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Gustard X20 DAC
Sep 11, 2016 at 8:13 PM Post #917 of 1,320
Wow. Assuming the gustard outputs 3.3v single ended then at +6dB you are sending 6.6v to your amp. Check it's sensititivity rating (voltage in for amps full power output). My amp is .57 volt for full power. I use a buffered preamp with volume at half and gustard normally -10 to -6 depending on song.

denti said:
Since my amp has no remote, I tend to use the X20 volume. No one has mentioned where they set the base volume. I use +6db, then go from there.
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Sep 12, 2016 at 11:18 AM Post #920 of 1,320
so i just bought one of these..
https://world.taobao.com/item/536682540041.htm
 
off ebay, costed me a extra $100 vs taobao.
 
i'm guessing that i'll need to do a custom i2s hdmi cable.
 
i linked taobao because it has a clearer image of the back with the pin out.
 
can someone recommend a hdmi cable thats easy to modify?
 
Sep 12, 2016 at 11:59 AM Post #921 of 1,320
ufokillerz said:
  so i just bought one of these..
https://world.taobao.com/item/536682540041.htm
 
off ebay, costed me a extra $100 vs taobao.
 
i'm guessing that i'll need to do a custom i2s hdmi cable.
 
i linked taobao because it has a clearer image of the back with the pin out.
 
can someone recommend a hdmi cable thats easy to modify?
Click to expand...

Looks promising. Can;t find it on ebay. Let us know how it works!
 
Sep 12, 2016 at 12:01 PM Post #922 of 1,320
denti said:
  Looks promising. Can;t find it on ebay. Let us know how it works!
Click to expand...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/131931555969
 
already paid for one last night. also have the kit coming from diyinhk. I'm a very super slow diyer, so figured i'd play around with this. The selling point for me was dsd512 over i2s. Just not sure what i'll do to get the pins matched up.
 
Sep 12, 2016 at 6:12 PM Post #925 of 1,320
ufokillerz said:
  just waiting for the kit to get in. i have all the parts i need to get started. At least i think hah.
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Looking at the pics of the LKS unit, I believe the pinout diagram on the back is for the RJ-45 out as it has 8 pins.  HDMI has 19 pins the gustard HDMI/I2S diagram is readily found back in this thread and even on for sale sites such as ebay.  You will need to get the HDMI out diagram for the LKS.  Then the best option may be to make your own HDMI cable wired to match the gustard input.  I actually bought DIY HDMI connectors to make my own cable when I was considering that route, and then Simon reported a big improvement by moving to the internal I2s lines and I abandoned it.  So if you need connectors for make your own cable let me know and I'll sell you at cost plus postage. Also if you used a stock HDMI cable then your channels would be reversed in DSD playback, I think.  So you could swap outputs at amp or preamp to compensate, but then PCM playback would be out of whack.
 
I PM'd you a while back the internal I2S diagram for the PCIe slot and to me that is an easier connection that the HDMI route, but if you go internal You probably need some external PSU's to maximize the sound and the back of your dac gets cluttered with all the stuff.  
 
I may regret this and to anyone trying to copy this and messing up your dac do not blame me.  Make sure you know what you are doing before attempting this.  It is not that difficult but does require some intermediate DIY skills.  In post #831 I went into some detail on wiring the internal I2s lines to the DIY DSD card.  Here is a picture of the card inside my dac.
 

 
This was when I still ran the custom coax cable which is the white wire running between the two boards.  As I stated earlier, I now soldered a 100 MHz clock much closer to the dac chips.  I have elected not to remove the huge coax tower (for now) as it connects to the clock lines and is very well soldered to the board and the chance of messing up these lines is high if you don't remove it cleanly.  If you can remove the tower then the 4 pads around the tower are dip14 compatible and you can solder in a dip14 socket and then try dip14 clocks at will or with a adaptor that converts most other clocks to dip 14 you can try about any clock.  Check out the last few pages of the LKS Audio MH-Da003 thread and b0bb has pics of such an adaptor and where to source.  The crystek 950x is easy to source but is not dip14, I have one available accusilicon dip14 clock that I will sell to anyone who wants it (this is the clock the current gustards use).  Here is the picture below.  I have a .1uF ceramic type x7r cap between the Vin and ground.  In this picture I am powering the clock from the gustards internal 3.3v line.  I have since added a regulator near the clock and power the clock from an external 5V PSU running to the regulator which supplies 3.3V to the Clock.  The cotton wire you see up in the air is not used when connecting direct to the gustards internal voltage.  It is now my ground from my regulator board.  I realize this method probably adds some additional jitter (soldering directly into the dip14 pins on the board being best) but I detect no harshness in my system from this set up and with the clock I currently use, my gustard has never sounded better.  The pulsar clock shown in the LKS thread would be the ultimate clock for this application at $400 or so.

 
Sep 13, 2016 at 1:43 PM Post #927 of 1,320
@ufokillerz it looks similar for sure.  On the USB PCIe I2S lines Data=DSD L, BCLK=DSD R, and LRCK=Clock.  I know there have been reports that gustard has reversed L & R on the HDMI and some was written in forums about this.  Tho I would assume the i2s for PCIe and HDMI would be the same, but you know what happens when assuming.  I think connecting inside to PCIe is easier than making a custom HDMI cable.  Simon made a custom HDMI cable when he used the audiophonics HDMI I2s board.  Good luck.
 
Sep 13, 2016 at 1:53 PM Post #928 of 1,320
quadman said:
  @ufokillerz it looks similar for sure.  On the USB PCIe I2S lines Data=DSD L, BCLK=DSD R, and LRCK=Clock.  I know there have been reports that gustard has reversed L & R on the HDMI and some was written in forums about this.  Tho I would assume the i2s for PCIe and HDMI would be the same, but you know what happens when assuming.  I think connecting inside to PCIe is easier than making a custom HDMI cable.  Simon made a custom HDMI cable when he used the audiophonics HDMI I2s board.  Good luck.
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granted that putting it all inside the gustard will probably result in better sound quality, what i need for the moment is something that is ready to use. I already have the diyinhk stuff coming, so hopefully in the near future, i will get around to it. Thank you once again for all that information, and opening the way for us!
 
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