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Only lock when two or more sources are connected?!!
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Hello,
I had also some experience with the sidecar + 4 input board.
My situation : both COAX and optical SPDIF from my PC.
1st problem.
-Buffallo can't lock on COAX signal. (rapidly sound interruptions)
-my placid hd for the B3 DAC was set at 500mA current,
But the shunt current was varying from 30ma down to 0mA
Solution : I increased psu current to 600mA shunting about 60mA.
But B3 still does not lock on properly,
So i lowered the PSU VOLTAGE of the second PLACID HD which feeds my sidecar and input board.
I had to lower the voltage to 4.85V !! Problem solved !!
2nd problem.
-When both optical and coax connected to PC. = Sound great !
-When optical connected and coax pulled = locking probs/interuptions in sound.
-When coax connected and optical pulled = Sound great !
Solution : As mentioned above connect IN- to gnd of optical input of 4- input board.
Hope my info helps somebody outthere !
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Powering the SPDIF-4 with a 3.3 - 4V supply is actually not a bad idea at all.
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1 user thanked Russ White for this useful post.
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Russ/Brian: Could it be an idea to use a trident to lower the voltage from 5,25V VD. Can the trident handle the load?
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Originally Posted by: Russ White  Powering the SPDIF-4 with a 3.3 - 4V supply is actually not a bad idea at all. Hi Russ, I'm using a separate power supply for powering the sidecar, spdif board, metronome and teleporter. Are all of these modules capable of using a 3.3 - 4 V supply? Otherwise I need to add a voltage regulator to lower the voltage just for the spdif board. just thinking..., how about the relays on the sidecar. I guess they need 5V to switch, right? |
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If I am not mistaken they will switch at lower voltages. I downloaded the whitepaper earlier but I can`t find it right now. I think the relays that are used are *G6K* DC4,5 and the resistor at the sidecar is there to lower the voltage from 5-5.25V down to an acceptable level (max 4,5V). But I think they switch at 3.3 as well. If my memory serve me right the "high" or "on" trigger is 2.6V or something like that. But Russ and Brian proborably have the exact figures.
The relay on ivy and other linestages is also rated for higher voltages than they will be exposed to wich is a good thing and well thought out by TPA imo (my ivy has a 24V rated relay f.inst).
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Btw I think Russ / Brian was talking about lowering the voltage to the sp-dif input card and not the sidecar. I will use one of the left over trident V1 and take the vin to the trident from the sidecar VD (5.25V from B3`s supply). PS. Have you thought about powering the analog part of the dac from a seporate supply. I think you can use the Sigma11 to power all the digital parts and then power the AVCC module from the Placid HD. Perhaps something to test? Edited by user Wednesday, September 5, 2012 2:49:04 PM(UTC)
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The relays are 5V (G6K-2P-DC5), but have a rated pickup at 80% (4V), so this shoudl work at 4.5-4.8V.
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Originally Posted by: gwikse Btw I think Russ / Brian was talking about lowering the voltage to the sp-dif input card and not the sidecar.
I will use one of the left over trident V1 and take the vin to the trident from the sidecar VD (5.25V from B3`s supply).
PS. Have you thought about powering the analog part of the dac from a seporate supply. I think you can use the Sigma11 to power all the digital parts and then power the AVCC module from the Placid HD. Perhaps something to test? I know, but I`m powering the spdif board via the sidecar by using the sigma11. Also metronome and teleporter are powered by it. I have a low noise voltage regulator lying around somewhere, when i get back home I`ll try powering the spdif board from the regulator at a lower voltage first. I`m powering just the b3 board with the placid, but you already know that :-) Edit: the sigma is set for 5 volts, so it is not the best choice to power the dac with it. I can change it to 5.25 volt by adding just one resistor, but for now I`ll leave it the way it is. Edited by user Wednesday, September 12, 2012 7:36:23 PM(UTC)
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Off Topic: I have to redisign my dac a bit, but I may have room for dual dac supplies (2x Placid HD). Will test it later on. I remember from earlier hifi fiddling that the sound is best when digital and analogue components are powered from seporate supplies. The AVCC is powering the analogue stage of the dac, and I am curious to whether the hifi-voodoo agree with my ears in this case ;) On topic: Still no lock with only one source connected? Edited by user Wednesday, September 12, 2012 7:45:05 PM(UTC)
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Have you already tried powering the spdif board through the regulator? |
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Originally Posted by: gwikse
On topic: Still no lock with only one source connected?
It locks with just one source connected OR two or more sources connected and have at least two turned on. But not with two or more connected and have just one source turned On. Still puzzles me.  I am staying in Berlin for almost 10 days now, so I had no possibility to work on it. I`ll be back at home tommorow. |
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Finally a breakthrough! I have stable lock on all spdif channels from the 4 channel spdif board  I tried a suggestion to power it with a lower voltage. Russ replied to it that It would be a good idea to power power from 3.3v to 4 volt. I started at 3.3V, but this voltage is too low to get any lock. Around 3.7 I could get a steady lock. I now have 3 spdif sources connected and the have a steady lock, no matter if other sources are powered or not. I also tried if I would loose lock again with higher voltages. Every voltage above 4.7 to 4.8 doesn't work for me, meaning that it gets unstable. I have now set it at 4.4 V. This allows me to still power it via the sidecar and still be able to properly switch the relays on the sidecar for I2S. Russ / Brian: It would be a good idea to to include some nice low noise voltage regulators on the spdif board for future releases as I'm not the only one that experienced this problems. It would save a lot of trouble shooting for some people. :) Edited by user Thursday, September 20, 2012 5:36:44 PM(UTC)
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Are all your sources consumer lvl sp-dif (RCA, BNC etc)? And have you tied all the "negative`s" to gnd as well? It would be great with a more clear picture as to how to put it together ;) Edit: Another voltage needed in order to make it work, hmmm, time to have a look at options for how to get aprox 4V in an easy manner. Edited by user Thursday, September 20, 2012 5:28:22 PM(UTC)
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I have also noticed a very minor issue :
When I put a TL(fluoriscant light) on, or my gas heater turns on (pump) that the buffallo looses lock for a second.
I think i should install a decent rf-filter. Now the mains are only bypassed with 2 caps to earth.
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Originally Posted by: gwikse Are all your sources consumer lvl sp-dif (RCA, BNC etc)?
And have you tied all the "negative`s" to gnd as well?
It would be great with a more clear picture as to how to put it together ;)
Edit: Another voltage needed in order to make it work, hmmm, time to have a look at options for how to get aprox 4V in an easy manner. Strange that this is not done by local regulation on the sp-dif board.... No, negatives are not connected to gnd. Connected it just like the integration manual states. EDIT: My sources are all consumer level spdif  Edited by user Thursday, September 20, 2012 5:31:01 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Mace_be I have also noticed a very minor issue :
When I put a TL(fluoriscant light) on, or my gas heater turns on (pump) that the buffallo looses lock for a second.
I think i should install a decent rf-filter. Now the mains are only bypassed with 2 caps to earth. I never experiences such issues, I'm using a mains filter, this one. Not sure if it really helps, because I have also powered it without the filter. |
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1 user thanked Corpius for this useful post.
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Originally Posted by: gwikse Are all your sources consumer lvl sp-dif (RCA, BNC etc)?
And have you tied all the "negative`s" to gnd as well?
It would be great with a more clear picture as to how to put it together ;)
Edit: Another voltage needed in order to make it work, hmmm, time to have a look at options for how to get aprox 4V in an easy manner. Do u use 1x 5V power supply for buffalo and input boards ? it would be very easy if u had an other placid HD for only input board and other optional stuff. Then you could set just the other to a lower voltage. Maybe you can use a LM317 regulator ? Or make a voltage divider with resistors ?
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Originally Posted by: Corpius Originally Posted by: Mace_be I have also noticed a very minor issue :
When I put a TL(fluoriscant light) on, or my gas heater turns on (pump) that the buffallo looses lock for a second.
I think i should install a decent rf-filter. Now the mains are only bypassed with 2 caps to earth. I never experiences such issues, I'm using a mains filter, this one. Not sure if it really helps, because I have also powered it without the filter. Yeah, Looks like a decent filter. that would probably help !
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I have a dedicated power supply just for the buffalo dac. All other boards, except for the IVY of-course, are powered whith a another 5V PS. Now I'm using a voltage regulator to lower the voltage just for the sidecar and spdif board. You can use a LM317 or similar for this. I'm not sure about the voltage divider with resistors. These can only be used for very small currents, otherwise they"ll become unstable. I'm currently using a LT1764 voltage regulator for it, but this is a bit overkill. It it rated to handle up to 3A! It's fine for now, but I'll build myself a smaller voltage reg. |
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I just find this hole thing very strange. I can get a lock with only one source populated on the spdif board, or two sources connected and turned on. But in order to have four sources connected and some on and some off I need to change the voltage to the spdif board... Strange... Oh well I can get the right voltage by using a super-simple 317 circuit, and I believe I have a few of them lying around as well as the required resistors. Oh well, time to test the B3 other than with a single sp dif and a single i2s source then :) Anyways, Thanks a lot Corpius, Mace_be and Russ, this problem has been bugging me a lot for a while now. Nice to have a "how to" work around it :)  Edit: hopefully this "workaround" will find it`s way into the integration guide as well. Edit2: A few more people to thank. Edited by user Thursday, September 20, 2012 10:15:02 PM(UTC)
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