Huh! Guys, should I make a small firmware patch and disable the SPDIF functionality? Would it help in your hardware mod adventures? 
I must confess that, compared to what all of you did,with this software patch the Flip-Flop will still work but it will reclock a zero logic signal (coming from XMOS pin) thus, some switching will be present there!
Ah.. I guess the best way is to remove that damn chip
Please do it carefully though!
Happy DIY-ing,
Lucian
P.S. From my experience, it would be better to remove the chip completely rather than trying to lift up a single pin (unless you still want accessible the option to enable SPDIF in hardware...). So, if one wants to forget about SPDIF then please do desolder the whole chip, if possible!
I must confess that, compared to what all of you did,with this software patch the Flip-Flop will still work but it will reclock a zero logic signal (coming from XMOS pin) thus, some switching will be present there!
Ah.. I guess the best way is to remove that damn chip
Please do it carefully though!
Happy DIY-ing,
Lucian
P.S. From my experience, it would be better to remove the chip completely rather than trying to lift up a single pin (unless you still want accessible the option to enable SPDIF in hardware...). So, if one wants to forget about SPDIF then please do desolder the whole chip, if possible!
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The pads and pins appear undamaged. It looks like a clean separation of the solder. I used very little force with a very small screw driver. I suppose that there may be some variation from board to board though.
OK, done it. I removed the whole chip as advised, gave the pads a clean and works a treat. The sound is a definite step forward, more texture and definition of instruments within the 3D space. I also noticed a little more details noticeable in cymbal crashes and percussion in general. Didn't notice any change in the amount of bass but it benefitted from the same increased definition as everything else. Well worth doing in my case.
In case it's helpful to others to give an indication of the effect, I'd say (and of course all of this is purely opinion) that with this tweak the sound improved more than when I went from non-isolated to isolated i2s and about the same as when I moved from spdif to i2s. Not as much as when I added a decent power supply to my waveio though.
Thanks to pglusz for the idea and wlowes for pushing me to do it ;-) and to Lorien as ever for guidance and a great product.
Now...is there anything else that we can...um...'fine tune' to improve i2s output?
In case it's helpful to others to give an indication of the effect, I'd say (and of course all of this is purely opinion) that with this tweak the sound improved more than when I went from non-isolated to isolated i2s and about the same as when I moved from spdif to i2s. Not as much as when I added a decent power supply to my waveio though.
Thanks to pglusz for the idea and wlowes for pushing me to do it ;-) and to Lorien as ever for guidance and a great product.
Now...is there anything else that we can...um...'fine tune' to improve i2s output?
Glad you guys are hearing what I heard. As always, the level of difference will depend on how capable the rest of your system is at resolving low level details. In my case it was a big step.
Before doing it you have to be prepared that you may destroy your board and need to buy a new one with the delay and cost that comes with it.. But that could be built without the U11 chip. With care, risk appears pretty low.
Before doing it you have to be prepared that you may destroy your board and need to buy a new one with the delay and cost that comes with it.. But that could be built without the U11 chip. With care, risk appears pretty low.
Anyone compared the:
Wave IO
vs EXA
vs DIYINHK384kHz Asynchronous USB to I2S/SPDIF CM6631A PCB
vs Isolated XMOS DSD DXD 384kHz high-quality USB to I2S/DSD PCB with ultralow noise regulator
?
I use EXA with B3 today with dedicated 5V
My friend has a Wave IO
I have a DIYINHK384kHz Asynchronous USB to I2S/SPDIF CM6631A PCB on the workbench
Have not tested them against each-other
Wave IO
vs EXA
vs DIYINHK384kHz Asynchronous USB to I2S/SPDIF CM6631A PCB
vs Isolated XMOS DSD DXD 384kHz high-quality USB to I2S/DSD PCB with ultralow noise regulator
?
I use EXA with B3 today with dedicated 5V
My friend has a Wave IO
I have a DIYINHK384kHz Asynchronous USB to I2S/SPDIF CM6631A PCB on the workbench
Have not tested them against each-other
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I had the opportunity to compare the discussed device with boards from DIYNNK on 6631a and XMOS.
6631a sound quality surely loses to boards, based on xmos.
In Wave IO implemented much more functional, and most important- better organized power supply of generators.
Both devices on XMOS are on a direct comparison sounded almost the same, but was diyink upgraded- generators were removed and used generators from DAC, powered on LP5900.
DAC- ArpeggioMKII
Schematic
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I didn't expect for such a difference after disabling the SPDIF FF! Yes, it's on the oscillator's side and it is switching still...As for upgrades, yes, there could be something else:
* the firmware. The 'old' one has became a source of issue with a board designed by IanCanada (Ian's FIFO) but now I have a clue where should I start to fix it!
BTW, to all who's asking where is the new *test* firmware used by Ian when we both tried to solve the problem: it is located here.
I expect this new firmware would add some stability to the I2S ports... but I didn't fully tried so I don't know how it will act on other areas. It also bring support for DoP and Native DSD playback but the LEDs are not working with these new features (that's why is a beta BTW)
* some resisors on the board could be changed to more "appropriate" values just to bring down switching artifacts like over/undershoot and ringing to the I2S signals.
From what I remember, that flip-flop was the only switching part I know that can be disabled. The rest of SPDIF circuitry are all passive parts which now, with the absence of that flip-flop are kinda "floating".
Kind regards,
Lucian
On the DDDAC WaveOI specific boards the SPDIFF section is missing. Is the new test firmware applicable for this board too?
@Lorien, Like reported by others. I have the occasional crackling coming from the board, once every week or so. A quick power off/on, resolves this problem. Any suggestion on how to remedy this?
@Lorien, Like reported by others. I have the occasional crackling coming from the board, once every week or so. A quick power off/on, resolves this problem. Any suggestion on how to remedy this?
The boards used with Doede's DDDAC have all the parts related to SPDIF output removed from the PCB by default. Anyway, later on if one wants to wire a complete assembled WaveIO to DDDAC through I2S bus then he/she ca remove the U11 flip-flop chip from WaveIO as described in earlier posts. I don't think that desoldering other passive parts after this FF (which are already floating) will bring any sound benefits but I wish happy DIY-ing to all those curious enough to try it!
Kind regards,
L
Edit: I saw your post later, page wasn't updated, sorry! Yes, the new firmware will be compatible with all WaveIOs. As for crackling I'm afraid this would not be so easy for me to solve at distance as long as my own WaveIOs don't have such a bad habit. Anyway, when it's ready, let's see how this new firmware will act and then start blaming the hardware and/or inter-connections!
Kind regards,
L
Edit: I saw your post later, page wasn't updated, sorry! Yes, the new firmware will be compatible with all WaveIOs. As for crackling I'm afraid this would not be so easy for me to solve at distance as long as my own WaveIOs don't have such a bad habit. Anyway, when it's ready, let's see how this new firmware will act and then start blaming the hardware and/or inter-connections!
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As for upgrades, yes, there could be something else:
* the firmware. The 'old' one has became a source of issue with a board designed by IanCanada (Ian's FIFO) but now I have a clue where should I start to fix it!
BTW, to all who's asking where is the new *test* firmware used by Ian when we both tried to solve the problem: it is located here.
I expect this new firmware would add some stability to the I2S ports... but I didn't fully tried so I don't know how it will act on other areas. It also bring support for DoP and Native DSD playback but the LEDs are not working with these new features (that's why is a beta BTW)
* some resisors on the board could be changed to more "appropriate" values just to bring down switching artifacts like over/undershoot and ringing to the I2S signals.
Lorien, thank you for the additional suggestions.
I have been following Ian's experiments in the other thread with interest as I use hie FIFO project with your waveio. I don't usually install beta firmware and have no current interest in DSD playback at the moment. Given all that:
- If I experience problems can I re-install the current release firmware?
- Is the only reason it's beta the LEDs...ie is it relatively safe to install ;-)
Let me know if you have suggestions as to resistor values - and which resistor values. I'm happy to experiment ;-)
Cheers,
Crom
Yep! the current firmware release is available here (right above the "DSD thing-ie") On windows you have to revert it do "factory defaults" with dfucons.exe (available in WaveIO's installation directory) and then use the USB Audio Device Firmware Upgrade to upload whatever .bin file you want from those two!
Yes, beta is mostly because of LEDs
... and... the fact that I didn't had time to play with the firmware in my properly fashion (squeeze it to death). Anyway, I'm pretty sure this new firmware will not blow up your WaveIO ... BTW none of mine had ended in smoke here! Cheers,
L
space available for it! This can be made using the "revertfactory" command in
dfucons executable:
E.1 open dos console from Start->Run->cmd
E.2 Navigate to the dfucons.exe file in WaveIO driver's directory
E.3 make sure that your WaveIO is plugged in.
E.4 run "dfucons.exe revertfactory" (type "dfucons.exe -h" for help)
E.5 Now your WaveIO should have Revision ID 0x0331 - just check it as I
described above! Please remember that you have to do the revertfactory thing
each time you want to update your WaveIO otherwise there will be no effect
on any of your DFU updates (no space left to write the update on it)!
Hi Lorian!
Downloading and installing the 'test' file is doable by me, but I stick in 'clearing' the memory part. When I navigate to the 'Dfucons.exe' file and try to open it, it tells me that a DLL is missing and I can't get in the program?!
What am I doing wrong?
Ed
dfucons executable:
E.1 open dos console from Start->Run->cmd
E.2 Navigate to the dfucons.exe file in WaveIO driver's directory
E.3 make sure that your WaveIO is plugged in.
E.4 run "dfucons.exe revertfactory" (type "dfucons.exe -h" for help)
E.5 Now your WaveIO should have Revision ID 0x0331 - just check it as I
described above! Please remember that you have to do the revertfactory thing
each time you want to update your WaveIO otherwise there will be no effect
on any of your DFU updates (no space left to write the update on it)!
Hi Lorian!
Downloading and installing the 'test' file is doable by me, but I stick in 'clearing' the memory part. When I navigate to the 'Dfucons.exe' file and try to open it, it tells me that a DLL is missing and I can't get in the program?!
What am I doing wrong?
Ed
Edit: I saw your post later, page wasn't updated, sorry! Yes, the new firmware will be compatible with all WaveIOs.
Lorien is it possible to use this firmware with your earlier WaveIO? I think mine is pre RevisionID 0×0331. Am I limited to using firmware that shipped with the board?
Unfortunately, all WaveIO boards with RevIDs lower than 0x0331 are not capable for DFU upgrades. The only reasonable choice we have here is to send you a pre-programmed EEPROM memory and you'll have to replace it for yourself or find a good friend who can help you!
I could do it for you but I do not know if it's feasible as long as, sometimes, the shipping cost was/is more than the card itself.
Anyway, the EE memory comes in a quite accessible package (SOIC8) compared to rest of the SMD parts assembled on WaveIO and, in theory, should not impose any problems!
Please note that after you'll replace the EE chip there will be no need for further changes to it as from that moment on, your WaveIO will have the DFU feature enabled.
Please PM me so we can arrange further details!
I could do it for you but I do not know if it's feasible as long as, sometimes, the shipping cost was/is more than the card itself.
Anyway, the EE memory comes in a quite accessible package (SOIC8) compared to rest of the SMD parts assembled on WaveIO and, in theory, should not impose any problems!
Please note that after you'll replace the EE chip there will be no need for further changes to it as from that moment on, your WaveIO will have the DFU feature enabled.
Please PM me so we can arrange further details!