I2S Computer Build

[toddrhodes]

My custom PF I2S card is on the plane, headed to the states. It's an RJ45 out pinned specifically for my Aqua I2S in. Also, my HDPlex LPSU and ATX DC-DC converter should be here tomorrow. Going to be a busy, and hopefully glorious week I just spent the last week and change dialing in my room with REW and I have to say, that by itself - a free flippin' tweak minus the cost of a mic, preamp, and stand - is a great tool. The funny thing is I'm back to exactly where I started with my room treatments (nailed it on the first try apparently) but I found that extreme toe in, crossing in front of my listening position yields by far the best experience in terms of stage depth (no surprise) and width is still pretty good, not as good as it could be but I have to work within my room's space and my own preferences, but reflections are at a bare minimum this way.

 

Off-topic, but I also observed some really odd behavior when adding in JRiver room correction so, for now, I'm just using the PEQ settings based on my in-room response curves from REW. Turning those off for a quick A/B test is frankly astonishing. Should have done this a long time ago.

[toddrhodes]

PF card would work fine off the 12V output from HDPlex, correct? I modified the molex connector that comes with HDPlex to provide 12V instead of the included 5V so my plan is to power PF from that molex plug and then power my PPA V2 card with the 5V connector, Regen with the 9V, and obviously 19V to the motherboard through the HiFi 250W ATX PSU. Should give a pretty fair comparison though, as stated, we're limited to WASAPI right now (and thus, no AO Core Mode) for PF. I don't know that ASIO4ALL will give any benefit over WASAPI except that perhaps it works in Core Mode.

 

I will say that just powering Regen and the PPA cards via HDPlex - not the SSDs so far - the difference is quite obvious. So I'm excited to power the entire rig from HDPlex when my replacement ATX PSU gets here, then on to the PF setup.

 

I also just added some foam diffusion to the front wall of my room this morning. Why, oh why, did I not do that before...

[toddrhodes]

Hi Todd,

 

Here's the LP4 pinout:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20996[/ATTACH]

 

Thanks Pepi - by default the HDPlex LP4/Molex connector is wired with the +5V (Red) position and the "right" gnd position, using the lower-right image you posted. I moved the GND over by one (this was just an assumption on how the PF will be pinned) and moved the red wire to the opposite side, the 12V pin. So assuming I use the 12V output to my rewired molex, I should be able to power the PF that way, unless I have to move the GND back to where it was originally, easy enough.

 

Now the question is can I get another molex adapter like supplied with the HDPlex to power my SSDs with a Molex-Sata cable. I can probably just get an extra from HDPlex. I'm using that to power my PPA V2 card which takes a 2.5 mm DC jack, so I basically want to convert that 2.5 mm DC to molex. I'll do some digging, shouldn't be too tough to find?

 

EDIT - I may be making a very dumb assumption - does the PF Bridge get power from a DC jack or an LP4 type connector?

 

And yes, Jord did confirm 12V, I forgot about that email exchange with him. Jord rocks, just for the record

 

Edit 2 - looks like it takes a SATA power connector per the manual linked above? " Place the Pink Faun I2S-bridge in the PCI slot and connect the power supply (SATA)."

[toddrhodes]

Hi Todd,

Sounds good - I'll be making this change and powering the card with 12V from the HDPlex as well. I don't know if the board ties the 2 grounds together though - a question for Jord.

 

I don't know of any other source for the 2.1mm to LP4 adapters - very useful for the stuff we're trying to do but I imagine it's a small market for DIY audiophile types.

 

The PF board doesn't have a DC jack, only the LP4 connector in the rear of the card.

 

Pepi, I'm just going to use this:

 

2.1MM COAX POWER JACK (FEMALE) W/ PIGTAIL | All Electronics Corp.

 

And solder it to an LP4 from the parts bin and use that, from the sounds of how you connected yours (still not sure why PF says to use a "SATA" power supply).

 

Edit - I'm doing the same for my SSDs - that pigtail wired to a male LP4, feeding a female LP4 Molex to Sata adapter. I think that will work, but obviously on that one I'll only supply 5V using the correct wires, not 12V.

[toddrhodes]

PF Bridge is installed, but so far all I can get is static from it. This was a custom bridge fitted with an RJ45 output, pinned for my Aqua DAC. I've tried it through ASIO4ALL (no sound at all) and through JRiver WASAPI (static from both channels, tried multiple sample rate/bit depths and all do the same thing). Gotta love this hobby

[toddrhodes]

Can you post an image of the card from the rear and the cable on both ends?

 

Jesus R

 

Jesus, hopefully this G+ album/link will work. The leads are covered in silicone so it's probably difficult to see what's going on:

 

https://goo.gl/photos/8CBTjS3cF8Ff9YZB8

 

Pepi - The card is showing up in Windows Sound/Playback Devices so my assumption is that it is getting the proper 12V feed. I'm feeding it directly out of my HDPlex LPSU (not the DC-ATX converter, I don't have that installed yet, just to be clear). Not sure what else I can try at this point I have reseated the card twice - the RJ45 connector on this thing is very wide and doesn't fit well between the expansion card slots but I managed to correct that with some pliers to the case. It fits fine at this point.

[toddrhodes]

To add another data point, I'm just using a standard Cat5 patch cable. I also have some "Cat7" patch cables from Amazon I've tried, 1', 3', and somewhere in between as far as lengths go that I've tried.

[toddrhodes]

I know it's a long shot but have you tried a crossover cable instead of a patch cable?

 

I actually considered that as I was thinking about what else I could try upstairs but not knowing much about this stuff, I wouldn't want to inadvertently send power or ground on the wrong pin and toast the input on my DAC, but I would definitely not rule out your suggestion Robby.

 

Just for grins, thinking maybe something was weird with how I wired the molex plug that connects to the DC Jack for the HDPLex 12V out, I tried powering the I2S bridge directly from the PSU in the case with a typical molex male LP4 but no dice, same thing.

 

Funny enough, I CAN hear music on some things, it's just shrouded in this "digital hiss." for lack of a better term. Think "digititis" times a thousand, that's the best way I can describe it.

[toddrhodes]

Jord's thinking at this point that the issue is with the DAC Chips I have - two PCM1704 Burr Brown DACs which are evidently not I2S chips (?). I need to open up the DAC tonight and take pictures around the I2S input and dac chips to see if there are any reclocker chips in or around them inside the DAC.

 

Since the DAC and chips I have run I2S from Aqua's own La Diva transport, I have to wonder how that works but the I2S bridge does not, does it/could it have something to do with the master/slave clock relationship?

[toddrhodes]

All fixed - it was a jumper setting inside the DAC. For anyone reading this later for the Aqua La Voce S2 with Burr Brown PCM1704 chips (2 of them), the J5 jumper needs to be set to "N" instead of "L" which was the factory setting on my unit. I also changed "J8" from 256 to 128, this *seems* to have further clarified things but it's hard to say if that jumper even has anything to do with this particular setup. I couldn't find any documentation on it.

 

Hopefully this helps someone on a Google search sometime down the line

 

Todd

[toddrhodes]

Here's a screenshot of Jord's schematic, if it helps at all:

 

 

Note the image mentions "J8" but in reality, it should be "J5" at least as far as my results show.

[toddrhodes]

So, this is probably a dumb thing to do as it's tough to judge most changes after 10-12 songs but, to me, I2S in my setup, even using WASAPI and full GUI mode on S12R2, is a step up over a tricked out USB chain (Regen, PPA V2 card, HDPlex powering both). It's as if someone focused the lens on a camera just a *touch* more with I2S vs USB. Vocals are crisper, they separate more from the rest of the music I guess, same with bass guitars on rock/metal, they're more tangible now. Soundstage seems a little deeper as well. Best of all, it feels a little more "involving" than before - this one I can't quantify or explain, it just seems more fluid and musical. Good stuff, but hard to tell since I'm expecting it to sound better and that is likely clouding my judgment at the moment.

[toddrhodes]

Personally, it it sounds better, it sounds better. Then again, my system is at the point where more often than not, it sounds worse or simply different.

 

True, but I am certainly guilty of expectation bias, but have consistently been able to find "differences" before and after tweaks and those differences may not have always been better.

 

With that said - I just installed the PF Kernel Streaming driver which Jord sent me earlier today. I'm back to Core mode with KS and am absolutely loving it. WASAPI was definitely better to my ears than ASIO4ALL, which I tried after the quoted post, ASIO4ALL just never sounded right. WASAPI was good but provided some grain that wasn't there before. Still, microdetail and imaging were improved, as was the ever-prescient "blacker background" but I attribute that to using an LPSU as much as anything. But with KS, I get razor sharp, but very colorful, involving sound. No artifacts, even tiny ones, just music. Well done PF!

[toddrhodes]

I actually got mine through PF's shop on eBay, they also have a web address, home. I purchased from eBay as it was advertised as having a compatible cable to adapt the "stock" HDMI output to my Aqua's RJ45 input. Talking with Jord via email, he offered to just put the RJ45 right on the board to simplify things. Fantastic company and service. Can't wait to see what else they come out with (OCXO i2S bridge...?) Pure speculation on my part, but I'd probably buy one.