[Edwood]

OK, I poked and prodded my stock RME PAD.

Here's what I came up with.

So other than ripping off the Input OPamps for the Balanced output mod, what else should I rip off?

-Ed

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally posted by Wodgy This "external RME" project sounds fairly ill-advised to me. I'd just relax and be happy for a while Either that or start modding the EMU cards...

I agree. The Emu card is already starting at stock better than the RME analog and digital out and has balanced outs naturally

 

[Edwood]

The Homegrown Audio 22AWG solid silver wires arrived today. I'm listening to my newly resoldered card right now. The silver wires were really easy to put into place. That Cardas solder is pretty amazing stuff. I wish they made thinner versions of it for electronics work.

It may just be placebo effect, but I swear it sounds even clearer and larger soundstage. Almost like the other wires weren't as solid a connection. I don't have a direct point of comparison, of course.
I was really careful to make sure the wires were the same length this time. It's a pretty neat looking mod, though. The wires are routed in a way that they remain flush with the back of the card. Because they are solid core, they are stiff and stay put without any glue.

-Ed

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Looks very good Ed! I did a little hacking on my card today as well, I removed the parts that you showed had continuity with the lower 1/4" jack left and right output, and it changed the RMAA response slightly, on the FR graph the high end was closer to neutral on the card now (+.03 vs +.05 for removing the opamp only).

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer Looks very good Ed! I did a little hacking on my card today as well, I removed the parts that you showed had continuity with the lower 1/4" jack left and right output, and it changed the RMAA response slightly, on the FR graph the high end was closer to neutral on the card now (+.03 vs +.05 for removing the opamp only).

Good stuff. That's basically what I guessed would happen. Personally, I'd still Dremel around the jacks to get rid of the PCB traces, but you're already much of the way there by having removed the parts.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer Looks very good Ed! I did a little hacking on my card today as well, I removed the parts that you showed had continuity with the lower 1/4" jack left and right output, and it changed the RMAA response slightly, on the FR graph the high end was closer to neutral on the card now (+.03 vs +.05 for removing the opamp only).

Hmmm. So you yanked everything I marked "Red" and "Purple", with the "special" pliers?

I guess I can yank everything "Red" and "purple" in both pics?
What about the "legs" on the chip directly to the right of the lower (output) 1/4" TRS jack? Should I cut the ones marked red and purple?

-Ed

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

No, not exactly. I wonly removed the gray and black capacitors in between the two 1/4" jacks, since those are the last stops for the signal before the jack itself.

 

[Ph34rful]

Once you guys figure out what's best overall for the RME's sound...
I think I'll send you mine to mod. That is if you are still willing to mess with other peoples...

Oh and nice work Edwood. That looks great.

 

[Edwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer No, not exactly. I wonly removed the gray and black capacitors in between the two 1/4" jacks, since those are the last stops for the signal before the jack itself.

Every one of them between the jacks?

-Ed

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Not the first one, that controls the voltage to the LED, unless of course you don't want the LED anymore. I'll put up a pic in a minute.

EDIT

I removed the 4 parts number with green on here:

 

[Edwood]

OK, so along with those 4 you removed between the 1/4" jacks.

I should remove these 6?
Including #4 and 5, those two Yellow Tantulum Caps?

-Ed

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood OK, so along with those 4 you removed between the 1/4" jacks. I should remove these 6? Including #4 and 5, those two Yellow Tantulum Caps? -Ed

Try removing 1,2,3 and 6, and then see if there is still continuity with the yellow caps (IMO there shouldn't be).


BTW here is my new RMAA test, comparing the original bypass job with my vurrent one (removal of those numbered parts): RMAA.

 

[Edwood]

Shutting down my computer, yanking the card to remove those parts.....

-Ed

 

[Edwood]

BTW, I yanked the tiny caps for both channels. Guess what? They still have continuity. So I used an Xacto knife and cut the traces. Continuity gone.

Should I cut the traces for ground around the 1/4" jacks as well? Near the one's marked blue around the 1/4" Jacks in the three pics above?

-Ed

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood BTW, I yanked the tiny caps for both channels. Guess what? They still have continuity. So I used an Xacto knife and cut the traces. Continuity gone. Should I cut the traces for ground around the 1/4" jacks as well? Near the one's marked blue around the 1/4" Jacks in the three pics above? -Ed

Couldn't hurt, I suppose, as long as you don't cut off that innermost one, which controls the LED.