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The products are good and I like the way they are designed as compatible modules.
However for a beginner to Twisted Pear like myself it can be very confusing trying to figure out how to plumb everything in together. What is needed is a system manual that shows typical configurations and how the modules are interconnected.
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Agreed, there's a lot of "secrets" hidden in the forum that should have been in the manuals. I've mentioned this to Russ and Brian and even offered to make it but haven't gotten a reaction.
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Why wait for an official nod to proceed? Embrace the open source spirit and write up the documentation then share it.
I would be happy to help and share what I have learnt from many hours of forum reading.
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I'll give a start. I've not heard anything from Russ and Brian, but it's likely they're quite busy with the stuff we really want (like DAC boards and a high end USB receiver). 
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I've just uploaded the first version of my documentation in a DIY audio thread: http://www.diyaudio.com/...anual-buffalo-ii-1.0.zipThis version includes: - BII board, including more elaborate description of dual mono setup - Volumite, for stereo and dual mono BII - Trident No full system diagram is included yet, but I think this is a good start. Comments welcome.
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Wow Leon, great work! I am sure quite a few folks will find this very helpful. Thanks!
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Great work LeonvB!!! Do you do this for a living or did you not have anything better to do last weekend!
I hope Brian will put up a link to this much more comprehensive manual.
Absent or incomplete manuals however has one sound point: they force new DIY'ers to study and try to understand the actual circuit they have in their hands.
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Nice job. I quick comment on the LCDPB and LCBPS mentioned on page 10. Both now ship with 2R7 3W resistors, so there should be no need to modify the values from the kits.
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Well in reality what he has documented is an entire system, whereas what we try to do is document individual modules. In doing that we have to write expecting the reader will take the time and effort to recognize how each plays its role and fits together. It is definitely an educational process. :) What Leon has done is take a few of our most popular modules and very nicely illustrated how they work together as a system. This is something Brian and I have also meant to do, but it is very difficult to try to find the time. Anyway Leon has definitely earned a few beers/wine/coffee whatever he partakes of. :) Cheers! Russ Edited by user Monday, February 7, 2011 2:50:28 PM(UTC)
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Taking time to understand things is one thing, but the manual of fi. the Volumite simply is incomplete, and even contradicts ("PB1 is not used") what has to be done to get a BII dual mono system working. There's no way someone is going to get that to work without a little help (or sourcecode).
Frequently asked questions were "what do I need", and of course the Trident simply lacks any documentation so I just combined those from a few threads. Other topics I included were the recent dual mono + SPDIF input topic at DIYaudio as many won't be able to find that solution and the confusion of some (myself included) about the ON/OFF or OPEN/CLOSED state of the SPDIF switch. Others have brought up things like orientation of the AVCC module & including a TOC (Dmitry), strange layout of the DIP switch table (Russ) and various other small things. I've included a description of the layout and of the package contents as that's always nice to have if you just received the kit.
Lastly I've polished this mix in the last few months as there was little to do but enjoy the music ;)
All in all this document should answer many of the questions people had over the last year or so, so hopefully this means more time is left for Russ and Brian to work on important things like AC1 & USB... So I guess in the end we'll all benefit from it.
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Regarding volumite, yes indeed, thats an issue of different firmware versions. That is just a matter of keeping up the documents as they change. When the documentation was written PB1 was indeed not used. :) Keep in mind there was no dual-mono configuration for Buf II at that time. Volumite for BUF II/32 at first only supported stereo use. It is true that we need to create some documentation for each version change and target device. But thats the beauty of DIY. We expect people to ask questions. Dual mono support was really added to support the desires of very few people (there are only a handful of dual mono users out there). So yes, it just slipped through the cracks. :) Really there can't be *one* volumite manual because its configuration will entirely depend of the firmware and the target device. It is used for Opus,Joshua Tree,Buffalo I,Buffalo 32/II... etc so what we will need to do is make one manual per target and version of firmware. Trident documentation has been written, just not published yet, but honestly its a pretty self explanatory little unit. All that is required to use it is rudimentary knowledge of Ohms law should you wish to adjust the output current. So yes I do expect people to ask questions here, and yes I admit we probably need to update a few things. Just remember that this is as much a hobby for me as for you who read this. So the allocation of time has its natural limits as I am sure you can understand. So all in all, I am glad to see you take such an interest and as long as people realize that errors or omissions are a part of any hobby DIY effort we will all be just fine. Edited by user Monday, February 7, 2011 4:42:52 PM(UTC)
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Quote:Really there can't be *one* volumite manual because it configuration will entirely depend of the firmware and the target device. That's why I included it in this manual, it's better to place it here. A chapter should be included in each supported device on how to integrate the various parts, if the instructions are specific for that device of course. In the end people don't want to buy parts, they want to build a system that works. And I fully understand this is a hobby, but I do think improving the documentation not only decreases support pressure but also allows more people to build this kind of project. It's fairly easy to get lost in all the various modules and manuals describing them. I've spent months reading the various forums trying to decide what to buy, and how to build it. And it's working, but it would have saved me time and it would propably have been much neater built if I had this manual upfront.
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Oh I don't disagree with you in the least. But as I said it is just a matter of prioritizing valuable hobby time.
So I welcome all of the help from guys like you we can get!
I your work helps others successfully build their projects, so much the better! Kudos to you!
Cheers!
Russ
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