Hi Luca72c,
No, the project hasn't been dropped..still cranking away nearing the finish line.
Yes, a stereo only version would of been a lot easier but like I posted on post #1 nearly a year ago my goal from the start was to exploit everything the ES9018 has to offer, and I think I've come pretty close to doing that. It's been an enormous amount of work, but I'm really glad that I've stuck it out.
Since I'm here I'll provide a quick update.
Currently I'm working on completing the enclosure. The front panel arrived last week and looks really nice. I've attached a pic of the front panel drawing. The rest of the enclosure should be done by next week. To help reduce cost, I've made sure that every board has been set up for automated assembly reducing the amount of time I'd have to spend soldering. All the software is completed, and has gone through several weeks of testing without a glitch.
Moving forward, the current plan is to have two fully assembled stereo units by late August early September. Both units will be tested thoroughly by a member of this great forum that's has stuck with me from the start and has been very helpful, and a good friend of mine from Germany who's a great Analog Engineer that has been very helpful providing me advice, and overlooking the overall design. The current plan could change depending on many different factors but I'll do my best to stick with it.
I'll post pics of the assembled units when completed. I've started working on a manual documenting all the different setups, options, and features. As far as pricing the efforts I've made to reduce cost will make it more affordable than my initial pricing. I'll provide pricing, and more information when the testing is completed.
Best regards,
Al
No, the project hasn't been dropped..still cranking away nearing the finish line.
Yes, a stereo only version would of been a lot easier but like I posted on post #1 nearly a year ago my goal from the start was to exploit everything the ES9018 has to offer, and I think I've come pretty close to doing that. It's been an enormous amount of work, but I'm really glad that I've stuck it out.
Since I'm here I'll provide a quick update.
Currently I'm working on completing the enclosure. The front panel arrived last week and looks really nice. I've attached a pic of the front panel drawing. The rest of the enclosure should be done by next week. To help reduce cost, I've made sure that every board has been set up for automated assembly reducing the amount of time I'd have to spend soldering. All the software is completed, and has gone through several weeks of testing without a glitch.
Moving forward, the current plan is to have two fully assembled stereo units by late August early September. Both units will be tested thoroughly by a member of this great forum that's has stuck with me from the start and has been very helpful, and a good friend of mine from Germany who's a great Analog Engineer that has been very helpful providing me advice, and overlooking the overall design. The current plan could change depending on many different factors but I'll do my best to stick with it.
I'll post pics of the assembled units when completed. I've started working on a manual documenting all the different setups, options, and features. As far as pricing the efforts I've made to reduce cost will make it more affordable than my initial pricing. I'll provide pricing, and more information when the testing is completed.
Best regards,
Al
Attachments
Tremendous effort, AAK.
Being through the process of assembling a very promising DAC myself, which gives a hard time between input options, configuration, and building a proper enclosure, I can imagine the difficulty of your task.
Pursuit of perfection is hard. It is when we want to control every parameter and bring it to an optimum that a project can turn out very challenging...
Keep it up!
Being through the process of assembling a very promising DAC myself, which gives a hard time between input options, configuration, and building a proper enclosure, I can imagine the difficulty of your task.
Pursuit of perfection is hard. It is when we want to control every parameter and bring it to an optimum that a project can turn out very challenging...
Keep it up!
Quick Update
Hi Everybody,
Just wanted to announce that the enclosure after some delays is currently in production. I should have it in about a week or two. The front panel is in house and looks great with the OLED and switches mounted.
Otherwise everything else is moving along. I'll provide another update soon. Thanks everybody for the continued support.
Best regards,
Al
Hi Everybody,
Just wanted to announce that the enclosure after some delays is currently in production. I should have it in about a week or two. The front panel is in house and looks great with the OLED and switches mounted.
Otherwise everything else is moving along. I'll provide another update soon. Thanks everybody for the continued support.
Best regards,
Al
Hi Alex,
Still on. The only delay right now is the enclosure minus the front panel which is done. I'm hoping to have the enclosure by sometime next week. I'm really pleased with the overall outcome and looking forward to sharing my work with you and everyone who's interested. I'll be providing information on the different options and pricing soon. Thanks for jumping in.
Best regards,
Al
Still on. The only delay right now is the enclosure minus the front panel which is done. I'm hoping to have the enclosure by sometime next week. I'm really pleased with the overall outcome and looking forward to sharing my work with you and everyone who's interested. I'll be providing information on the different options and pricing soon. Thanks for jumping in.
Best regards,
Al
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Thanks MisterRogers. I really appreciate it.
Here's the latest update. Today after more than four frustrating weeks the enclosure will finally arrive from par-metal. I was assured by John the owner of par-metal that quantity orders will run a lot smoother since everything was setup on the sample enclosure. Will see.. I'll know more after the enclosure arrives today, hopefully there's no mistakes.
The good news is that while I was waiting for par-metal I started working with protocase.com just in case I need a backup. Using their free 3D cad tool I drew up the entire enclosure and it's ready to go if necessary. They are about 20% to 30% more expensive than par-metal but for a 2 to 3 day turn around it's pretty good. It's also nice that for custom orders I can quickly make modifications to the standard enclosure and have it in about week.
I'll provide a price breakdown for the first 25 units next weekend. The pricing has been revised quite a bit lower compared to my initial pricing.
Best regards,
Al
Here's the latest update. Today after more than four frustrating weeks the enclosure will finally arrive from par-metal. I was assured by John the owner of par-metal that quantity orders will run a lot smoother since everything was setup on the sample enclosure. Will see.. I'll know more after the enclosure arrives today, hopefully there's no mistakes.
The good news is that while I was waiting for par-metal I started working with protocase.com just in case I need a backup. Using their free 3D cad tool I drew up the entire enclosure and it's ready to go if necessary. They are about 20% to 30% more expensive than par-metal but for a 2 to 3 day turn around it's pretty good. It's also nice that for custom orders I can quickly make modifications to the standard enclosure and have it in about week.
I'll provide a price breakdown for the first 25 units next weekend. The pricing has been revised quite a bit lower compared to my initial pricing.
Best regards,
Al
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zman01, I will post pics of the completed DAC sometime this weekend.
I attached a quick morning pic of the new enclosure before heading off to work. But I'm disappointed because par-metal messed up the silk screening on the back panel. The labeling is misaligned on some of the connections otherwise everything else looks really good. I'll be giving them call today to find out what happened. I'll keep you all posted.
Best regards,
Al
I attached a quick morning pic of the new enclosure before heading off to work. But I'm disappointed because par-metal messed up the silk screening on the back panel. The labeling is misaligned on some of the connections otherwise everything else looks really good. I'll be giving them call today to find out what happened. I'll keep you all posted.
Best regards,
Al
Attachments
Hi Everyone,
Attached are a few pics of the new enclosure with the boards mounted. I'm waiting for some shielded cable to arrive tomorrow to start the wiring. I should have the DAC up an running by mid week. I'll keep you all posted.
Moving on to the enclosure I did find more mistakes while mounting the boards so I've decided to drop par-metal and move on with protocase.com. I emailed par-metal requesting a new back panel but as usual the email went unanswered. So after five frustrating weeks it's time move on. Protocase.com will allow me to do things with the enclosure that I could never do before. The new enclosure will have a much nicer silk screening layout on the back panel. I'll also be able to make quick modifications if needed. I think overall it's win win situation. As far pricing I think I could save some by using protocase for the front panel instead of Front Panel Express. Will see how the overall numbers work out.
Since I don't have the final pricing on the new enclosure from protocase I'll have to delay the overall pricing until later in the week.
Best regards,
Al
Attached are a few pics of the new enclosure with the boards mounted. I'm waiting for some shielded cable to arrive tomorrow to start the wiring. I should have the DAC up an running by mid week. I'll keep you all posted.
Moving on to the enclosure I did find more mistakes while mounting the boards so I've decided to drop par-metal and move on with protocase.com. I emailed par-metal requesting a new back panel but as usual the email went unanswered. So after five frustrating weeks it's time move on. Protocase.com will allow me to do things with the enclosure that I could never do before. The new enclosure will have a much nicer silk screening layout on the back panel. I'll also be able to make quick modifications if needed. I think overall it's win win situation. As far pricing I think I could save some by using protocase for the front panel instead of Front Panel Express. Will see how the overall numbers work out.
Since I don't have the final pricing on the new enclosure from protocase I'll have to delay the overall pricing until later in the week.
Best regards,
Al
Attachments
Last edited:
Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still working with protocase.com to complete the enclosure and get quantity pricing as low as possible. It's taken some time because their free 3D CAD tool didn't include everything I needed to complete the enclosure so I've been working with one of their engineers to make sure everything looks right. I'll provide more information during the weekend.
Best regards,
Al
Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still working with protocase.com to complete the enclosure and get quantity pricing as low as possible. It's taken some time because their free 3D CAD tool didn't include everything I needed to complete the enclosure so I've been working with one of their engineers to make sure everything looks right. I'll provide more information during the weekend.
Best regards,
Al
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Hi Everyone,
I’m happy to announce the enclosure from protocase.com is completed and I’m finally ready to announce pricing. Thanks so much for your patience. So here we go.
The introductory price for a fully assembled Stereo version of my ES9018 DAC is $1275.00.
My ES9018 DAC will be sold completely assembled but I do plan at some point on providing individual boards with detailed instructions for the experienced diyer to build their own.
In the spirit of DIY I designed the enclosure with the added flexibility to expand to 4, 6, or 8 output channels by stacking more I/V_Amp boards. The enclosure has six 0.125” pilot holes on the back panel to support the additional channels. I also added mounting holes for connecting two DACs side-by-side for dual mono setups. The customer has the option of doing the installations themselves or I can do it for a minimal charge. The customer would only have to cover the cost of the boards, materials like cables and hardware, shipping, and I’ll do the rest.
In addition to the Amanero USB input port a second unpopulated USB input port was added to support multi-channel applications including 7.1 surround sound using a USB device like miniDSP’s USBStreamer. But the extra USB input can also be used with any USB device like an XMOS based design, Raspberry Pi, or a Beaglebone Black. There’s plenty of room in the enclosure to neatly mount and wire up any one of these USB devices.
I hope you're all satisfied with the pricing. I worked really hard to get the price down as low as I could without sacrificing quality. Here’s the price breakdown followed by a feature list.
The ES9018 DAC Board - $280.00
Features:
1. ESS Technologies ES9018 eight channel DAC. The board supports 2, 4, 6, and 8 outputs. Optional vertical stacking of up to four DAC boards allowing for a maximum of 16 DACs in parallel/stereo channel to reduce noise and improve linearity. The on-board microcontroller firmware supports dual-mono operation.
2. Twelve LDO low noise regulation stages including two on-board ultra low noise high precision (<15nv total integrated noise) series regulators for the critical 3.3 AVCC (set to 3.5V for added dynamic range). Each DAC voltage input has it’s own LDO.
3. Optional 100Mhz 0.082 ps (82fs) Femto Crystek crystal on-board for Asynchronous clocking. Normally not populated unless specified.
4. Optional Low jitter Potato-Semi 1-to-4 buffer for clock distribution when paralleling DACs. Normally not populated unless DAC stacking is specified.
5. On-board U.FL input connector for external Asynchronous (S/PDIF) / Synchronous clocking provided by the I2S/DSD board.
6. Microcontroller on-board with I2C isolation from DAC section.
7. Four layer board measuring 3.2” x 2.7”
I/V-AMP2 - $125.00
Features:
1. LME49990 op-amps throughout for I/V conversion, simultaneous balanced and single ended outputs. Both the balanced and single ended outputs are filtered using a 3rd order Bessel Filter at –3dB@100Khz. Five LME49990s are used per-channel.
2. Includes 0.1% Panasonic or Susumu thin film SMD resistors. Through-hole Non-magnetic low noise Vishay’s PTF56s, or PRP9732s, Vishay Bulk Foil resistors are optional.
3. Includes 1% COG/NPO caps for the output filters, matched to less than 0.1%. Through-hole Wima film type caps are optional.
4. Four on-board relays to prevent turn on/off thump.
5. Four layer board. Board measures 2.66” x 2.7”.
Control Boards/OLED Display – $70.00
Features:
1. NewHaven 4 x 20 OLED. Colors Blue/Green/Yellow are optional.
2. Controller data distribution board for controlling OLED, input switches, and relays.
3. Six tactile switch board for controlling power, selecting inputs (8 x S/PDIF, or 2 x I2S/DSD), up/down selection of 24 different ES9018 functions and their settings (all displayed on the OLED). Settings can be stored EEPROM.
4. Volume control board with two Volume up/down tactile switches
5. Seperate stored volume settings for S/PDIF, and USB1/2 inputs.
6. Volume levels stored in EEPROM after 5 seconds of inactivity.
7. Sample Rates for S/PDIF and I2S/DSD inputs are displayed on the OLED.
8. I2S/DSD input indicator displayed on OLED.
9. DAC power board.
10. IR Remote control. Sold separately.
S/PDIF Input Board - $50.00
The price is for six S/PDIF inputs, the board supports eight. The board supports Toslink, Coaxial, BNC, and Balanced Inputs. It’s a 2-layer board, measures 4.2” x 2.25”
I2S/DSD (USB) Input Board - $140.00
The board stacks on top of the S/PDIF board and provides switching between up to eight S/PDIF inputs, and 2, 4, 6, or 8 I2S/DSD inputs. Includes a Crystek 100Mhz 0.082 ps (82fs) oscillator on-board for Asynchronous clocking typically for S/PDIF, and two U.FL connectors for external synchronous clock inputs from the Amanero adaptor board or other sources, and two Potato Semi high-speed buffered outputs using U.FL connectors that connect to the DAC board. It’s a 4-layer board, measures 4.2” x 2.25”.
Amanero Adaptor Board - $125.00
The board provides High-Speed Galvanic Isolation and Synchronous data re-clocking between the Amanero and the I2S/DSD board. Two Crystek low jitter oscillators provide synchronous clocking to the Amanero board. The board also includes separate low noise LDO regulators for the clock and digital sections, high-speed low jitter flip flops for re-clocking, Potato Semi high-speed buffer for the clock output, and a U.FL connecter to connect the synchronous output clock to the I2S/DSD board. It’s a 2-layer board, measures 1.4” x 1.7”.
External DAC Power Supply Module - $75.00
The module provides two completely isolated power supplies. Each supply uses a 3 Amp LT1764 adjustable regulator and Panasonic FM capacitors for power supply filtering. The module is powered using an Amgis dual winding 115V/230V 25VA toridal transformer.
External I/V_Amp2 Power Supply Module - $75.00
The module uses a 3 Amp LT1085 adjustable regulator for the positive rail, 3 Amp LT1033 for the negative rail, and Panasonic low ESR capacitors for power supply filtering. The module is powered using an Amgis dual winding 115V/230V 25VA toridal transformer.
External MCU, I2SDSD Power Supply - $75.00
The module provides two completely isolated power supplies. Each supply uses a 3 Amp LT1764 adjustable regulator, and Panasonic FM capacitors for power supply filtering. The module is powered using an Amgis dual winding 115V/230V 15VA toridal transformer.
Amanero - $60.00
Enclosure - $200.00. Sold at cost.
I added a couple pics of an almost fully assembled stereo DAC in a par-metal enclosure. Some of the S/PDIF inputs are not connected. The actual enclosure will be from protocase.com. A 3D pic of the enclosure’s back panel is attached showing all the inputs and outputs.
Please let me know if you have any questions. For $1275.00 I’ll need to sell a minimum of 25 fully assembled units. If you’re interested please let me know and I’ll get the group buy going. Thanks again for your patience and support.
Best regards,
Al
I’m happy to announce the enclosure from protocase.com is completed and I’m finally ready to announce pricing. Thanks so much for your patience. So here we go.
The introductory price for a fully assembled Stereo version of my ES9018 DAC is $1275.00.
My ES9018 DAC will be sold completely assembled but I do plan at some point on providing individual boards with detailed instructions for the experienced diyer to build their own.
In the spirit of DIY I designed the enclosure with the added flexibility to expand to 4, 6, or 8 output channels by stacking more I/V_Amp boards. The enclosure has six 0.125” pilot holes on the back panel to support the additional channels. I also added mounting holes for connecting two DACs side-by-side for dual mono setups. The customer has the option of doing the installations themselves or I can do it for a minimal charge. The customer would only have to cover the cost of the boards, materials like cables and hardware, shipping, and I’ll do the rest.
In addition to the Amanero USB input port a second unpopulated USB input port was added to support multi-channel applications including 7.1 surround sound using a USB device like miniDSP’s USBStreamer. But the extra USB input can also be used with any USB device like an XMOS based design, Raspberry Pi, or a Beaglebone Black. There’s plenty of room in the enclosure to neatly mount and wire up any one of these USB devices.
I hope you're all satisfied with the pricing. I worked really hard to get the price down as low as I could without sacrificing quality. Here’s the price breakdown followed by a feature list.
The ES9018 DAC Board - $280.00
Features:
1. ESS Technologies ES9018 eight channel DAC. The board supports 2, 4, 6, and 8 outputs. Optional vertical stacking of up to four DAC boards allowing for a maximum of 16 DACs in parallel/stereo channel to reduce noise and improve linearity. The on-board microcontroller firmware supports dual-mono operation.
2. Twelve LDO low noise regulation stages including two on-board ultra low noise high precision (<15nv total integrated noise) series regulators for the critical 3.3 AVCC (set to 3.5V for added dynamic range). Each DAC voltage input has it’s own LDO.
3. Optional 100Mhz 0.082 ps (82fs) Femto Crystek crystal on-board for Asynchronous clocking. Normally not populated unless specified.
4. Optional Low jitter Potato-Semi 1-to-4 buffer for clock distribution when paralleling DACs. Normally not populated unless DAC stacking is specified.
5. On-board U.FL input connector for external Asynchronous (S/PDIF) / Synchronous clocking provided by the I2S/DSD board.
6. Microcontroller on-board with I2C isolation from DAC section.
7. Four layer board measuring 3.2” x 2.7”
I/V-AMP2 - $125.00
Features:
1. LME49990 op-amps throughout for I/V conversion, simultaneous balanced and single ended outputs. Both the balanced and single ended outputs are filtered using a 3rd order Bessel Filter at –3dB@100Khz. Five LME49990s are used per-channel.
2. Includes 0.1% Panasonic or Susumu thin film SMD resistors. Through-hole Non-magnetic low noise Vishay’s PTF56s, or PRP9732s, Vishay Bulk Foil resistors are optional.
3. Includes 1% COG/NPO caps for the output filters, matched to less than 0.1%. Through-hole Wima film type caps are optional.
4. Four on-board relays to prevent turn on/off thump.
5. Four layer board. Board measures 2.66” x 2.7”.
Control Boards/OLED Display – $70.00
Features:
1. NewHaven 4 x 20 OLED. Colors Blue/Green/Yellow are optional.
2. Controller data distribution board for controlling OLED, input switches, and relays.
3. Six tactile switch board for controlling power, selecting inputs (8 x S/PDIF, or 2 x I2S/DSD), up/down selection of 24 different ES9018 functions and their settings (all displayed on the OLED). Settings can be stored EEPROM.
4. Volume control board with two Volume up/down tactile switches
5. Seperate stored volume settings for S/PDIF, and USB1/2 inputs.
6. Volume levels stored in EEPROM after 5 seconds of inactivity.
7. Sample Rates for S/PDIF and I2S/DSD inputs are displayed on the OLED.
8. I2S/DSD input indicator displayed on OLED.
9. DAC power board.
10. IR Remote control. Sold separately.
S/PDIF Input Board - $50.00
The price is for six S/PDIF inputs, the board supports eight. The board supports Toslink, Coaxial, BNC, and Balanced Inputs. It’s a 2-layer board, measures 4.2” x 2.25”
I2S/DSD (USB) Input Board - $140.00
The board stacks on top of the S/PDIF board and provides switching between up to eight S/PDIF inputs, and 2, 4, 6, or 8 I2S/DSD inputs. Includes a Crystek 100Mhz 0.082 ps (82fs) oscillator on-board for Asynchronous clocking typically for S/PDIF, and two U.FL connectors for external synchronous clock inputs from the Amanero adaptor board or other sources, and two Potato Semi high-speed buffered outputs using U.FL connectors that connect to the DAC board. It’s a 4-layer board, measures 4.2” x 2.25”.
Amanero Adaptor Board - $125.00
The board provides High-Speed Galvanic Isolation and Synchronous data re-clocking between the Amanero and the I2S/DSD board. Two Crystek low jitter oscillators provide synchronous clocking to the Amanero board. The board also includes separate low noise LDO regulators for the clock and digital sections, high-speed low jitter flip flops for re-clocking, Potato Semi high-speed buffer for the clock output, and a U.FL connecter to connect the synchronous output clock to the I2S/DSD board. It’s a 2-layer board, measures 1.4” x 1.7”.
External DAC Power Supply Module - $75.00
The module provides two completely isolated power supplies. Each supply uses a 3 Amp LT1764 adjustable regulator and Panasonic FM capacitors for power supply filtering. The module is powered using an Amgis dual winding 115V/230V 25VA toridal transformer.
External I/V_Amp2 Power Supply Module - $75.00
The module uses a 3 Amp LT1085 adjustable regulator for the positive rail, 3 Amp LT1033 for the negative rail, and Panasonic low ESR capacitors for power supply filtering. The module is powered using an Amgis dual winding 115V/230V 25VA toridal transformer.
External MCU, I2SDSD Power Supply - $75.00
The module provides two completely isolated power supplies. Each supply uses a 3 Amp LT1764 adjustable regulator, and Panasonic FM capacitors for power supply filtering. The module is powered using an Amgis dual winding 115V/230V 15VA toridal transformer.
Amanero - $60.00
Enclosure - $200.00. Sold at cost.
I added a couple pics of an almost fully assembled stereo DAC in a par-metal enclosure. Some of the S/PDIF inputs are not connected. The actual enclosure will be from protocase.com. A 3D pic of the enclosure’s back panel is attached showing all the inputs and outputs.
Please let me know if you have any questions. For $1275.00 I’ll need to sell a minimum of 25 fully assembled units. If you’re interested please let me know and I’ll get the group buy going. Thanks again for your patience and support.
Best regards,
Al
Attachments
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