DAC crowdfunding now in progress

[2wo]

You are not controlling your odac directly. Your keyboard  volume control is controlling your player software. Should work the same was with the Bottlehead DAC...John     

[John Swenson]

This is confusing. Although I think I have the answer I need, which is in bold. I would like clarification. I understand that volume can be controlled in your music player via software, that should be obvious. I was wondering if we have any control over the output levels of the DAC directly through the OS. (ie. my odac can be controlled using the volume keys on my keyboard) From what Doc wrote above, it looks like the answer to what I'm asking is no. I can assume a constant output then (when all software volume is at 100%), in all situations, correct?

Good to see the first run of DACs are almost out the door, I'm eagerly awaiting to hear people's responses.

Whether using the volume control on the keyboard will affect the output volume depends on the software player and how it is routed. Most OSs include some form of OS mixer, if your player routes the audio through the OS sound path then using the keys WILL change the volume. This can be actually done in several ways depending on the OS and DAC driver. In some cases pressing the keys changes the volume of the OS mixer, which does the volume change, OR the software player can register itself  to receive the volume control events and do the volume control in the player, OR the DAC driver can regitser the DAC to receive the volume control events.

In the case of a USB DAC the DAC can tell the USB driver whether it responds to volume control events. In the BH DAC case the DAC itself does not respond to volume control events, so it does not register to receive them, thus pressing the keys will either cause the player to do the volume control, or in the default case the OS mixer does the volume control.

This is assuming the player is sending the data through the OS audio path which includes the mixer. For example if you are on Windows and using a player which is setup to use ASIO, it will NOT send the data through the OS mixer. So if the player registers itself to receive volume control events then it can do the volume control. If it does not so register itself then using the keys will not affect the volume.

So the upshot is that more than likely the volume keys will work, but there is a chance they will not depending on the player you are using and how it has been configured.

I know not a simple answer, but that is the way it is today.

John S.

[Doc B.]

Thanks John!

[feeench]

Thanks John. That's very informative and tells me exactly what I wanted to know.

You are not controlling your odac directly. Your keyboard  volume control is controlling your player software. Should work the same was with the Bottlehead DAC...John     

There are too many people named John on this forum...  But you're right, I was misinformed on the ODAC. I thought I was controlling a volume control on the ODAC but after looking into this closely it's merely the mixer in the OS I'm using. Cheers.

[2wo]

I'm John S. That should clear things up  ...John Scanlon

[Doc B.]

Our programming adapter is home (thanks for the speedy return, John!) and with a little luck we are fixin' to get some DACs assembled today. We're going to carefully monitor the burn in of these guys for a bit before we send any out. Feels like it's getting pretty close to shipping time.

[John Swenson]

The production board that I programmed on Saturday has been running for 2.5 days now. When I first got it running I listened to it, the sound was not very good, very flat sounding. After 6 hours it was starting to sound pretty good, at a day it was sounding really good, after two days it was WOW!!!

It seems that 2 days of burn-in gets it to something like 95% of the way there.

I couldn't sleep after about 3:30 this morning so I spent a couple hours listening to it in the main system, I was really impressed, it's slightly better than the prototype, which has the wrong clock.

I think people are really going to like this.

John S.

PS can you say Proud Papa Syndrome!

[mcandmar]

Sounds like were getting real close now, looking forward to it

Do we have any solid numbers on the voltage/current the unit needs?

[Doc B.]

We probably won't be dealing with that kind of thing until we are done with the task at hand, which is focusing on getting the DACs finished and out to our customers who have been so patiently waiting.

[Hank Murrow]

"we will wait until the task at hand is complete, which is focusing on getting the DACs finished and out to our customers who have been so patiently waiting."

Doc; Please don't send mine until you let PB out of his cage so he can deliver it on his way to R&R in Bend. That is, if he doesn't expire from overwork in the meantime. Being an artist, I can identify with John's 'proud papa syndrome'. I am sure your ears will agree with his.

Cheers are in Order!   Hank in Eugene

[Paul Birkeland]

More good news today - we are through the programming hurdles at Bottleheadquarters.

I had to use a virtual machine to trick Windows 8 into letting me do what I needed to do, and now we will be moving on to finishing up the documentation process and burning all the DACs in.

-PB

[Doc B.]

Here's the very first production unit being tested. This is a demo of the automatic sample rate detection.

[Doc B.]

PB has been rigorously testing the DAC with various operating systems. There are a few small peculiarities with how some OSs recognize and run with the DAC via USB, and we will document these. Primarily they seem to be related to the latest generation of Win8 laptops. We will document everything we learn about it in the operating manual. Doesn't seem to be too big a deal, has to do with whether you plug the DAC in before or after you boot the computer.

Josh and I did some critical listening to our prototype unit against the first production unit. We had each plugged into a separate USB port on our Mac mini and we had no trouble at all switching from one to the other in the Audio Midi settings menu. The only real difference between the two was that the production unit has the latest filter software in it. Josh said to mention that even he could hear that the production unit was smoother in the mid treble and more resolved in the bass. I'm certainly going to reprogram the prototype unit to the latest software after hearing the difference. There is also quite a bit higher output from the production unit. I think we were having to adjust the level up on the prototype unit to match by clicking the volume up about 3dB.

[Grainger49]

I don't think this is Crowd Funding but I wanted all Bottlehead friends to know I ordered one of the 3 extra DACs.

I'm like a kid on Christmas Morning!

[2wo]

Glad to here we are close. This one has stopped working