[particleman14]

tap the power from C5 .. this worked on both of my carrie/grub setups.  ..
 
mattcalf, I haven't run some good a/b comparisons just yet between the y2 and grubdac.  been a little busy with school (just graduated!)  however my initial impressions are that, surprisingly, the grubdac is not very far away from the y2.  In terms of transparency and overall clarity the y2 wins, but the grub has a kind of mellow and pleasant sound to it; I guess you could say 'warmer".   this is a comparison using 2 mini3 x5 gain.  will post more in depth comparison now that I have a lot more free time on my hands, for the moment. 

 

[Fishline]

Looks like the parts for the grubDAC (which I plan to use with the Carrie) are all in stock at mouser now, but some of the parts for the Carrie are out of stock 8-(.  Can someone kindly suggest suitable replacement for the following?
 
80-C062C105K5R (Kemet Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors (MLCC) - Leaded 50volts 1uF 10% X7R 10%)
270-470-RC (Xicon Metal Film Resistors - Through Hole 470ohms 1% 50PPM)
270-100K-RC (Xicon Metal Film Resistors - Through Hole 100Kohms 1% 50PPM)

450-6003 (knob -- I think I can find replacement for this one myself)

 

[joneeboi]

At the bottom of the Mouser product page, there's a "Show Similar" button. I can click it for you, but do you wanna give it a shot? You're almost there.

 

[Teal]

Are there any more boards available (kit preferred)? I'd like to build one sometime in the near future (unless a new version is being worked on).
 
I'm currently using a Bantam Dac /w a Mini^3 on my netbook and it's a pain having a two piece set of which one needs charging.
 
Also, how do the two fit inside the case? That looks like the standard case that houses the Mini^3.
 
Would it better to build the grubDAC? Does it fit in the case and is the quality any better (with the Carrie) than the Bantam DAC?

 

[Juaquin]

The Grub and Bantam are the same size and both will work (the Carrie was designed to fit with the Bantam, and then the Grub was designed to fit with the Carrie). As far as quality, I've listened to both and they're both great. By looking purely at the specifications, the Grub might have an edge (no output capacitors, etc) but I think you'll be happy either way. I'd make the decision based on whether you need the USB B or Mini connector (Grub is Mini, Bantam is B).
 
Both the Carrie and one of the DACs (Grub or Bantam) will fit into the specified case. I'm not sure if it's the same size as the Mini3 case but I do know that the Carrie is essentially a Mini3 that's been made smaller with a boost converter, so it wouldn't surprise me that the DAC and Carrie fit into the same case as the Mini3.
 
There are no kits as far as I know; Joneeboi may or may not have extra PCBs - I'll let him respond to that.

 

[Anonanimal]

It's the identical Hammond case that the Mini^3 uses, and they fit almost perfectly.  This is what they were designed to do.  You can find pictures of my builds on the previous page in this thread I believe.
 
I used the BantamDAC for my two Carries and I do not have a single complaint on the sound quality.  I used the red Wima caps on the outputs.

 

[VncentValntine]

I'd also be interested in a PCB if there are any extras...

 

[Ikarios]

For those of you looking for PCBs:
be patient

http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/470305/carrie-amp-pcb-group-buy

 

[VncentValntine]

so tapping power from C5 on the Grub works on macbook pros too?

 

[Juaquin]

I've had problems with my 13" MBP no matter where I tap power from, but that was with the latest prototype version (not the current semi-production version). I'll have to build up the latest board sometime and see if that improves.

 

[VncentValntine]

If I were to say I wanted to pair the Carrie with a Gamma1 would I run into the same problem?

 

[ShinyFalcon]

There are more components on the y1 (four) to power compared to the GrubDAC (two). Unless you take off the y1's TOSLINK and CS8416, then you'll probably get about equal power consumption.

 

[Juaquin]

The Grub only draws ~50ma. At least for me, it seems to be that the Carrie is drawing over 450ma (at least at startup), which the MBP detects as a fault and shuts down power to that port. If yours acts the same as mine, there is no DAC that will solve this problem. You'll either need a dual-USB cable or some sort of limiting circuit.

 

[VncentValntine]

from amb's website 
 
Quote:

U1D (TPS2115A) is a power multiplexer chip that allows selection and transition between two input power sources. The external 5V power from the DC input jack (J1D) and the VBUS 5V power from the USB board (through the docking pin socket J4D pin 1) are connected to the INPUT1 and INPUT2 pins of the TPS2115A, respectively. This chip is configured such that normally the power comes from VBUS, but if external power is plugged in, then it will switch to external power. The output goes to the USB board (via J4D pin 2) as well as to two local voltage regulators U5D and U6D, which regulates down to 3.3V and 4.5V (or 4.75V if the TPS793475 is used) for the digital and analog power, respectively. The analog power for the CS8416 and WM8501 chips are further filtered by separate ferrite beads and decoupling capacitors. 

The 3-pin jumper block JP2D is normally unused. However, if the builder wants to omit the power mux chip U1D and hardwire the board to either external or USB power, then a jumper can be used to select the power source. The power mux chip provides the benefit of controlled-slew voltage ramp-up, therefore it is not recommended that you omit it unless you have a very good reason to do so. 

 
and from Texas Instruments
 
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tps2115a.pdf
 
Quote:

The TPS211xA family includes extensive protection circuitry, including user-programmable current limiting, thermal protection, inrush current control

 
 
Is none of this related to what the problem is?
The TPS211xA family includes extensive protection
circuitry, including user-programmable current limiting, thermal protection, inrush curr
The TPS211xA family includes extensive protection
circuitry, including user-programmable current limiting, thermal protection, inrush current control

 

[cobaltmute]

Search the thread - someone has already built a gamma1/Carrie combo.  There was a part change they had to make on the gamma1 or the Carrie will not start.