[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBMC Will you just cut that ground off?

I connected the green (ground) lead of the new power cords to the chassis of each respective component using a small bolt and nut. Will just have to remove that connection in each of the components and make sure that green lead will be properly isolated from the chassis. This way the components will get again exactly the same electrical connection to AC that they had before the power cord mods, only with better power cords.

 

[Neville]

OK so my Parts Connexiion order arrived today - yipeeee.

Now soldering the dual 627 on the Browndog was easy, but how on earth do you remove the old part so I can put the browndog adapter down ?

Should I be using wick, which I dont have ?

Interestingly I checked all my other solder points from previous weeks mods and found 2 that were loose !

 

[CBMC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville OK so my Parts Connexiion order arrived today - yipeeee.

I am starting to think my package got lost. Out of curiosity, what method shipping did you use from partsconnexion? If the package is lost it will be the second time that the good ole USPS has lost one of my packages.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville Now soldering the dual 627 on the Browndog was easy, but how on earth do you remove the old part so I can put the browndog adapter down ? Should I be using wick, which I dont have?

Yeah, you can just buy the desoldering wick at Radio Shack for about $3. It does take a little patience and gentle handling to get the stock opamp off. I wicked up the solder the best I could by going over each pin a few times with the braid, then I held my soldering iron so that it would contact all four pins on one side and wiggled the pins loose. I read that if you are not careful you will rip the metal off the board.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville Interestingly I checked all my other solder points from previous weeks mods and found 2 that were loose !

I would check all your joints to make sure that they are soldered correctly. It is quite odd for 2 solder joints just to come loose unless you are really tugging on those joints or you have a bad joint.

 

[Neville]

I ordered USPS postal which turned out to be nearly 2 weeks.

Well I got it off finally, dont ask me how but my iron tip is way too big. Everytime I put down some solder it ends up being a BLOB and overlaps the next foots solder *sigh*. Well I hope I have not damaged the board and ripped the metal off as well ! I might be out of a 3960

but hopefully I can sneek back in BBuy for another one and then restart the mods but this time will start with the 627/browndog replacement - with the right tools!!!!!

Giving it quits for tonight until i get some braid, a decent iron tip and a real magnifying glass which will be tomorrow. Hopefully I can then deduce after soldering browndog/627 and parts from partsconnexion if I really did screw up my 3960......

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CBMC It does take a little patience and gentle handling to get the stock opamp off.

Very much so.


Quote:

I wicked up the solder the best I could by going over each pin a few times with the braid, then I held my soldering iron so that it would contact all four pins on one side and wiggled the pins loose. I read that if you are not careful you will rip the metal off the board.

Not only that, if you are not careful you might heat up the area too much, and the joints of those tiny SMD resistors located right there next to the legs of the stock opamp might melt unnoticeably. In those circumstances, the slightest touch might push the resistor far away from its pad as it happened to me, then it was a whole saga putting it back in place. Be careful with that. Use very little amounts of flux (if any) for unsoldering the opamp legs, so as not to spread the heat around too much.

 

[Neville]

I have finally met my match! I admit that I am also a newbie at this, soldering I have done before but not anything as delicate as this.

Anyway listening to vinyl and sipping on "screwdrivers" has made me smile again. Tomorrow will be an interesting day - but I WILL NOT GO DOWN EASY !!!!!

A proposal for Rsaavedra: if i have messed up on my audio pcb, would you be willing to solder my browndog onto a new audio pcb, of course I am willing to pay

I just love the fact that a $60 dvd player can oust an average $1000 player, but it does involve a lot of patience, time, good tools and a VERY steady hand. After hearing my 3960 before; I did my mod tonight; will get me to delve into the "value for money market". Well I have to anyway, since $bills don't grow in my backyard

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville A proposal for Rsaavedra: if i have messed up on my audio pcb, would you be willing to solder my browndog onto a new audio pcb, of course I am willing to pay

I appreciate the thought, but I'd much rather encourage you to ask Itzbitz or some of the other experienced DIYer's, so that you can expect a reliable result. Really a drop of sweat appears in my forehead just remembering those microscopic battles with the stock opamp, and then with the Burrbrown when replacing it with the Browndog. It can be done but it does take care and a steady hand, and a lot of patience. I almost messed up my own attempt with that tiny resistor going loose, would not want to be in the same situation with someone else's player in my care.

 

[rsaavedra]

But for your peace of mind, by far the real difficult part is to remove the opamp. Soldering the Browndog is not very difficult in comparison. Hold it in place accurately, and bring the tip of the iron gun with a tiny bit of solder to one of its legs, just a quick tapping is enough, hold it for a second and it should cool down, then do the same for the opposite diagonal leg. After that it's firmly in place, so you won't need to hold it. Just go over the remaining legs with similar brief tappings putting just a bit of solder, and it's done.

 

[CBMC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neville Well I got it off finally, dont ask me how but my iron tip is way too big. Everytime I put down some solder it ends up being a BLOB and overlaps the next foots solder *sigh*.

If I had a guess I would say you are not only using too big of a tip but also too thick of solder. I used the .032 Kester solder with no problems. Any bigger than that might be harder too work with.

On a side note. If you ever want the pins on that opamp to look really big and easy to solder just take a look over at that toshiba chip that has at least 256 pins on it.

On a serious note, if you are having a lot of problems soldering the soic chips then buy some cheapies and practice soldering with some of those.

Just to try and make you feel better. After I got done putting the opa627's on the browndog adaptors I realized that I had used a magnetic screwdriver to hold them down. I am still waiting on my blackgates from partsconnexion. I pray that no damage was done.

Even if the board is messed up I wouldn't neccesarily scrap that board. Someone could probably add a pad back to the board to get it working. Good Luck.

 

[rsaavedra]

Hey guys, to keep your motivation up for doing the mods on the cheapo Tosh, the hype over at Ausioasylum seems to have been enough to make John Atkinson, Editor of Stereophile, get a 3950 himself to submit to his usual scrutiny:


http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/cr...sages/898.html


I only hope he'll check not just the stock version but a modded one too.

 

[Wmcmanus]

Raul, believe it or not I had totally missed this massive thread until now! If it's not obvious, I stay far away from the DIY forum... and to think that I also had a chance at the Florida meet to compare this gem to the stock player! Wow, I totally blew it.

You've done fantastic work and have provided a great service to head-fi with all of your detailed photos, descriptions, links to other sites, etc. Congrats on getting it all done, and now having a chance to enjoy it fully.

 

[Budgie]

In my system (modded DVD- homebrew interconnects-modded Skeres amp- CD3K's) the direct out from the D/A through the coupling caps, was much cleaner and smoother in the upper octaves, and the bass was natural sounding and less bloated, then throught the whole opamp and resistors chain. (I used 4 mfd poly/oil caps and teflon insulated copper wire)
(edit-) I also added a ferrite bead on the wires between the d/a and the coupling cap, to further reduce clock noise, though I have no way to verify the effectivness of doing so.

No matter which opamps I tried in the circuit, the sound was better without the extra opamp, capacitor and resistors in the circuit. I did not have any 627's on hand, but I doubt they difference would be so dramatic, compared to the other opamps I tried, so as to make me believe it would be better then the direct path to the d/a.
I would also add that I use very short (1 foot) interconnects. The d/a output might not drive long interconnects as well, so "ymmv".
It is pretty easy to have both mods in the player at the same time, which is what I did. One set of jacks for the vinnie mod, one for the swenson mod.

 

[rsaavedra]

Wayne glad you stopped by, thanks much for the comments

 

[rsaavedra]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Budgie It is pretty easy to have both mods in the player at the same time, which is what I did. One set of jacks for the vinnie mod, one for the swenson mod.

Are you sure of this? Swenson mods require you to disconnect the negative leads of caps 910 and 912. To keep the Vinnie mods you couldn't do that. And it seems to me, to do the Swenson you have to.

Even if it's doable I wouldn't put the two mods together in one player. I am ordering another 3950 in principle to keep in a closet for spair parts. But a backup doesn't need to remain stock, does it? ;-D Most likely I'll order the parts and will do the Vinnie power supply + audio board mods (non-opamp related) + the Swenson mod on that one during the Summer.

 

[gastro54]

Yea, I'm not sure that you can have both completed mods operational at the same time because of what rsaavedra said. You prevent the signal from even reaching the opamp when you disconnect the caps in the swenson mod. If you left the caps there/replaced them with vinnie mod caps, then some of the signal would be going thought the opamp, and some would go to the swenson mod caps. I could work, but I'm not sure if dividing the signal into two paths would be wise.