[DACLadder]

It is far from being clear to me how Kingwa's design works. He calling the second stage transformers the regeneration ones. What does the first transformer do?

The large transformer drives a DC linear power supply that then feeds the input to the AC regenerator circuits. The regenerated 50Hz sinusoidal waveform drives the three transformers to eventually make DC at the board level. So essentially an AC-DC-AC-DC supply.

Does this makes sense? Yes, in many ways. Isolates the AC input power by several layers. Purity of the regenerated 50Hz waveform can be controlled. Hopefully this all means quieter DC power.

 

[FredA]

The large transformer drives a DC linear power supply that then feeds the input to the AC regenerator circuits. The regenerated 50Hz sinusoidal waveform drives the three transformers to eventually make DC at the board level. So essentially an AC-DC-AC-DC supply.

Does this makes sense? Yes, in many ways. Isolates the AC input power by several layers. Purity of the regenerated 50Hz waveform can be controlled. Hopefully this all means quieter DC power.

Yep,.check my post above. Essentially, there is only one regerator producing balanced power to feed the 3 secondary transfos. At least, the schematics indicate that.

 

[517269]

It is far from being clear to me how Kingwa's design works. He calling the second stage transformers the regeneration ones. What does the first transformer do?

I would say the HE merely adds to the existing three R7/R8 independent power supplies a front-end AC regenerator which is like a 50Hz Class A power amp feeding the primaries of the three transformers of the R7/R8 design.
Instead of the primaries of the three independent power supply transformers plugging directly to the wall as they would in the R7/R8, they derive their AC line voltage from the regenerator circuit.
I would be interested to know if the regenerator output to the three independent transformer primaries is balanced [60V - Gnd - 60V] which further reduces noise.
I highly doubt there are four separate AC regenerator circuits and suspect that the languaging for the three separate power supplies being called regenerators is not correct.
In short, the Regenerator is like a power amp - producing 50Hz line voltage to the three power supply transformers and the three R7/R8 separate linear power supplies [likely not regenerators] convert the line AC voltage to DC for the separate L&R analog and digital circuitry. If I am correct, hope this helps.

 

[anroj]

R8_Asy3 firmware for R8, R8HE, and R27 is available. But requires a hardware change (rework). I understand the reason for the change and am editing the instructions for clarification. Looks easy!

... Do not apply R8_Asy3 without first making the hardware change. The reason for the change is to place I2S BCK signal on a dedicated FPGA clock resource pin. MCLK is now wired to the FPGA clock input but no longer needed with TDA firmware. FPGAs have dedicated pins for input clocks that vastly improves timing and speed through the FPGA. Otherwise you use general logic routing for FPGA clocks and suffers greatly. That's the technical reason for this rework.

The hardware change is not backward compatible to older firmware. So one-way journey unless you move the wires back. If the older R8 TDA firmware was using general logic routing for BCK then this change should be significant. A little pain for a lot of gain!

The rework is about as simple as it gets! Just swap MCLK and BCK wires on the I2S connector. See the "Upgrade_guide.txt", pictures, and R8_Asy3 firmware here. Enjoy and send questions as needed.
https://onedrive.live.com/?id=636DC4E8060D66A1!326&cid=636DC4E8060D66A1

And to be clear this rework is not needed on the R7/R2R 7 platform.

I just purchased an R8 two months ago. Is this firmware newer than what was on the R8 when it shipped?

 

[FredA]

I would say the HE merely adds to the existing three R7/R8 independent power supplies a front-end AC regenerator which is like a 50Hz Class A power amp feeding the primaries of the three transformers of the R7/R8 design.
Instead of the primaries of the three independent power supply transformers plugging directly to the wall as they would in the R7/R8, they derive their AC line voltage from the regenerator circuit.
I would be interested to know if the regenerator output to the three independent transformer primaries is balanced [60V - Gnd - 60V] which further reduces noise.
I highly doubt there are four separate AC regenerator circuits and suspect that the languaging for the three separate power supplies being called regenerators is not correct.
In short, the Regenerator is like a power amp - producing 50Hz line voltage to the three power supply transformers and the three R7/R8 separate linear power supplies [likely not regenerators] convert the line AC voltage to DC for the separate L&R analog and digital circuitry. If I am correct, hope this helps.

It regerates balanced power from the schematics. Otherwise we have the same interpretation.

 

[FredA]

I just purchased an R8 two months ago. Is this firmware newer than what was on the R8 when it shipped?

Yep.

 

[anroj]

Yep.

This will be my first firmware upgrade. I’m excited and anxious at the same time.

 

[517269]

It regerates balanced power from the schematics. Otherwise we have the same interpretation.

Awesome.

 

[FredA]

This will be my first firmware upgrade. I’m excited and anxious at the same time.

The computer and r8 must be turned off while connecting or disconnecting the blaster. Make sure to connector is properly oriented. You will have to get the altera programmer first.

 

[DACLadder]

This will be my first firmware upgrade. I’m excited and anxious at the same time.

Should be a good one and have fun! Take a look around inside. And if using I2S don’t forget to swap the two wires (R8)!

 

[anroj]

Should be a good one and have fun! Take a look around inside. And if using I2S don’t forget to swap the two wires (R8)!

Thank you. I am using a Gustard U16 into the R8. Will I need to change the firmware on the U16 with this upgrade?

 

[DACLadder]

Thank you. I am using a Gustard U16 into the R8. Will I need to change the firmware on the U16 with this upgrade?

No, the U16 is OK if working now. You only need to swap two wires on the R8 HDMI cable inside the R8 and load up the new ‘R8_asy3’ firmware. The cable instructions and pictures are in the link provided earlier. If unsure you may need someone local to explain and show you how first time.

 

[guzz46]

R8_Asy3 firmware for R8, R8HE, and R27 is available. But requires a hardware change (rework). I understand the reason for the change and am editing the instructions for clarification. Looks easy!

For I2S to function on R8_Asy3 two signals need to swap on the I2S internal cable. The reason for the change is to place I2S BCK signal on a dedicated FPGA clock resource pin. MCLK is now wired to the FPGA clock input but no longer needed with TDA firmware. FPGAs have dedicated pins for input clocks that vastly improves timing and speed through the FPGA. Otherwise you use general logic routing for FPGA clocks and suffers greatly. That's the technical reason for this rework. BCK is the important clock in Asy firmware.

The hardware change is not backward compatible to older firmware. So one-way journey unless you move the wires back. If the older R8 TDA firmware was using general logic routing for BCK then this change should be significant. A little pain for a lot of gain!

The rework is about as simple as it gets! Just swap MCLK and BCK wires on the I2S connector. See the "Upgrade_guide.txt", pictures, and R8_Asy3 firmware here. Enjoy and send questions as needed.
https://onedrive.live.com/?id=636DC4E8060D66A1!326&cid=636DC4E8060D66A1

And to be clear this rework is not needed on the R7/R2R 7 platform.

I assume you don't need to swap the wires if your using USB? is the sound signature closer to the previous accurate firmware as opposed to the smooth firmware?

 

[anroj]

The computer and r8 must be turned off while connecting or disconnecting the blaster. Make sure to connector is properly oriented. You will have to get the altera programmer first.

I have a USB Blaster. Are there instructions somewhere for the Altera Programmer and how to load it. I also recall an article awhile ago that showed how to connect the USB Blaster to the R8, but not sure where I saw it.

 

[FredA]

I have a USB Blaster. Are there instructions somewhere for the Altera Programmer and how to load it. I also recall an article awhile ago that showed how to connect the USB Blaster to the R8, but not sure where I saw it.

There you go:

http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/R8/R8updateEN.htm