T+a dac 8 dsd

[ericuco]

2 hours ago, KSRG said:

Maybe I'll try making a serial cable

I have a homemade serial cable for upgrading firmware that you can borrow, assuming you are in USA.

[KSRG]

@OE333

OK, I figured it out. I had USB input activated in normal mode, and it kept interfering it seems. Switched to SPDF1, and it all worked as in S0143_DAC8DSD_Service_Mode.pdf

 

[KSRG]

I've tested a little Amanero FW+ASIO under Windows 10, not as stable as T+A stock. A few times after stopping playing DSD in HQPlayer (via player) changed to PCM mode and been unable to play DSD again -- had to restart DAC and HQPlayer a few times. This never happened with stock FW+driver. Well, I'm going to get OpticalRendu NAA anyway...

[ericuco]

11 minutes ago, KSRG said:

Well, I'm going to get OpticalRendu NAA anyway

 

Might consider getting a fitlet2 instead of the oR. I replaced my oR with a fitlet2 (Linux Mint) and have NO regrets, plus it is about 1/3 the cost and a more stable platform.

 

 

[KSRG]

OK, I forgot to uninstall T+A drivers -- now Amanero Windows ASIO driver seems stable.

 

@ericuco

well, I've got a good deal for a (little) used OpticalRendu, so have to go with it (have ordered already). Hope it sounds better than fitlet2 and my current JCat Femto USB.

[THX]

Hi,

what is the best t+a dac8 dsd usb firmware today?

I have CPLD 1081 SWAPPED with 2006be11 and work ok with optical rendu.

But is there best firmware now?

Sorry for my poor english…i m from Italy.

Thanks for your precious information…i love this forum.

[jiminlogansquare]

On 11/15/2021 at 5:28 PM, THX said:

Hi,

what is the best t+a dac8 dsd usb firmware today?

I have CPLD 1081 SWAPPED with 2006be11 and work ok with optical rendu.

But is there best firmware now?

Sorry for my poor english…i m from Italy.

Thanks for your precious information…i love this forum.

The consensus seems to be that 2006be11 is the optimal firmware choice. Some who tried other versions went back to 2006be11 after encountering bugs and incompatibilities.

[THX]

8 hours ago, jiminlogansquare said:

The consensus seems to be that 2006be11 is the optimal firmware

Thank you very much

[sbenyo]

On 8/6/2020 at 9:35 AM, fantasia said:

Hello everybody

I am happy to inform you that the very latest firmware CPLD 1082, 2006be15r2 works perfectly on my Daphile music server !!

Where can I get the 2006be15r2 and oemtool from? I can't seem to find it.

[ericuco]

2 hours ago, sbenyo said:

Where can I get the 2006be15r2 and oemtool from? I can't seem to find it.

Here is some of the info: 

 

https://github.com/OE333/DAC8-Service-Tool/tree/master/related_docs

 

https://amanero.com/combo384_firmware.htm

 

 

[Rovo]

@OE333

As we have all learned here at Audiophile Style power supplies are very important for the sound quality. For my PC's feeding my DAC I have upgraded the power supplies several times. Currently using the Taiko DC-DC ATX plus Nenon v3 ULPS. Each time with a clear sound improvement. Being an owner of a T+A DAC 8 from 2013/2104 and later off a T+A DAC 8 DSD, I now wonder if an upgrade of the power supply of the T+A DAC 8 DSD is worth while and possible? On advice of Mark Coles of Sablon I have already upgrade the IEC connection and the wires to the PC board with a nice and noticable sound improvement. OE333 your advice would be appreciated. 

[OE333]

23 hours ago, Rovo said:

@OE333

As we have all learned here at Audiophile Style power supplies are very important for the sound quality. For my PC's feeding my DAC I have upgraded the power supplies several times. Currently using the Taiko DC-DC ATX plus Nenon v3 ULPS. Each time with a clear sound improvement. Being an owner of a T+A DAC 8 from 2013/2104 and later off a T+A DAC 8 DSD, I now wonder if an upgrade of the power supply of the T+A DAC 8 DSD is worth while and possible? On advice of Mark Coles of Sablon I have already upgrade the IEC connection and the wires to the PC board with a nice and noticable sound improvement. OE333 your advice would be appreciated. 

 

I will prepare a schematic of the DAC8DSD power supply and post it here.

Please give me a couple of days for that, then we can discuss in detail what could be done.

 

[Gavin1977]

36 minutes ago, OE333 said:

 

I will prepare a schematic of the DAC8DSD power supply and post it here.

Please give me a couple of days for that, then we can discuss in detail what could be done.

 

Could be very interesting!

[OE333]

As promised, here comes the schematic of the DAC8DSD power supply section.

 

I am not authorized to disclose the original T+A schematics of the DAC8DSD but the attached schematic should be correct and accurate. The part designations in this schematic correspond to the PCB silkscreen.

 

 

From the schematic we can see that

 

1.) DAC8DSD has separate power supplies for the analog and digital sections. The ground system is split into an analog and digital ground domain having no direct connection with each other. All signal connections between digital and analog domains are galvanically isolated by opto-couplers (low frequency signals), RF digital isolators (high frequency signals) or UHF-Impulse Transformers (where precise timing matters).

This digital/analog separation helps to achieve a superior noise performance of the analog circuits.

 

2.) Analog and digital power supplies each have separate mains filtering (built around L104 and L105). The line filters effectively prevent high frequency noise from the digital part entering into the analog domain via the mains.

 

3.) The analog power supply is a linear type with torodial transformer (TR101), quite big reservoir caps (C105-C108) and linear voltage regulation.

 

4.) Power supply for the digital circuits is a SMPS, which works in a continuous (non bursting) mode.

 

5.) The rectifier bridge D112 in the primary circuit of TR101 not only serves as a part of the switch-on circuit, it also forms a DC blocking filter to prevent any spurious DC voltages on the mains to magnetize the core of the torodial transformer TR101. This measure prevents DC magnetization induced mechanical and electrical noise.

 

6.) The resistors R124, R125 in series with the primary winding of TR101 are provided to reduce the peak currents flowing into the reservoir capacitors. This reduces especially the higher order harmonic components of the charging currents. Simply spoken: the series resistors make the charging current peaks a bit „softer“ (like tube rectifiers would do) resulting in a very low and less annoying hum noise spectrum.

 

7.) T+A has chosen a 2 step regulation/filtering approach for all analog supply voltages. In the first step the voltages are actively stabilized and regulated by integrated LDO regulators (LM317/LM337). In the second step the supply voltages are passively filtered by RC and LRC filters located further downstream, placed directly at the analog circuits.

 

8.) The PCB is a 4 layer board with massive and solid copper planes for ground and supply voltages.

 

Please note:

Even though the DAC8DSD has a 3 pole mains inlet (with protective earth contact), the internal construction of this device is according to safety class II.

This means for any modifications in the primary circuits, that double or reinforced insulation has to be used. Clearances and creeping distances after the modification must meet safety class II requirements.

 

I think the above points provide a solid basis for excellent sound and a very low noise floor.

 

Are improvements possible ?

 

Maybe the schematic provided will give some inspiration to all who are interested. When I find the time I will add my two cents to this topic in some future posts.

 

 

DAC8DSD_Power_Supply.pdf

[Rovo]

Lothar, thank you very much for this information. I myself am a mechanical engineer, so I am very cautious what I do with electronics. I would definitely need support before doing something with the power supply of the T+A DAC 8 DSD. But what we have noticed here at Audiophile Style there are more then enough people jumping in and step by step something useful emerges. Lets see what we can achieve together. 

[Gavin1977]

I'd start with the 5v and 3.3v supplies to the 1-bit DSD converter.   Should be easily possible to technically beat LM317 nowadays, but it's not a guarantee that an aftermarket power supply will sound better... all of them sound different, so might be best to trial and see what types / brands of power supplies you like before attempting the mod.  

 

Signalyst DSC1 might be an easier platform to test out the effect if you fancied it:  https://www.signalyst.com/hardware.html

 

I forget, does the DSD section of the DAC-8 DSD need a clock?

[OE333]

3 hours ago, Gavin1977 said:

Should be easily possible to technically beat LM317 nowadays, but it's not a guarantee that an aftermarket power supply will sound better... all of them sound different, so might be best to trial and see what types / brands of power supplies you like before attempting the mod. 

 

With proper capacitor bypassing (like done in the DAC8DSD PS) noise of LM3xx can be brought down to about 200nV/rtHz. Compared to the LT1963A for example with its 100nV/rtHz this is not so bad. In the DAC8DSD case the 2nd (passive) noise filtering stage brings the noise further down. At 1 kHz by (theoretically) an other 40 dB. So power supply noise in the DAC8DSD is really very low.

 

3 hours ago, Gavin1977 said:

I'd start with the 5v and 3.3v supplies to the 1-bit DSD converter.

 

Yes, I totally agree. If you want to try out other regulator types start with the 5V and 3.3 V regulators. The LT1963A might be a good starting point. The ultra low noise TPS74700 has even better specs but will require some sort of adaptor PCB to fit into the DAC8DSD.

 

Btw: the noise density of the LM3xx+passive filter is almost identical to that of the TPS74700 in the frequency range up to 1kHz. Above this frequency the LM3xx+filter performs better.

 

[OE333]

3 hours ago, Gavin1977 said:

I forget, does the DSD section of the DAC-8 DSD need a clock?

 

Yes, there are two local precision clock oscillators (22.5792MHz and 24.576MHz) located very close to the D/A converters.

[OE333]

On 6/10/2022 at 11:54 AM, Rovo said:

On advice of Mark Coles of Sablon I have already upgrade the IEC connection and the wires to the PC board with a nice and noticable sound improvement. OE333 your advice would be appreciated. 

 

Have you ever thought of removing the IEC connector completely (i.e. using a fixed mains cord directly soldered to the PCB) ?

This would remove 9 plugged connections and replace them with 3 soldered ones --- just a thought....

 

Maybe this is not so convenient but perhaps you could do without a mains cord pluggable at both ends. A pluggable connection at the wall outlet might be enough in most cases...

[Gavin1977]

1 hour ago, OE333 said:

 

With proper capacitor bypassing (like done in the DAC8DSD PS) noise of LM3xx can be brought down to about 200nV/rtHz.

Based on this I’d leave it well alone - focus on clocks  and power cable/IEC instead.

 

Of course you could change the PCB level caps, but why bother if you can use interconnect cables to ‘voice’ to your desires.

[musicbuff]

It's been a while since anyone posted here but hopefully someone will be able to help me out. I just bought an Alienware Aurora R13 Gaming computer with Intel Core i9 12900KF, 32 GBDDR5 RAM, Nividia RTX 3070Ti and Windows 11 Pro. All that in hopes of being able to run any 48k 512 DSD file on Signalyst HQ Player with my T+A DAC 8 DSD. Disappointed. For reasons unknown to me I can't upsample any file to greater than 48k 128 DSD. Plus side, at that rate, to my ears it sounds as good as running files at 48K 512 on my old Windows 10 computer (after a LOT of trial and error). I was so frustrated I momentarily went back to JRiver and even trialed Audirvana to see if they rivaled HQ Player. They both sounded a bit diffuse and bottlenecked my DAC at PCM 348K. Weird, the new computer sees my DAC as "Speakers T+A DAC 8 DSD." and only lets DSD play in WASAPI. It used to be ASIO.

 

Also disappointed Signalyst HQ player doesn't let you buy retro versions like JRiver Media does. I managed to get my old version (3.25.4) on the new computer. Now every time I open the program it's asking me to buy (again) or reregister. I have a Register Key, but see no place to put it in. I tried the new HQPlayer 4 first. Very complicated for my limited abilities

. 

Anyone have any idea how I can get the new computer to let my DAC play 48K 512DSD again? The computer gives the option of playing CD or DVD quality. Is this my bottleneck? If it is, is there a way to get past this? My old Windows 10 had the same options but between HQ Player and the T+A DAC 8 DSD I had no problems playing 48K 512. To anyone who responds, please make it simple. I'm not computer savvy.

[Quadman]

6 hours ago, musicbuff said:

Anyone have any idea how I can get the new computer to let my DAC play 48K 512DSD again?

Do you use roon?  One issue I had with my current dac (Holo May, I used to own the T+A) was if I had any other ASIO device active in Roon, the holo would not play DSD.  So I went into roon devices and turned off any device that was asio except the T+A.  USE HQP v4 as it is clearly superior to HQP 3.  I've attached my settings that I use for my dac in Ubuntu but they are very similar to what you should set for the T+A. explained below.

 

For Backend select ASIO, for device make sure it says your T+A ASIO driver.  Very important default output mode is set to SDM as shown.  Under SDM settings change bit rate to 48k x 512.  Then grey or check multicore DSD as I have, check adaptive output rate and check cuda offload.  Then click ok.  that should help greatly.

 

You can also check your PC's power settings and make sure they are set for the most powerful setting (not balanced).  Good luck

 

 

 

 

[Quadman]

@musicbuff  you have installed the T+A driver on your new PC correct?

[musicbuff]

@Quadman, Thanks, I'd forgotten all about the driver. It's installed and the DAC is upsampling like a champ.

[shsoh]

Hello All,

 

My DSD 8 DAC suddenly fails to receive signals from my streamer. The round symbol keeps blinking. I switched in other streamers and the same thing happens. The last resort is sending the unit to T+A for a repair (they told me that the USB receiver needs a repair) but did anyone face this problem before? Quite disappointed....