Thanks Leo,
Hmm, think I prefer to keep them on the inside. Stan said 2No 47uF/16V which are big and bloody expensive so if you find something good at a smaller value please let me know and I will get some and send them on to Stan.
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Thanks Leo,
Hmm, think I prefer to keep them on the inside. Stan said 2No 47uF/16V which are big and bloody expensive so if you find something good at a smaller value please let me know and I will get some and send them on to Stan.
oh wow i just noticed there is this thread. Just wondering what is the capacitor chosen for passive output the gator board?
I am assuming with this gator board its something that is fixed and we cant easily change the capacitor without desoldering the existing one?
Yes, which capacitors on this board can be replaced with better versions as per the passive mod using only the board sockets?
The good news is that I have secured a small quantity of the black 47uF Rubycon.
The bad news is that based on the quantity of caps on hand, only 200 Gator boards can be built with those caps. But I reckon that a production run of 200 is just about all that I am likely to get orders for. So don't panic!
Well I reckon I should be number 1 on the list, given my first response on this thread, so I'm all right, Jack! :)
and that makes me second in line for one
Frizzup;)
No worries. As long as this thread is not lost in a server crash, it will be first asked, first offered refusal :).
By the way, anyone close by to me in London and can make it to my place with their DAC who wishes to try out the prototype? PM me for your own safety :lol:.
Since I've previously commented on this thread, does that mean I'm on the list?
If not add me to it please. :)
a prototype volunteer... that would be another good reason for going to London for a couple of days
Or Stan, come over and visit me one of these days, but yeah I am happy to be a guinea pig :)
Hi Peter, another member has it currently connected up to his Croft amp. I'll give you a shout once he can part with it...
Please add me to the list, i think the board will be wonderful.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
Do you have an expected delivery date yet Stan?
The PCB manufacturer should be sending the blank boards to the components assembler this week if everything goes to plan. So my planned October schedule still looks achievable. I am busy working out the fitting instructions right now for those who would need it....
Stick me down for one please Stan, I'm being forced back into headphone use ...
Are they available just blank boards (No components)?
Are you thinking of fitting your own sourced parts on it? I can see if I can get one blank PCB to be put aside out of the 200 made. PCB manufacturers tend to charge a fortune just to make one blank PCB. Savings are only passed on to customers ( in this case me ) when you order a sizeable quantity in one go.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre
Count me in for one too Stan.
Cheers
Ade
so with this section being titled diy projects where is the circuit diagram for this
or is this just a market stall?
Hi 'vaio',
Welcome to AOS :)
Could you please pop into the Welcome area and introduce yourself to our community by supplying your first name, basic geographic location, system details and music tastes, as this is the requirement for all new members joining AOS.
Cheers :cool:
Marco.
Please help me to understand this mod correctly.. This PCB is basicly a discrete amp stage for the headphone output? Can it be used without the passive mod? And the line out remains unaffected?
The discrete stage is for the fixed and variable output. The headphone stage has been tweaked at the same time, which will be most noticeable by HD650 owners. The hD650 is infamous for its slightly slow bass. The discrete PCB tweaks gives the HD650 a lot more punch.
Hi Stan. Can you please put my name down for one of these discrete output boards ? I hope I'm not too late. :eek:
Cheers. :cool:
Me too please Stan
Any updates on the progress being made Stan?
I imagine he is so busy slaving over 200 circuit boards and a hot soldering iron that he hasn't had the time to reply.........Quote:
Originally Posted by Recoil
Entirely my fault for the delay. I filled in the delivery date of the fitting instructions and packing wrong. I put 11-10-2010, which means the 11th of October in the UK at least. But my Far Eastern supplier understood that to be the 10th of November:doh:. If everything else runs smoothly I should have the goods ready for shipping a week or so after the 10th.Quote:
Originally Posted by Recoil
But every cloud has a silver lining;). The £ has been so good against the U$ lately, the initial estimated price of £29.99 (plus VAT and shipping) is more likely to be around 20% lower:).
Thanks for the update Stan. (Should be run in for Christmas then! :))
I wonder how many other manufacturers would pass on a saving from exchange rate fluctuations to their customers...? (I bet many are quick to go the other way though!)
Have you seen the price drop on the Caiman & Caiman+ on my site lately;). That has gone down by about 15 to 20% at the check out in the last 6 weeks, in line with the exchange rate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex_UK
Stan is the man:youtheman:
Excellent ETA for me anyway; I should be back from Spain and eagerly await the postman by the door
Edit: oh where are my manners: also thanks to George Bush the younger for giving us those exchange rates
Stan, I don't own one of your DAC's, but I just wanted to thank you for passing exchange-rate savings on to your customers. I sincerely wish other distributer/manufacturers were as honest, instead of pocketing the difference when the £ is stronger....
Go on then Stan, put me down for a board. Been playing after finally getting round to using the components group-buy at the start of the year, was worried about opening it up what with the warranty sticker :-)
Didn't use the grey mundorf's in the board so tried them out with the passive mod. Good, but not as good as the 3u3 Ashcrofts. Might post a picky in the passive thread.
If space was not too much of an issue within the Caiman, a lot of good use would have been made of that. If I had time on my hand I would have loved to start on a hobbyist project to design a bigger aftermarket case. The Caiman is crying out for one.
Sorry for all the delays in being able to ship the first batch of the elusive Gator. Here's a screen shot of it in the mean time.
http://www.homehifi.co.uk/images/TC-7400/GATOR.jpg
The BAD News
The black Rubycon 47uF/50V caps I originally ordered turned out to be far to high, and would not fit in the Caiman+ :doh:. So I have had to get someone to take them away and desolder all the of them.
The Good News
After searching as far afield as the US I did manage to get the last remaining batch of the legendary Rubycon grey 47uF and 33uF ( at a crazy over inflated price I may add).
I don't have enough 47uF to start sprinkling them about liberally on each PCB. So I have been doing some intensive listening tests in order to see what delivers more bangs for bucks. The boards will be populated with the different values in certain locations according to my tests. The headphone output cap is however a difficult one to determine. I have selected a value based on my own preference, but I have made it two slots for the output cap so that headphone listeners who want to experiment further have the option to add/remove caps on the headphone output.
By the way, I'll offer the option for interested parties to buy the board without any caps, in case they wish to try something different to the Rybycons. I don't have enough of them so I don't fancy seeing them go to waste after all the efforts I made to source them.
Good work Stan, you even went to the trouble of sourcing a few of the grey Rubycons :respect:
It was like finding a hen's teeth in a haystack. If I sold them on I would make a small fortune I reckon :scratch:. :lol:.
Cool board. Let me know if and when I can get one with caps in all the right places :)
Looking forward to this :)
Looking good..... I think that I will make do with the grey Rubycons
Hello..I've been lurking on this forum for a while, but thought it time to say hello! Stan, I'd like to "officially" put my name down for the 'gator' please!
Tia!
Kendal
Something like these would be good. Especially if it has enough room for a linear PSU as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by StanleyB
http://www.modu.it/gx16x12_411x308.jpg
They will also supply cases CNC'd to your spec with no minimum quantuty.
Thanks for that Andy. I'll look into that.
By the way, the first batch of the Gator are now being sent out based on my list. The next batch will be with me at the end of the month.
Stanley, is payment for Gator +freight still via Paypal?
Yes it is. you'll receive a PM in due course when your name comes up :). The first batch was very small, and not everyone who showed interest are a member on AoS so their names are not on the forum list.
Someone mentioned to me that this PCB could end up as a collector's item, and be traded at a higher price than what it was bought for..
"collector's item" aye... it might be a better investment than the stock market:violin:
well I think that I will make do with one for now
A standard audio PCB was recently listed by someone for £35 plus P&P. Surely the Gator is worth more than that ;).
Hi Stan,
Was just looking at your website (which I think you've updated recently?) And spotted a typo and a broken link..
From http://www.homehifi.co.uk/main/main.html
"Music dowloads"
and "Spectrum Mix2" doesn't go anywhere ATM..
Guessing I'm on the 2nd list then :( Still looking forward to it tho :)
Cheers Kendal. I'll take it up with The Merchant Brothers. Their link must have expired on that freebie.
got my Gator this morning, thanks Stan, quality service as per usual... difficult to determin improvment or otherwise in sound at the moment as my upstairs system has changed a lot recently ... seems to be louder than the passive mod ... i assume that is right? or am i going mad?
i assume by the fact that i have sound comeing out its all in the right way round?
http://i728.photobucket.com/albums/w...l/80565c85.jpg
:)
Hi Hamish, as I mentioned in the 2nd line that starts this thread off:
I wanted to find a solution for the low output of the passive mod and preserve the headphone output capability, but didn't want to go overboard with a complex discrete opamp type design. The gain required is only between 2X to 4X so a single ended class A design with just 10% negative feedback was all I felt that was necessary. No need to crack a nut with a sledge hammer .
So yes, the output is higher than the passive mod by about 3dB. And yes, you have plugged it the right way round.
Compare the Gator versus the original audio board in order to get an idea of how much an improvement the Gator is. Output level should be the same on the fixed output, but higher on the variable output.
Then compare the Gator versus the passive mod. Sound quality should be about the same, but the gain of the Gator will be higher. The dynamic range should also be greater with the Gator, and the bass speed should be better than the standard audio board.
Received, installed, works! Doesn't sound like it will need as much burn in-time as the passive cap mods I've tried - sounds great out of the box - but too early to make any proper comments or conclusion.