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Hello, i tried to add volume control to my BIIIse DAC but without success. I connected a 10K Alps motorized stereo pot to the DAC ADC connector in this way (as stated in the integration guide): GND -> GND; PB4 -> Output; 3.3V -> Input. All connected to the left channel pot pins. Strangely i hear sound but no volume control is achieved, if i turn the pot the volume doesn't go up nor down, it just stays the same anything i do - i think that is max. volume. I tried switching to right channel pins, but it's just the same. What could be the problem? Should i use a mono pot to solve the issue? Thanks to anybody will help... Edited by user Friday, March 20, 2015 8:02:04 AM(UTC)
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Nobody had similar problems with volume control on BIIIse?
Anybody connected a motorized Alps stereo potentiometer to the BIIIse?
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Can you post some details of the pot you are using? GND, Input and Output are not typical pot labels. I need to know how those connections map to the actual pot pins.
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Originally Posted by: Brian Donegan  Can you post some details of the pot you are using? GND, Input and Output are not typical pot labels. I need to know how those connections map to the actual pot pins. I made the connections according to these 2 documents: http://www.familygate.eu...PDF/RK27112MC_10KAx2.pdfhttp://avpg2.homepage.t-...ng_RK27112MC_700x524.jpgI connected 1 to GND, 2 to PB4 and 3 to 3,3V, so connections should be OK. Maybe electrical specifications of the pot are not compatible with ES9018 Volume Control?
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Those connections look okay. Do you have te firmware chip installed, or are you using an offboard controller (arduino, etc)? The volume control is done in the firmware, so if you do not have the chip installed, nothing will happen. Edited by user Friday, March 20, 2015 3:31:34 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Brian Donegan Those connections look okay.
Do you have te firmware chip installed, or are you using an offboard controller (arduino, etc)? The volume control is done in the firmware, so if you do not have the chip installed, nothing will happen. I'm using the BIIIse as it came out of the box, i just soldered the connectors to the board and mounted the small boards on top. I didn't replace any chip and i'm not using any external controller; i didn't change any dip switch state. But it seems ES9018 doesn't adjust the volume registers according to the signal received from the pot, that's why i thought it could be an electrical specs incompatibility.
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The pot simply acts as a voltage divider, so it should work fine. The slope will be strange because the pot is audio taper instead of linear, but it should still work.
Can you confirm that you are getting 3.3V at the pot and a varying voltage at it's output as the knob it turned (between output and gnd)?
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Originally Posted by: Brian Donegan The pot simply acts as a voltage divider, so it should work fine. The slope will be strange because the pot is audio taper instead of linear, but it should still work.
Can you confirm that you are getting 3.3V at the pot and a varying voltage at it's output as the knob it turned (between output and gnd)?
Sorry i linked a wrong datasheet, my pot is the linear version. Anyway, i measured current across pb4 wire and it is varying between 0V and 3.3V when i rotate the pot shaft. But volume doesn't vary as well...
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Well, either there is a wiring issue or the firmware chip is not operating correctly.
We can check the firmware chip by forcing it into mono mode with the DIP switches and seeing if you still have stereo output. Find a track that has obvious stereo separation (like an old Beatles song), switch SW2, switch #3 to off, and see if the same channel plays from both outputs. If it does, the firmware chip is okay and there is something wrong with the wiring. If you still get both stereo channels, there i something wring with the firmware chip.
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Originally Posted by: Brian Donegan Well, either there is a wiring issue or the firmware chip is not operating correctly.
We can check the firmware chip by forcing it into mono mode with the DIP switches and seeing if you still have stereo output. Find a track that has obvious stereo separation (like an old Beatles song), switch SW2, switch #3 to off, and see if the same channel plays from both outputs. If it does, the firmware chip is okay and there is something wrong with the wiring. If you still get both stereo channels, there i something wring with the firmware chip. OK, i'll check, but it will need some time as at present i'm away from home for working reasons. I'll let you know as soon as i can.
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Hello to everybody,
and sorry for the delay. I finally ended building my Buffalo III + Unbalancer DAC/preamp and now volume control works flawlessy, except for a single time it refused to work (i fixed it by switching off and on the DAC). I couldn't understand how it came to work OK, but it did.
More, i have to say that the sound is something really magical, i never heard anything that could even come close to it, whatever the price.
More, using high quality NOS tubes the music is so detailed and emotional i can listen to anything (really anything!) for hours without ever get tired.
Thanks very much to all TPA crew for releasing a quite excellent DAC, making this incredible high quality level available to common people!
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Nope. The volume control just appeared to work OK, but after a while it shown another issue. After nearly an hour (or a bit less) of playing, there is a sudden volume drop of about 20%. Then i have to raise the volume pot to reach the same volume i had before. This happens EVERYTIME i listen to the DAC. But the worst issue is that sometimes (not everytime), after some hours listening, the BIIIse suddenly starts playing at very loud level and the sound gets very distorted, without any apparent reason, and turning volume pot does not have any effect on it... once it nearly damaged my speakers, that's very bad! The volume control gets working normally after a switch off and on. Another time i switched on the DAC and its source to start listening to some music, and BIIIse started immediately playing at very loud volume and with distorted sound, even if the pot was below mid level. Again, switching off and on the DAC fixed the issue. Again, my speakers went got close to getting damaged. I specify that the problem is not only the high volume level (that i think my speakers could stand), but the very distorted sound, that i can't reproduce during normal play even if i raise volume to its maximum using the pot. I think you can understand that i'm now a bit worried using my BIIIse DAC... I checked all wires and connectors, without success. The problem starts suddenly in an impredictable manner, so i can't find what's going wrong when i check the DAC normally. What could be wrong with my DAC to cause this strange issue? Edited by user Saturday, June 20, 2015 7:52:01 PM(UTC)
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