For some years now I’ve been running a Twisted Pear Buffalo 9038 DAC with the Beagle Bone/ Cronus combo.
The Cronus runs the master clock and is connected to the dac with Ufl cables. The BBB runs GentooPlayer. The BBB has become kind of a dead end as the developer of GentooPlayer has dropped it.
I have just purchased the PurePi/FifoPi Q7 with Raspberry Pi3 to replace the BBB/Cronus. My question is about grounding. The dac is grounded through its power supply to the chassis. There will be a ground connection through the Ufl cables but maybe not the best place for the only ground. Where is the best place to ground the PurePi stack?
Thanks
The Cronus runs the master clock and is connected to the dac with Ufl cables. The BBB runs GentooPlayer. The BBB has become kind of a dead end as the developer of GentooPlayer has dropped it.
I have just purchased the PurePi/FifoPi Q7 with Raspberry Pi3 to replace the BBB/Cronus. My question is about grounding. The dac is grounded through its power supply to the chassis. There will be a ground connection through the Ufl cables but maybe not the best place for the only ground. Where is the best place to ground the PurePi stack?
Thanks
RPI power management.
I have a first iteration running of my circuit and PCB to make sure the RPI is safely shutted down, before mains are totally disconnected from streamer and DAC.
Yes, one of my personal requirements is that my DIY builds are fully switched of when not in use, excluding one small PCB transformer for the power management.
The circuit makes use of a current sense transformer (CSE185L), to measure the current towards the R-core xfmr, dedicated for the RPI.
The two signals from the Shieldpi are being used: external trigger and on/off input.
One happy DIY’er here.
I have a first iteration running of my circuit and PCB to make sure the RPI is safely shutted down, before mains are totally disconnected from streamer and DAC.
Yes, one of my personal requirements is that my DIY builds are fully switched of when not in use, excluding one small PCB transformer for the power management.
The circuit makes use of a current sense transformer (CSE185L), to measure the current towards the R-core xfmr, dedicated for the RPI.
The two signals from the Shieldpi are being used: external trigger and on/off input.
One happy DIY’er here.
Attachments
Dear Eduard,
It's disheartening to read another critique from you without any practical experience. Your strong feelings and thoughts, while abundant, lack the weight of hands-on experimentation.
Perhaps it's time to shift your focus from criticizing every inquiry to actually trying and testing. Your tendency to be the first to respond without a shred of experience is becoming tedious. I genuinely empathize with your situation and suggest considering ready-made solutions from experienced builders in France, as you often praise their thorough research.
Continuing down this path of perpetual critique and an offended attitude towards everything seems redundant and futile. Embracing a more constructive and open-minded approach could bring fresh perspectives to our discussions.
Best, Jon
Hello,
I believe it has been confirmed by others too that the resistance introduced by one green connector is bigger than the difference in internal resistance between the smaller supercaps and the American coke can seize one . Most actual builds here have a green connector on both boards but if your brain will be enough biased by just staring at your caps, it could be enough. I mean you hear an improvement but you hear just a small part of what is possible.
Google and find out how the French group around Jean Hiraga have dealt with maintaining the technical virtues of the caps they were using back then.
People will say with nowadays active parts it is possible to achieve results that were impossible a decade ago. Then why is does most present day gear sounds so awful compared to a " normal" Luxman, Nad, Denon from the eighties in good condition? They may not have the same level of detail but they can play music in a captivating manner.
In the DDDAC there is a shunt on the board and there is a normal voltage regulator present to take care of a correct input voltage. BUT several people reported a nice improvement removing the regulator and achieving regulation in a passive way using CLC or even LCRC/LCLC. Probably the regulator did introduce it is own " sonic signature" to the sound. Some people state these active regulators only succeed in filtering a certain part of the noise and one needs a choke to make things complete.
I have been using a 2.1 amp for more than a decade that had a big battery supply for a long time. When i had some big Lundahls in " stock" i bought a surplus Philips transformer and made a choke input and to my surprise it was quiet a lot better than the batteries which were no knock offs.
I know Guido Tent made or still makes clocks and that his shunts were kind of developed for digital gear. He has been working with some other people designing for several companies so i don't think his circuits will be noisy.
I remember building Allen Wright shunt circuits and there were several people who decided to replace the chip which was used during design with one that had better specs most of the time it would not work and cause all kind of problems without improving the sound.
Luckily here most issues are about no sound at all so we know in general i must be something big.
I wish i would be more about changing some cap, resistor or adding some screening somewhere to squeeze the last bit.
Greetings Eduard
I believe it has been confirmed by others too that the resistance introduced by one green connector is bigger than the difference in internal resistance between the smaller supercaps and the American coke can seize one . Most actual builds here have a green connector on both boards but if your brain will be enough biased by just staring at your caps, it could be enough. I mean you hear an improvement but you hear just a small part of what is possible.
Google and find out how the French group around Jean Hiraga have dealt with maintaining the technical virtues of the caps they were using back then.
People will say with nowadays active parts it is possible to achieve results that were impossible a decade ago. Then why is does most present day gear sounds so awful compared to a " normal" Luxman, Nad, Denon from the eighties in good condition? They may not have the same level of detail but they can play music in a captivating manner.
In the DDDAC there is a shunt on the board and there is a normal voltage regulator present to take care of a correct input voltage. BUT several people reported a nice improvement removing the regulator and achieving regulation in a passive way using CLC or even LCRC/LCLC. Probably the regulator did introduce it is own " sonic signature" to the sound. Some people state these active regulators only succeed in filtering a certain part of the noise and one needs a choke to make things complete.
I have been using a 2.1 amp for more than a decade that had a big battery supply for a long time. When i had some big Lundahls in " stock" i bought a surplus Philips transformer and made a choke input and to my surprise it was quiet a lot better than the batteries which were no knock offs.
I know Guido Tent made or still makes clocks and that his shunts were kind of developed for digital gear. He has been working with some other people designing for several companies so i don't think his circuits will be noisy.
I remember building Allen Wright shunt circuits and there were several people who decided to replace the chip which was used during design with one that had better specs most of the time it would not work and cause all kind of problems without improving the sound.
Luckily here most issues are about no sound at all so we know in general i must be something big.
I wish i would be more about changing some cap, resistor or adding some screening somewhere to squeeze the last bit.
Greetings Eduard
Attachments
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Looking for a little trouble shooting help.
When using the StationPi pro does the Q7 and Dac get powered?
I’m using a dual linear pi for the Station pro. (1side to the Ropieee, 1side to the audio side) Q7 and ess controller is the first layer, then Dac, the OPA864 on top.
Q7 clean side has power from a LIFOmini.
Everything has power except the dac.
When adding a jumper on the dual linearpis and toggling S1 I can either get the dac powered or the Q7 powered but not at the same time.
What am I missing?
Thanks!
First pic is all powered on
Second pic is toggling S1 that shuts off the RPi side and the Q7, but turns on the dac.
When using the StationPi pro does the Q7 and Dac get powered?
I’m using a dual linear pi for the Station pro. (1side to the Ropieee, 1side to the audio side) Q7 and ess controller is the first layer, then Dac, the OPA864 on top.
Q7 clean side has power from a LIFOmini.
Everything has power except the dac.
When adding a jumper on the dual linearpis and toggling S1 I can either get the dac powered or the Q7 powered but not at the same time.
What am I missing?
Thanks!
First pic is all powered on
Second pic is toggling S1 that shuts off the RPi side and the Q7, but turns on the dac.
Attachments
I have a troubleshooting question as well. I can’t get the Q7 to lock in my new set up. Using station pi, one side is DDC and Amanero for input (I have seen Ian post this setup in lieu of rpi here) and on the other side Q7, SCpure clocks, 9038DAC and OPA output stage. Everything seems to be powered fine but not getting lock on Q7 and the monitorpi screen is stuck with the “ESS Control” message without being able to change any settings.
Thanks.
Thanks.
If you are using two linearPi to power the StationPi pro (one for the Rpi and the second for the audio/dirty side of Q7), you should remove the jumpers J9 on station pro.
Do you use the LifePo mini+UcCond. combo to power both the DAC and Q7 clean Side? (This should be fine BTW).
Regards Mikkel
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@camrector
The DAC must be powered at any of the three terminals J1, J2 and J4. (Still with the jumpers in place on the DAC).
So yes just power the DAC J1 from J5 Q7 clean side.
The DAC must be powered at any of the three terminals J1, J2 and J4. (Still with the jumpers in place on the DAC).
So yes just power the DAC J1 from J5 Q7 clean side.
@camrector
You’re welcome 🙂
Hope you get some music right away 🙂
Ian also only use a single power supply to power both Q7 and DAC in his flagship configuration. If I remember correctly he made a picture of this at the end of the ES9038 mkII manual. So you’re home safe.
I plan to do the same at my 2.0 build.
Nice build BTW. I like the big shielding plate between the station Pi and PSU’s.
You’re welcome 🙂
Hope you get some music right away 🙂
Ian also only use a single power supply to power both Q7 and DAC in his flagship configuration. If I remember correctly he made a picture of this at the end of the ES9038 mkII manual. So you’re home safe.
I plan to do the same at my 2.0 build.
Nice build BTW. I like the big shielding plate between the station Pi and PSU’s.
@miklau
I do remember seeing that picture know that you mention it.
Thanks. This is my first build so I pretty excited to hear.
It was awesome to flip the switch today and see everything (minus the dac lol) power up.
Very very rewarding.
I’m very thankful that this is an easy little surgery
Connect 2 wires and I’m good!
I could just come straight out of the UcConditioner to both Dac J1 and Q7 J5 right?
Also I remove the black jumpers? The wording makes me think that the black jumpers stay on. The board says “To share two Dc input J3 and J5”
I do remember seeing that picture know that you mention it.
Thanks. This is my first build so I pretty excited to hear.
It was awesome to flip the switch today and see everything (minus the dac lol) power up.
Very very rewarding.
I’m very thankful that this is an easy little surgery
Connect 2 wires and I’m good!
I could just come straight out of the UcConditioner to both Dac J1 and Q7 J5 right?
Also I remove the black jumpers? The wording makes me think that the black jumpers stay on. The board says “To share two Dc input J3 and J5”
@camrector
I would connected it with the shortest wires possible. That could easily be straight from the UcCond. with two sets of wires. Maybe the middel connector J2 at the DAC is even closer.
Yes must still remove the jumpers J9 on StationPi pro if you want to gain any improvements using two LinearPi at the StaionPi Pro. I agree with you regarding the “To share two Dc input J3 and J5”. It´s a little cryptic, but it means that if you only have one DC supply you share the two inputs J3 and J5 by having the jumpers in place. Sorry, but don't know how to explain it any better.
If you want to check it and that's what i did, first remove both you wire connection from J3 and J5 at stationPi Pro and then measure continuity with a multimeter:
The last setting is what you want since you are using the better option with two power supplies.
I would connected it with the shortest wires possible. That could easily be straight from the UcCond. with two sets of wires. Maybe the middel connector J2 at the DAC is even closer.
Yes must still remove the jumpers J9 on StationPi pro if you want to gain any improvements using two LinearPi at the StaionPi Pro. I agree with you regarding the “To share two Dc input J3 and J5”. It´s a little cryptic, but it means that if you only have one DC supply you share the two inputs J3 and J5 by having the jumpers in place. Sorry, but don't know how to explain it any better.
If you want to check it and that's what i did, first remove both you wire connection from J3 and J5 at stationPi Pro and then measure continuity with a multimeter:
- With the jumpers in place at J9 you will have full continuity between "+" at J3 and J5. (You will only need one supply to power both)
- With the Jumpers removed - no continuity (you must use two PSU).
The last setting is what you want since you are using the better option with two power supplies.
@camrector
I think it would be better if you use separate dual linearpi to power i/v opa861 ...
I think it would be better if you use separate dual linearpi to power i/v opa861 ...
Hi @stew1234
I don't know the DDC that well so I could be wrong, but don't that need power as well? When looking at you StationPi SMT I only see a connection to the dirty side of Q7 and not to the J3 on stationPi. The J3 and J5 on the StationPi are not internally connected so in any other configuration both terminals needs power.
How is the rest of your stack powered?
Your DAC is not detected when the ESS controller is stuck and the dots running at the bottom. I would look at the powering first through.
Regards Mikkel
Thanks. I should have noted that I’ve connected J3 and J5 directly underneath the board with wire, so using a single power supply for the dirty 5v. Both sides are showing power. I may try to get working without stationpi first.
I’m using ucpure 3.3v for dac and clean side of q7. Shunt refs for the output stage.