[rb2013]

  @ rb2013: FYI firmware updating on XMOS processors was enabled wayyyyy back and not come with this latest chip release! I used it for my WaveIOs starting back in 2012 when I've update its stock firmware (24/192) to 32/384 capabilities and I'm using it right now. In fact, that chip (XS1-L1A-TQ128) was the oldest possible chip I know made by XMOS. The update is made through USB DFU functionality (DFU = Device Firmware Update). I don't know if it's permitted to share some external links but look for WaveIO's thread on Diyaudio where there are plenty of questions regarding how to upload a new firmware over a stock one. Anyway, here's a link for such a procedure starting back in 2014 - look at the date in upper left side of my post (it can be deleted by moderators if this is their will). This "

supports firmware upgrade interface​

" text is put there only for marketing purposes so that unaware buyers will believe it's a whole new thing and was never made before.

Chinese, as always deceive and (possible) steal...
  I also really hope this board does NOT come with hacked Luckit drivers like a multitude of other chinese/SK/HK ones found on Aliexpress, Taobao, eBay, etc does!
  All infos above are shared only to warn you to not blindly believe what others are saying...
  I hope it helps,
  L

Hi -Thanks for the clarification.  After owning a handful of XMOS U-8 based boards from Gustard, Melodious, Breeze, DIYinHK, etc...I have never seen this capability mentioned.  So I took their word for it that is was a new feature or at least the firmware updating was easier (software based).
 
It does say on the XMOS website on the new Xcore 200 series: http://www.xmos.com/products/silicon/xcore-200

Three device families provide a range of price points and functionality to suit any application: the unique benefits of flexibility and determinism offered by the xCORE architecture are extended with the provision of increased memory footprint, optional integrated Flash, Gigabit Ethernet and USB 2.0 PHY.So it was the reference to the 'optional integrated Flash' is what lead me to believe this was a new feature.

 
On the XMOS website in reference to the USB specific chip the XU200/XUF200 Series they say: http://www.xmos.com/products/silicon/xcore-200/xu-series

xCORE-200 XU/XUF integrates up to two USB 2.0 PHYs (host or device) and implements a dual-issue processor pipeline to boost peak compute performance to 4000MIPS and 2000MMACS. Up to 1024KB on-chip SRAM memory is available. Each member of the xCORE-200 family has an embedded flash option for applications where additional security is required.

 

Embedded QuadSPI flash options - up to 2048KB on-board.​

The XMOS driver was labeled 'Singxer USB Audio'.

 

[rb2013]

  About Windows driver:
I am curious if the current driver for U8 can be used for XU208 as well.

That is a good question.  The ones provided seem very stable - both the F-1 and X-1 were running all night with out a freeze or unlock.  They may not be the latest drivers but installed without a hiccup on both my WIN10 and WIN7 machines.
 

That is good news as I plan to use the Regen into the F-1.

Can I ask what are the general dimensions of the F-1 ?
I am looking for a nice metal case for it.

I will measure and get them to you.  Part me starting this thread was to my hoping someone would find a simple drop in case for them.
 
I do have this for the X-1

 

[rb2013]

Ok Update on the Sound Quality - first these are very stable devices/drivers.  Both machines ran all night without incident - no lock ups, unlocks, or crashes.  WIN10 on one machine WIN7 the other - both using Foobar2000 v1.2.9/SoX upsampler to 192K.
 
Long listening session last night (5 hours).
 
Sounding excellent - more detail then I ever have heard before - just cavernous bass and sound staging.  At the end of one my albums Incubus 'Morning View' the playlist hopped to the next album - one I wasn't intending to listen to Interpol 'Antics'.
 
But I though ok give it a try - this album is not the best recording job.  It's bright, with pitchy guitars, nasally vocals, can come off edgie.  On top of that recorded with a echoy effect - almost like a cheapo reverb plugin.  Some Emo bands go for this 'anti-Hifi' effect - kinda like the early Beatles 'Wall of Sound' crap.  Well sure enough - the ultimate detail of the F-1 - showed this in spades.  Not that is was unlistenable - but at a few moments it was not smooth.  At that point my audio OCD kicked in.

Was it the typical retrograde some electronics (and tubes) make during the burnin process?

Reading the Regen vs Recovery debate over on CA - was it the Regen?  I had a similar thing happen on the Pro3a - the Regen just made it to bright and edgie.  Humm...
 
Switched to another album Florence and the Machine's 'Ceremonials' - rich, luscious tone, smooth as can be, new details emerging that I had not heard before.  Just grander and big then ever - Wonderful!  So it's the 'Antics'
 
But still...I want every album no matter how badly recorded or engineered to sound like Hi Res...
 
Then I remembered the Regen vs Recovery discussion thread and the comment about using Jitterbugs to 'tame' the Regen.  I had taken them out of the PC during the initial F-1 driver install.  OK first I put the unmodded JB between the USB 2G cable (data only) and the PPA V2 USB port.  Now a listen to that 'Antics' 'Next Exit' track...better..but still edgie.
 
Ok what next?  Then I thought - 'Why not give my modded JB a try'?  What the heck.  I had used it with the PUC2, Pro3a, Breeze to good effect.  But for some reason the unmounted F-1 could not be seen with this modded JB between the PPA and the USB 2G cable.  I modded a stock JB to also be a VBUS +5VDC blocker and also severed the ground connection (by clipping the 1 and 4 pins on the outbound USB socket).
 
Well to my surprise (a neat feature on the iPurifier2 is a little green LED on top lights when a USB connection is good) - got the Green light on the iPur2 - and the F-1 worked!!!
 
But best of all the 'Antics' sounded amazing - smooth! Listened to the whole album.  In fact the detail and holographic nature of the sound field increased!  So did the focus!  Bass improved!.  Wow!
 
When back to 'Ceremonials' fearing it was going to be too dark - no!  More detail and just creamy smooth delicious!
 
Bottom-line:  The F-1 is going to require a bit of tweeking to get it to sound it's best, certainly a decent power chain, maybe the Intona?
 
I sold my PUC2 lite last night  - so have the funds for a W4S Recovery -  next gizmo to try with the F-1.  Should be here by the time the F-1 is done burning in. 
 
Next up for sale my modded Breeze Audio
 
Cheers!
 
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f6-dac-digital-analog-conversion/wyred-4-sounds-recovery-universal-serial-bus-industry-standard-cables-connectors-and-communications-protocols-between-computers-and-electronic-devices-reclocker-findings-audio-performance-curated-thread-27140/
 

 

[rb2013]

  all micro iUSB3.0 now comes with the iPower which has an astonishingly low audio band noise floor of just 1uV!
but still i saw somebody said in headfi the good external linear psu better then ipower

The 'new' 1uv iPowers are very good - I have a 9VDC running on my W4S Remedy and a 5VDC on the PPA V2.  For $49 a steal of a deal.
 
On the Remedy the TeraDak DC-30W LPS is better - but not by a huge amount.  And it's $150. 
 
Of course you could get a $900 LPS like JS-2...bet that would sound awesome...but that's a lot of money.
 
Happy medium - and one I have had good success with is adding a iFi DC iPurifier to the TeraDak. Total package around $240.

 

[rb2013]

  About Windows driver:
I am curious if the current driver for U8 can be used for XU208 as well.

Yes!  Just loaded the Breeze 3.29 drivers and they work.  I don't hear much difference from the Singxer 3.20 - will play with it tonight

 

[rb2013]

My DIYinHK DXIO Pro3a finally died on me.  But the excellent folks at DIYinHK have agreed to replace it - with the new design! 
 
So it looks like a Pro4a is coming very soon.

 

[hugoboss]

  My DIYinHK DXIO Pro3a finally died on me.  But the excellent folks at DIYinHK have agreed to replace it - with the new design! 
 
So it looks like a Pro4a is coming very soon.

is the new pro4a use the new xmos 200 chipset or just same like pro3a
it will be more interesting if more player in the new xmos 200

 

[rb2013]

 
is the new pro4a use the new xmos 200 chipset or just same like pro3a
it will be more interesting if more player in the new xmos 200

I believe it'll have the new XMOS 208 - NDk clocks and their own ultra low noise regulators.  I'll be sending my defunct back next week and they will send the replacement when available - so I'll likely have one of the first units.
 
 
But it's going up against very tough competition - see my review remarks on the  F-1 below...

 

[rb2013]

REVIEW UPDATE:
 
Ok the F-1 was at the 40hr burnin mark for last night's 5 hr listening session. 
 
One comment says it all - The SQ was the best I have ever heard from audio (in 30yrs).  Yes!  Better than any CD player (I've had many of the best), better then any CD transport, in fact better then any analog system I have had. 

 
This F-1 is in a class of it's own.  I mean not even close. 
 
Each day as the burnin proceeds it's getting better and better - with still at least another 150 or more hours to go.
 
I don't know if it's this new class of XMOS 200 processors - or the unique design of the F-1 - but it's so superior to any DDC I've heard before, it stuns me.
 
In all my audio days (30 yrs worth) this has got to be one of the biggest game changers - period.
 
The Bass is thunderous - but with perfect pitch and definition.  The sound stage cavernous - listening to a Kings of Leon 'Closer' for example - the bass lines kick off, the best bass definition I have heard yet on my Maggie 1.6QRs. But it's the drums strikes that floored me!!! Dynamically realistic - they were projecting 6 ft behind the Maggies - that is 3 ft beyond the back wall!  Never heard anything like this.
 
Someone should buy all these $150 boards - put one in a fancy case and a decent power supply and charge $1800 for it.
 
Thinking of having a nice aluminum case designed for it  - buy the boards - mount them and sell them for $300.  But then there is the SU-1 coming for $300!  Case and all.
 
Now the SU-1 will not be available until May - and it may not sound as good with it's internal AC power supply.  All I know it the little $150 board I have playing right now is simply audio magic.
 
BTW No unlocks again playing over night - besides the super stable Breeze - this is the most stable DDC I have had yet.  The Melodious was the worst.
 
Cheers!

 
The W4S Recovery is in the mail to me.
 
 

PS Just re-reading this - not to give the impression the sound is recessed.  The vocals were right up front center, the drums 4-5ft behind the singer - just like the band was in my room!  On another recording I swear someone was speaking behind me!  Thought maybe the wifey.  No it was the sound wrapping around me and projecting to the left of me a few feet behind me.
 
Another aspect of the sound staging - before the sound stage would extend from wall to wall - approx 15ft - great effect.  But now the sound extends into the back corners of that dimension.  Another incredible effect.

 

[rb2013]

Looking at simple boxes I found this one at Digikey - they're $5
 
The F-1 is approx 91mm x 47mm x 20mm
 
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=193608386&uq=635951906031743953

 

[Caper]

Where did you buy the F1?
I am waiting for the Pro4A but maybe I could try the F1 instead.
Currently using a "baby" Breeze.

 

[rb2013]

  Where did you buy the F1?
I am waiting for the Pro4A but maybe I could try the F1 instead.
Currently using a "baby" Breeze.

https://world.taobao.com/item/527371251516.htm?spm=a312a.7700714.0.0.rz7ne7#detail
 
I use this shopping service - their communication and service is excellent.  And they understand English.  But they do charge 10%.
 
http://freeshoppingchina.com
 
Funny name - as there is nothing free about it - but they are good.
 
PS You'll want to scan back at my recent posts on the power/data chain - care should be made in having a high quality linear power supply and probably something like the Regen or W4S Recovery (which accepts an external power feed).  I need to do more experimentation on power without the Regen in the chain.  That will start after the 200 hr burnin.
 
Once the second board arrives I will be doing some light modding - upgrade the poly's to OS-Con's and replace the CRC RCA to a WBT NexGen.

 

[Caper]

Thanks!
 
Tried to order the F1 through freeshoppingchina but when trying to pay with VISA it failed.
Too bad they dont have Paypal since it normally works ok.

 

[rb2013]

  Thanks!
 
Tried to order the F1 through freeshoppingchina but when trying to pay with VISA it failed.
Too bad they dont have Paypal since it normally works ok.

Yes - try it agian - that happened to me recently.  Be sure you billing and shipping addresses match perfectly.  If not then contact your credit card company to allow authorization.
 
When my Mastercard went through on my last purchase - I received 2 phone call, and 4 text messages from them about possible fraud.  I had to immediately call them to let them know it was not fraud.  Unfortunately so much credit card fraud these days the CC companies are ultra paranoid.

 

[Caper]

I logged in to my bank where I can open up my card for all Internetshops for 60 minutes.
Still failed but will try again.
 
Edit: This time payment went fine 

 
Just wait and see if it arrives and how it sounds.
About case, I was thinking of making a simple wooden case and then spray it with plasti dip.
Should be good enough.