Leaderboard

I just finished building the uTracer 3+. Works nice. Needless to say I spent the day yesterday measuring tubes.

Decided to try a breakfast that I've been pondering for a while, Huevos Empanadas. Everyone seemed to enjoy the results.

The problem with these newcomer headphones is that they are always the "best" thing... until the next "version" comes along, where that one suddenly becomes so much better than the last one. Just look at how much time it took to progress from the LCD-2 (which was still not the first one from Audeze) to the LCD-4. It was about 6 years I think, and even with the latter there are still sample variations involved. So where does this stop? And I would like to add that our mind is very "clever" in that it can adjust relatively well to any "not-completely-crap" sound signature, so in the long-term there is always a better chance of becoming the "best" as opposed to just auditioning something else. So maybe the real question about the "best" is: "is there actually such a thing" and maybe the "current personal favourite" is a much better description.

It's almost like Dave Swarbrick ("Swarb") who was one of the founders of Fairport Convention, and a folk fiddler who's style has been copied ever since. We saw him shortly before he died for the second time in 2016. He basically had smoked so much that he contracted emphysema, and ended up performing with an oxygen cylinder next to him and a mask from which he'd take relief from time to time. Anyway, in 1999 he was admitted to hospital in pretty poor shape, and The Daily Telegraph published his obituary. He subsequently recovered, and used to read out the obituary at concerts! The folk community then held benefit concerts called "Swarb-aid" and "Swarb-aid 2" to raise money for a double lung transplant, which went ahead in 2004. That bought him 12 more years, and continuing wall to wall concerts. So yes - Swarb died twice, and is one of the few people to have had two obituaries separated by 17 years.

I'll try to keep that in mind for the next time he dies. Poor bastard.

The STN9260 will do just fine.

E.S.T "Seven Days of Falling"

I need a Cliff Notes version if I'm to be of any use... HS

https://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-High-Fidelity-Headphones-Piano-Black/dp/B0092T7XY6 Beats is also good, I recommend basically anything with a piano-black finish.

why are you linking me songs?

Yeah, I think I saw a movie about that once. It was called, “They all die from hypothermia “.

Short answer... HD800S.

......

Happy birthday Naaman!

With a pre-built LM317/337 based PSU, it took me less than 30 min. to get the first DAM1021 to start playing music with a SPDIF input and a digital volume wired. It plays both PCM and DSD. The sound is hard to beat for the money.

He's a vagitarian.

Awesome. I can upload the gerbers tonight when I get home if we want to add this to the sheet? Not 100% sure of the differences either. Does anyone know? Quick glance shows multiple heater connections Also curious if GRHV is the best PSU to use for this or if there is a different BH PSU that should be used? Gonna do some reading on the threads here tonight to try and find out.

We cancelled. It was just going to be too extreme to enjoy, and the 150 mile journey would have been a nightmare in the snow. We've re-booked for May, by which time all this Siberian nonsense should be long-gone.

Recommend the album, which is a coherent thing, which is kinda rare these days.

An oldie but longtime fav...

Moved a couple of 4.7u on the above to straighten them. Two down (less casing), 3rd (above) in progress.

Did a little "baking" yesterday, using the Kester EP256 paste I got. Still had to preheat the boards with a hot-air gun before applying the paste, but I like this paste a lot better than the Chip Kwik I had gotten. I think it turned out pretty well.

Since David Byrne will be on tour again, it's time to go with this:

Mini Dynalo After running the amp for over an hour, bias was 14+mA, so right where I want it to be. I thought it might be interesting to create a table or spreadsheet showing different users biasing and results, so I made a Google sheet, here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1D5LDuRdupZRoWR-GfAd03fkFSBAMY4-E_VcYfCAI1Z0/edit?usp=sharing Go ahead and fill in your info if you like so this is available for all to see. Note: this is the first time I've created a Google sheet, so let me know if you can't edit it and I'll try to figure it out Heatsinks: I've been looking for some. The ones that @mypasswordis mentioned from ebay don't seem to be available any more, and I'm having a hard time finding any that appear to be suitable size. There are some I almost pulled the trigger on that were 50mm x 25mm, but the 25mm would leave the end transistors half covered. I could get the Fischer SK81/37.5/SA from TME and cut them in half, but I'm trying to avoid that if possible. I'd need enough for 3 amps. EDIT: Found these, 45 x 35 x 18mm on ebay https://www.ebay.com/itm/263051780518?var=562054192200

2nd DAM1021 build close to being complete, waiting for a 1-foot USB cable. This one is with the DAM1021-12 board, the one the uses .01% and .02% resistors which can be visually identified by the blue resistors in the R-2R ladder. The TPA Cronus/Hermes re-clocking and isolator is probably an overkill here given the DAM1021 already provides both functions on the board. The power supply for the DAM1021 is based on TPS7A3301 set for 9.3VDC rails. Based on my experience I would not skimp on the PS for the DAM1021. The extra power supply is needed for the Cronus/Hermes.

Pregame meal should be acceptable.

Hmm, must have forgotten to post the follow-on. The 402R resistors got me pretty much where I wanted to be (262mV, or 13mA). Temps didn't seem to go up much when running it for half an hour or so. On the first bank, I tried a THAT chip instead of the FETs and no effect on bias. Used hot air to remove the 2 over by the Meanwell and got them done without hitting that. Used an iron for the soldering. So now I need to order more 402R as well.

Noted. If going to the 402Rs doesn't get me where I want to be, I may replace the LEDs with the Bivars that RudeWolf had in his BOM (1.9V). I had also forgotten to order the 0R resistors for the servos, so will solder on resistor leads until I get some. I was disturbed to see how many items in my spreadsheet I forgot to order, even though I had built a separate tab which was a copy for importing into Mouser for the order. I went thru the order and removed backordered items, so that may be why (I forgot to find alternate source). Oh well