[premier]

Discussion on ESI Juli@ mods here, please!

I was wondering if you guys have already done some mods on ESI Juli@ and how were the results? Change the opamps or do some extra shielding maybe? Please post "for dummies" instructions if you've done some mods

 

[bubbamc119]

I am also interested in this. I just got mine and it sounds pretty darn good. I may try modding it later.

 

[premier]

Looks like Juli@ owners are not into modding

Anyone?

 

[Glassman]

it's always the same story, with every card.. look for any other mods and apply to your card.. no need to be specific..

 

[freak]

Hello. I bought this card some time ago and now I'm thinking about upgrading it. What parts can be replaced so the sound signifcantly improves and are not very expensive? What opams are installed in Juli? Do you think OPA2107 would be good replacement? I like this opamp.

 

[003]

Umm, the Juli@ only has line level outputs, I may be wrong but I don't think there are any opamps.

There is an I2S mod you can do to the Juli@:
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=244705

And I plan on having this done when I hopefully get the Storm Pandora.

 

[freak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Umm, the Juli@ only has line level outputs, I may be wrong but I don't think there are any opamps.

ESI Juli@ has opamps. These are JRC 4580 and they are very crappy compared to more expensive opamps like OPA2107.

 

[Seaside]

As freak said, Juli@ comes with cheap 4580 opamp.
People often asked ESI "why cheap 4580 in such a good card?", and ESI's answer usually is they decided to use that op, because 4580 does not add any color to the sound.

Anyways, you may switch opamp or try another capacitors, and see what's gonna happen to the sound. I can't see many modding possiblities rather than those.

 

[003]

Ah OK. Well yeah you could mod it then. I'm sure you could perform similar mods that are popular on the X-fi, but I think the best solution is to mod the digital section for a very high quality digital output and use an external DAC as the inside of a computer is no place for a line level analog audio signal.

 

[b0dhi]

I'd be interested in an op-amp mod. Anyone know which op-amps could be used in place of the 4580?

 

[003]

LM6172s could be used.

 

[wackyterbacky]

I have the Juli@ and drive an external Perpetual P-3A dac with a custom I2S cable. However, that project gave me the idea that one could potentially take the analog board out of the PC and power it externally. I have not tried this, but if all you are doing is 2 channel output, then the I2S signals and ground may be sufficient. I don't know what analog supplies are needed, that would take some probing.

The analog board has balanced outputs ( using 1/4 phono plugs ). I would take a guess that powering it from a quiet external supply ( or battery? ) with Balanced outputs ( and maybe an opamp mod ) could be a decent combination.

 

[aphex944]

The opamps are in a mini SOIC package. Soldering them is pretty tricky. I replaced them with LM833MMs, and also replaced the output caps. The 4580 wasn't doing anything to help the sound, but it also wasn't injecting too much crap surprisingly. I noticed an overall increase in sound quality, but nothing major. The tantalum capacitors are AWFUL though, and swapping out those made the biggest difference.

 

[003]

Is there anything you can do to improve digital output quality, or no?

 

[Dept_of_Alchemy]

LM4562 works well.