[Infinitas]: USB Audio Class 2 Interface, 32 in, 32 out, DSP
- Thread starter rkn80
- Start date
Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:
The boards are now available on tindie.com!
The Infinitas mainboard:
https://www.tindie.com/products/auverdion/freedsp-infinitas/
The AnalogIO-x8 expansion board:
https://www.tindie.com/products/auverdion/freedspx-analogio-x8/
Enjoy!
Raphael
The Infinitas mainboard:
https://www.tindie.com/products/auverdion/freedsp-infinitas/
The AnalogIO-x8 expansion board:
https://www.tindie.com/products/auverdion/freedspx-analogio-x8/
Enjoy!
Raphael
bernatvm
Well-known member
Wow, looks amazing. I have some questions though... first one is if this is a suitable project for me if I've never soldered smd and only programmed a tiny bit of java.
The other question is if this interface (conversion quality) is going to sound better than a similar priced retail one. Thanks!
The other question is if this interface (conversion quality) is going to sound better than a similar priced retail one. Thanks!
bernatvm,
well, it is not so difficult to solder SMDs. You basically need a solder iron with a fine tip. In my GettingStarted tutorials I am giving some youtube links, how to solder the difficult components. Anyway, if you never have done SMDs at all, I recommend to practice with some cheap components first. Soldering some SMDs on these THT/DIP adapter boards is a good way for practicing.
You don't need programming skills to get it up and running. Only if you want to to modifications you need some C skills.
What do you mean with "similar priced retail one"? There are not so many USB interfaces with that high number of channels, and those, that exist are very expensive. Thus, I never ordered one just for comparing.
R.
well, it is not so difficult to solder SMDs. You basically need a solder iron with a fine tip. In my GettingStarted tutorials I am giving some youtube links, how to solder the difficult components. Anyway, if you never have done SMDs at all, I recommend to practice with some cheap components first. Soldering some SMDs on these THT/DIP adapter boards is a good way for practicing.
You don't need programming skills to get it up and running. Only if you want to to modifications you need some C skills.
What do you mean with "similar priced retail one"? There are not so many USB interfaces with that high number of channels, and those, that exist are very expensive. Thus, I never ordered one just for comparing.
R.
stybljan
Member
Hi rkn80,
I am very interested in this project. Good job.
I have a question about monitoring.
Can this interface direct monitoring? And what about the latency if I will set the monitoring in DAW.
Thanks a lot,
Jan
I am very interested in this project. Good job.
I have a question about monitoring.
Can this interface direct monitoring? And what about the latency if I will set the monitoring in DAW.
Thanks a lot,
Jan
Can you specify a bit more what you mean with direct monitoring?
The analog inputs are all accessible on pin headers. Thus, you could make a little mixer board and feed that to a line or headphone out.
If you want to control the direct monitor mix like selecting only a few channels then you may want to use the DSP for it.
Since this is all done in the hardware itself the latency is very very low but depends a bit on how you implement it.
The analog inputs are all accessible on pin headers. Thus, you could make a little mixer board and feed that to a line or headphone out.
If you want to control the direct monitor mix like selecting only a few channels then you may want to use the DSP for it.
Since this is all done in the hardware itself the latency is very very low but depends a bit on how you implement it.
stybljan
Member
Yes, i mean control the mix.I don't have a big experience with programing the dsp so the hw mixer is not a bad idea. Thanks a lot.
mhelin
Well-known member
XMOS USB audio stack already contains digital mixer which can be controlled from host via USB.
https://www.xmos.com/developer/published/usb-audio-software-design-guide
See Ch. 3.6 Digital Mixer page 30
Problem is there is no proper application for control, only some command line application:
"The mixer can be controlled from a host PC by sending requests to Endpoint 0.
XMOS provides a simple command line based sample application demonstrating
how the mixer can be controlled."
However, the API makes it possible to route inputs directly to wanted outputs so you can make multiple monitor mixes for an example quite easily.
Edit: The XMOS mixer app sources can be found only on this old version of USB software:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B02Djez6mNL2SHhMM0lRSFFBdDQ/view
Look for folder xmos_usb_aud_l2\host_usb_mixer_control
Don't know how to port this app to MacOS or Linux as they have their own USB APIs.
https://www.xmos.com/developer/published/usb-audio-software-design-guide
See Ch. 3.6 Digital Mixer page 30
Problem is there is no proper application for control, only some command line application:
"The mixer can be controlled from a host PC by sending requests to Endpoint 0.
XMOS provides a simple command line based sample application demonstrating
how the mixer can be controlled."
However, the API makes it possible to route inputs directly to wanted outputs so you can make multiple monitor mixes for an example quite easily.
Edit: The XMOS mixer app sources can be found only on this old version of USB software:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B02Djez6mNL2SHhMM0lRSFFBdDQ/view
Look for folder xmos_usb_aud_l2\host_usb_mixer_control
Don't know how to port this app to MacOS or Linux as they have their own USB APIs.
mhelin
Well-known member
Regarding the converters, not mentioned anywhere but I think it is possible to use AK5578 (SNR 121dB) to replace the AK5558 (115dB) but it will cost more ($10/chip). Also the converters can be paralleled, so you can feed the same input to all A/D channels and get much better SNR (130 dB for the AK5578 and 124 dB for AK5558) for the resulting mono channel.
mhelin said:
Yes, you need to write a software to control the mixing function of the XMOS. I do not restrict that. It is open hardware. You are free to do that. ;-) But this is more a nice addon.
So far the interface works without any additional software and therefore, I focussed on the hardware. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that I am already working on a software, that makes routing and controlling (including the DSP) very easy. But the DigitalIO board and the ADAT board have currently higher priority.
R.
Regarding AK5578:
I took a short look on the datasheet. It seems to be possible, to upgrade with this chip. There might be some small changes in the I2C configuration needed, I have not compared the register values, yet. But I will do that later.
R.
I took a short look on the datasheet. It seems to be possible, to upgrade with this chip. There might be some small changes in the I2C configuration needed, I have not compared the register values, yet. But I will do that later.
R.
