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Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

naughtycomputer.uk

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Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#221

Post by PascLeRasc »

Johnny555 wrote: post #186
rayrrr wrote: post #144

Everyone seems to be seeing this as an Android vs. iOS debate, but I see it as a smartphone vs. dedicated device debate. If you're serious enough about photography, you don't complain about your smartphone camera's limitations, you get yourself a DSLR and multiple lenses. So if you're this serious about music, why not get a dedicated device? Look at what companies like HiBy and Hidizs are doing. I have, and my ears h…

why not get a dedicated device? For the same reason I don't want to carry a big heavy DSLR around with me, because there's a limited number of devices I want to lug around. I ditched the DSLR years ago (yes, it took great photos, but not enough to make it worth the hassle). Though I still bring a pocket sized camera with me when I travel because my smartphone still can't compete with a big sensor and an optical zoom.…

It doesn't have to be a whole separate device. The Audioquest Dragonfly is the size of a USB stick, runs off your phone's power, and provides excellent DAC/amp capabilities. Fiio also makes some similar mobile DAC/amps.

Here's a nice long article on the details: https://www.computeraudiophile.com/ca/bits-and-bytes/an-audi...

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#222

Post by pard68 »

andrepd wrote: post #91
gcp123 wrote: post #64

I’ll happily pay the “apple tax” so I can live my life and not have to deal with all the bullshit you did just to listen to some music. Good lord. I’d rather experience the world then mess around with the tech that’s supposed to be helping me live better.

That's such a straw-man it hurts. You're concluding, from the fact that a user has found one obscure bug, that android is a broken mess that only Arch Linux types should dare mess with, while Apple products are bastions of stability. The reality is that Apple products are (it appears) no more bug-free than the rest. Have you tried testing this very same thing on an iPhone? Maybe it even has the same bug!

Hey now! I had been using Arch and Debian om different machines. All non-prod machines have since been moved to Arch because I was having more issues with Debian. Granted I require running the newest stable software, but the act of getting that software onto my Debian machines was breaking other things. Arch? Never had to mess with anything I didn't want to mess with (I use i3 and write most of my own utilities)!

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#223

Post by snovv_crash »

mindslight wrote: post #215

IMHO your circuit topology looks wacky. Perhaps there's a goal to making your amplifier ground ride in the middle of the waveform, but it could just as well be unintentional. So my immediate thoughts - You've already got a real split supply with 2x 9v batteries. If you use that instead of deriving a virtual ground, you will save 9mA of quiescent current. How purposeful is that whole low side duplicated circuit and wh…

This way you don't increase the BOM complexity, just a second of the same chip and the same resistors.

Technically, also your THD+N adds in parallel instead of being chained, although I'm not sure there will be a discernable difference unless you uave some kind of phase delay issue (in which case you should fix that first...)

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#224

Post by fpgaminer »

mgalgs wrote: post #188
edoo wrote: post #103

Pro tip: There are enough PCB shops now that small designs like this can just be done in free EDA software in minutes, 10 boards in your hand with a stencil 9 real days later for less than $50 shipped. The stencil lets you paste the board all at once, you place parts and hit it with a heat gun until everything sets. For audio stuff you get the advantage of keeping everything nice and tight with lower noise. I barely…

I used to use BatchPCB and LOVED the service. When Sparkfun shut it down I couldn't find any decent alternatives and pretty much just quit making boards. It looks like Osh Park has a pretty decent offering these days, but I'm curious who you're using with 9 day turnaround time? That's amazing!

In the U.S., OSH Park is 5 day turn. Order on Monday, ships Friday.

(This is using their Swift service on two layer boards, which is surprisingly only $10/sqin per set of 3, compared against the usual $5. Plus they're made in the U.S. so it's local shipping.).

(Note: I haven't used Osh Park in awhile, but they were great when I did use them and I've seen people still recommend them recently.)

EDIT: Though it looks like Osh Park doesn't do stencils.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#225

Post by stordoff »

Nashooo wrote: post #19
baxtr wrote: post #2

> Right now I'm absolutely astonished at how difficult it appears to be to just listen to music with a good pair of headphones. Is it not 2018? The media is full of talk about preposterously ambitious ideas such as AI and self-driving cars and yet I can't even listen to a fuck-damn music track? O_o I enjoyed reading this. The whole time I thought however: that’s not an issue on my Apple devices. Then I read: > If any…

Same thoughts except with my Android phone and Bose QC. Wireless, noise cancellation and never any problems with explosive noise. Also it is indeed 2018 so what's he doing with ripped CD's, there are a lot of streaming services out there right now.

To put it simply, the music I want to listen to is on CDs, not streaming services.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#227

Post by PascLeRasc »

013a wrote: post #156

I have a pair of powered studio monitors (Mackie MR5), and I completely relate to this problem. Many PCs and phones will emit an audible hissing noise while plugged in. I've tested on a dozen different devices, with integrated and external DACs, five hundred dollar sound cards, massively shielded cables, practically every modern OS you can name, tweaking every audio setting exposed to me. The only devices that work p…

Regarding your Mackies, which exact DACs and sound cards have you tested them with? According to the manual [1] they expect a +4dBu input, which will lead to unnecessary noise if you use them with "consumer" -10dBu gear. Most audio interfaces (i.e. designed for recording, not Schiit-type DACs) with balanced output will do +4dBu - I believe it's standard on all Focusrites.

[1] https://www.hhb.co.uk/files/product/file/user_manual_2013112...

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#228

Post by bb88 »

013a wrote: post #156

I have a pair of powered studio monitors (Mackie MR5), and I completely relate to this problem. Many PCs and phones will emit an audible hissing noise while plugged in. I've tested on a dozen different devices, with integrated and external DACs, five hundred dollar sound cards, massively shielded cables, practically every modern OS you can name, tweaking every audio setting exposed to me. The only devices that work p…

> and (2) every single Apple product.

Sure but that doesn't mean the default Apple audio jack is high quality.

I have a cheap USB DAC (bought from monoprice) to power a set of Beyerdynamic headphones. The DAC beat a macbook I was using for work hands down on quality of sound.

Specifically, I noted the DAC had better definition of sound meaning that I could pick out details better. It also had better spatial attributes as well, meaning that I could pick out instruments in 3d space.

To be fair, doing a D to A conversion in a laptop is hard, and while Apple does it relatively better than average, it's still probably better off done outside of the macbook itself.

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#229

Post by PascLeRasc »

danw1979 wrote: post #18
ignoreInstinct wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but what really gets under my skin is that every other company out there is okay with producing garbage. Meanwhile, Apple produces things that work comparatively well, doing what you expect and then, claims that reasonable functionality is premium . And then catches shit for being pretentious. So, let's step through that once more: - garbage is normal - functional and interoperable is premium - premium is prete…

Not everything at the I recently got a £20 Havit Bluetooth receiver and connected it to a pair of £70 Sony MDR-7506 headphones. The receiver drives the headphones louder and with less distortion than my iPhone can, and the battery lasts for a few days of intermittent listening. Whatever loss is introduced by the aptX coding is invisible to my ears. I'm blown away by how good this setup is given the price and there sh…

I've been under the impression iPhones don't do aptX, did you find a workaround?

Re: Do I really need to get out the soldering-iron again?

#230

Post by weaksauce »

mgalgs wrote: post #188
edoo wrote: post #103

Pro tip: There are enough PCB shops now that small designs like this can just be done in free EDA software in minutes, 10 boards in your hand with a stencil 9 real days later for less than $50 shipped. The stencil lets you paste the board all at once, you place parts and hit it with a heat gun until everything sets. For audio stuff you get the advantage of keeping everything nice and tight with lower noise. I barely…

I used to use BatchPCB and LOVED the service. When Sparkfun shut it down I couldn't find any decent alternatives and pretty much just quit making boards. It looks like Osh Park has a pretty decent offering these days, but I'm curious who you're using with 9 day turnaround time? That's amazing!

I ordered some from jlpcb on a Monday and by Friday they were here. Express shipping brought it to $19 shipped for 10 boards. I’m sure most places like that are similar in lead times.
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