rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jul 11, 2006 2:29:57 GMT
Going to grab one of Jim Hagerman's HagUsb half kits and give a listen www.hagtech.com/hagusb.html-to determine if it is me lacking in enough digital audio skill to blame or if the 2704 is truly inferior.The price of admission can't be beat with a stick plus who would NOT want to deal with a guy like this ? www.hagtech.com/media/hagvideo.wmvI can think of a lot worse characters to give my hard earned dead presidents to I KNOW what my SPDIF input DAC sounds like so I will KNOW if I need to rework my layout (off the perf board with an adapter and to aproper pcb ? ), or if in the end I should just give up on making my own USB interface and go with one having a proven track record. stay tuned for pt.4......................eventually........... ;D .
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jul 11, 2006 3:06:34 GMT
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xerxes
Been here a while!
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Post by xerxes on Jul 11, 2006 4:44:35 GMT
I would use a good USB cable, and keep it as short as possible, connected to a USB port on the PC, rather than a hub or switch. I have a digital television tuner with a hard drive in it for recording television programs. This has a USB port on it for transfering files to a PC. With a long, cheap, no name USB cable, no end of trouble getting the PC to recognise the damn thing. Using a shortish Belkin Gold series USB cable, no problems; proof that different data cables do make a difference.
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jul 11, 2006 4:58:17 GMT
makes a lot of good sense but does make a simple flip the switch head to head close to impossible. To be honest I DO know better anyway this being so close to DBT as to be the same.I still need a benchmark though and will go with a Hagerman board as my control.If the Hagerman wins then it is the keeper and my trials concluded (no actual pcb design to deal with ) ....then I need to figure out the best way to switch a spdif signal without any signal degradation (jitter bug ) so I can choose between USB or straight SPDIF to the main DAC-a spdif "through" position for CDP feeds. EDIT : Got my chips/power supplies mixed up
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xerxes
Been here a while!
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Post by xerxes on Jul 11, 2006 5:56:39 GMT
By the way, love the movie. I sometimes wonder what hi-fi dealers make of the collection of low brow, punk, junk, pop, rock and dance recordings I've taken along to demo kit with. Good to know I'm not the only person that likes to hear low brow through hi-fi, rather than a selection of stuffy, audiophile reference Jazz and Classical recordings.
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jul 12, 2006 2:49:19 GMT
I never worry about snobs which is anyone that looks down on any other person for whatever reason.In fact I have been known to shock a few from time to time when "Evil Rick" emerges from my normally punk baby exterior Think of it like as if Bizzarro Superman emerged from Clark Kent then did some trips ;D my attitude on equipment evals is it makes absolutely zero sense to use anything other than recordings you are intimately familiar with and that means whatever music you listen to at home.How else to know when something is either missing that should be there or something added you never before heard which goes to better retreival of information ? The sales person don't like it ? LEAVE THE ROOM ! Give me some damn space ! You'll still get your commision if I buy but you keep making faces like something stinks or yukking it up behind my back and you will be the one caught out when I step and you have to explain the no sale to the boss man. Mid-high to high-end audio is not an easy racket with the only thing keeping the doors open the occasional sales of gear marked up X5 or better in price I personally have a zero tolerance level for jerks (even though I have a talent for being one myself at times ) so I take it as a personal mission to make such a person as uncomfortable around me as possible short of doing anything they can pin me down on and have grounds for retaliation.The best insult is always the one that takes a while to figure out if you even HAVE been insulted
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FritzS
Been here a while!
Sound of Blue Danube
Sound of Blue Danube
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Post by FritzS on Jul 12, 2006 10:15:23 GMT
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rickcr42
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Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jul 12, 2006 12:04:11 GMT
nothing new or usable there man. I am trying to nail down my USB input once and for all so this more about two individual DAC box/2 separate line outputs (PCM2702 & DITB+ as entirely stand alone DACS) or two box/ single line output (PCM2704>USB of the DITB+>Line Out) or a single Box DAC (PCM2706>I2S>DAC chip>Line Out) while retaining SPDIF input for CD Transport use. Against all reason totally separate DACs,each going to a different input on my preamp sounds better than the USB-to-SPDIF-to-DITB even though the DITB smokes the stand alone PCM2702 USB DAC and the 2702/DITB+ combo beats the 2706/I2S/AD1865 even though it should not which tells me : A-KISS : Simple is best even here B-My layout sucks and needs a big time update I'm shooting for a single box solution at best and at worst a DAC Sandwich consisting of a "buiding block in a box" stack with each box performing its specific duty.Same idea,two paths. So I need an outside benchmark to compare MY designs to and if I can not better the benchmark then why bother making my own ? DIY just to do it makes zero sense if there are well designed reasonably priced alternatives that work better.There is a whole lot more going on with these "simple" chips than plug and play with even a single bad decision on what cap to use where having big time audible consequences Oh yeah.There is a reason you see all these USB interfaces having the USB connector at one side of the casing and the SPDIF or Line outs at the other and it is NOT because it looks cool ;D This excercise is actually turning out to be a learning experience in both humility and interface layout on something i had though i mastered years ago.Any day you earn a thing is a GOOD day
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rickcr42
Fully Modded
Rest in peace my good friend.
Posts: 4,514
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Post by rickcr42 on Jul 12, 2006 12:26:51 GMT
Oh yeah. for clarity the "DITB+" is a former Audio Alchemy "DAC In The Box" (DITB) with the "+" the all outside the box analog section (the + part) making the original a digital interface box.This original section has had modifications,mostly just bettering the power feeds to the CS8412 SPDIF Receiver,Digital Filter and AD1860 16 Bit DAC chip and parts upgrades.I also cut the Vout and Iout connection for use with an external IV stage,presently a passive resistor/transformer combo with the resistor part still in the "box" and the 1:20 trafos in a piggyback case I like the idea of "digital box/analog box" so I can play around with combinations at will
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