Latest Thread Images

Apex Glacier amp/dac review and appreciation thread
Oct 26, 2012 at 10:38 AM Post #76 of 862
Ok, I have done it...
 
You have to connect the black to red...that all to it...yeah....
bigsmile_face.gif

 
 

 

 

 
Oct 26, 2012 at 11:03 AM Post #77 of 862
But now if I connect the cable from any end to  the Note 2, it shows a USB connected  and this is not right as one should be detected and the other should be dead....some more soldering is needed! or...I give up.
 
update : I connected my Note 2 to my Blackberry , and the Note 2 detects it as a mass storage and I was able to browse the internal memory....so I might have done it.
 

 
Oct 26, 2012 at 11:36 AM Post #78 of 862
Hey all -
 
Let me try and shed a little light on the whole USB micro A/B/AB/OTG thing...
 
The Glacer is a slave-only, non-OTG device.  It has a USB micro-B connector.
 
The Glacier can be connected to anything that can act as a USB host.  This includes (obviously) things like PCs, and also the iPad using the Apple CCK.  In these cases a standard USB A to Micro USB B cable (like the one supplied with the amp) is used.
 
It can also be connected to an OTG device that can act as a host, like the newer Samsung phones.  The correct cable to do this would be a micro A to micro B cable, with the A end plugged into the host and the B end plugged into the Glacier.  You can also use a micro B to standard USB B female adapter (as was reported to work if plugged in the right way, with the adapter into the OTG device)
 
According to USB spec, such a cable should be labelled with A and B on the overmolds on the ends.  Also, the A end should have a rectangular cross section, and the B end should be chamfered.
 
 

 
Now, I don't know if all the cable makers follow the spec or not.
 
I've tested with the iPad and CCK quite a lot.  I also tried two different Samsung phones at RMAF and both just worked.  To be honest I didn't even look at the cable orientation - maybe I just got lucky.
 
Apple devices (iPhone, iPod) don't work as OTG hosts.  As was pointed out, as a developer, you have to pay Apple to play, as the interface that uses USB to send audio is proprietary.  It requires additional hardware as well.  So I didn't go there. Not to mention I'm not a big Apple fan :wink:
 
As of now, the standard Android releases do not include USB host support.  Samsung decided to add this feature on their own.  The Android folks are working on a funky USB dock protocol that works over USB (sort of like what Apple does) that, frankly, most of us developers think is stupid.  There is certainly a push to put USB host support for standard devices (like audio, keyboards, etc.) into the normal Android releases.  (I was going to point you to the discussion on developer.android.com, but the server is down...)
 
Oh, one other point while I'm here: in its normal state, the USB DAC connector will ask for 500mA of power so it can charge the battery when it enumerates.  In USB descriptor-speak, MaxPower = 5 and bmAttributes (self powered) = 0.
 
If you disable USB charging, no power is drawn from the USB port.  The device will enumerate as self-powered (e.g. it does not use USB VBUS power).  We're getting deep here, but technically the Glacier enumerates as a compound device containing an embededd hub - it has some HID functions that are unused - so it enumerates with a "1" in the MaxPower field, which indicates 100mA.  But since the "self-powered" descriptor is set, the iPad has no problem with enumerating and connecting.
 
Oddly enough, it looked like the Samsung phone will try to charge the Glacier battery!  That might kill your phone's charge pretty fast, so you should disable USB charging.
 
If anybody is masochistic enough to read them, USB specs are available to the public at http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/
 
Hopefully that helps?
 
Pete
 
Oct 26, 2012 at 12:00 PM Post #79 of 862
Quote:
pmillett said:
Hey all -
 
Let me try and shed a little light on the whole USB micro A/B/AB/OTG thing...
 
The Glacer is a slave-only, non-OTG device.  It has a USB micro-B connector.
 
The Glacier can be connected to anything that can act as a USB host.  This includes (obviously) things like PCs, and also the iPad using the Apple CCK.  In these cases a standard USB A to Micro USB B cable (like the one supplied with the amp) is used.
 
It can also be connected to an OTG device that can act as a host, like the newer Samsung phones.  The correct cable to do this would be a micro A to micro B cable, with the A end plugged into the host and the B end plugged into the Glacier.  You can also use a micro B to standard USB B female adapter (as was reported to work if plugged in the right way, with the adapter into the OTG device)
 
According to USB spec, such a cable should be labelled with A and B on the overmolds on the ends.  Also, the A end should have a rectangular cross section, and the B end should be chamfered.
 
 

 
Now, I don't know if all the cable makers follow the spec or not.
 
I've tested with the iPad and CCK quite a lot.  I also tried two different Samsung phones at RMAF and both just worked.  To be honest I didn't even look at the cable orientation - maybe I just got lucky.
 
Apple devices (iPhone, iPod) don't work as OTG hosts.  As was pointed out, as a developer, you have to pay Apple to play, as the interface that uses USB to send audio is proprietary.  It requires additional hardware as well.  So I didn't go there. Not to mention I'm not a big Apple fan :wink:
 
As of now, the standard Android releases do not include USB host support.  Samsung decided to add this feature on their own.  The Android folks are working on a funky USB dock protocol that works over USB (sort of like what Apple does) that, frankly, most of us developers think is stupid.  There is certainly a push to put USB host support for standard devices (like audio, keyboards, etc.) into the normal Android releases.  (I was going to point you to the discussion on developer.android.com, but the server is down...)
 
Oh, one other point while I'm here: in its normal state, the USB DAC connector will ask for 500mA of power so it can charge the battery when it enumerates.  In USB descriptor-speak, MaxPower = 5 and bmAttributes (self powered) = 0.
 
If you disable USB charging, no power is drawn from the USB port.  The device will enumerate as self-powered (e.g. it does not use USB VBUS power).  We're getting deep here, but technically the Glacier enumerates as a compound device containing an embededd hub - it has some HID functions that are unused - so it enumerates with a "1" in the MaxPower field, which indicates 100mA.  But since the "self-powered" descriptor is set, the iPad has no problem with enumerating and connecting.
 
Oddly enough, it looked like the Samsung phone will try to charge the Glacier battery!  That might kill your phone's charge pretty fast, so you should disable USB charging.
 
If anybody is masochistic enough to read them, USB specs are available to the public at http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/
 
Hopefully that helps?
 
Pete
Click to expand...

Thank you Pete, really appreciated.
I'm not an apple fan too.... :wink: .
 
Oct 26, 2012 at 12:07 PM Post #80 of 862
In the end we need someone to test the stock  Venture-craft cable with the the Glacier to be sure...
 
Oct 27, 2012 at 3:57 AM Post #83 of 862
Oct 27, 2012 at 9:07 AM Post #85 of 862
Quote:
anakchan said:
Glacier & Galaxy S3 working here through an OTG cable & converter to mini (or was it micro?). Not my Galaxy S3 :-
 
 
Click to expand...

Cool....really nice, any impressions?
 
Oct 27, 2012 at 9:18 AM Post #86 of 862
Quote:
turokrocks said:
Cool....really nice, any impressions?
Click to expand...

 
Sadly no...not my Galaxy S3, so not my rig. But I was the photographer :wink:. I think the S3 owner liked what he heard but didn't get any further details.
 
Oh yes, about the hiss, yes with the TG!334 there is a slight hiss. But it's quite low. I'd say that it's about the same level as my customised Rx Mk3 on low gain (where the customisation was to have the low gain further lowered). When music is playing though I don't think the hiss is noticeable.
 
Oct 27, 2012 at 11:29 AM Post #87 of 862
Quote:
turokrocks said:
Cool....really nice, any impressions?
Click to expand...

 
I was attached to the other end of that headphone cable in the pic :)
 
This was my first time listening to this amp and I only listened for a short time, but it was good enough that I'm thinking of picking one up. I've been looking for a nice one-box amp solution for the S3, and this amp is just about ideal. The size would fit perfectly strapped to the S3. I agree with AnakChan that It does hiss a bit on the 334s, but it was pretty tough to hear with the background noise on the show floor.
 
Oct 27, 2012 at 1:29 PM Post #89 of 862
Quote:
gibraltar said:
 
I was attached to the other end of that headphone cable in the pic :)
 
This was my first time listening to this amp and I only listened for a short time, but it was good enough that I'm thinking of picking one up. I've been looking for a nice one-box amp solution for the S3, and this amp is just about ideal. The size would fit perfectly strapped to the S3. I agree with AnakChan that It does hiss a bit on the 334s, but it was pretty tough to hear with the background noise on the show floor.
Click to expand...

 
 
Thank you, so is it close to the TTVjslim SQ/signature, better or different?
 
And  in case you did not have the TTVJslim before, how do you find its SQ signature (warm or neutral...etc....)...would appreciate your update.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top