[Mathias]

Just curious if anyone has tried this (or is willing to try it) as I have seen the examples on headwize with the audigy and revolution. Are the possible improvements on a low priced sound card like this outweighed by the costs to modify it?

 

[peranders]

I have this sound card but if you really want to get it better I think you must change "concept", either a breakout box or totally separate DAC's and ADC's and connect those digitally.

 

[Glassman]

Santa Cruz uses some kind of codec for D/A conversion I believe, so the opamp is already in it and if there is another opamp on output it is just buffer and it can't improve much with that very likely low-end opamp integrated in codec..

or maybe I'm wrong - correct me..

 

[daniel422]

Quote:

Santa Cruz uses some kind of codec for D/A conversion I believe, so the opamp is already in it and if there is another opamp on output it is just buffer and it can't improve much with that very likely low-end opamp integrated in codec..

Rediculous.
Pretty much every soundcard uses a codec to do D/A and A/D conversion. That doesn't mean it has crappy DACs in the codec -- it just means it's all internal in one chip and takes up less space on the board than seperates (cheaper and easier to implement in theory).
Replacing the crappy output opamps on the Santa CRuz will likely yield noticable results -- I havne't done it myself, but I do have an SC, so I just may try and report back.
Audio is only as strong as it's weakest link.
Seems like I've seen others do this already...

 

[Glassman]

could someone post some picture of the card and name the codecs and opamps after them? thx..

 

[Subsonic]

Here's some pics of my TBSC:

Codec's CS 4297A-JQ and CS 4294-JQ:

Amplifiers LM1458M and TLV2465C:

Googled around and found this site.

 

[lan]

Doesn't this card resample audio to 48khz? If so, upgrading it this way is more effort than worth it no?

 

[Glassman]

you can substitute the CS4297A with CS4299 - they're pin compatible stereo codecs, CS4294 is 4ch codec used for example on Hercules Fortissimo II/III cards.. JQ is the lower grade of this codecs - CS4297A with 90dB line-in/line-out isolation and 87dB of dynamic range.. thus nothing special..

ooups! those TLV2465C are big ***! change them to OPA4134 immediately

LM1458M is somehow even bigger crap - put AD8620 there instead!

TLV2465C is most probably only on rear and center/LFE channels, and I suppose that LM1458M is on the fronts.. check it on the board!

and also check if there are some capacitors in the signal way - I am sure they will, so put them away and use 2.2 or 3.3uF metalised film type caps instead..

 

[Glassman]

Quote:

Originally posted by lan Doesn't this card resample audio to 48khz? If so, upgrading it this way is more effort than worth it no?

yes, this card does resample, but you can resample all the signal in the player using high quality SSRC resampler (in ASIO output plugin for winamp and already in foobar2000), so this card's (or codec's to be exact) 'feature' is out of service.. you just need to feed 48kHz data to the card..

 

[Mathias]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glassman you can substitute the CS4297A with CS4299 - they're pin compatible stereo codecs, CS4294 is 4ch codec used for example on Hercules Fortissimo II/III cards.. JQ is the lower grade of this codecs - CS4297A with 90dB line-in/line-out isolation and 87dB of dynamic range.. thus nothing special.. ooups! those TLV2465C are big ***! change them to OPA4134 immediately LM1458M is somehow even bigger crap - put AD8620 there instead! TLV2465C is most probably only on rear and center/LFE channels, and I suppose that LM1458M is on the fronts.. check it on the board! and also check if there are some capacitors in the signal way - I am sure they will, so put them away and use 2.2 or 3.3uF metalised film type caps instead..

In regards to the OPA4134. As its only a 14pin op-amp taking the place of the TLV2465C (which is 16 pins) I assume that you would leave the spaces for the shutdown pins open correct?

BTW I just noticed while looking at the specs of the audio codecs that both the CS4297 and CS4294 have been discontinued. Any ideas on what codec might work in place of the CS4294?

 

[Glassman]

sorry but I think that Crystal ended up with those AC'97 codecs so these are the only possibles..

as for OPA4134 - I haven't noticed that they have different number of pins.. sorry for that, you should check and compare their pinouts using their datasheets..

but try modifying the front channels first - AD8620 is waiting for its chance

 

[Mathias]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glassman sorry but I think that Crystal ended up with those AC'97 codecs so these are the only possibles.. as for OPA4134 - I haven't noticed that they have different number of pins.. sorry for that, you should check and compare their pinouts using their datasheets.. but try modifying the front channels first - AD8620 is waiting for its chance

The pinouts are virtually the same except for pin 13 on the TLV2465 is GND and the pin that matches for the OPA4134 (pin 11) is V- . I'm not sure if this will cause a problem or not.

My AD8620's just arrived today. Tonight hopefully I'll get to put the AD8620's in place.

 

[uniuniunium]

Quote:

Originally posted by Glassman yes, this card does resample, but you can resample all the signal in the player using high quality SSRC resampler (in ASIO output plugin for winamp and already in foobar2000), so this card's (or codec's to be exact) 'feature' is out of service.. you just need to feed 48kHz data to the card..

how do i get the TBSC to work with ASIO?

 

[Glassman]

TBSC does not support ASIO, so you must use foobar2000 - it has this resampler as one of several DSP plugins and supports Kernel Streaming, which is in fact something simillar to ASIO in the way it works.. sorry but no winamp anymore.. finaly

 

[Mathias]

I just put in the AD8620 in my Santa Cruz. Its too early to make comments about the sound, but it is an improvement. I will post a picture of my poor soldering when I get the chance. My thanks go out to Glassman on suggesting this op-amp. The one issue remaining is whether the OPA4134 will work. It all comes down to the pin issue. The TLV2465's extra set of pins is not an issue as the shutoff pins are only connected to grounds on the pcb. Any ideas Glassman?