[Loquah]

I can't remember which brands are TI owned, but the OPA627 and 827 are both great options.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

What does it mean when the FiiO E12 DIY flashes the blue light when it comes on 6-12 times and then stops, but never outputs any sound? I hear the switching/click noise from the relay, but the sound never comes! 
 
I have tried using the reset button, but no matter the source (tried 4 different sources) I can't get any sound to output to any of my headphones using low or high gain settings on the E12.
 
I have been doing a detailed op-amp review for Burson Audio and after a week of testing, this randomly occurred so I had to stop my review. Also note, this is a brand new E12, I bought it for testing op-amps/a Hi-Fi portable amp.
 
Does anyone even know of a way to cause this to happen if all you are doing is rolling op-amps? I have been involved in modding hardware for over 15 years (def know the correct orientation of an op-amp) and I have never killed a single piece of hardware, even at work as lead hardware tech.

I tried every Dual-DIP op-amp I have on hand (11 different ones) and none of them work, including the Burson V5i and V5-OPA.

(Note to FiiO: I emailed your support describing these symptoms 2 weeks ago and still haven't heard back.)

I am hoping someone knows what happened or can give me some diagnostic tests to try.

Review here for anyone interested, the E12 is the main device I used for op-amp rolling: 
 
http://www.head-fi.org/products/burson-audio-supreme-sound-opamp-v5/reviews/17827
 

 

[snellemin]

I too tried the V5 on the DIY and loved the sound.  Too bad it's way to tall, but it does bring the sound to the same level of my classic Luxman preamp.  
 
So since you been swapping opamps, I would check the solder joints of the dip sockets and try out different set of buffers.
 

 
 
 
 
I did this today to the E12A.  DIY on a budget.

 

 

 

[Pete7]

What does it mean when the FiiO E12 DIY flashes the blue light when it comes on 6-12 times and then stops, but never outputs any sound? I hear the switching/click noise from the relay, but the sound never comes! 

I have tried using the reset button, but no matter the source (tried 4 different sources) I can't get any sound to output to any of my headphones using low or high gain settings on the E12.

I have been doing a detailed op-amp review for Burson Audio and after a week of testing, this randomly occurred so I had to stop my review. Also note, this is a brand new E12, I bought it for testing op-amps/a Hi-Fi portable amp.

Does anyone even know of a way to cause this to happen if all you are doing is rolling op-amps? I have been involved in modding hardware for over 15 years (def know the correct orientation of an op-amp) and I have never killed a single piece of hardware, even at work as lead hardware tech.


I tried every Dual-DIP op-amp I have on hand (11 different ones) and none of them work, including the Burson V5i and V5-OPA.


(Note to FiiO: I emailed your support describing these symptoms 2 weeks ago and still haven't heard back.)


I am hoping someone knows what happened or can give me some diagnostic tests to try.


Review here for anyone interested, the E12 is the main device I used for op-amp rolling: 

http://www.head-fi.org/products/burson-audio-supreme-sound-opamp-v5/reviews/17827

 

I had this issue with my unit. I bought mine used about 8-9 months ago and it worked fine for a month. Then with certain op-amps the blue light would flash, and a few weeks later none of my op-amps worked at all. I thought maybe it was the battery so I bought a replacement from aliexpress. When that came I installed it and no difference. I emailed fiio customer support and shipped it to them for repair. It's been fine since and what I would suggest if you don't want to risk a soldering iron on your unit.

 

[NCSUZoSo]

I had this issue with my unit. I bought mine used about 8-9 months ago and it worked fine for a month. Then with certain op-amps the blue light would flash, and a few weeks later none of my op-amps worked at all. I thought maybe it was the battery so I bought a replacement from aliexpress. When that came I installed it and no difference. I emailed fiio customer support and shipped it to them for repair. It's been fine since and what I would suggest if you don't want to risk a soldering iron on your unit.

I am good with soldering, I am about to do a ZXR SMD op-amp upgrade lol.  I just need to know what was wrong that they fixed.
 
Here is a shot from the review of the V5-OPA-D and V5i-D using the E12 for the primary amp (and other stuff):
 

 

[Pete7]

It was a solder joint, not sure if it was op-amp or buffer. I can solder IC's to adapters, but ruined a LaRocco PR II amp with my tinkering years ago, so I no longer take any chances with amps.

 

[snellemin]

There isn't a whole lot of solder on the dip socket.  Easily a cold solder joint.  
 
As of tonite I desoldered the stock socket and went with the socket that came with the Burson V5.  The holes are a tad bigger and the Muses go in easier.  Also added my last Wima cap to it.
 

 

 

 

[NCSUZoSo]

  There isn't a whole lot of solder on the dip socket.  Easily a cold solder joint.  
 
As of tonite I desoldered the stock socket and went with the socket that came with the Burson V5.  The holes are a tad bigger and the Muses go in easier.  Also added my last Wima cap to it.

 
 
Hey thanks for your input and the pictures, I will definitely take a look at the sockets themselves. I have been modding/building circuits for over a decade and I am now a Jr in Electrical Engineering as of this semester, so I should be able to spot the issue (with the help of my tools) if it's just a solder joint.

I may also put the socket provided by Burson Audio with each of their op-amps to go in as a replacement if I find the problem there.

The only thing I could recall I did that wasn't on purpose with this unit was I accidentally pulled a V5i out of the E12 while it was still on. I immediately powered it off and inserted the V5i back, had static and popping. I put a V5-OPA-D in and it worked (for a little while). A few hours later I couldn't get a lick of sound to come out.

(sorry if any of that is a repeat of my post above)

 

[snellemin]

   
 
Hey thanks for your input and the pictures, I will definitely take a look at the sockets themselves. I have been modding/building circuits for over a decade and I am now a Jr in Electrical Engineering as of this semester, so I should be able to spot the issue (with the help of my tools) if it's just a solder joint.

I may also put the socket provided by Burson Audio with each of their op-amps to go in as a replacement if I find the problem there.

The only thing I could recall I did that wasn't on purpose with this unit was I accidentally pulled a V5i out of the E12 while it was still on. I immediately powered it off and inserted the V5i back, had static and popping. I put a V5-OPA-D in and it worked (for a little while). A few hours later I couldn't get a lick of sound to come out.

(sorry if any of that is a repeat of my post above)

aah, so it might of have overloaded itself.  Did you swap the buffers out to see if that helped?

 

[NCSUZoSo]

Yeah I tried all of the buffers, didn't seem to make any difference.
 
For a short period high gain gave sound when low gain didn't, but usually with the V5-OPA-D.

 

[snellemin]

This combo didn't work. I just had to try it out.  Also tried a dual V4 burson and got nothing.

 

[snellemin]

  Yeah I tried all of the buffers, didn't seem to make any difference.
 
For a short period high gain gave sound when low gain didn't, but usually with the V5-OPA-D.

Did you reflow all the solder joint underneath the opamp socket yet?

 

[NCSUZoSo]

  Did you reflow all the solder joint underneath the opamp socket yet?

Something I haven't mentioned yet, this E12 DIY-ed. is only 2 months old... (since purchase)

That is what I was about to do before noticing that my unit no longer even lights up anymore when plugged into a wall adapter (before even trying to turn it on I noticed something wrong). The E12 has only been sitting since I had problems with audio output because of school dictating most of my schedule. I have no idea what has happened, but I did notice a strange bulge on the battery, but it's not very large, about 10% of the entire thing (see
third picture below).
 
I have uploaded a picture below of a close up of my E12 with the bottom of the PCB shown. I checked this thing point by point with a multimeter and I found a few things that don't quite look right or act right when checked with a multimeter. The biggest thing that caught my eye was the resistor located on the volume knob. The lower of the two, it doesn't check positive for continuity, like it is blown/bad.  Can someone give me the value of that resistor?

 
 
 
 
You can see there is no power light when plugged in:
 

 
 
 
Battery Bulge (bottom left corner in pic):
 


I only tighten the vise as much as needed to hold the device securely (not enough to squeeze a battery) and it's made to hold exactly this type of a device. It is possible this lead to the bulge in the battery while under heavy load for extended periods, I guess that is possible. 

 

[NCSUZoSo]

 
This combo didn't work. I just had to try it out.  Also tried a dual V4 burson and got nothing.

 Are those discrete buffers?

 

[snellemin]

 
 Are those discrete buffers?

naah, they are the Burson V4 opamps.  They don't output enough current to be as buffers.