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TotalDAC USB cable/filter - Teardown

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Kevbaz

Kevbaz

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Hopefully, the fiducials helped the component alignment...

KevBaz, can I have the possibility to get it ? I pay postage to France.

Jipihorn.
Hi Jipihorn,
Unfortunately I no longer have it.
Kind regrds
Kev
 

amicusterrae

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its honestly temping to make some bullshit audiophile product
It's gotta be easier than any of us can imagine--like "Brilliant Pebbles":

mikro-pebbles.jpg


See http://machinadynamica.com/index.html
 

voodooless

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It's gotta be easier than any of us can imagine--like "Brilliant Pebbles":

mikro-pebbles.jpg


See http://machinadynamica.com/index.html
What? Are they for real?
For whatever reason, errors produced by scattered light inside the transport getting into the photodetector are not corrected by the Reed-Solomon error detection/correction codes
Well.. you (as in: the company) wrote the “white paper”, you tell me how!

If this isn’t willfully deceptive… I don’t know what is…
 

MakeMineVinyl

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Its in a relatively nice project box though. :oops:
 

fastfreddy666

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dac6turned.jpg


Did a reverse image search on Google. Nothing. But I am pretty sure it's a:


It's a Zener diode. The band on the left means that it's cathode (-). The other side is the Anode (+)
This can be easily tested with a multimeter.

De wikipedia page is enlightening: "Some Zener diodes have a sharp, highly doped p–n junction with a low Zener voltage, in which case the reverse conduction occurs due to electron quantum tunnelling in the short space between p and n regions − this is known as the Zener effect, after Clarence Zener.:

I don't know exactly what that means to be honest but what I do know is that they are used to generate low-power stabilized supply rails from a higher voltage and to provide reference voltages for circuits, especially stabilized power supplies. They are also used to protect circuits from overvoltage, especially electrostatic discharge (ESD).

I read some theories on the internet that USB noises can be caused by ground loops. What's happening is this; the USB cable supplies power to the unit and that power returns via the earthed shield of the USB cable. This problem can only be caused if the DAC has balanced outputs.

In electrical units you have signal ground and chassis ground. Signal ground is used as a the reference point for internal electronics, chassis ground are all connections to the chassis (which in a 3-prong line cords is connected to the mains ground plug). Signal ground should at one point be connected to chassis ground.

I don't have earthed outlets in my living room in my small apartment build in the fifties. In theory if something goes wrong I could be electrocuted. But I can take a few seconds of 230V 16A. It's extremely painful. But remember: it’s not voltage that kills, it’s current. I advice to wear thick rubber soled shoes at all times :)

If you're stupid enough to touch both live in one hand and neutral or earth with the other you will almost certainly die

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. If you do have earthed outlets. You should use them.

I have an Audient ID14 interface and a Motu M2 (both balanced) and I do not hear any weird distortions. I can hear the self noise of the monitors if I put my head next to the speaker but that's not the fault of the soundcard or the USB port of my PC. It could be that my USB ports are extremely silent (unlikely) but it's far more likely that modern audio interfaces are pretty good at filtering those noise without the help of USB filter devices. But if it makes you feel any better you should buy one. I'm afraid you won't hear the difference though. (1)

This will happen with your hearing when you get older:

OUCH.png

But don't worry. You will still be able to enjoy music no matter what age you are
(unless you have severe hearing damage by long time exposure to load noises. The safe time limit of exposure to a SPL level of 80 dbA is 8 hours....Many people in the music business have problems with their hearing. So play music at moderate levels)

(1) Amirm's Jitterbug test: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...audioquest-jitterbug-usb-filter-review.10205/

The last sentence of the review was pretty damning: "Bottom line, the AudioQuest Jitterbug does one only one thing: it filters your bank account, reducing your balance by $60. If anyone can demonstrate that it makes an audible difference in a controlled blind test, I will donate US $600 to the charity of their choosing."

USB is a high-speed bus. You cannot filter it without causing the data to be corrupted and you really don't want that.

You can tell your friend that he just poured € 360 down the drain. It could be worse. Maybe he can still send it back?




This conversation is over.
















Does this device work? Maybe there's a measurable difference but I highly doubt that. It certainly isn't audible.
 

jipihorn

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View attachment 176512

Did a reverse image search on Google. Nothing. But I am pretty sure it's a:


It's a Zener diode. The band on the left means that it's cathode (-). The other side is the Anode (+)
This can be easily tested with a multimeter.

De wikipedia page is enlightening: "Some Zener diodes have a sharp, highly doped p–n junction with a low Zener voltage, in which case the reverse conduction occurs due to electron quantum tunnelling in the short space between p and n regions − this is known as the Zener effect, after Clarence Zener.:

I don't know exactly what that means to be honest but what I do know is that they are used to generate low-power stabilized supply rails from a higher voltage and to provide reference voltages for circuits, especially stabilized power supplies. They are also used to protect circuits from overvoltage, especially electrostatic discharge (ESD).

I read some theories on the internet that USB noises can be caused by ground loops. What's happening is this; the USB cable supplies power to the unit and that power returns via the earthed shield of the USB cable. This problem can only be caused if the DAC has balanced outputs.

In electrical units you have signal ground and chassis ground. Signal ground is used as a the reference point for internal electronics, chassis ground are all connections to the chassis (which in a 3-prong line cords is connected to the mains ground plug). Signal ground should at one point be connected to chassis ground.

I don't have earthed outlets in my living room in my small apartment build in the fifties. In theory if something goes wrong I could be electrocuted. But I can take a few seconds of 230V 16A. It's extremely painful. But remember: it’s not voltage that kills, it’s current. I advice to wear thick rubber soled shoes at all times :)

If you're stupid enough to touch both live in one hand and neutral or earth with the other you will almost certainly die

DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME. If you do have earthed outlets. You should use them.

I have an Audient ID14 interface and a Motu M2 (both balanced) and I do not hear any weird distortions. I can hear the self noise of the monitors if I put my head next to the speaker but that's not the fault of the soundcard or the USB port of my PC. It could be that my USB ports are extremely silent (unlikely) but it's far more likely that modern audio interfaces are pretty good at filtering those noise without the help of USB filter devices. But if it makes you feel any better you should buy one. I'm afraid you won't hear the difference though. (1)

This will happen with your hearing when you get older:

View attachment 176546
But don't worry. You will still be able to enjoy music no matter what age you are
(unless you have severe hearing damage by long time exposure to load noises. The safe time limit of exposure to a SPL level of 80 dbA is 8 hours....Many people in the music business have problems with their hearing. So play music at moderate levels)

(1) Amirm's Jitterbug test: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...audioquest-jitterbug-usb-filter-review.10205/

The last sentence of the review was pretty damning: "Bottom line, the AudioQuest Jitterbug does one only one thing: it filters your bank account, reducing your balance by $60. If anyone can demonstrate that it makes an audible difference in a controlled blind test, I will donate US $600 to the charity of their choosing."

USB is a high-speed bus. You cannot filter it without causing the data to be corrupted and you really don't want that.

You can tell your friend that he just poured € 360 down the drain. It could be worse. Maybe he can still send it back?




This conversation is over.
















Does this device work? Maybe there's a measurable difference but I highly doubt that. It certainly isn't audible.
How on earth 33V zener (in this voltage range, it is the avalanche effect that occurs; Zener effect is below about 6-7V) will protect anything, especially with 6.3V capacitors...
Nobody seriously use conventional zeners for that nowadays. TVS are for this very application, or dedicated chips like Eclamp from Semtec. There is so much to say about this implementation and the engineering quality behind.
No sure about the USB impedance integrity of the line...

J.
 

wwenze

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solderdude

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View attachment 176512

Did a reverse image search on Google. Nothing. But I am pretty sure it's a:


It's a Zener diode. The band on the left means that it's cathode (-). The other side is the Anode (+)
This can be easily tested with a multimeter.

It's a (directional) TVS intended for dissipating and clipping very short duration ESD/EMC pulses. It can dissipate substantial current peaks.

Not present in the data lines. The data lines only have a ferrite which filters common and a bit differential mode (higher than USB signal) frequencies.
 
Last edited:

jipihorn

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' anything under normal operation (except having a small capacitance and leakage current) except when (very short duration) pulses are present. The zener voltage will not be reached so it does not work as a zener.
It's used as a (polar) TVS intended for dissipating and clipping very short duration ESD/EMC pulses. It can dissipate substantial current peaks.
It is listed as a zener diode because it can also do that (1W) and thus can also be used for arresting short pulses.
It will never 'do' anything under normal operation (except having a small capacitance and leakage current) except when (very short duration) pulses are present. The zener voltage will not be reached so it does not work as a zener.

These are in parallel to electrolytic and ceramic capacitors so can also act as ESD protection as well as acting as a surge arrestor (up to 95W).


Not present in the data lines. The data lines only have a ferrite which filters common and a bit differential mode (higher than USB signal) frequencies.

My bad, I thought it was a conventional zener, which has too much capacitance and can be too slow to do any protection in this context. The EClamp is not a good example here, I was thinking something like TPD4S012 which has VBUS and data lines protection. In any case, this is not something done in the middle of a cable. I can not find any situation where large spikes are induced into a shielded cable, i.e; where this protection has any effect.

Nobody does this kind of stuff, especially 3 TVS. This doesn't make any sense. Not more than putting the box on the 0V instead of the shielding. Everything is so wrong at so many levels.

J.
 

jipihorn

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My main concern is that you don't always read carefully the user manual provided by the manufacturer. :D

Before:
kT7Twwn.png


After:
5637HO8.png
That's a good one :D. Probably my best shot. Don't forget, I got death threats for this video !
I wish I can get more of these devices, but they are so expensive and rare that nobody wants to give them for free.

J.
 

solderdude

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Looks like a block of solidified snake-oil.
 
OP
Kevbaz

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My main concern is that you don't always read carefully the user manual provided by the manufacturer. :D

Before:
kT7Twwn.png


After:
5637HO8.png
What is it can’t tell from the pic
Cheers
Kev
 

BaaM

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Sadly I didn't find any english publication so here's an auto translation:
ESPRIT MANTA V6 > https://www.highendaudio.fr/esprit-cables/manta
MANTA V6 is an optimization system that uses the phenomenon of electrical polarization to improve the performance of audio systems.

It integrates a new electronic component called "RendistoR". Ten years of research and development have been necessary to realize the RendistoR. The miniaturization required a lot of work to make the system usable in any environment. The original model was four times bigger...

In order to make it universal, MANTA V6 has been developed in different electrical installations and about thirty electronic brands (sources, amplifiers, speakers...) have been used. Its implementation is extremely simple: simply place MANTA V6 at the foot of your system or in the middle of your equipment and connect it to the mains. The polarization is done by air.

When listening, the HiFi system is smoother, more dynamic, more detailed, the sound image is more stable and more natural. The harmonics are richer, the listening is quieter (improved signal to noise ratio), the intelligibility of the whole increases.

In video (DVD source), the blacks are deeper, the depth of field is greater, we have more details, the colors are more dynamic.
Jipi did a funny-debunk video about it a few years ago:
 
Last edited:

roog

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I am a little surprised that TotalDAC don't fully pot the box in the middle of their USB filter cable. Perhaps the extra cost would eat into their profit too much?
 

audio2design

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I am a little surprised that TotalDAC don't fully pot the box in the middle of their USB filter cable. Perhaps the extra cost would eat into their profit too much?

Maybe you give them too much credit?
 
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