Tag Mclaren.

ALXAndy said:
Yeah it’s the first CD transport. So digital only. They did a player with a DAC in it at a later date :)
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No DAC in my player just outputs into the pre amp. Also had numerous output types for CD audio, then another for DVD audio and finally picture. It basically cost a fortune just to connect it up :eek::cry:
 
OK so after licking my wounds and having a rest from it I had a dig through my stash at home.

As I mentioned the 20cm HDMI was not long enough which is annoying as that is my fault and they are more expensive than long ones. However, I managed to find a 30cm one (nicer too !) as well as my 1tb SSD and the ribbon I paid £35 for.

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So that was cool.
 
piggin said:
Anymore thought on the tray situation?
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Yes. Cenedd is going to machine it on his mill. I'm not going to spend ages messing with the drive, as if the drive packs up I will have to do that all again with another one. Best thing is to do it properly, and make it so that any DVD drive can be put in with minimal fuss.

Don't worry about the anodising. What you may not know is that when I got all of the paint off it looked like this.

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Noting numerous scratches, chips and etc. I got it looking like this.

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I restore BMX bikes. Like, nut and bolt restorations. As such I have honed my skills in paint, and using artist brushes to brush in chips and so on. I noticed that certain makes of satin black paint match black anodising perfectly. As an example.

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That is a stem I got cheap because it was battered.

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Lots of file work later, and said paint.

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So aye, I'm not worried about losing ano. I can just sort that. Like I said, I want it to be able to work with any drive, by simply pulling off the large CNC lump and just putting it on another drive. I've already machined an insert that adapts it to fit regular drives.

OK so I do have a tiny update. The sound card idea is not going to work. FFS. It is 7mm too thick, and I would need to remove every capacitor and connector in order to make it slim enough. It's not worth it. Mostly because all of the stuff like the OP AMPs and so on? will all just be ignored, given I only want a digital out.

And when I say it doesn't fit? I spent four hours yesterday shuffling things around inside it virtually and nope, no chance no way. I was really peed at this news, but then I realised I had a back up plan I forgot I even had.

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And it is tiny. Even tinier if I shuck it. I bought a 50cm USB A to B cable for it, so yeah I will just use that. Good thing I had that, because no other USB sound solution I have found has a digital out, and those Asus are over a hundred quid. Ironically I bought it from OCUK about three years ago, and used it briefly before buying a proper headphone amp.
 
I agree that being able to remove the drive if needed is the way to go. As for the finish, it looks like you have that completely covered (nice work on the BMX head stock).
As for the sound, can't you just come out into your Tag pre amp and use your audio system?
 
Sort of changed my mind a tad. Did some research and came across this for a tenner.

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More research revealed it is a Texas Instruments chip. No driver needed, very good apparently. It is also absolutely tiny, which will help. I am over trying to cram stuff in there.

Obviously it will need a good testing before I commit, but if it works OK at that size and price it was deffo the right choice.
 
No. it is a USB sound "device" but outputs via digital. So sort of but sort of not. It doesn't need any drivers. Nor does it have any DAC or anything of the sort.

All of the sound cards I have will have a very similar circuit on. However, they will also have a decoder chip (the sound chip, usually Crystal Logic, or Creative etc) and then OPAMPs and a DAC.

Thing is, I don't want or need any of that. I just literally need a digital signal sent out. As an example here is the inside of the Xonar U7 I have.

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Note, it will only be one of the smaller chips that turns the USB into a digital signal. At that point it will go through the DAC, then into the large sound chip, then the OPAMPs, pre amp and eventually the outputs.

I don't need any of that. And I don't really have the space for it, nor is it worth "wasting" an entire £100 odd sound card for it. As I mentioned before, I want the Tag AV unit to do the Daccing. So I would rather just have a ton of extra space inside for, for example, more storage or whatever else.
 
Here, a bit of geeking. The chip on the thing I bought is a Texas Instruments. a PCM2704 to be exact.

PCM2704 data sheet, product information and support | TI.com

TI’s PCM2704 is a 98dB SNR Stereo USB2.0 FS DAC with line-out and S/PDIF output, Bus/Self-powered (Ext. ROM Interface). Find parameters, ordering and quality information
www.ti.com

If you look at how it works? it has a USB controller on it to connect it to a PC. No driver needed. It then outputs digitally into the connectors.

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Now I am not a betting man, but if I were? look at the chip in the red square.

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I'd have a pound it was one of those. I'd also have a fiver that the large one in the yellow box is a Crystal Media sound chip, and the smaller one in the green box is its DAC. It then has a ton of caps, connectors, amplifier and relays I do not need.

Edit. OK, so it does have a DAC on it. TI calls it a DAC, so there is one on there. I would imagine that is what is outputting a line signal to the headphone jack. I am not using that though, I am just using the digital side of it. As I say, it saves a whole lot of space for something you just don't need.

Edit again - D OUT on the chip is what I will be using.

Edit yet again. Yes, that is the output I will be using. Which is described as "USB audio interface".
 
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That red chip has the same layout so it's a very educated bet. As for the other chips, I would say we are getting into the realms of me taking your word but it does make sense.

As for the small sound board, it's a very elegant and compact solution that's not going to cost a fortune. Only issue could be is what 'colour' does this chip add (if any) due to it just being a digital output device.

Would be interesting to see what results you get
 
Well it is only going to be sending a digital output. Colouration and so on? are all down to the OPAMPs and so on. IE, the circuitry that converts it from a digital signal into something you can hear in analogue. Which will all be done by the AV32. So I have no doubt it will be as flat and neutral as it gets.
 
I think it's a very neat solution & should solve the issue without any problems. Just need to connect it up without grounding anything out & will be good to go.

Regarding grounds etc. Do you think you will have transformer hum or anything similar coming from the PC? I think not but I have my media pc feeding into my TV & the audio then comes back via ARC into the AV amp. This doesn't give any issues but I did have problems getting everything working correctly when I was running the AV32
 
Well the whole thing will be grounded, so I would say no. I also have a power conditioner the entire stereo plugs into and a couple of surge protectors too.

TBH the only ground loop issues I ever had were all at my old flat. And by old? it had 1940s Bakelite switches. And the worst offenders? spinning hard drives. Like you could literally hear them through the audio signal spinning up.
 
No my old flat was falling apart. It has since been condemned. Let me see if I can find an example for you...

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The wiring was pretty much untouched since the 60s. The whole place was falling apart, and a complete dump. I wrapped the kitchen when I moved in because she found it in a skip, finished it myself and painted it. Within 6 months it looked like this.

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See how the light is hanging off the ceiling? I had to cook wearing my BMX helmet. The inner cupboard ceiling collapsed.

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She then tried to up the rent by £80, which I refused to pay until she had the place made safe. It was giving me constant chest infections and etc. So she served me a section 21. So, I called environmental services who then condemned it. I then filed two lawsuits against her, both of which I won. Ironically she paid for two of the amps and the £1800 speakers I have up front lmao.
 
BTW as for karma? she could not get the condemnation lifted, as much as she tried. It was repossessed by the mortgage company and still sits empty nearly 5 years later. Someone smashed all of the front windows (not me, the guy upstairs didn't like her much either) and it went to auction three years ago with a starting price of 70k. No one bid, because it needs 100k spending on it. IE, ripping back to a shell, fixing the outside issues causing the damp, a new gas box outside and god knows what else. It is worth 140k if you are lucky, so as you can see no one wants it.

So it just sits empty, as I left it.
 
Your old place definitely didn't look good and if it was making you unwell then you were best out of there. As for your hifi having issues with spinning discs, I am shocked anything worked.

As for karma, thankfully it does get the right people :cry:
 
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