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Finished...for now!

M

MartinC

pfm Member
Finally completed the new DAC based largely on boards from TPA. Specs are:

Input: SPDIF (Coax, BNC and optical) and USB
Main DAC: ESS9038PRO (TPA BIISSEPRO)
Power: 2x100VA torroids for digital and analogue sections, one 20VA torroid for the Arduino Due.
Current to Voltage Conversion: TPA Mercury
USB Conversion: Amanero + Isolation + Reclocking
Analogue Out: SE and balanced
Control: Arduino Due (inputs, dac options, display dimming), controlled via Apple remote
Display: LCD
Case: HiFi2000 with custom front and rear panels from Front Panel Express


Control switches options on the DAC and the input switch board. I originally was planning to address the DAC directly but opted to instead switch via the switching available on the DAC board. The only real disadvantage I see is that I can't display the sample frequency.

Code for the Arduino was written from scratch (having never written C++ code and only having coded eons ago in Basic it was a challenge!)

How does it sound? Very nice, a definite step up from the older ES9018 that it replaced.

P1200423.jpg by Martin Carrington, on Flickr

P1200426.jpg by Martin Carrington, on Flickr

P1200424.jpg by Martin Carrington, on Flickr
 
Thanks! - Actually it's not too difficult really, there
were​
a few face palms during the build and one defective board that caused some headaches diagnosing.

Sharp eyed folks might have noticed an old NEC Multispin CD drive in the background, still works (must be 25 years old - quite an amazing transport). Also an Ergo IX lurking there!
flashgo said:
Professional work, Martin!

Would you be willing to share the file for that rear panel?
Click to expand...


Sure, only too happy you, I'll try to get it out to you tomorrow - can you PM me your email?
 
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Exemplary work! Especially undertaking the coding. Programming and micro-controllers were the toughest courses I encountered in my studies. Very useful skills to know since most everything is based off microcontrollers nowadays.
 
Nice job Martin. I have been thinking about an arduino controller for mine too, but it's not a big requirement for me. Something else to play with though! Nice to see you invested in a decent finished case. Those trannies look nicely overspecced too!

If your build sounds anything like mine it should keep you happy and listening (rather than soldering) for a good while. In direct comparison with a Chord Qutest, the Buffalo won out by a small but sweet margin.

I am still playing around with mine, simply because I have the time and a few options to work in and out. I seem to prefer SPDIF over direct I2S, I definitely prefer offboard regs for AVCC over the Trident module. I'm driving my Focal Utopia headphones direct off the single-ended Mercury i/v output and it's addictive.
 
Hi,
Yes - the finished product looks excellent. Thanks for providing the details of the component design - this is very helpful information. Currently XMOS are charging $299 for their USB to I2S interface - multichannel. The Amanero offers dual channel - which is all i want, and hence cheaper. Also, the Amanero is Linux compatibly out the box.
Regards,
Shadders.
 
That looks amazing, stick a £20k price tag on it and call it something exotic and get it up for sale quick!!

lol;):)
 
Splendid work!

Amazing really - 15, even 10yrs ago few would believe that SOA DAC performance under touchscreen & custom uprocessor control could all be well-inside in the scope of the vaguely-interested amateur- and not just assembled, but so finely fitted & detailed to a personal brief. We are through the looking -glass :)
 
Thanks everyone for the kind comments. The only change (in the short term) will be to fetch the input frequency from the Amanero and show on the display. Needs a firmware change on the Amanero and Arduino but should work. If anyone else wants to use the code for controlling the BIIISE board in a similar manner I would be happy to share!
 
MarkW said:
Nice job Martin. I have been thinking about an arduino controller for mine too, but it's not a big requirement for me. Something else to play with though! Nice to see you invested in a decent finished case. Those trannies look nicely overspecced too!

If your build sounds anything like mine it should keep you happy and listening (rather than soldering) for a good while. In direct comparison with a Chord Qutest, the Buffalo won out by a small but sweet margin.

I am still playing around with mine, simply because I have the time and a few options to work in and out. I seem to prefer SPDIF over direct I2S, I definitely prefer offboard regs for AVCC over the Trident module. I'm driving my Focal Utopia headphones direct off the single-ended Mercury i/v output and it's addictive.
Click to expand...

Hi Mark,

Good to hear about other builds. My last ES9018 BII build had a separate box for the power (but using much smaller xformers), with rectification, then supplying the TPA boards with DC bypassing their rectifier stage. I was considering this but the bigger case allowed for an all in one solution. Interested to hear about your AVCC set up, what type of outboard regs do you use? Is that compared to the newer Tridents?

Haven't tried SPDIF input (except for testing the inputs), I should try that, for USB/I2S are you using the Amanero/Hermes/Cronus set up?

Headphones from the unit are as you mention very good, I output to a STAX setup for headphones, but the STAX has a separate amp. Need to try the Mercury balanced output into the STAX at some point.

Cheers
 
MartinC said:
Hi Mark,

Good to hear about other builds. My last ES9018 BII build had a separate box for the power (but using much smaller xformers), with rectification, then supplying the TPA boards with DC bypassing their rectifier stage. I was considering this but the bigger case allowed for an all in one solution. Interested to hear about your AVCC set up, what type of outboard regs do you use? Is that compared to the newer Tridents?

Haven't tried SPDIF input (except for testing the inputs), I should try that, for USB/I2S are you using the Amanero/Hermes/Cronus set up?

Headphones from the unit are as you mention very good, I output to a STAX setup for headphones, but the STAX has a separate amp. Need to try the Mercury balanced output into the STAX at some point.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Hi Martin

I did have the Amanero/Hermes/Cronus set up a while ago, but I sold it when I went Rpi/kali reclocker. Then I bought a Diyinhk Xmos interface which is also very good. Honestly, I vasilate between the various options, so I've incorporated several input options. It works with various software and streaming options. I really should stop fiddling and just play some damn music, hee hee. It's just interesting to see if there are gains to be made by improving further the input of data to the dac. This generation of ESS asrc is definitely much improved over the older Sabres, but it is still possible to hear differences depending on what youfeed in.

I lashed up a balanced cable from Mercury to the Focal but the gains were, as anticipated, marginal to non-existent really.
 
In case anyone else tries a similar build, getting the sampling frequency and signal type is possible (at least for the USB input) without addressing the DAC itself. The USB input uses the AMANERO, there is a register that you can set on the Amanero that enables some of the output pins to give the frequency of the incoming signal. These in combination with the pin that designates whether a DSD signal is being received allows these signal lines to go to the Arduino which can then decode and display the input frequency and type (for the USB input only of course).
 
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