shields, just as long as what would be the shield in a normal cable is connected the same way. Personally, I prefer shielded cables for unbalanced use.
If you are using e.g. Cat5 then forget about shields, just as long as what would be the shield in a normal cable is connected the same way. Personally, I prefer shielded cables for unbalanced use.
I have a problem with Television reception (on one channel, TV1=VHF low band channel3) when my UCD400 ( 3 modules ) amp is on.
The 3 modules are inside a metal case and I have checked for earth continuity on all sides. When the /ON signal is raised (to turn all the modules off) the interference goes away.
When I leave /ON on 0V and pull the mains cable out the amp runs for a few seconds ( 4 X 22000 uF). During this time the interference continues ( until the AMP wheezes out with a little whirr as all the power is all used up).
Only 1 TV channel is disturbed; it's the one that carries Coronation Street so although this is generally a good thing, it isn't when your wife is nagging about her Coro while I'm trying to listen to my Amp.
The 3 modules are inside a metal case and I have checked for earth continuity on all sides. When the /ON signal is raised (to turn all the modules off) the interference goes away.
When I leave /ON on 0V and pull the mains cable out the amp runs for a few seconds ( 4 X 22000 uF). During this time the interference continues ( until the AMP wheezes out with a little whirr as all the power is all used up).
Only 1 TV channel is disturbed; it's the one that carries Coronation Street so although this is generally a good thing, it isn't when your wife is nagging about her Coro while I'm trying to listen to my Amp.
Nickiwicky,
There is a very easy solution for this: put some ferrite clamps around the loudspeaker wires as near as possible by the UcD400.
Can you probably check if it happens by one, two or three loudspeaker wires connected to the amplifier?
How about the sound of the UcD400, is this ok?
Regards,
Jan-Peter
There is a very easy solution for this: put some ferrite clamps around the loudspeaker wires as near as possible by the UcD400.
Can you probably check if it happens by one, two or three loudspeaker wires connected to the amplifier?
How about the sound of the UcD400, is this ok?
Regards,
Jan-Peter
Jan-Peter said:
When I remove the speaker cable the interference does go away.
The interference appears when any one speaker cable is attached.
I have a couple of ferrite sleeves handy (12mm X 20mm) and so I just tried this on one of the speaker cables (close to the binding posts) just to test if this looks promising. A 90% improvement (the other two cables were not attached during this test). So I look forward to the time when I get them inside the box close to the UCD400.
I am stunned by the sound of the UCD400. I'm not an audiophole, and are making this as a Christmas present for my son. I wasn't expecting such a vast improvement over my current receiver ( well for me to be able to hear it anyway ). The sounds appear to crystalise in the air before me with the UCD400. It's fabulous.
Jan-Peter: I have just hooked my UcD400's up today. Unfortunately we only had the chance of listening on the rather small Aurum Cantus Leisure 2 loudspeakers. But i must say at least under these conditions i found the sound to be absolutely great!
I did not do direct comparative tests between our ZAPpulse and the UcD400 under the same conditions, so i can not give an evaluation of the differences.
However the guitar and voice of Nils Lofgren seemed very live and engaging, and the detail in the top was crystal clear! We had some problems in the bass, but that might well be from the loudspeakers. It was boomy in the upper bass, below that muddy, and further below missing all together.
But again this is most probably not the amplifier's fault.
The functionality seems flawless, no significant noises are heard when the modules are switched on, the heating plate stays cool as expected, and everything worked according to plan.
When i get my ref speakers back i will make more listening tests, and of course post here. Also about the bass. And maybe some comparative tests of UcD and ZAPpulse.
Good job Jan-Peter and Bruno!
I did not do direct comparative tests between our ZAPpulse and the UcD400 under the same conditions, so i can not give an evaluation of the differences.
However the guitar and voice of Nils Lofgren seemed very live and engaging, and the detail in the top was crystal clear! We had some problems in the bass, but that might well be from the loudspeakers. It was boomy in the upper bass, below that muddy, and further below missing all together.
But again this is most probably not the amplifier's fault.
The functionality seems flawless, no significant noises are heard when the modules are switched on, the heating plate stays cool as expected, and everything worked according to plan.
When i get my ref speakers back i will make more listening tests, and of course post here. Also about the bass. And maybe some comparative tests of UcD and ZAPpulse.
Good job Jan-Peter and Bruno!
Lars,
Thanks for your honest testresult 😉
Wait till you listen with your reference loudspeakers.
Please don't forget the UcD modules have a flat THD curve, so at a certain powerlevel the THD is the same as by 100Hz and 7Khz. When you are not used to listen to this you will miss during the first time some bass............
Regards,
Jan-Peter
Thanks for your honest testresult 😉
Wait till you listen with your reference loudspeakers.
Please don't forget the UcD modules have a flat THD curve, so at a certain powerlevel the THD is the same as by 100Hz and 7Khz. When you are not used to listen to this you will miss during the first time some bass............
Regards,
Jan-Peter
Lars,
No, I can not explain this theoretical. I only know that the UcD modules (in my experience) has a very nice and cristalclear high end. Perhaps the same effect as you turn up the treble. Because of this effect, you imagene the bass is a little bit thin, which is not true.
When you listen for a longer time to an UcD amp or some tube amps who has also a flat THD curve (or constant loopgain), you are going to like it 😉
Regards,
Jan-Peter
No, I can not explain this theoretical. I only know that the UcD modules (in my experience) has a very nice and cristalclear high end. Perhaps the same effect as you turn up the treble. Because of this effect, you imagene the bass is a little bit thin, which is not true.
When you listen for a longer time to an UcD amp or some tube amps who has also a flat THD curve (or constant loopgain), you are going to like it 😉
Regards,
Jan-Peter