The X-Meridian 7.1 Thread - Page 64

ugh... there goes any chances of upgrades for the XM...

That explains everything! That means there will be no more driver updates. Strange that the Asus Xonar card is not as good as the XM because the only reason I'm looking for a new card is the driver support.

makes my new-build Vista case choices simpler, don't need to reserve a spot in the case for my XM Too bad MS never saw fit to make a generic CMedia driver for Vista with all the enhancements exposed ah well, corporate mediocrity strikes again...

If someone can find some way of using the asus control panel with an XM, it should be ok.

I'm using the latest xonar drivers with my xm.
Of course, I've just realised, that nothing more than 2 channels works...

Does anyone know how to adjust analog output levels on this card when using the digital input? I find there's just one constant analog output level regardless of the settings of any level controls. I'm using XP.

per request of Rob,

my xm - total recap + 6x opa637

im finally satisfied with opa637 on the xm
used to get nasty noise/interference on the same asus mobo the xm its on now

all 10/22uf @ 47uf bg nx
13x 100uf @ 220uf bg nx
2x 100uf @ 470uf bg nx
1x 470uf @ 1500/2200uf bg nx 2x 1500/2200uf bg nx e-capped

tally: xm + 6x opa637 + caps = ~650$

im still testing different values/e-capped caps @ power cap

the coupling caps/some of the coupling caps will be recapped

by the time ill be done with the caps itll be @ 700$+

by the time ill be completely done.. ~1000$/1000$+ but that remains to be seen/heard

Just recently ordered a pair of (TI) Burr Brown OPA637s (SOIC) and ( Cimarron Technologies) Brown Dog single to dual adaptors from other suppliers rather than waiting for Auzentech to restock. The OPA637s seem to be backordered for an extended time. Probably my guess into June.

As well as the Burr Brown OPs I would like to try Analog Devices AD DY2000 which don't seem to exist anymore or anywhere. Other Analog Devices which could have potential are AD797s or AD843s. Anyone outthere have any opinions or experience with these AD OPs that could be helpfull.

ive downloaded rightmark so heres my first audio mark ever.. lol

what in the world does that mean, first time ive seen these kinda benches

good/bad ?

i did the generate wav then analyse wav and thats the results

ive ran the playback test but at the end nothing shows up

can u guys tell me how to properly bench @ rmaa.. thanks.. scuze my noobness

post your x-meridian rmaa results

^ never mind

this will have to do

New drivers....

http://www.auzentech.com/site/download/updates.php

Curtesy of Rob.

Dated 31/3/08.

What good they are, who knows... No volume for channels in vista.

Changelog is fairly inconsequential - something about installation routines and whatnot

Unbelievable.

It all looks like the same drivers.

Just wanted to share my mod with you guys. I built a separate PCB for the analog stage of the card, which will fit into a PCI or PCI express slot, and built an external PSU for the opamps. I hooked up the card right from the DAC outputs. Each channel on the card has its own +-15VDC regulator, and OPA627. I also redid the gains for the opamps and I can now run windows volume @ 100% for 2.2 VRMS output, which is the best part of the whole mod, as well as increased spacing for the 3.5mm jacks so I can use high quality connectors.

All resistors are high quality metal film .1% and capacitors are high quality film 2%. The worst part was wiring it!

Awesome! You wouldn't happen to have any extra PCB's?! I use analog exclusively and would love any help in getting the most out of this wonderful card.

Thanks!

I do but it is not populated. I also have the BOM that I can share, as well as the PCB123 project file, if anyone wants to order there own.

well finally someone shows a more serious mod

seriously nice mod

thanks for sharing fireanimal

@fireanimal

Awesome job

How's it sound?

It sounds awesome, but the biggest issues for me were resolved with the lower output voltages and larger spacing for the 3.5mm jacks.

I dont have a X-Fi prelude card to test, but I belive that it uses the same DAC's and output stage as the Meridian, so this mod should port over to that card as well.

If anyone is interested in the BOM and PCB123 File just let me know.

Sweet

I'd love a copy of the files. Can't finance it yet... but soon

Napalm, now that you replaced the caps with larger values in your latest version, do you notice anything different? I used values of 100uf throughout the board in place of other caps, including 10uf. I had these 100uf caps lying around, and at less than 10 cents a piece, didn't seem like a waste to try out. Sometimes I feel like things sound thicker and less clear.

Fireanimal, that is a very cool mod. I have the X-Meridian with LM4562 with caps replaced except for the output filter. I also have another card with caps replaced, but it has the passive output mod. I find the passive output better than the LM4562 with the stock output filter. The mod you did addresses the poor performance of the current output filter, and it supplies clean power to the important opamps. I am very impressed. Is a new clock in works for the future?

lol.. 10 cents a piece.. i spent $300+ on the caps alone
you probably made it worse.. if the caps are lower quality..


the goal was to increase capacitance but most importantly the quality of the capacitance

do i notice anything different? the clarity purity detail rich powerful sound i get now from the xm i could only dream @ stock

Napalm, I was wrong, they were less than 7 cents actually . I used Rubycon ZL/ZA caps. They're my favorite caps along with the Rubycon Blackgates. I wouldn't say one's better than the other. Too bad they were killed like their Rubycon Blackgate counterparts. I'm surprised no one's using the Panasonic FK smd caps, which are nearly the smd equivilent to the Panasonic FM through hole caps. Every time I touch my Meridian card, I feel like I might accidental break something. I should have used the Panasonic caps in the first place.

Switching the cap values on the dac to 33uf from 100uf helped out with some issues I had. I guess there's a reason why values of 10uf to 47uf are recommended in the design guide. Even though I said the 100uf caps were slower and thicker, they were still better than the stock caps. I was speaking in relative terms to cap values rather than cap brands. I wanted to see if I could get away with higher capacitance caps close to the chips since I had caps available in that size, but it seems they may not perform as well. I guess its true that you have to be more careful with capacitance as you get closer to each of the chips. I'll post oscillometer at some point.

Napalm,
Any further luck with RMAA? I tried the oscillometer, but it was buggy and crashed.
With RMAA, you did connect the left/right out to the line in with a cable right? And made sure that the line in wasn't muted. From your 1kHz spectrum (without a 1Khz tone in the spectrum) it looks like you are not getting any input.
I tried the generate wav/analyse, but I don't think that is really testing the analog out.

at the site where i found the za/zl they got weird shopping kart so i passed on the za/zl.. ended up getting the bgs

have you tried a beefier power/filter cap? helps alot even if all the other caps are @ stock.. the 470uf stock its joke tbh

all the 10/22uf caps ive replaced with the 47uf Hi-Q bg nx.. the 3x 47uf sub coupling caps are @ 220uf bg nx

pic here,
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...6#post13558576



its buggy and crashes on purpose
after a number of uses it gets that way lol

just like rmaa the pro versions are more proper
i tried the line-out to line-in on the prelude since i dont have a line-in/mic/etc caps on the xm anymore
and still got the same results on the prelude.. useless

the guys @ XS.org got me to download rmaa and some other one and came across oscillometer

i trust my ears and theyve been spot on from the beginning.. i could care less about numbers/etc


for comparison,

modded MX300


modded claro+


modded prelude


modded xmeridian



http://shmelyoff.nm.ru/

all i can get from the spectrums is the difference between the sound cards

Napalm, I replaced the 470uf cap with 2200uf Rubycon ZL. I think that's big enough All the other values from 10uf up were replaced with 100uf. Then I changed the decoupling caps on the dac to 33uf. I'm thinking of trying out the Blackagate N on the analog and Rubycon on the digital supply to the dac to how that will turn out. Most people seem to pick the same cap for both.

Can someone explain those graphs? I'm a bit clueless as to what's supposed to be "better".

Has anyone done any sound comparisons of the OPA 637AU vs LM4562, the OPA 637AU + adapter is pretty expensive per set just not sure if there is a distinguishable sound difference to warrant upgrading my LM4562's.

Also with the adapters is there enough room on the card to have those side by side replacing all eight channels?

One more question does anyone know what is the difference between the OPA 637AU + Adapter and OPA 637SM + Adaptor that would warrant the $249.00 price tag for the OPA 637SM vs $69.00 for the OPA 637AU?

Don't waste your money on the OPA637SM.... it is specified to operate from -55° to +125°C, while the OPA637AM is only specified from -25° to +85°C

Some "audiophiles" will swear they can hear a difference, but "we" all know better

Almost $200 more to operate at higher/lower temps, thats it?

That's nuts, if heat is an issue l would rather buy a silent fan and position it to blow across the card instead.

I really like how my OPA627 sound. Perhaps the OPA637 might be a somewhat even more refined part but I think they might have more trouble running in something not carefully designed for them from what I have heard so not sure if they will work well in the x-merid or not. Hopefully they will be fine though. I've never tried them. EDIT: hmm someone in another htread said the OPA637 have only been out for two months, I msut be thinking of something else then or perhaps they jsut mean the AU variant? Anyway, I know nothing about the OPA637AU if they have only been out two months since what I was thinking of has been out much longer.

The OPA627 seem to give me more bass while still giving lots of detail and a smoother sound. LM4562just sound too trebly too me in an xmeridian even if very detailed. I wonder if they get aenough juice from the x-merid to deliver full bass response (the LM4562)? SO yeah, OPA627 seemed to me to pretty much have the LM4562 detail but in a more pleasing manner. I tried others and some had the detail but sounded very mechanical and metallic or others had much less detail or boomy sloppy bass, etc. OPA627 are my favs.

OPA627 were pretty expensive (and took some tracking to find any for sale).
I only did my fronts and sub and left LM4562 for rears to save money.
I have different speakers for rears anyway so they are not perfectly timbre matched anyway (NHT abs zeros vs. NHT classic threes).

I think Auzentech has been selling the OP637's for two months... TI has had them on the market for a Loooong time...