I guess you drive a car with manual gear box and hopfully the throttle is mechanically as well.
A small chip called watchdog can improve the system (DAC) much to avoid controller hanging for example.............
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Topping D70S fried my speakers...
- Thread starter amarsicola
- Start date
A small chip called watchdog can improve the system (DAC) much to avoid controller hanging for example.............Please inform us how long the procedure will last.
Apesbrain
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Goldpoint SA1X Level Control / Passive Preamp
Goldpoint SA1X Level Control / Passive Preamp
www.goldpt.com
Very nice product. The price is similar to the DAC!!!! No remote.
It's been over a year and no noise has returned, but no guarantees I guess.
Moderate Dionysianism
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Spot on! It's a 2005 Mazda 3. Manual, mechanical and I do like the feel of itI guess you drive a car with manual gear box and hopfully the throttle is mechanically as well.
I'd be happy to read more about those watchdog chips. Do you know of any DACs that use them? Such feature would surely go on my checklist when shopping for gear in the future.
Apesbrain
Addicted to Fun and Learning
You don't use it as a "simple volume control" and there is no need for a remote. Think of it as a "limiter": you set your DAC to 100% volume and use the Goldpoint (or equivalent) to set the loudest level you would ever listen. Your DAC continues to control volume, and if it ever resets to full volume the limiter keeps it from scorching your drivers.Pricing starts at $540 for a simple volume control with no remote
Can't do much about the price, unfortunately, but there are less expensive options out there:
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Oh, I see what you are saying...
One of these might work as well for a lot less money. Probably won't match the exact max volume you desire, but at least would prevent you from blowing out your speakers.
JTS MA-123
Switchable attenuator for microphones -10 dB, -20 dB and -30 dB switchable, Suitable for dynamic microphones and condenser microphones, XLR in / out, Frequency range: 22 - 20,000 Hz, Dimensions: 21 x 113 mm, Robust metal housing
www.thomannmusic.com
There are plenty in the market and very common in microcontroller designs in industrial applications. They have to be triggered by the controller periodically and if the controller hangs they perform a reset. This can be done every few milliseconds. Some also supervise the DC voltages in the system and so on.......Spot on! It's a 2005 Mazda 3. Manual, mechanical and I do like the feel of it
I'd be happy to read more about those watchdog chips. Do you know of any DACs that use them? Such feature would surely go on my checklist when shopping for gear in the future.
It's really not our job (customers) to check something like this because the product has to be well-designed!!
I used the Bel Canto Design DAC3 for a long time, around ten years. I'm now beginning to feel I should go back to it, or their pre-amp, on reading this thread because I had no such problems discussed here. It starts up in "soft mute" mode, and pauses at a certain volume level before ramping up more slowly thereafter. Their pre-amp available around the same time, the PRe2/P, had similar features. I'm now using the Benchmark HPA4 and the same safety features are not there. No accidents, but I've had some frights, and I'm now having to be a lot more careful, noting the volume setting that is not even displayed clearly on start up.
You can ask @John_Siau from Bechmark he is here in the forum and can give you more clarity. I guess with the HPA4 the problem is not existing.
Roland68
Major Contributor
"The manufacturers should leave this function out of their devices (I mean exclusively the volume reduction in the DAC chip) or inform the buyer in detail and explicitly about the dangers of this function."
Excuse me, but didn't you read it, or what exactly do you find wrong with my opinion?
They "only" have to do it right thats all.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #255
As i proposed im my first post, a good manufacturer would find the bug and relase a new firmware, i'm not even claiming the money i spent to recover my speakers. I don't see why dsp volume control would be inherently flawed or why a customer should ask to activate it at his own risk as you propose.
The precautions in Bel Canto firmware are not rocket science.
Manufacturers should just put more effort in engineering, that's why we pay our money. Or at least pretend that they are working on it.
The Topping guy is very active in this forum, not on this thread.
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Sokel
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There's a lot of ways to protect a device against such.
Problem is that most of this (hardware) solutions add to cost (sometimes a lot,a good pot is no cheap) and most importantly give a hit to SINAD and other specs.
The hit most of the times is WAY inaudible but if your way as a company is oriented to hit high SINAD no matter what I guess is a choice.
The honest think to do is inform people and let them take the risk if they want to.But I don't see such warnings often that's why we see so many surprised friends here,that's why we see threads like this often,so it's up to us as a community to do the dirty job
.
Problem is that most of this (hardware) solutions add to cost (sometimes a lot,a good pot is no cheap) and most importantly give a hit to SINAD and other specs.
The hit most of the times is WAY inaudible but if your way as a company is oriented to hit high SINAD no matter what I guess is a choice.
The honest think to do is inform people and let them take the risk if they want to.But I don't see such warnings often that's why we see so many surprised friends here,that's why we see threads like this often,so it's up to us as a community to do the dirty job
.Roland68
Major Contributor
The problem is and remains that the starting point in the DAC chip is always 0dB. That's hardwired and a fact.
If an error occurs, the part of the software that is supposed to prevent the registers of the DAC chip from being reset and thus being at 0dB is also deactivated or overridden.
Without additional hardware it would never be 100% safe in my opinion.
Do you know the scene in pulp fiction where the shot is fired in the car because of a pothole? The DAC chip is the weapon, the pothole is the trigger and the speaker...
This example describes very precisely the problem that arises when using this function.
This statement is a little misleading (wrong!). Because before the start-up initializing (writing to more than a dozen registers) the chip didn't know that it has to do. Multichannel, ....... Nothing. There is no hard wiring!! Not a fact in modern DAC's anymore.
Anyhow, it is the responsibility of the developer to make sure the system is not harm outside components with an appropriate circuit, SW. This is possible.
For the user in some DAC (appliance) it can be default, but this is Firmware.
Here is an example for a chip:
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A good reminder to turn on speaker power amp last - at least then you can see the DAC's volume before you turn on speaker amp last.
As a safety check.
This way the risk with connecting DAC direct to power amp is greatly reduced.
And when powering down the system, turn the power amp off first.
As a safety check.
This way the risk with connecting DAC direct to power amp is greatly reduced.
And when powering down the system, turn the power amp off first.
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