Boy oh boy, my system has undergone lots of changes over the years but most have been the source.
My first source was a heavily modified Marantz CD63. this seems like aeons ago. Then the foray to DACs began, first with TDA1543, then TDA1545. you could say that the seed of Monica was being sown around this time.
I later changed the transport to Philip’s CD-Pro2. Wow! Huge jump in sonics. Puts down so many other transports. However, for some reasons which I couldn’t comprehend, my CD-Pro2 module died on me. 2 pieces of CD-Pro2 later, I decided I had enough.
Then the switch to PC audio and hence started playing with a Squeezebox media player. Sonics wise the CD-Pro2 still makes a better transport but the convenience of playing off pc more than makes up for loss in sonics. And yeah, I heavily modified my Squeezebox unit too.
Well everything’s good for now but then… the revelation of the QLS Hifi’s QA550 SD card player! Wow! Immediately you hear the gulf in the sonic quality between the Squeezebox and the QA550. Fed with a Kwak Clock, the sonic improvement is even greater.
So if things are so good now, why fret? Unfortunately the user interface of the QA550 is akin that of a turntable, which is almost zilch. After being spoiled by the user interface on the Squeezebox (including the touch screen Squeezebox Touch), the QA550 is a step back in time…
So the journey for a better source starts again. Damn it.
I have heard lots of good things about the m2tech Hiface but I’m not interested in SPDIF as the I2S interface proves superior (to think that so much time/money/effort has been wasted!).
So John Kenny‘s modified I2S Hiface seems like the perfect ticket! (Unfortunately John isn’t selling the pcb module anymore).
Many many weeks later, finally got it built.
Boy, that one sentence didn’t show you how much work I did.
This is what I did:
As I2S consists of 5 lines of signal, you have to decide on a proper interface. there is no standard interface here so i settled for the RF45 network port which is used by many companies (m2tech, North Star and Zenden etc) too for I2S duties.
So got to build an I2S Monica that accepts I2S input via RJ45 interface.
While doing so, I might as well try this excellent looking “Weipu” connectors for analog signal duties. So this I2S Monica accepts I2S via RJ45 then outputs analog signal via Weipu connectors.
A Beyonce was later built using Weipu connectors. And to have more fun, instead of the Microchip controller I used before, I now put in an Arduino controller. The 8 digit LED display is really cool too.
Hey, since we are already at this stage, I built a new Charlize but using Weipu connectors.
Lastly i had to haul up my old Mac Mini to audio duties and transfer all the music files to a new hard disk.
So is it any wonder I’m so short of time?
Do notice I “standardized” my chassis. These are actually key holders made from recycled rubber wood. [trying to be green … 
]
Oh well, finally got everything built and… the sound makes it all worthwhile!
Wait! I’m not done yet.
I also installed the very cool Pure Music Player. Oh my! What a nice software! It could upsample (which I can’t be bothered with) or play native sample rate of your audio files up to 384kHz sampling rate. And the hiface supports all this. If you have to ask, well, higher sampled material sounds better!
Higher sampled music does the highs so much better. At first I wasn’t sure of all the highs but then as you listened, damn in, I’ve been missing so much all this while! Scoped waveforms back this up. [Of course vinyl folks will tell you nothing beats infinite sampling rate. gotta give this to you guy!]
So after all this work, I’ll say everything is worthwhile!
The highs… could give you a high! Have never heard so much highs coming out of the system. This took a while to get used to but now with the silky highs, boy, everything sounds so much better now.
So am I done here? Again, not yet!
My I2S hiface is a Mk2. Apparently John Kenny has just released Mk3, so there’s more mods to be done. And more sonic blasts to be had!
One thing for sure, this won’t be the last time I rebuild my system. That’s the fun of DIY!
Hi Yeo,
Thanks for the mention in your article.
Glad you are liking the I2S Hiface.
A couple of things I want to clarify & also a suggestion for improving your Hiface.
Firstly the I2S Hiface is configured in an aluminium enclosure with LAN I2S connector. This is the configuration that I recommend with two internal batteries powering everything. And this is what I would suggest as the optimal configuration for you – you will find such a big improvement in going this route! We spoke about this already & we can talk again via email, if you like?
The MK2 to MK3 change is only in respect of the SPDIF Hiface & has to do with a whole new SPDIF output stage! You have the latest & best configuration (apart from the batteries).
hi john
thx for the clarification.
ok, the batteries then. i received them but yet to implement. i’m so happy with the sound right now!
yeo
I couldn’t see them in the pic – that’s why I suggested it. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed if they are as good as the A123 ones I use! It really makes that big a difference – it is truly high-end sound
Hi Yeo, I keep coming back to check your site every month or so, to see the latest developments.
It’s good to see that your music system is moving in the same direction as mine. I must be on the right track if smart guys like you are doing the same thing!
The difference with my system is that I insist on using a headless Linux machine as the playback source, and there are no Linux drivers for the HiFace. So I’m investigating alternative hi-res USB receivers.
I’m not surprised that you are utilising some of John Kenny’s work. I have been following John’s posts on diyaudio with great interest. I think there’s some synergy between yourself and John.
Let me add something that may help your quest: there’s a chance that sharing a common clock between the HiFace and Monica may yield SQ improvement. diyaudio forum member EUVL (Patrick) has been doing some work in this area.
Oops, Linuxfan, I hope I have been behaving myself over there? Sometimes, I find it hard to keep a lid on it, particularly with some moderators 🙂
hi linuxfan
thx for the kind words but i can’t be regarded as the sharper knife in the drawer. ask my wife!
that said, agree with you that pc audio beats flipping discs, any time!
err, the tda1545 is a bit different. it doesn’t require a master clock. i know what you are getting at but this chip doesn’t allow this.
jkenny can be naughty on my forum. it’s *almost* a free country there! 😀
yeo
Yeo, look forward to hearing your impressions when you change to a battery configuration. I only get naughty when I’m attacked & that has happened a bit on other forums – I participate in forums to discuss, learn & share – I never expected the Spanish Inquisition 🙂
Linuxfan, I suggested this to EUVL a while ago on that thread i.e synchronously clocking the Sabre DAC for better sound. Everybody else seems to always use the Sabre asynch re-clocking, just because it’s novel & works better than other asynch re-clocking efforts. It doesn’t mean that it sounds better than synch clocking.
As Yeo said, it only applies to DACs that expect a MCLK signal.
Ah, thanks for the clarification. I generally understand the concept of asynchronous clocking, but was quite in the dark regarding specific implementations, particularly Sabre DACs.
Async seems to be something of a buzz-word on the diyaudio forum.
Hi Yeo,
Can you comment on the mid and bass of your new set up when compared to the qls 550 .
thanks
kp93300
hi kp
with the improvement in the highs, the mids is improved. you could hear “more air”.
the bass, i still think the qa550 does a bit better. this is surprising as usually when the highs improve, the bass improves too. but then the difference is small.
yeo
Hi Yeo,
Did you get anywhere with using battery power?
Have you abandoned Mojo for Beyonce? How does Beyonce compare with Eva. How about selling Beyonce in one or two boxes with three inputs?
hi jkenny
not so soon. got lots on my plate.
hi charlyb
i haven’t abandoned either. still using mojo2 and beyonce. not in the same box as i wanted to build another version of i2s monica.
beyonce doesn’t have the transparency of eva but only if you listen to them side by side. it has lots of drive though. for amps which needs some gain, beyonce is the ticker. for amps which have plenty of gain, eva is the way to go.
yeo
Any news on sound with batteries?
No updates, Yeo?
hi john
not so soon.
i work on my system in a “systematic” way. worked on transport, before that on dac, so now it’s time for amp and later, preamp, possibly speaker…
so it may be some months before i revisit this.
besides with one upgrade in one gear, it’s better to go through the system to fully extract the benefit of this upgrade rather than implementing another upgrade right away.
anyway, this is what i think. so it’ll be a couple of months later before i revisit this.
yeo