Computer Audio Blasphemy, nige tries Another SD Card Player

[nige2000]

What's the 12v a.c. rail for?

Looks like it could be lots of fun to mod that dac
Pity the boards can't be obtained separately should have been handy for experiments

[Sligolad]

What's the 12v a.c. rail for?

Looks like it could be lots of fun to mod that dac
Pity the boards can't be obtained separately should have been handy for experiments

There is a 13v AC either side of ground so i think it provides a plus and minus 12v DC for the Op Amps.

Finally got the Big7 running off the card I was using on the Meitner and using the reclocker it has blown away anything i have heard so far.
Its so good I do not think i will be switching on an audio PC again, could not stop listening to music all evening.
I had to disconnect everything i had on the USB card in the Big7 to get it working, seems even with the xmos USB card not having any power it was messing with the i2s so once i disconnected everything it worked like a dream off just the SD Player with the reclocker.

I think it is time to start a thread here on the end of computer based playback, seems USB is really hampered no matter how much we throw at it when you compare it to what I can get from this SD Player.

[nige2000]

What's the 12v a.c. rail for?

Looks like it could be lots of fun to mod that dac
Pity the boards can't be obtained separately should have been handy for experiments

There is a 13v AC either side of ground so i think it provides a plus and minus 12v DC for the Op Amps.

Finally got the Big7 running off the card I was using on the Meitner and using the reclocker it has blown away anything i have heard so far.
Its so good I do not think i will be switching on an audio PC again, could not stop listening to music all evening.
I had to disconnect everything i had on the USB card in the Big7 to get it working, seems even with the xmos USB card not having any power it was messing with the i2s so once i disconnected everything it worked like a dream off just the SD Player with the reclocker.

I think it is time to start a thread here on the end of computer based playback, seems USB is really hampered no matter how much we throw at it when you compare it to what I can get from this SD Player.

Is that with clock replacement?

[Sligolad]

Is that with clock replacement?

It is just the original reclocker I had inside the Big7 with short lines to the DAC board.
Might look at fitting the reclocker with the good NDK clocks on it next but want to enjoy some more music first.
I have 2 more SD Card player on the way so maybe I will wait until i receive these before I start working on the clock upgrade.

[nige2000]

Should be a decent lift with the better clocks

So computer audio is obsolete

[Sligolad]

Should be a decent lift with the better clocks

So computer audio is obsolete

The difference with the SD Player is just too much to justify switching on the audio PC, you would know how much you are missing and that I could not sit through!
I believe we have hit the limitations of the USB interface and with all the power supplies, clocks, cables, isolation and regeneration it just cannot touch what I am hearing from a €100 setup even off mlc sd or msd cards, the slc cards just add that little bit of extra magic.

Thinking back when we started down this rabbit hole back in 2011 we have come a long way but we have hit that wall with USB which no matter how much money we throw at it and I have thrown a lot at it, in the finally summary it just does not cut it compared to what the SD Player delivers.
Maybe it is time to start looking at some of these I2s cards from Pink Faun or some other route but I am convinced we are limited by the USB interface.

Got 2x DSD working off the SD Player but struggling with 1x DSD oddly enough, either way the redbook files sound so good I am not sure DSD offers any better right now.

[microzyma]

I could not help myself. Bought the player/dac linked above and look forward to comparing it to my SDTrans/Soekris setup and doing some mods. Has anybody here other than Rick gone the SDTrans route? My impressions are similar to what he wrote earlier on this thread. I prefer my vinyl setup. Have not yet heard synchronous clocking on the SDTrans/dac with nice clocks which sounds to me like the Holy Grail from what Jonathan Carr says over on diyAudio. (#356 MicroSD Memory Card Transport Project).

[Fran]

High praise indeed Pearse.

The performance to price is excellent - even if we have thrown more into it with clocks and multiple boards due to us killing them. I'm looking forward to trying the boxed version when it lands in a few weeks.....

[jkeny]

I could not help myself. Bought the player/dac linked above and look forward to comparing it to my SDTrans/Soekris setup and doing some mods. Has anybody here other than Rick gone the SDTrans route? My impressions are similar to what he wrote earlier on this thread. I prefer my vinyl setup. Have not yet heard synchronous clocking on the SDTrans/dac with nice clocks which sounds to me like the Holy Grail from what Jonathan Carr says over on diyAudio. (#356 MicroSD Memory Card Transport Project).

Welcome, micro - good to see this thread is attracting new members
A comparison against SDTrans will be interesting
Yes, we have found that synchronous reclocking is sonically superior in all DACs, including this SD player

[gstew]

@microyzma,

I've got an SDTrans384 too along with a couple of the same SD card players from China that Nige modified to try. BUT, I have a stack-up on projects to work and at best I don't expect to get to working on and trying the Chinese SD card players until late this summer at best.

Also I can't compare it to a good vinyl setup, getting my good vinyl setups running are some of those stacked-up projects. I did just recently modify my SDTrans with LT3045-based regulators (from ldovr.com) replacing the 5 main on-board regs. That made a nice increase in detailing. I've been powering mine a bit more conventionally than Rick did with a couple of Uptone Audio LPS-1.2 into a dual 3||LT3042 power supply board from Stammheim over at DIYAudio... and then the 2 halves of his board paralleled together to feed the SDTrans. I have mine feeding an also more conventionally modified Soekris with a mix of LT3045-based regs (FPGA 3.3V & 1.2V) & Sparkos Labs discrete regs (+-5V for the VRef circuits), along with the required V1 board VRef capacitor mods, though a bit more upscale than normal as I used a bunch of Black Gates there. I'm liking what I hear, but I bet its not a patch on a good LiFePO4-powered setup. I AM watching closely Ian Canada's Ultracap development stuff... that may be what I go to.

How are you powering yours? Modified at all? I know Randytsuch had one for awhile, but I guess he killed it. AND last I read, Rick was not running his.

I'm VERY interested to hear what you have to say once you get a chance to compare the Chinese player to the SDTrans384 and your vinyl setup.

Greg in Mississippi