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DIY audio: what are you building?


Paul Spencer

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Fired up the Pi - not so sure what all the fuss is about as it seems a little slow for a good user experience - however ill plug away and see what it's got.

 

It's definitely not sold on CPU grunt or snappy interface - it's quite retro (like using an underpowered Linux box in the 90s) in GUI speed :-)

 

I have two but I mostly use them via remote apps or text mode ssh.

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Can you give me any more info on the carbon fibre you used mate? Very cool by the way!

 

Also Upfront, not sure if you know this, but I'll tell you anyway as I'd hate to see any damaged equipment... If you are planning to experiment with carbon for enclosures, just remember that it is highly conductive. So for example when it's time to drill holes for the speaker binding posts, make sure they are insulated very well! Or the load the amplifier is seeing will go from a few ohms, to no ohms. :)

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Fired up the Pi - not so sure what all the fuss is about as it seems a little slow for a good user experience - however ill plug away and see what it's got.

 

the Pi can be configured for direct I2S out...thats kind of special

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Fired up the Pi - not so sure what all the fuss is about as it seems a little slow for a good user experience - however ill plug away and see what it's got.

the Pi can be configured for direct I2S out...thats kind of special

Yeah I saw that - that's what sparked my interest and will ultimately comprise my journey - but for a first look at some Pi I just wondered if I was missing something ?

I'm thinking a chain of specialised Pi shops might be the go?

Pretty cool that you can run these off an aldi battery pack too - so it could be the perfect takeaway movie solution - just move the movie to the Pi - grab the battery and an HDMI cable - grab some fries and some beers on the way ?

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the Pi can be configured for direct I2S out...thats kind of special

 

Not quite that special actually, a lot of arm boards can do basically the same thing and I investigated that option and there are a few good reasons technical reasons that it won't compare to the normal spdif or usb to i2s devices. I would use spdif or aes out of pi/beaglebone and similar though :)

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Small teaser of the fancy baffle finish.  I have to save some pennies so I can purchase the drivers soon.

 

It's beautiful! I've daydreamed about trying to make a carbon fibre headphone stand similar to the Omega styled plywood ones but not sure it's much good as a my-first-composites project.

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It's beautiful! I've daydreamed about trying to make a carbon fibre headphone stand similar to the Omega styled plywood ones but not sure it's much good as a my-first-composites project.

 

I don't think it would be to difficult as a first project, maybe a little expensive though. If I was going to make one, I would get some clear 3/5mm acrylic, bend it into the correct shape then use the inside as the mould. The acrylic is flexible making it easy to pop out the finished part. You could quite easily get away without any expensive equipment or resins.  All you would need is lots of carbon. If memory serves me right it requires about 24 layers of 400gram UniCarbon to get a laminate that is 12mm thick, so 12 for 6mm, 6 for 3mm etc.  But you could also substitute some carbon for fiberglass, which is much cheaper.

 

The learning curve can be pretty steep, but there's plenty of help around. Maybe for my next project I'll see if I can make some stands, i'll post plenty of pictures and you can follow along??  It's a rewarding experience to pull your first shiny carbon part out of the moulds. I remember this was the first propeller I made for a small production run a while ago. Never in my life have I been so proud of something I've made :P I 100% encourage you and everyone else to have a go. 

 

9F2D6B12-E449-4FA8-8480-C9B1638CE38F-626

 

 

Anyway, not wanting to derail this thread with non audio things, more updates for the speakers coming soon.

Edited by SlowBarless
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I've got a few racing kayak paddles and boats that are made almost entirely from composites that mostly take up space on the wall in my garage for the last few years since some injuries and work got in the way of that hobby. I've deadset got a huge weakspot for the stuff but no experience working with it directly. I was thinking of somehow making a hollow or foam core to save on carbon or just making a thin version from 2 or 3 layers - it's just holding headphones off a desk it doesn't have to be that strong! Thanks for the tips SB I'll keep pondering it but I've already got a huge list of things to build and things to learn so this project/idea isn't a high priority for me at the moment.

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I've got a few racing kayak paddles and boats that are made almost entirely from composites that mostly take up space on the wall in my garage for the last few years since some injuries and work got in the way of that hobby. I've deadset got a huge weakspot for the stuff but no experience working with it directly. I was thinking of somehow making a hollow or foam core to save on carbon or just making a thin version from 2 or 3 layers - it's just holding headphones off a desk it doesn't have to be that strong! Thanks for the tips SB I'll keep pondering it but I've already got a huge list of things to build and things to learn so this project/idea isn't a high priority for me at the moment.

 

A core would be much better, just more difficult to work with and adds complexity.

 

I edited my post so it doesn't look like I was saying 24 layers were necessary for headphone stands  :P

 

If you ever get around to making some stands i'm more then willing to help out. 

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I'm very slowly working on some 'proper' cabinets for my jenzen d's.

Current ones were just ultra fast throw togethers, took me about a week start to finish.

Been working on the 'real' ones since august.

Still got a ways to go yet.

 

SlowBarless - I love the idea of a carbon fiber baffle, or at least a top presentation layer.

Would love to know what something like that would cost.

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I'm very slowly working on some 'proper' cabinets for my jenzen d's.

Current ones were just ultra fast throw togethers, took me about a week start to finish.

Been working on the 'real' ones since august.

Still got a ways to go yet.

 

SlowBarless - I love the idea of a carbon fiber baffle, or at least a top presentation layer.

Would love to know what something like that would cost.

 

Doesn't cost to much.  If I was doing it for someone else it would be about $18 for the carbon, (my baffles measure about 45x 25cm) $5 for the resin and probably about $40 worth of time and consumables.

 

If you were starting from scratch and had to buy everything. You would be looking at around $120 for a square meter of 120gram carbon (120g is excellent for immaculate finishes as it has a very tight weave), $50 for the resin, maybe another $50 for things like brushes, mixing cups, paper towels, release wax etc. Then factor in the costs of learning and making mistakes. It all adds up pretty quickly.

Edited by SlowBarless
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I don't think it would be to difficult as a first project, maybe a little expensive though. If I was going to make one, I would get some clear 3/5mm acrylic, bend it into the correct shape then use the inside as the mould. The acrylic is flexible making it easy to pop out the finished part. You could quite easily get away without any expensive equipment or resins.  All you would need is lots of carbon. If memory serves me right it requires about 24 layers of 400gram UniCarbon to get a laminate that is 12mm thick, so 12 for 6mm, 6 for 3mm etc.  But you could also substitute some carbon for fiberglass, which is much cheaper.

 

The learning curve can be pretty steep, but there's plenty of help around. Maybe for my next project I'll see if I can make some stands, i'll post plenty of pictures and you can follow along??  It's a rewarding experience to pull your first shiny carbon part out of the moulds. I remember this was the first propeller I made for a small production run a while ago. Never in my life have I been so proud of something I've made :P I 100% encourage you and everyone else to have a go. 

 

9F2D6B12-E449-4FA8-8480-C9B1638CE38F-626

 

 

Anyway, not wanting to derail this thread with non audio things, more updates for the speakers coming soon.

 

Very nice!

 

You didn't ever work for a place called Bolly Props did you?

 

Cheers!

 

SS

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Very nice!

 

You didn't ever work for a place called Bolly Props did you?

 

Cheers!

 

SS

 

Never did work for them, I do know the company though and have used their products before. I did a lot of work on behalf of Big Bruce Racing who specialise in model racing aircraft. The propeller in the photo is about 7" in diameter and spins over 30,000rpm. It might only be for radio control models, but It really is extraordinary stuff.

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Pylon racer? I've seen those things fly and they are unbelievable...

 

I used to fly model aircraft a lot :)

 

Regards,

 

SS

 

You should have said :P  I didn't want to confuse anyone with specifics. But yes, those props are being run on FAI F3D pylon models. These days they do over 340kmh and pull over 30g's through the turns. Awesome stuff.

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  • 2 weeks later...

multitude of electrolytic caps populated! (I know you love it Mario). 

2vjod9h.jpg

 

remaining bits soldered on.

4heetv.jpg

 

Presto!  4 stacked boards paralleled and ready to be hooked back up to the power supply & xmos usb to i2s module.

5krtqb.jpg

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Hi George.  Not sure why the PCM1704 was not chosen.  Maybe due to cost, maybe not..     I just went according to Doede Douma's recommendation of his current hi-res design, after enjoying his previous 16-bit TDA1543 based DDDAC1543MK2 NOS design for the past couple of years.

 

Only recently sold the 120chip paralleled modules to Jean Hiraga, who after hearing it somewhere, loved it.   I didn't really want to sell it, but he offered top dollar for it, so could not refuse.

 

Last photos of the modules before it left me.  So many hours putting these together.   Especially when having to tightly fit a custom aluminium heatsink layer between each of the 12 DAC chips per module.  Then having to solder all the legs together.  Fun times :)

 

6ntcb9.jpg

 

w7zvoy.jpg

 

fc7c5t.jpg

 

 

Would you say the Audio GD Reference 7.1 with the 8x PCM1704UK chips, a quality implementation?  If so, I think I know someone local who has one.   Might be worthwhile and interesting GTG for DAC fanatics in WA...

Edited by tuyen
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Have been attempting to build a 3-way speaker that seems to be going on forever. I have finally finished

the bass section.

 

It will have RAAL and custom Audiotechnology drivers in sealed enclosures.

 

 

 

 

Build02.jpg

 

 

 

20131016_153815.jpg

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