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Introducing the Hermes-Amanero

You must always increase the current on the 1.2V trident on the B3 to get up to 384Khz = use 21R-27R to R4 of the trident.

Russ, I'm a little confused, as per usual. We must ALWAYS increase the current? You are saying that any 1.2V Trident supplied by TP with a BIII/BIIISE will need to be modded, the idle current increased, if one intends to use 384k sample rates? I never did this. I don't remember any mention of this in the documentation I read.
 
Just paralleled a 24.9 ohm R across R4 on the 1.2 V Tridents. Still no 384 so tried 20 ohms, also without success. Then I checked the 5.25 volt supply and found that I was significantly low on the channel that I had not increased the current in anticipation of powering the Ameanero, Hermes, Cronus, Sidecar etc. Upping the supply current to regain regulated 5.25 V I measured only 1.16 out of the 1.2 volt Tridents, but it is the same even at 44.1 sample rates and everything is now working at 384!

Should I try the 24.9 Resistors again or is it OK to leave the higher current through the Tridents? Things sounding so wonderfull I want to enjoy the music for a while but obviously don't want to damage the Tridents.
 
As long as it is working you don't need to - but I probably would - in fact based on your findings you may not need it at all. (maybe simply adjusting your 5V supply could have been all you needed) The 1.2V trident stock *usually* works fine at 384Khz - but it is within 5-10ma (not much margin) - but because of variations in LED forward voltage and transistor Vbe I usually just recommend people boost the current a tad. :)

Just keep in mind that the 1.2V trident will be running pretty hot now - especially at lower sample rates where the DAC is actually using less of the current.

Glad you have it sorted and are enjoying 384Khz music.

Cheers!
Russ
 
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Russ,

Is it necessary to change R4 for 1.2V regulator also for DSD playback (DSD64 and DSD128) ?
(or this change is needed only for PCM 384Khz)

Regards

Playing DSD64/128 is equivalent to playing 44.1K/88.2K PCM in terms of sample rates.

It is not always needed to adjust the 1.2V trident on B3 for > 192Khz - only suggested - try it stock first - if you notice the 1.2V rail sagging just add 21-27R at R4. :)

The key thing is you must always check your supplies while the music is playing - not while idle. Many people make the mistake of assuming that because their supplies look adequate at idle they will remain so while playing music - but the load can change substantially depending on sample rate.

Cheers!
Russ
 
Sorry for stirring up so much although the knowledge revealed is useful. With properly set up regulated 5.25 Volt supplies and the stock Tridents 384 now plays here. Less than 30 milliamp being shunted on the 1.2 V Trident so on the edge but 192K sample rate is way more common, just exploring the possibilities. Thanks again Russ for your responsiveness.
 
Power Supply

Sorry for stirring up so much although the knowledge revealed is useful. With properly set up regulated 5.25 Volt supplies and the stock Tridents 384 now plays here. Less than 30 milliamp being shunted on the 1.2 V Trident so on the edge but 192K sample rate is way more common, just exploring the possibilities. Thanks again Russ for your responsiveness.

I can also verify the importance of the PS for slightly different reasons. When I first set the Amanero/Cronus/Hermes up, I got significant noise out of the right channel whenever I had the output to the DAC set to 32 bits and played PCM material. I upgraded the PS to an unused Placid HD that was properly adjusted - problem gone and the sound improved. This is definitely a worthwhile upgrade for anyone using a standalone Amanero.
 
Thank you Russ and Brian!. I just finished assembling the Hermes-Amanero with 45.1584 MHz and 49.152 MHz clocks and my first impression was "WOW!" There is a harmonic richness and rightness from the deepest bass to the highest treble that was lacking with just the Amanero. The Amanero was good, but the Hermes-Amanero takes listening to another level. Red Book CD's, converted to flac, that I thought I knew after playing hundreds of times were a revelation, and higher resolution material, up to a maximum of 192 MHz, (the highest resolution material I currently own) were an even greater pleasant surprise.

Shifting from one sampling rate to another was absolutely seamless. No extraneous noise or dropouts whatsoever.

Over the years, I've listened to quite a number of DACs, and my Dual Mono with the Hermes-Amanero is simply the best I've heard.

My next enhancement will be to buy another Placid HD to provide dedicated power for the Hermes-Amanero.

I'm really looking forward to re-exploring my music collection.
 
Russ,

Not sure what isolator chip is used, I see 5 inputs are used, is there a spare input (pin 7 ?) . Also is the amanero pin17 not connected ?

kind of complicated, I want to change the slave mode for pin 11 to retain the MUTE and enable the F0 functions, I want to use the F0 as the chip select and the MUTE of the amanero, so what I gonna do is cut some traces and route the FO to pin5 of the isolator chip, then also route the MUTE to any unused isolator input. The MUTE will be used on my dac with some switching circuit. I will also swap the clock on the cronus for correct clock selection.

Reason for this is I want to experiment using the MUTE pin to remove the clicks/pops during sample rate changes and start/stop. Not using it on the B3 but on a single bit pure DSD dac.

Alfred