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Hi! So I've been using my Buffalo 2 dac for over a year with no problems what so ever. (Buddalo2+Legato1+Placid+PlacidBP) The problems started a few days ago, when I sold my Hiface interface. The random unlocks started happening with the onboard sound cards spdif output and they still happen with my brand new "Hiface Two" spdif interface. According to M2tech they lowered the output level in the new model to match the spdif standard. Any idea what could be causing this? It's been a magical experience before... What's weird that sometimes it doesn't happen for an extended period of time, like an hour. Maybe I failed to solder the spdif input properly, I thought i'd ask just in case, before I start rechecking everything. Edited by user Wednesday, August 22, 2012 8:35:21 AM(UTC)
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You are not the only one with this kind of problem. Could it have something to do with a very huge ceramic cap in the signal line . 10 uf and normally only 0,1 uf. is used a place like this. AS earlier told I have problems with very dynamic passages.
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Originally Posted by: Erlend Sæ  You are not the only one with this kind of problem. Could it have something to do with a very huge ceramic cap in the signal line . 10 uf and normally only 0,1 uf. is used a place like this. AS earlier told I have problems with very dynamic passages. It has nothing to do with dynamic passages, I hear a the music skip for a moment, I see the lock led going off for a second and then if I replay the track it doesn't occur.
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The spdif connectors soldering is good. (checked the resistance, I mean the lack of it) I measured the voltages of the well warmed up dac:
5,36v output of the Placid powering the dac module
3,47v output of the small regulator on top of the dac module. (3.47 measured on both rails)
+-11,9V on the Placid Bp power the Legato, but I guess that's not relevant.
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I assume the SPDIF switch is ON.
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Brian Donegan wrote:I assume the SPDIF switch is ON. It looks that way to me, I never touched the switches. I thought I could try playing with the placid voltage. It's at 5,36 right now I could increase it to 5.5v..  Edited by user Wednesday, April 18, 2012 6:19:23 AM(UTC)
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My Unit: 
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Quote:It's at 5,36 right now I could increase it to 5.5v.. DO NOT do that. You will be running the AVCC at it's absolute max voltage. You may just need to switch to the high-bandwidth firmware for these sources. Send me a PM. Edited by user Wednesday, April 18, 2012 6:30:42 AM(UTC)
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Brian Donegan wrote:Quote:It's at 5,36 right now I could increase it to 5.5v.. DO NOT do that. You will be running the AVCC at it's absolute max voltage. You may just need to switch to the high-bandwidth firmware for these sources. Send me a PM. I could lower it, if 5.5 is the absolute max... I'm not exactly sure why is it set @ this, maybe I tried to get a balanced setting between the Placid overheating and Buffalo 2 still not strained.
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Gabbb wrote:My Unit: That long black wire, running from back - through trannies and PSU's - to BII, is that the one carrying the SPDIF signal ? If yes, I would reorganise the rig, making the SPDIF connection as direct as possible. For inspiration, this is the way I have done it. The BNC socket is mounted directly into the back of the chassis, making the connection aprox. 10mm. This also enables you to make ultra short connections from your analog side. Edited by user Wednesday, April 18, 2012 9:06:50 AM(UTC)
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avr300 wrote:Gabbb wrote:My Unit: That long black wire, running from back - through trannies and PSU's - to BII, is that the one carrying the SPDIF signal ? If yes, I would reorganise the rig, making the SPDIF connection as direct as possible. For inspiration, this is the way I have done it. The BNC socket is mounted directly into the back of the chassis, making the connection aprox. 10mm. This also enables you to make ultra short connections from your analog side. You are right, it's the black wire. It's not optimal, I could have aimed for having shorter signal paths when I built it, but it's a shielded quality wire, with no measurable resistance.. Do you really think this could cause me problems, or an audible sonic difference?
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Is the cable you're using a coax cable ?
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avr300 wrote:Is the cable you're using a coax cable ? It's a Gotham microphone cable, it has an outer shielding layer which made it hard to solder. I'm not sure about the exact definition of "coax".. I'm not a believer in a cable magic, I try to use quality connectors, but that is all. Ppl that heard my system agreed that it sounded pretty damn good :D I just made the move to the Hiface2 because of AMD compatibility issues and as it turns out it sounds noticeably better. I barely lost any money on selling the original hi. Edited by user Wednesday, April 18, 2012 10:47:43 AM(UTC)
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Well, I think you have to change your view about cables. A SPDIF cable is a 75 ohm coax cable with proper termination in both ends. It has nothing to to with DC resistance. Running your SPDIF cable on top of a toroid is much less than optimal. Microphone cable is fine at line level, DC-to-20kHz. Witch cable do you use between your Hiface and the BII ? I'm running a 3m 75ohm BNC-BNC cable with one BCN-RCA converter, between my Squeezebox Touch and my BII. I have NEVER had one, not ONE, single unlock - ever! So please, this is not cable mumbo-jumbo, it's a matter of proper transmission line. More to read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIFEdited by user Wednesday, April 18, 2012 11:11:30 AM(UTC)
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avr300 wrote:Well, I think you have to change your view about cables. A SPDIF cable is a 75 ohm coax cable with proper termination in both ends. It has nothing to to with DC resistance. Running your SPDIF cable on top of a toroid is much less than optimal. Microphone cable is fine at line level, DC-to-20kHz. Witch cable do you use between your Hiface and the BII ? I'm running a 3m 75ohm BNC-BNC cable with one BCN-RCA converter, between my Squeezebox Touch and my BII. I have NEVER had one, not ONE, single unlock - ever! So please, this is not cable mumbo-jumbo, it's a matter of proper transmission line. More to read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF The cable between the hiface and the dac is a digital signal cable I got as a gift from the vendor with my previous dac. (RCA->RCA) I moved the cable away from the toroid now. This 75ohm thing made me very confused. Can I measure cable impedance somehow? I found this thread: http://www.twistedpearaudio.com/forum/default.aspx?g=posts&t=1134 Edited by user Wednesday, April 18, 2012 12:51:35 PM(UTC)
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If you had the proper equipment to measure the impedance, you wouldn't be asking the question. Therefore I must conclude, no, you can't.
You says it a digital signal cable. Might be a coax one - for now leave it alone, it might be ok.
You might try to make a short run of twisted pair wires from the BII to a RCA socket - just to keep the digital domain in the front of your enclosure as close to the BII digital header.
Then test again.
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My God must be the worst layout I have ever seen ! 
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Originally Posted by: Erlend Sæ My God must be the worst layout I have ever seen ! I'm going to try Brian's firmware solution first, if that doesn't work out I'll fix the layout, probably I'll end up fixing it eventually even then, but I don't feel like doing it anytime soon, unless I have to. Edited by user Thursday, April 19, 2012 12:32:46 AM(UTC)
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I changed the layout entirely, now gave it some thought for a change. The random unlocking is fixed. What's left is a very predictable kind of unlocking. Every time I start playing a track with a sample rate that is different than the ones I played before I get an unlock about 5 seconds in it. This happens maximum 6 times / power on cycle. (once for the first track played @ 44,1;48;88;96;176&192khz). I'm not sure if this is related to the dac just yet and it's not all that bad. (direkt link to the full size image) Edited by user Tuesday, August 21, 2012 2:48:46 PM(UTC)
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Originally Posted by: Erlend Sæterdal My God must be the worst layout I have ever seen ! That's really not a very helpful tone for a comment.
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