Thaddeus Smith Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Correct, I am limited to use dacs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 And finally... Yikes, yeah, that case is ugly. We should call that FrankenBerry. I'm still gonna call it Frankenberry...but yeah, the case was stupid and cumbersome with wires going to and fro... I knew I could do better. I picked up a case from eBay linked above in my last post. I should have gotten a case that was more wide, as most HDMI plugs are a good inch long or more. This presented a problem. I looked around and seen HDMI cables with the plug on one end, and a panel mount female jack on the other end...all in one cable. Seemed like a good idea, until I received the case and realized it was too narrow to accept any sort of cable like mentioned. Same thing with the micro USB power plug, most micro USB plugs are too long. I could have scrounged up HDMI/micro USB plugs at 90 degrees, but got tired of looking online for the proper parts that may or may not work. So I hacked a HDMI cable and tweaked the plug to fit. For the HDMI jack/receptacle, I picked up a Amphenol brand heavy duty panel mount female socket. This was the only socket I could find that has pins off the back that I could actually solder to...and the socket is still meant to be used with a PCB... It looks terrible, but it works. This may be easy to some of you, but was a bit daunting for myself to solder that up. The metal (aluminum) work on the back panel was done with drill press, and a file. The RCA jacks are Parts Express house brand. The HiFiBerry DAC+ has a extra take off point for audio out, (K3?) bypassing the stock cheap RCA jacks. I converted the 5 volt DC power plug on the back panel to a coaxial type plug. Then stuck some sticky feet on the bottom. Next thing to do is find a power indicator light for the front panel...still pondering on what style/type I want... It makes a nice little music/video server, connected to a Harmon Karmon 330B receiver with my Cornwalls. Next to try is the Frankenberry connected to a 50K Goldpoint stepped attenuator, running a tube amplifier with Cornwalls. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swapface Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Ah, yeah, nice work Mike. I was wondering if you would ever get around to completing it. I'd call that a victory as it looks nice and nobody is gonna see the HDMI connections. Pretty ambitious hacking into a HDMI cable and connecting the way you did. So glad it works and it looks sweet. Having all the connections in the back along with a nice looking case is nice indeed. Are you using OpenElec on it or some other OS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 KODI OpenELEC helix version 14.1. I haven't kept track of recent versions, which seem to change often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prerich Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I'm using one of these now http://hifimediy.com/DACs/ready-made-dacs/9018-dac My wife got it for my birthday in August and I love it!!!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swapface Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 KODI OpenELEC helix version 14.1. I haven't kept track of recent versions, which seem to change often. I have OpenELEC on 3 boxes here in my home. Two on PIs and one on a standalone system that I use to deliver all my media and what not. Its a great product and has many plugins you can use to pull and stream content. Good choice and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Now HiFiBerry has the DAC+ Pro for 45 bucks. "DAC+ Pro advanced features: Gold-plated connectors: Gold-plated RCA connectors ensure optimal connection to your RCA cables. Dual-domain clock circuit: The DAC+ Pro uses its own on-board ultra-low-jitter clock generator. To have the lowest jitter values, there are 2 different clocks on board: one for 44.1/88.2/176.4 kHz sample rates and another for 48/97/192kHz. Hackable: The board can be modified to allow external power supply for the analog part of the board. Also you can connect external I2S DACs. These features need soldering on the board. This will void warranty, but real hardware hackers have no problems with this." Still need that power indicator light... Another thing I need to do, is to control the OS with the TV remote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swapface Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Ah, the DAC+ Pro. Another thing to put on the Christmas list...LOL As far as the remote you have several options. The path of least resistance is to download the android app and use your smartphone. There are both Apple and Android apps out there that will allow you to control OpenELEC. I have that as a backup but mostly I use as Harmony remote to control all my devices. Something like this would work if all you want is to control that one machine. I also bought one of these back in the day and it works on my PI in my bedroom but they are no longer produced. Now they make a USB CEC device that will work but I have no experience with them. So, as you can see if you go out and start searching there are many other options than the ones I have listed above. AKA - There are many ways to skin the cat on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I took the path of least resistance/money. The Yatse remote app for smartphones. That was easy...download, punch in the IP address and port # and there ya go. The GF has Yatse downloaded on her phone for when I'm not around. This is awesome. I can ditch the dollar tree keyboard and cheesy mouse. I looked at the other options. This was quick, easy and cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swapface Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 (edited) I took the path of least resistance/money. The Yatse remote app for smartphones. That was easy...download, punch in the IP address and port # and there ya go. The GF has Yatse downloaded on her phone for when I'm not around. This is awesome. I can ditch the dollar tree keyboard and cheesy mouse. I looked at the other options. This was quick, easy and cheap. Yep, i use that very same app and your are right, easy peasy man. And you can configure it to operate multiple Kodi machines. Perhaps its time for another project....LOL Edited October 18, 2015 by swapface Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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