As I read that some of you had the opportunity to test the chip with it’s EVB, I have few simple questions in order to make a go/nogo on a project.
The Ct7601 embed a 8051 core. When delivered from the factory is the chip ready to use ? I mean does it already contain the 8051 software in ROM or preloaded flash? Or do we have to flash it with the right software ?
In order to flash the Ct7601, how to proceed ? is there a dedicated programmer to use, does anybody here have experience with that ?
I haven’t found any clue related to these two questions in the datasheet nor EVB schematics.
Thanks
Chris
The Ct7601 embed a 8051 core. When delivered from the factory is the chip ready to use ? I mean does it already contain the 8051 software in ROM or preloaded flash? Or do we have to flash it with the right software ?
In order to flash the Ct7601, how to proceed ? is there a dedicated programmer to use, does anybody here have experience with that ?
I haven’t found any clue related to these two questions in the datasheet nor EVB schematics.
Thanks
Chris
7601 has the only loader in its ROM i.e. the program code loading from the serial flash IC every startup. Same as XMOS actually. Take a look at the Comtrue demoboard schematic in the first post of this thread. The source code is Keil project, also they gave Flash_prog.exe tool thru the USB. That's really stupid, Comtrue doesn't give the way to use the serial flash contains program code for your variables so you need to add one more serial flash if you gonna save there your data.
Ok, that's what I was thinking of when seeing an SPI flash and a I2C flash on EVB. I2C one is probably intended to store user data.
So I'm now getting closer a Go than a NoGo !
I’ll order a few chips in order to get the software package. I do not plan to buy EVB, but I will have to mimic some parts of it in order to ensure compatibility with their software.
Thanks
Chris
So I'm now getting closer a Go than a NoGo !
I’ll order a few chips in order to get the software package. I do not plan to buy EVB, but I will have to mimic some parts of it in order to ensure compatibility with their software.
Thanks
Chris
Yes.
A few years ago I made a USB2 soundcard using a LPC4330, mostly for fun, I wanted a multichannel solution. Summary of the situation 5 years ago, may have changed since:
LPC4330: excellent chip. Ridiculous memory bandwidth. USB and Ethernet peripherals with efficient scatter-gather DMA. Maxes out bandwidth on both while barely using a few % cpu.
Dev tools, libraries, example code: pure garbage, all example code was junk, low performance, buggy, or doesn't work at all. Had to go bare metal. IDE (Eclipse) is slow, debug probe is temperamental, code upload is slow as hell.
Got tired of it, wrote a bootloader via USB bulk, then it flashed in milliseconds.
USB peripheral: yeah it will let you make both iso and bulk endpoints, I added a USB "serial" port on top that could max out the remaining USB bandwidth while transferring multichannel audio, everything at the same time, the hardware doesn't care, it works, still using barely any CPU except for the tons of printf() for debugging.
Hardware documentation: the USB peripheral documentation was probably translated from Chinese by interns, and it shows. It doesn't tell everything. Shame, because the hardware is really good.
USB2 audio standard: Definitely design by committee. Worthy of napalm. The linux kernel source code was a better source of documentation.
LPC4330 multichannel I2S output: yeah that's the problem, there is none. It has a thing called SGPIO that somewhat replaces it, it was supposed to be ideal on paper, but it's temperamental. I could never get it to work 100%. Sometimes it output the bits shifted, and a reboot of the micor fixed it. Once running, it worked. Still, annoying.
In the end I used it (in stereo) until the micro dev board died, but I haven't bothered to rebuild it.
Ah, obviously, it only worked under Linux (perfectly). I haven't tested it with the new supposedly operational windows USB audio class 2 drivers.
Ethernet is a lot simpler than USB audio class, because you don't have to mess with the demonic USB audio class specifications that were designed by a committee of comic supervillains lol.
I made an ethernet DAC around 15 years ago with a FPGA, also fun project, I wanted to learn FPGA so why not. It worked fine, just UDP packets flying around. Also 100Mbps is not very noisy, I wouldn't put a WiFi transmitter in a DAC personally. But obviously it was not compatible with windows drivers, so had to play flac files with python script. Not the most convenient. Drivers are always the problem.
I made an ethernet DAC around 15 years ago with a FPGA, also fun project, I wanted to learn FPGA so why not. It worked fine, just UDP packets flying around. Also 100Mbps is not very noisy, I wouldn't put a WiFi transmitter in a DAC personally. But obviously it was not compatible with windows drivers, so had to play flac files with python script. Not the most convenient. Drivers are always the problem.
I didn’t try but may soon. I can only confirm the Cirrus bridge isn’t an option for various reasons but mostly that you’ll need to be an extremely high volume or established customer to get what you need to customize the behavior.
Hello
I have bought the Topping U90 USB Bridge by mistake. I am considering returning it. Or, pass it on that can use a new U90 and save $ 150.00, of the $599.00 .
Please forgive me for posting this, but I simply do not know where to go with this item.
Some data:
Features:
PCM 32bit 768kHz and DSD512 Native
IIS High Compatibility
Multiple Interfaces Output
Ultra low jitter
Built-in USB isolation
12V Trigger
Output PCM:
IIS-LVDS 44.1kHz-768kHz / 16bit-32bit
AES 44.1kHz-192kHz / 16bit-24bit
OPT 44.1kHz-192kHz / 16bit-24bit
COAX 44.1kHz-192kHz / 16bit-24bit
Output DSD (Native):
IIS-LVDS DSD64-DSD512
AES Not supported
OPT Not supported
COAX Not supported
Output DSD (Dop):
IIS-LVDS DSD64-DSD256
AES DSD64
OPT DSD64
COAX DSD64
I have bought the Topping U90 USB Bridge by mistake. I am considering returning it. Or, pass it on that can use a new U90 and save $ 150.00, of the $599.00 .
Please forgive me for posting this, but I simply do not know where to go with this item.
Some data:
Features:
PCM 32bit 768kHz and DSD512 Native
IIS High Compatibility
Multiple Interfaces Output
Ultra low jitter
Built-in USB isolation
12V Trigger
Output PCM:
IIS-LVDS 44.1kHz-768kHz / 16bit-32bit
AES 44.1kHz-192kHz / 16bit-24bit
OPT 44.1kHz-192kHz / 16bit-24bit
COAX 44.1kHz-192kHz / 16bit-24bit
Output DSD (Native):
IIS-LVDS DSD64-DSD512
AES Not supported
OPT Not supported
COAX Not supported
Output DSD (Dop):
IIS-LVDS DSD64-DSD256
AES DSD64
OPT DSD64
COAX DSD64
Approaching end of 2023 -- how is it now looking?
- CT7601 looks very interesting. Kind of hard to source for a home builder; Comtrue will not ship to end users nor are they providing any source code or firmware. ICs can be sourced from Taobao. A bit hard to get shipped overseas, but not impossible through a broker. If anyone can help with the source code and programming tools ... ?
- ST and NXP offer example USB Audio middleware, but it's not feature-complete or production ready.
- XMOS... wow, I'm by no means a bad developer. But getting into that, it seems much more messy than I had expected. Also no feature-complete examples. Documentation and examples are scattered and not updated to the latest build environment.
- CM6635 seems like a capable part, but sketchy to order or to get a datasheet.
Then for open source alternatives:
So where should an enterprising DIY USB interface builder now start, you reckon?
- CT7601 looks very interesting. Kind of hard to source for a home builder; Comtrue will not ship to end users nor are they providing any source code or firmware. ICs can be sourced from Taobao. A bit hard to get shipped overseas, but not impossible through a broker. If anyone can help with the source code and programming tools ... ?
- ST and NXP offer example USB Audio middleware, but it's not feature-complete or production ready.
- XMOS... wow, I'm by no means a bad developer. But getting into that, it seems much more messy than I had expected. Also no feature-complete examples. Documentation and examples are scattered and not updated to the latest build environment.
- CM6635 seems like a capable part, but sketchy to order or to get a datasheet.
Then for open source alternatives:
- TinyUSB does not seem to have a reliable UAC2 implementation.
- but CherryUSB just might.
- finally there is the venerable Audio-Widget... good UAC2 but PCM only.
So where should an enterprising DIY USB interface builder now start, you reckon?
I think, the XMOS is the best choice, because of its flexibility in use, and it supports MQA, and the performance is very good, the sound is also better than amanero！
http://bbs.hifidiy.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1495462&extra=&page=1
http://bbs.hifidiy.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1495462&extra=&page=1
STM32F7/H7 are versatile MCUs that have all the processing speed and features needed for high performance UAC2. As general purpose MCUs they also have a multitude of other features that are useful for USB audio. The development tools are excellent and free of charge.
If you want to DIY you should be prepared to do some software development but there are some threads here that you can use as starting point:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/uac2-i2s-input-on-stm32f723e-disco.393702/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/uac2-0-on-stm32.393081/
If you want to DIY you should be prepared to do some software development but there are some threads here that you can use as starting point:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/uac2-i2s-input-on-stm32f723e-disco.393702/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/uac2-0-on-stm32.393081/
You should first decide what is your goal with DIYing this. Why not just buy something existing.
My reason for making a STM32F7 based UAC2 board was to learn more about the subject (both UAC2 and STM32F7) but I also needed a full-duplex (I2S output & input) UAC2 board. None of the commercial boards were suitable (or good enough).
My reason for making a STM32F7 based UAC2 board was to learn more about the subject (both UAC2 and STM32F7) but I also needed a full-duplex (I2S output & input) UAC2 board. None of the commercial boards were suitable (or good enough).