Soekris' DAC implementations

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Hi guys,

I'm having issues properly starting up dam1021 rev4 so hoping that someone could help me out :)

First off, I am powering the DAC with Salas ultrabib shunt reg ~12VDC. I also have XMOS I2S module by diyinhk that I am powering with reflektor-d ~3.3VDC, also connecting XMOS with DAC to power ISO 3.3V on J3.

I was able to start it up and play some music, but the sound coming out is quite thin, seems like it plays in long corridor with reduced lows. It is nothing like I expected and much worse than my schiit dac, so I am assuming something is not right. So my question is - where do I start troubleshooting?

Also I tried updating the firmware with USB to RS232 adapter as described in soekris (also dimdim and hifiduino) sites with no success. I am not able to bring uManager with '+++' command. I either get empty screen or terminal outputs some characters as I enter +++. I tried both PuTTY as well as Tera Term.

I bought this DAC from forum member, not from soekris directly so there is a possibility that the DAC itself is broken. Also USB to RS232 cable is quite long, not sure how this might affect the connection.

Anyways, any help would be appreciated. Attached are some photos of WIP.
 

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Recently I managed to get my DAM to connect to the PC.

Did you assign to the right COM port number? You can see this in the Device Manager.

Make sure the DAM is OFF first.

I set it to 115200 baud rate. Once this is done, I will try to establish a connection with the DAM. Now turn the DAM ON. Note that the DAM needs to be OFF until the PC connection is attempted. This is an important step, if you don’t, the DAM will not connect.
 
Thanks for help dewdrop :)

Did you assign to the right COM port number? You can see this in the Device Manager.
Make sure the DAM is OFF first.

It does show up in device manager as usb to rs232 ch340 device with up to date drivers. I did try to turn off the DAC first, make a connection and only then power it on. The terminal window is still blank.

Also, make sure that the connections Tx-Rx and not Tx-Tx or Rx-Rx.

Yes, I know I mixed these up on first try, now it is connected as it should Tx-Rx and vice versa (see attachment in first post).

Anything else I might have missed?
 
OK, got the TTL FT232RL FTDI converter, things got better, but still cannot invoke uManager via terminal. The module has a switch for 3.3 and 5V, I'm using the 3.3V toggle as suggested (see attached photo).
Once connected to he terminal I fire up the DAC and get some gibberish output though ExtraPuTTY now is saying the connection is successful (opposite with what I was seeing with RS232 converter). Typing +++ does not bring anything up.
Does this mean the converter I use is still not the one supported?? Any further suggestions - should I try some other converter?
 

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OK, got the TTL FT232RL FTDI converter, things got better, but still cannot invoke uManager via terminal. The module has a switch for 3.3 and 5V, I'm using the 3.3V toggle as suggested (see attached photo).
Once connected to he terminal I fire up the DAC and get some gibberish output though ExtraPuTTY now is saying the connection is successful (opposite with what I was seeing with RS232 converter). Typing +++ does not bring anything up.
Does this mean the converter I use is still not the one supported?? Any further suggestions - should I try some other converter?

Check your port speed. It should be:

Baud rate: 115,200
Data bits: 8
Stop bits: 1
Parity: none
Flow control: none
 
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