[FallenAngel]

Just ordered 2 boards, hope this gets printed soon, I'm almost out of stuff to build

.

One thing I've seen though, crazy special from Advanced Circuits (www.4PCB.com), they're advertising $500 FREE for new customers. Might be a nice way to cut down costs of the next project, of course if the person ordering doens't have an account there yet.

 

[ozshadow]

Alf's boards are extremely well done. I was surprised by the quality of it. That silver immersion coating just makes it look cool.

 

[blip]

I may be in for a board or four... but one question, have people had luck getting Alien DACs to work with Linux? I've been out of the USB DAC scene for a while, but I seem to recall some people having problems with DIY USB stuff under linux.

 

[blueworm]

I built one of the prototype alien boards.
HERE

Linux....
It works fine for a while but then screws up noise etc...
I have tested this on 3 different linux boxes:
Main PC gentoo alsa sound;
Laptop debian sarge OSS sound;
Wife's PC gentoo alsa sound;

I am not sure if it is because I am using it as a second sound card. (removing my santa cruz is not an option!)
Anyhow I have tested it in a winXP box wher it works fine.
This is a real bummer.

 

[Alf]

Round 3 of Alien DAC v1.1 group buy is now open. If you would like to get a few boards, check out the group buy forum.

 

[intlplby]

i'll take one or two, how much are they?

 

[bhjazz]

Hi intlplby,

Jump over here to the group buy threads for all the details.

 

[jdimitri]

Emailed for 2..
Does anyone have an impression/review anywhere and how difficult is it to make? Search came up with big threads with lots of pages.. guess i'll read it sometime

1st DIY project (although alright soldering experience)

 

[psilosome]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdimitri Does anyone have an impression/review anywhere and how difficult is it to make?

I found soldering the SSOP PCM chip to be pretty tricky the first time, but the second time was much easier. I should have taken the advice to practice on some junk parts first. If you can solder this part the rest of the build is easy.

The first board I made never worked - there was a bridge somewhere between +3.3V and ground that I could never find. The second one worked right away.

 

[ezkcdude]

I have the same impression. If you can do SSOP, the rest will be cake. Having just built my first board, and it was the first time doing surface mount for me, it's not as hard as I thought it would be. In fact, it seems kind of like black magic to me. Just use plenty of flux and solder wick to clean up, and you'll be fine.

 

[Zephyron]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdimitri Emailed for 2.. Does anyone have an impression/review anywhere and how difficult is it to make? Search came up with big threads with lots of pages.. guess i'll read it sometime 1st DIY project (although alright soldering experience)

My experience with soundcards and such is limited, but compared to say my el cheapo external USB Creative soundcard, connected to a dual AD8397 config PINT, this damn thing sounds clean and the spatial headroom + imaging is amazing! Useable for both music and gaming!

Eargasm through the Goldring DR150s!!!

 

[bhjazz]

Tangent also has some great quality training videos, including one on soldering SMD. I know I will review these myself before diving into an evening of soldering them!

(I hope Tangent himself doesn't mind a link to them. I can remove it if so.)

Tangent's Movies

 

[pddjsteve]

Come on, everybody! You know you want one! We're up to 380 and just a day left to get in on this!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alf The boards will become slightly cheaper if we hit 400. For all other quantities the price still would be £1.5.

 

[Alf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pddjsteve Come on, everybody! You know you want one! We're up to 380 and just a day left to get in on this!

We already hit 400 in some sense. One cannot order 380 PCBs from EuroCircuits. It has to be rounded up.

 

[pddjsteve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alf We already hit 400 in some sense. One cannot order 380 PCBs from EuroCircuits. It has to be rounded up.

Hmm. Then people definitely need to order so you don't get left with all the rest.