[MINORISUKE]

   
Combo384 uses LVCMOS output signals, what does Tanly HDMI>I2S deliver?

The Tanly converter board has no instruction manual.  MX-U8 is 3.3V CMOS, which had been confirmed by the manufacturer before my purchase decision.
Both play PCM perfectly (including DXD) and DSD with channel mix.

 

[abartels]

Hmm, strange, i myself would think there's something wrong with your dac, but i really don't know,,,,,

 

[mz2014]

https://windows.uservoice.com/forums/265757-windows-feature-suggestions/suggestions/7019409-native-usb-class-2-audio-support

 

[MINORISUKE]

Hmm, strange, i myself would think there's something wrong with your dac, but i really don't know,,,,,

I do not think so.  As I wrote, it works perfectly with the internal USB-I2S/DSD board as well as Combo384.  The desginer of this DAC also says none of his customers who use I2S/DSD (RJ45) has ever encountered DSD channel mix.

 

[abartels]

Hello all,
 
 
First things first, the stock Melodious MX-U8 sounds very good, but, not as good as my modified Gustard U12.
The modded U12 has more detail, tighter bass, bigger soundstage, and has less (=no) listening fatigue.
 
But, since stock MX-U8 came very close to my modded U12 I decided to select the best components to modify
my MX-U8 and take it to a much higher level than stock version.
 
My plans were:
 
-1 Replacing the 4x 2200uF-25V BC caps in power supply
-2 Replacing the cheap bridge rectifiers
-3 Replacing the two XO's for audio frequency
-4 Feeding the two XO's for audio with complete seperate power supply
-5 Replacing the crappy IEC320 power inlet
-6 Replacing the 2x9V 15VA Noratel transformer
-7 Adding a second transformer for powering second power supply
-8 Creating a copper shield between transformer compartment and pcb compartment
-9 Shielding enclosure and components with 3M AB5100s
-10 Replacing the RCA for SPDIF output
 
First I took MX-U8 apart and measured what kind of transformers I could put in this enclosure.
I found some R20 R-Core 28VA transformers which could fit in enclosure, but, to accomplish I had to move
the IEC320 power inlet to the outside of the box.
 
So I started to make a wooden block to mount the IEC320 on the outside of the enclosure.
I bought a RED copper, Rhodium plated IEC320 inlet of high quality and mounted it with
the wooden block on the backpanel. I mounted it with 2-component glue to the backpanel.
 

 

 

 
 
I ordered 2 R-20 size 28VA 2x7V R-Core transformers with copper shield and static shield (earthwire).
The base plate of those transformers were too big, so I had to cut of some metal before I could fit them
in enclosure.
 
I also had to remove some aluminium from the frontpanel (at the inside) to fit the transformers.
 
The copper strips (5mm thick), which I bought to create the copper shield, had to fit in enclosure,
and i had to drill some holes in it. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be,,,,,
 
Then i did put all together and mounted it on the baseplate of the enclosure.
 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 
When putting all together I noticed I did miscalculate,,,,,, the wooden block wasn't thick enough,
so there wasn't enough room,,,, I decided to place some spacers between backpanel and screw holes.
(I will order a new backplate when I decide to make an HDMI-I2S output)
 

 

 
 
I started to assemble the Ultra Low Noise ( 0.8 uV ) power supply from DIYINHK.
The Panasonic FC caps were replaced with 4700uF-16V Nichicon FG's 
 

 

 
Then I started to remove the BC caps from main pcb and replaced them with 2200uF-16V Nichicon FG's.
 

 

 
For the ones who ask themselves why I used 16V caps instead of the stock 25V caps:
The stock power supply power rail delivers a max of 9.5V before regulating (when using transformer with 7V output)
This also counts for the Ultra Low Noise power supply.
 
I needed to go lower on voltage otherwise the caps wouldn't fit in enlosure because of their height.
 
 
 
After replacing  the caps I decided to try replacing the crappy bridge rectifiers with Cree C3D02060 ones,,,
I desoldered the bridges, and also desoldered the stock RCA.
 

 

 

 

 
It's a little tight, but it works and fit nicely.
 
Then I soldered the Gaofei Rhodium RCA and the powerconnector for the pcb and mounted it in enclosure 
 

 

 
Then I started to fabricate the NDK NZ2520SD XO's. I received some adapterboards from
member hgpsemaj (thanks again Riemann) which made this task A LOT easier 

 

 
I soldered some pins on the adapterboards, and soldered the wires from the Ultra Low Noise
power supply directly to the adapterboards. I mounted the decoupling caps (rifa 0.01uF) under
the adapterboard, as close as possible to vcc-gnd NDK2520SD
 
Finally I put some 3M AB5100s leftovers in enclosure and on some components.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I closed enclosure and started to burn-in the MX-U8
 

 

 
 
Last Sunday I started burn-in time, so today, this evening, it will have 120 hours burn-in time,
which probably isn't enough. For good listening impressions I will wait one extra day before final verdict.
 
But, to lift a corner of the veil:
 
Yesterday I couldn't resist and listened to the MX-U8. I had a very big smile on my face, and several times
gooseflesh (dispite of the high temperature which was about 38 degrees Celcius inside my appartement)
 
Soundstage is incredible, tons and tons of details, tonal balance is much better, it has much more overall body,
it seems it delivers huge dynamics i never experienced before, but, I could hear it wasn't completely burned-in.
 
At the low-end it wasn't bed in, it was tight, but for my taste too much pressure, so, not tight enough.
I know this is something which can settle-in when burn-in time has completed, so, tomorrow is another day for SQ impressions 

 
 
Cheers       

 
 
Alex

 

[Benny-x]

 
First things first, the stock Melodious MX-U8 
 
[...]
 
Last Sunday I started burn-in time, so today, this evening, it will have 120 hours burn-in time,
which probably isn't enough. For good listening impressions I will wait one extra day before final verdict.
 
But, to lift a corner of the veil:
 
Soundstage is incredible, tons and tons of details, tonal balance is much better, it has much more overall body,
it seems it delivers huge dynamics i never experienced before, but, I could hear it wasn't completely burned-in.
 
At the low-end it wasn't bed in, it was tight, but for my taste too much pressure, so, not tight enough.
I know this is something which can settle-in when burn-in time has completed, so, tomorrow is another day for SQ impressions 

Cheers       

Alex

Since we're in Tanly price territory now and the Tanly convertor comes with HDMI-I2s, we've got to see if we can get one of those in your hands to compare... I wonder which would come out on top?
 
The fun of it all seems great, though, and it definitely makes a lot of food for thought in modding components in general. I've noted a few things  I hope you had fun with it.
 
And I've seen those Gaofei parts around on eBay, but I always wondered if they were alright. Yours was good? Have you used them before or know of anyone else that has? I'm interested in picking a few things up from them.
 
Nice job, nice write up, and good luck with the further listening impressions and enjoyment 

 

[rb2013]

  Hello all,
 
 
First things first, the stock Melodious MX-U8 sounds very good, but, not as good as my modified Gustard U12.
The modded U12 has more detail, tighter bass, bigger soundstage, and has less (=no) listening fatigue.
 
But, since stock MX-U8 came very close to my modded U12 I decided to select the best components to modify
my MX-U8 and take it to a much higher level than stock version.
 
My plans were:
 
-1 Replacing the 4x 2200uF-25V BC caps in power supply
-2 Replacing the cheap bridge rectifiers
-3 Replacing the two XO's for audio frequency
-4 Feeding the two XO's for audio with complete seperate power supply
-5 Replacing the crappy IEC320 power inlet
-6 Replacing the 2x9V 15VA Noratel transformer
-7 Adding a second transformer for powering second power supply
-8 Creating a copper shield between transformer compartment and pcb compartment
-9 Shielding enclosure and components with 3M AB5100s
-10 Replacing the RCA for SPDIF output
 
First I took MX-U8 apart and measured what kind of transformers I could put in this enclosure.
I found some R20 R-Core 28VA transformers which could fit in enclosure, but, to accomplish I had to move
the IEC320 power inlet to the outside of the box.
 
So I started to make a wooden block to mount the IEC320 on the outside of the enclosure.
I bought a RED copper, Rhodium plated IEC320 inlet of high quality and mounted it with
the wooden block on the backpanel. I mounted it with 2-component glue to the backpanel.
 

 

 

 
 
I ordered 2 R-20 size 28VA 2x7V R-Core transformers with copper shield and static shield (earthwire).
The base plate of those transformers were too big, so I had to cut of some metal before I could fit them
in enclosure.
 
I also had to remove some aluminium from the frontpanel (at the inside) to fit the transformers.
 
The copper strips (5mm thick), which I bought to create the copper shield, had to fit in enclosure,
and i had to drill some holes in it. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be,,,,,
 
Then i did put all together and mounted it on the baseplate of the enclosure.
 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 
When putting all together I noticed I did miscalculate,,,,,, the wooden block wasn't thick enough,
so there wasn't enough room,,,, I decided to place some spacers between backpanel and screw holes.
(I will order a new backplate when I decide to make an HDMI-I2S output)
 

 

 
 
I started to assemble the Ultra Low Noise ( 0.8 uV ) power supply from DIYINHK.
The Panasonic FC caps were replaced with 4700uF-16V Nichicon FG's 
 

 

 
Then I started to remove the BC caps from main pcb and replaced them with 4700uF-16V Nichicon FG's.
 

 

 
For the ones who ask themselves why I used 16V caps instead of the stock 25V caps:
The stock power supply power rail delivers a max of 9.5V before regulating (when using transformer with 7V output)
This also counts for the Ultra Low Noise power supply.
 
25V is way over-dimensioned, and when using 16V I could choose a higher capacity.
 
 
 
After replacing  the caps I decided to try replacing the crappy bridge rectifiers with Cree C3D02060 ones,,,
I desoldered the bridges, and also desoldered the stock RCA.
 

 

 

 

 
It's a little tight, but it works and fit nicely.
 
Then I soldered the Gaofei Rhodium RCA and the powerconnector for the pcb and mounted it in enclosure 
 

 

 
Then I started to fabricate the NDK NZ2520SD XO's. I received some adapterboards from
member hgpsemaj (thanks again Riemann) which made this task A LOT easier 

 

 
I soldered some pins on the adapterboards, and soldered the wires from the Ultra Low Noise
power supply directly to the adapterboards. I mounted the decoupling caps (rifa 0.01uF) under
the adapterboard, as close as possible to vcc-gnd NDK2520SD
 
Finally I put some 3M AB5100s leftovers in enclosure and on the components.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I closed enclosure and started to burn-in the MX-U8
 

 

 
 
Last Sunday I started burn-in time, so today, this evening, it will have 120 hours burn-in time,
which probably isn't enough. For good listening impressions I will wait one extra day before final verdict.
 
But, to lift a corner of the veil:
 
Yesterday I couldn't resist and listened to the MX-U8. I had a very big smile on my face, and several times
gooseflesh (dispite of the high temperature which was about 38 degrees Celcius)
 
Soundstage is incredible, tons and tons of details, tonal balance is much better, it has much more overall body,
it seems it delivers huge dynamics i never experienced before, but, I could hear it wasn't completely burned-in.
 
At the low-end it wasn't bed in, it was tight, but for my taste too much pressure, so, not tight enough.
I know this is something which can settle-in when burn-in time has completed, so, tomorrow is another day for SQ impressions 

 
 
Cheers       

 
 
Alex

Nice Alex!  Cheers

 

[abartels]

  Since we're in Tanly price territory now and the Tanly convertor comes with HDMI-I2s, we've got to see if we can get one of those in your hands to compare... I wonder which would come out on top?
 
The fun of it all seems great, though, and it definitely makes a lot of food for thought in modding components in general. I've noted a few things  I hope you had fun with it.
 
And I've seen those Gaofei parts around on eBay, but I always wondered if they were alright. Yours was good? Have you used them before or know of anyone else that has? I'm interested in picking a few things up from them.
 
Nice job, nice write up, and good luck with the further listening impressions and enjoyment 

 
Hi Benny,
 
Just send me Tanly, I will compare 

 
MX-U8 is still settling in, takes longer than i thought, normally it's about 150 hours, MX-U8 passed 150 hours and still improving,,,,,,
Tomorrow final verdict 

 
 
I had some Gaofei RCA's for my DAC, they are really good, very nice quality. I ordered some Yarbo's because of Tellurium + pole, but quality is disappointing, so using Gaofei.
They are of good quality (at least the solderless ones)!
 
Cheers      

 
 
 
Alex

 

[abartels]

 
Nice Alex!  Cheers

Thanks RB2013 

 

[abartels]

  Hello all,
 
 
First things first, the stock Melodious MX-U8 sounds very good, but, not as good as my modified Gustard U12.
The modded U12 has more detail, tighter bass, bigger soundstage, and has less (=no) listening fatigue.
 
But, since stock MX-U8 came very close to my modded U12 I decided to select the best components to modify
my MX-U8 and take it to a much higher level than stock version.
 
My plans were:
 
-1 Replacing the 4x 2200uF-25V BC caps in power supply
-2 Replacing the cheap bridge rectifiers
-3 Replacing the two XO's for audio frequency
-4 Feeding the two XO's for audio with complete seperate power supply
-5 Replacing the crappy IEC320 power inlet
-6 Replacing the 2x9V 15VA Noratel transformer
-7 Adding a second transformer for powering second power supply
-8 Creating a copper shield between transformer compartment and pcb compartment
-9 Shielding enclosure and components with 3M AB5100s
-10 Replacing the RCA for SPDIF output
 
First I took MX-U8 apart and measured what kind of transformers I could put in this enclosure.
I found some R20 R-Core 28VA transformers which could fit in enclosure, but, to accomplish I had to move
the IEC320 power inlet to the outside of the box.
 
So I started to make a wooden block to mount the IEC320 on the outside of the enclosure.
I bought a RED copper, Rhodium plated IEC320 inlet of high quality and mounted it with
the wooden block on the backpanel. I mounted it with 2-component glue to the backpanel.
 

 

 

 
 
I ordered 2 R-20 size 28VA 2x7V R-Core transformers with copper shield and static shield (earthwire).
The base plate of those transformers were too big, so I had to cut of some metal before I could fit them
in enclosure.
 
I also had to remove some aluminium from the frontpanel (at the inside) to fit the transformers.
 
The copper strips (5mm thick), which I bought to create the copper shield, had to fit in enclosure,
and i had to drill some holes in it. This wasn't as easy as I thought it would be,,,,,
 
Then i did put all together and mounted it on the baseplate of the enclosure.
 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 
When putting all together I noticed I did miscalculate,,,,,, the wooden block wasn't thick enough,
so there wasn't enough room,,,, I decided to place some spacers between backpanel and screw holes.
(I will order a new backplate when I decide to make an HDMI-I2S output)
 

 

 
 
I started to assemble the Ultra Low Noise ( 0.8 uV ) power supply from DIYINHK.
The Panasonic FC caps were replaced with 4700uF-16V Nichicon FG's 
 

 

 
Then I started to remove the BC caps from main pcb and replaced them with 2200uF-16V Nichicon FG's.
 

 

 
For the ones who ask themselves why I used 16V caps instead of the stock 25V caps:
The stock power supply power rail delivers a max of 9.5V before regulating (when using transformer with 7V output)
This also counts for the Ultra Low Noise power supply.
 
I needed using lower voltage because of dimensions 25V cap which were too big to fit in enclosure
 
 
 
After replacing  the caps I decided to try replacing the crappy bridge rectifiers with Cree C3D02060 ones,,,
I desoldered the bridges, and also desoldered the stock RCA.
 

 

 

 

 
It's a little tight, but it works and fit nicely.
 
Then I soldered the Gaofei( EDIT: replaced with VALAB Rhodium RCA)  Rhodium RCA and the powerconnector for the pcb and mounted it in enclosure 
 

 

 
Then I started to fabricate the NDK NZ2520SD XO's. I received some adapterboards from
member hgpsemaj (thanks again Riemann) which made this task A LOT easier 

 

 
I soldered some pins on the adapterboards, and soldered the wires from the Ultra Low Noise
power supply directly to the adapterboards. I mounted the decoupling caps (rifa 0.01uF) under
the adapterboard, as close as possible to vcc-gnd NDK2520SD
 
Finally I put some 3M AB5100s leftovers in enclosure and on the components.
 

 

 

 

 

 
I closed enclosure and started to burn-in MX-U8
 

 

 
 
Last Sunday I started burn-in time, so today, this evening, it will have 120 hours burn-in time,
which probably isn't enough. For good listening impressions I will wait one extra day before final verdict.
 
But, to lift a corner of the veil:
 
Yesterday I couldn't resist and listened to the MX-U8. I had a very big smile on my face, and several times
gooseflesh (dispite of the high temperature which was about 38 degrees Celcius)
 
Soundstage is incredible, tons and tons of details, tonal balance is much better, it has much more overall body,
it seems it delivers huge dynamics i never experienced before, but, I could hear it wasn't completely burned-in.
 
At the low-end it wasn't bed in, it was tight, but for my taste too much pressure, so, not tight enough.
I know this is something which can settle-in when burn-in time has completed, so, tomorrow is another day for SQ impressions 

 
 
Cheers       

 
 
Alex

 
 
Hello all,
 
Today, after 7 days of burn-in, I finally listened to MX-U8. As expected it sounds just        F A N T A S T I C        

 
It really needed 7 days of continous playing before sounding real good. Yesterday it still had a lot off troubles with playing low frequencies,
now it's superb, lots of details in low frequencies as pressure and tightness.
 
 
It is very very airy, tons of details, very tight lows with a lot of pressure, vocals are smooth as silk, very natural sounding.
Soundstage is superb, vocals are as if they were almost in my room, live, very very impressive!
 
Glad I went this route, it wasn't the easiest, but very glad I did it 

 
 
Never would have thought that a DDC could have this much impact on SQ.
 
 
Who's sending me a Tanly to compare? 

 
 
EDIT: My MX-U8 directly compared to Hydra-Z See post: http://www.head-fi.org/t/767935/melodious-mx-u8-usb-interface-8-core-xmos-chip/255#post_11849461
 
 
 
Regards,
 
Alex

 

[rb2013]

   
 
Hello all,
 
Today, after 7 days of burn-in, I finally listened to MX-U8. As expected it sounds just        F A N T A S T I C        

 
It really needed 7 days of continous playing before sounding real good. Yesterday it still had a lot off troubles with playing low frequencies,
now it's superb, lots of details in low frequencies as pressure and tightness.
 
 
It is very very airy, tons of details, very tight lows with a lot of pressure, vocals are smooth as silk, very natural sounding.
Soundstage is superb, vocals are as if they were almost in my room, live, very very impressive!
 
Glad I went this route, it wasn't the easiest, but very glad I did it 

 
 
Never would have thought that a DDC could have this much impact on SQ.
 
 
Who's sending me a Tanly to compare? 

 
 
 
Regards,
 
Alex

Great news Alex - congratulations!

 

[Benny-x]

   
 
Hello all,
 
Today, after 7 days of burn-in, I finally listened to MX-U8. As expected it sounds just        F A N T A S T I C        

 
It really needed 7 days of continous playing before sounding real good. Yesterday it still had a lot off troubles with playing low frequencies,
now it's superb, lots of details in low frequencies as pressure and tightness.
 
 
It is very very airy, tons of details, very tight lows with a lot of pressure, vocals are smooth as silk, very natural sounding.
Soundstage is superb, vocals are as if they were almost in my room, live, very very impressive!
 
Glad I went this route, it wasn't the easiest, but very glad I did it 

 
 
Never would have thought that a DDC could have this much impact on SQ.
 
 
Who's sending me a Tanly to compare? 

 
 
 
Regards,
 
Alex

That's awesome news and I'm very envious of your setup now. Especially since you also have plans of adding HDMI-I2s to the MX-U8. I'm looking forward to hearing about that when you get around to it.
 
As for sending you a Tanly, I'd love to have one and be able to. I'm really thinking about one for the fall, pending something else doesn't hop up and take it's place as the budget king of USB->HDMI-I2s, like potentially you modded MX-U8 does. 
 
In all honesty, is there any way anyone thinks we could get the 2 units in the same room? They come out at almost identical prices, though much different sets of DIY effort. It'd be interesting to know
 
Anyway, good for you Alex, I'm really happy for you

 

[abartels]

 
Great news Alex - congratulations!

 
Thanks for the congrats 

 

  That's awesome news and I'm very envious of your setup now. Especially since you also have plans of adding HDMI-I2s to the MX-U8. I'm looking forward to hearing about that when you get around to it.
 
As for sending you a Tanly, I'd love to have one and be able to. I'm really thinking about one for the fall, pending something else doesn't hop up and take it's place as the budget king of USB->HDMI-I2s, like potentially you modded MX-U8 does. 
 
In all honesty, is there any way anyone thinks we could get the 2 units in the same room? They come out at almost identical prices, though much different sets of DIY effort. It'd be interesting to know
 
Anyway, good for you Alex, I'm really happy for you

 
Thanks for the congrats 

 
HDMI I2S will be another project indeed, but first I need to buy a DAC with HDMI I2S, my DAC only has spdif.
And, to be honest, I had plans to build my own DDC with I2S HDMI only.
 
Problem is, if I want to implement HDMI I2S the right way, I need another psu with another transformer,,,,,,
I could use the onboard psu, but thats not the way it should be done,,,,
 
I suppose if i build my own DDC, it will have seperate transformers and PSU's for all electronic stages, thus one for XMOS, one double for audio xo's and one for HDMI I2S print.
So I would need at least 3 transformers. And, probably I would take use of O-Core transformers with earth shield. This automatically means I have to take a bigger enclosure,
otherwise it all wouldn't fit in enclosure.
 
But all that is for later this year.
 
 
I would love to compare my MX-U8 with a Tanly, but problem is I live in The Netherlands, transport costs are too high to send my MX-U8 or receive a Tanly.
 
The Tanly weighs 2.5Kg, my modded MX-U8 even weighs 2.7Kg
 
 
If someone in The Netherlands (or in Germany or Belgium - a max distance about 200Km) would buy a Tanly, then we could meet and compare.
 
 
 
Keep up the good work 

 
Cheers           

 
Alex

 

[ginetto61]

  Hello all,
Today, after 7 days of burn-in, I finally listened to MX-U8. As expected it sounds just        F A N T A S T I C        

It really needed 7 days of continous playing before sounding real good.
Yesterday it still had a lot off troubles with playing low frequencies, now it's superb, lots of details in low frequencies as pressure and tightness.
It is very very airy, tons of details, very tight lows with a lot of pressure, vocals are smooth as silk, very natural sounding.
Soundstage is superb, vocals are as if they were almost in my room, live, very very impressive!
Glad I went this route, it wasn't the easiest, but very glad I did it 

Never would have thought that a DDC could have this much impact on SQ.
Who's sending me a Tanly to compare? 

Regards,
Alex

 
Hi Alex !  Excellent project indeed.  Congratulations !
And thanks a lot for the very nice pictures !
i would try it also myself if only i had  a clue of how this blessed device works.
Without a schematic i am completely lost. 
But if i understand well you have kept the original power supply based on the lt1963 on board only for the usb receiver and one clock 
and replaced two of the clocks with new boards ?
Unfortunately i cannot understand the circuit ... this is completely beyond my ability to understand.
Congrats again. 
Regards,  gino  

 

[hgpsemaj]

   
 
Hello all,
 
Today, after 7 days of burn-in, I finally listened to MX-U8. As expected it sounds just        F A N T A S T I C        

 
It really needed 7 days of continous playing before sounding real good. Yesterday it still had a lot off troubles with playing low frequencies,
now it's superb, lots of details in low frequencies as pressure and tightness.
 
 
It is very very airy, tons of details, very tight lows with a lot of pressure, vocals are smooth as silk, very natural sounding.
Soundstage is superb, vocals are as if they were almost in my room, live, very very impressive!
 
Glad I went this route, it wasn't the easiest, but very glad I did it 

 
 
Never would have thought that a DDC could have this much impact on SQ.
 
 
Who's sending me a Tanly to compare? 

 
 
 
Regards,
 
Alex

 
 
Hello Alex,
 
Great effort and well done.
 
 
 
Regards,
 
 
Riemann