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Post by MartinT on Nov 7, 2015 18:10:00 GMT
Four of them could be combined to make 12.8V. Do we know much about their noise and current performance?
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Post by Clive on Nov 7, 2015 18:20:18 GMT
Four of them could be combined to make 12.8V. Do we know much about their noise and current performance? I don't have the figures but the designer who uses them for his DACs reckons they are the lowest noise battery. The instant current capability is huge. There's a youtube video where they start car with these batteries. |
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Post by Greg on Nov 7, 2015 19:40:46 GMT
Martin, where did you order your Os-Con caps from, please?
Thanks.
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Post by stanleyb on Nov 7, 2015 19:50:15 GMT
I decided to take some pics today of the upgrade path for the various bits. I'll try to put it in a PDF file that can be downloaded from one of my sites. I'll do my best not to take too long in doing that.
But in the process of doing the mods I also decided to do some additional experiments. the results so far are well worth taking note of.
1. Some of the mods are beneficial to the SFW3 firmware upgrade as well.
2. Some additional mods that I made seem a good idea on paper, but I could not detect a clear night and day difference with or without them fitted.
3. With the GFU fitted, the difference between mains and battery power is immense. You can actually swap between mains and battery whilst the DAC is playing. You have about 3 to 5 seconds to do that before the sound might cut out, but if you hold both plugs in your hand somehow and do a quick swap over you can manage it in less than 3 seconds after some practice. And this will give you an uninterrupted sound that will be clearly noticeably different in quality and detail.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 7, 2015 20:45:33 GMT
Martin, where did you order your Os-Con caps from, please? eBay. Os Cons |
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Post by Greg on Nov 7, 2015 21:45:15 GMT
Thanks, Martin for quick response. Now ordered.
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Post by Greg on Nov 7, 2015 21:53:19 GMT
I decided to take some pics today of the upgrade path for the various bits. I'll try to put it in a PDF file that can be downloaded from one of my sites. 3. With the GFU fitted, the difference between mains and battery power is immense. You can actually swap between mains and battery whilst the DAC is playing. You have about 3 to 5 seconds to do that before the sound might cut out, but if you hold both plugs in your hand somehow and do a quick swap over you can manage it in less than 3 seconds after some practice. And this will give you an uninterrupted sound that will be clearly noticeably different in quality and detail. Thank you for that, Stan. Please publish a link to the PDF when it is done. I'll be interested in carrying out that PSU swap experiment for myself. At present I favour the Nick Gorham (Longdog Audio) linear PSU, but it will be good to compare with battery once again especially as I believe my current preference is in the minority compared to others. |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 8, 2015 10:39:47 GMT
I have compared my Paul Hynes PR3 12V linear power supply against battery and, good as the PH PSU is, the battery sounds better so I've never gone back to mains power.
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Post by stanleyb on Nov 8, 2015 12:01:10 GMT
What are those 22uF oscons for by the way? Are they part of a different mod?
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Post by MartinT on Nov 8, 2015 13:14:08 GMT
They are my idea for bypassing the two large reservoirs. I haven't decided where to mount them yet, may have to solder underside and bring them around to the side of the PCB. Os-Cons tend to have a nice effect on big caps, making them sound like a large Os-Con.
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Post by stanleyb on Nov 8, 2015 21:06:13 GMT
Houston, we got a problem...
When studying the pictures that I had taken for the instructions I discovered that the Venom mod was not fitted to the PCB. Because it was late at night and I had put the PCB to burn in overnight I decided not to go back and interrupt my further plans for the evening. So I fitted the Venom-3 mod on one channel this afternoon and did some comparison tests between the modded and unmodded channel.
And here is where the first of the problems starts. The differences I heard were good enough for me to fit the Venom-3 mod, take an extra set of pictures, and go back to edit the instructions accordingly.
The second problem is that some people have already bought two pieces of the 10nF. The Venom-3 mod needs two pieces of the 10nF instead, plus an additional two pieces of 1/8W or 1/4W 100 Ohms resistors.
In my defence, I have tried the 10nF and it works satisfactorily. So you may well wish to stick to the 10nF path for now.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 8, 2015 22:15:29 GMT
The second problem is that some people have already bought two pieces of the 10nF. The Venom-3 mod needs two pieces of the 10nF instead Can you clarify please, Stan? |
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Post by stanleyb on Nov 8, 2015 22:39:24 GMT
The second problem is that some people have already bought two pieces of the 10nF. The Venom-3 mod needs two pieces of the 10nF instead Can you clarify please, Stan? Thanks for picking that up. It should of course have read: the Venom-3 mod needs two pieces of the 15nF instead. If you can get the polypropylene 2.5mm version even better. Or you can get the more common 5mm polypropylene and bend inwards so that you can solder them in the 2.5mm spacing on the PCB. Unfortunately I don't have a 5mm WIMA to demonstrate what I mean, but I'll get some from Farnell with my next order. The polypropylene is the better sounding material compared to polyester. But I have never managed to find a source of the 2.5mm WIMA 15nF version. |
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Post by MartinT on Nov 8, 2015 22:42:04 GMT
So is the Venom-3 mod general purpose, or for headphones only?
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Post by stanleyb on Nov 8, 2015 22:53:29 GMT
The Venom-4 mod is for headphones. The Venom-3 mod is for the DAC output.
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Post by MartinT on Nov 8, 2015 22:57:29 GMT
Great. Can't wait for the PDF, then.
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Post by krzysztof on Nov 9, 2015 7:25:07 GMT
Me too, this PDF could be breaking point of Caiman MKII Reference!
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Post by stanleyb on Nov 9, 2015 9:39:22 GMT
Me too, this PDF could be breaking point of Caiman MKII Reference! Hmmm.. The PDF might not be such a good idea after all then. |
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Post by krzysztof on Nov 9, 2015 9:40:22 GMT
Me too, this PDF could be breaking point of Caiman MKII Reference! Hmmm.. The PDF might not be such a good idea after all then. Hehe, c'mon Stan ;-) |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2015 14:34:29 GMT
All sounds very interesting, but I am not sure I want to try and modify my PCB.
I am ok soldering cables, but not so confident (I have less practice) on PCBs.
Will there be an exchange programme, or an upgrade service available?
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