Blanking with AudioDAC

[z-tek]

i gave up on my audio dac for a while because i couldnt work out what was rong with the blanking!

im having another go tonight and trying out LFI Player this time

i have it working abit. but the laser is still very underpowered!

i have knoticed something very strange.... the laser is dim, while 'awaiting instruction' but when i open a new window on my pc, the laser gets brighter (alot Brighter), then dims again. or when i scroll on a webpage aswell,
it seems whenever my pc loads something, the loading makes the laser get brighter!

i have no idea why and no idea how to get it bright propperly!

any ideas??????

[thesk8nmidget]

i would say your usb hub is not getting enough power. to check this do you by any chance have a external usb 1 to 4 hub that has an external power as well?

or you could externally power your sound card so you are sure its getting the proper voltage.

also for a quick check try just using another usb port.

and a quick question? do you have a multimeter? and are you using a laptop or a desktop?

[z-tek]

i have one of those hubs sumwhere ill try to find it soon!

im going to test on another usb port

and i am good with a multimeter, so you can hit me with tests lol

im on a desktop and the ports are on the motherboard and should be USB2.0

[z-tek]

using another USB port doesnt make any difference. it does the same! :S????

im also trying to use a USB hub. but thats not even letting the soundcard work!!

[drlava]

Yes, this is caused by your PC not supplying enough current to the USB port. If you have a multimeter you can meausre the supply 5V voltage going to the correction amp while your PC is under processing load and see what it is. You can add a REGULATED 5V power supply externally and it should be fine.

[z-tek]

I cannot get the Soundcard working through the USB HUB?

have i got a CRAP 4 port hub. it just wont connect? :@

[drlava]

in order for the hub to be of any benefit, it has to get external power. In your screen cap, there are two 'usb audio device' listings. maybe the first one works?

[James Lehman]

Since you have a desktop PC, you should think about using a 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound PCI card, inside the computer.

It will be much more reliable and have less latency.

You also get the advantage of being able to pick off +/-12VDC to power your correction amp from the PCI slot.

If you have the printed circuit board version of the LaserBoy Correction Amp, you can modify it to take +/-12VDC directly to the op-amps OR you could keep the DC/DC converter and power it with a high current +5VDC directly from the PC power supply.

Using a PCI card completely eliminates the USB connectivity issues.

James.

[z-tek]

i think the "usb audio device" without the warning is the device, installed propperly with out the externally powerd hub!


i have got the printed circuit board verson. so either i will run some speaker wire along with the usb cable straight from the PC PSU to the dc/dc on the op amp. or i may try the idea of using the PCI card. i have 2 soundblaster live cards sitting around!

are they any good?

[James Lehman]

I can take a look at the SB Live. I think I have one that works.

If you get a generic card with the C-Media 8738 or 8768 DAC chip, I know they work well.

I have also used VIA based multi channel DACs with great success.

These cards should go for about $6 to $12 each.

James.