More finished stuff!

Although there is a tiny bit of light at the end of the Covid-19 lockdown-tunnel (at least in my part of the world), the “new normal” (or at least “interim-normal”) of working from home and attending lots of online meetings still continues. This means I also continue to have more time than usual for building, so I’ve managed to complete a few more projects over the last week or so. I know it might not seem that much, but compared to my usual rate of progress it’s starting to feel like an assembly line! 🙂

First up is the AD1865-based DAC I showed here. It works as intended and sounds fine, but honestly I need to redo the wiring because it’s not really optimal. Not now though 🙂

Next is my 50ASXBTL-based amp. This is the original “prototype” I did of the SE-BTL conversion for the ICEpower 50ASX modules and while there have been some reports on diyaudio that the conversion isn’t as straightforward as I made it seem, I can confirm that at least based on sound the finished product still works well.
However, the last strech of this build wasn’t without issues, firstly because I had to redo the bottom plate as I realised that glass fuses on the primary side of an SMPS is not only a bit stupid, but also not necessary when each PSU is already fused on the board. Secondly, that turned out to be the easy part because I did most of the wiring by memory which in hindsight wasn’t the best choice. Anyway, after a few more attempts than I expected (and after swearing at everyone and everything including my own stupidity) it actually works well now – nice!

Last, but definitely not least, is the basic ICEpower700AS2-based power amp I showed here. This deserves a new 10mm custom front panel at some point, but it plays well and for now I think getting some more listening impressions is higher on the agenda. My initial impression is that this could well be my all-time favourite ICEpower-amp, but let’s see how it goes when I put a few more hours on it.

Hopefully this week will bring a new batch of front panels (or actually, rear panels) so I expect to be able to keep up the current level of progress a little while longer 🙂

An ICEpower 50ASX amp – the easy way…

Some weeks ago a reader on the blog asked me some questions about various pre-made options for putting together a simple amplifier based on the ICEpower 50ASX2 module.

One of the options mentioned was to buy a case-kit for the module from Ghent Audio in China. I’ve seen pictures of these cases before and not only do they look quite good, they also come pre-drilled and silkscreened which for most DIY’ers is the hardest part of building stuff. I answered the questions as best I could without any hands-on experience to offer, but as I had an older black 50ASX-module left over I decided afterwards to get a case for myself and try them out.

After the usual waiting on shipping (which wasn’t actually that bad – app. 2.5 weeks), the case kit arrived. Everything is included, a power switch assembly, AC inlet, terminals etc and it seems to be decent quality all round. I didn’t buy the full cable kit, which would have made it even easier to assemble, but still it’s not too bad.

Putting together the basic kit with the module, feet, switch etc. ready for cabling only took around half an hour or so. If you look at the pictures I’ve made a few “adjustments” to the kit by using stainless screws and feet (the kit comes with black screws and matte silver feet), but otherwise it is as delivered and of course using the original parts would also have been just fine. The terminals are decent quality, but not the best I’ve seen. Also, the terminal holes are drilled too large (presumably to accommodate changing suppliers) which is slightly annoying but by no means a deal-breaker.

A bit more digging in the parts drawers revealed some suitable pre-made cables for signal and speakers – and a problem: my stock of JST connectors for the power connections has run out (or run away :-))

So yes, in conclusion this is definitely an easy way to build an amplifier (just as long as you ensure you get all the parts before you start 😉

50ASX BTL conversion (part 2)…

So, I’ve done some more testing on my BTL-converted 50ASX-modules…

As you can see, I’ve used a slightly less improvised test setup compared to last time (it looks worse than it is…). While I wouldn’t call what I have done “extensive testing” by any means, my gut feeling is that this works 🙂 It also ties in well with how the other ASX-modules work and some “insider knowledge” from years ago that I can still recall 🙂

Note and disclaimer: I would very much appreciate if someone else tried this to verify and maybe do more testing, however I will accept no responsibility for damage to property, people or pets (or anything else for that matter) if you find a problem – this is DIY after all 😀

You can of course hack this conversion anyway you like, but I opted for removing the old jumper altogether and soldering in a new one. If you do that, be advised that the ASX-board is four layers and soldered with lead-free solder, so it will take a bit more heat to reflow the joints than I am at least used to. If you use a soldering iron that is too small, you’ll just heat up the board and possibly damage it.

My suggested approach would be to cut the jumper on the top side of the board. Heat the solder joint from the bottom and pull out the jumper wire with small pliers. Then clean the remaining solder off the board with desoldering braid or (better yet) a vacuum desoldering station if you have access to one. Then solder in the new jumper in the BTL position. There isn’t much space to work on and you should be careful not to damage any of the (sometimes annoyingly) small SMD-components on either side of the board. Once the new jumper is in place, follow the wiring diagram for the BTL-version in the 50ASX data sheet/designer’s manual and you should be good to go.

Bear in mind that what you end up with isn’t a “real” balanced (= differential) amplifier, but two SE amps referenced to ground and driven with opposite phase input signals to produced a bridged output. As such, the input ground is still required in order for the amp to produce a correct signal on the output. I’ve found a good sketch here for LM3886 modules that should show the correct input wiring. Output on the ASX is taken from the P104 connector, so ignore what the sketch shows here (and of course the DC wiring is irrelevant as well).

If you do try this, let me know how you get on 😀

PS: Yeah and the picture is still crap – but don’t worry, the light should be better from around April onwards 😉

ICEpower 50ASX – SE to BTL conversion

I’ve recieved a few questions (and participated in a diyaudio discussion thread) about converting ICEpower 50ASX2 SE modules (which are fairly easy to get), into 50ASX BTL modules (which aren’t). I was pretty sure this could be done without component substitutions by simply desoldering the W401 jumper and resoldering it into the W400 position (marked BTL on the bottom of the board) but as I had no modules left, I couldn’t try it. Now I’ve managed to get my hands on some more modules and I’ve actually tried converting one of them and the good news are – I think it works!

I haven’t actually measured anything (not sure what to measure to be honest) but I get clean audio out on the BTL speaker connector (P104) and a very loud buzzing noise on the other output, so at least it isn’t running stereo anymore. No guarantees on anything yet though, but it’s definitely promising.

Oh, and don’t laugh at my improvised test setup, it is necessary because I don’t have a proper balanced source in the house at the moment and I couldn’t be bothered to crimp new cables just for testing 🙂 Incidentally, don’t laugh at the poor picture either – winter in Scandinavia means the days are so short that I can only take pictures in daylight during the weekend…

Next up is to convert a second module, build some better cables and try it “for real” in a stereo setup – hopefully this weekend 🙂