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News

Updates and new Kaamos Tech store

by nihtila September 30, 2023

W-DAC S 4493 – I2C controlled version of W-DAC 4493

by nihtila December 28, 2020

W-Input S – I2C controlled version of W-Input

by nihtila December 28, 2020
Reviews

Elecrow PCB long term review

by nihtila August 6, 2020

ADC AK5572 v1.2 available

by nihtila July 5, 2020

JLSounds I2SoverUSB and miniDSP MCHStreamer USB-to-I2S boards with W-DAC

by nihtila April 11, 2020
Tips

Tip 4: Building a DIY reflow oven from two toaster ovens and...

by nihtila April 8, 2020

Final W-DAC 4493 development update

by nihtila February 29, 2020

W-DAC 4493 – Very high performance compact DAC

by nihtila February 27, 2020
Projects

SPDIF TX – I2S to S/PDIF converter

by nihtila February 3, 2020

Welcome

This is a personal electronics website showcasing DIY projects, measurements, modifications, reviews and investigations, focus being mainly on audio. While this is all hobby-based, I have been selling very small quantities of boards to fund the hobby and future developments.

In September 2023 I opened a new website kaamostech.com and will continue releasing new products there. This website will remain open for now to keep old material intact. Almost all content here are from 2017-2020 and updates since are minimal.

I thank you for all your support, comments and feedback during these years and looking forward to hearing from you again.

-Tomi

Wee DAC

In 2019 the main focus was Wee DAC, a very high performance modular audio DAC. Find information about the system here, photo of an example kit below, and posts to individual boards consisting of DACs, S/PDIF receiver, input and output addons, and power supply baseboards.

Wee DAC modular DAC with several addons

Wee DAC boards

  • W-DAC S 4493 – I2C controlled version of W-DAC 4493

    December 28, 2020
    by nihtila
  • W-Input S – I2C controlled version of W-Input

    December 28, 2020
    by nihtila
  • JLSounds I2SoverUSB and miniDSP MCHStreamer USB-to-I2S boards with W-DAC

    April 11, 2020
    by nihtila
  • W-DAC 4493 – Very high performance compact DAC

    February 27, 2020
    by nihtila
  • Wee DAC baseboards

    November 5, 2019
    by nihtila
  • Wee DAC addons – XLR output and extra S/PDIF inputs

    November 5, 2019
    by nihtila
  • W-Input – Compact digital input board

    November 5, 2019
    by nihtila
  • W-DAC 4490 – Very high performance compact DAC

    November 5, 2019
    by nihtila

Other active projects

Other relatively recent projects that are not part of Wee DAC.

  • ADC AK5572 v1.2 available

    July 5, 2020
    by nihtila
  • SPDIF TX – I2S to S/PDIF converter

    February 3, 2020
    by nihtila
  • ADC AK5572 – Very high performance audio AD-converter

    February 2, 2020
    by nihtila
  • Desktop Bass Stands with Tang Band W6-1139SIF and Linkwitz Transform

    October 18, 2018
    by nihtila
  • Addon BalOut v2 – Balanced output board

    April 9, 2018
    by nihtila
  • USBHI – USB-interface for headset

    March 26, 2018
    by nihtila

Measurements

Measurements of specific components or devices.

Audiolab M-DAC measurements part 2 – digital filters

January 28, 2019
by nihtila

Audiolab M-DAC measurements part 1 – base performance

October 29, 2018
by nihtila

HP Buf improvements – 500 mW into 32 Ω headphones with 0.00015 % THD+N!

February 21, 2018
by nihtila

OnePlus 3 volume control step size and output level measurements

March 27, 2017
by nihtila

Bit-perfect ASIO drivers to solve issues with Windows audio quality

January 16, 2017
by nihtila

LME49724 vs. OPA1632 in Addon BalOut

January 16, 2017
by nihtila

PCM1794A left/right channel distortion difference

January 12, 2017
by nihtila

PCM1794A output stage opamp measurements: LM4562, NE5532, and OPA2134

January 8, 2017
by nihtila

Learning

Generic information sharing of theory, measurements, teardowns etc.

DAC digital filters part 2 – deeper dive into AK4490 and AK4493 filters

October 18, 2019
by nihtila

Audiolab M-DAC teardown

September 6, 2018
by nihtila

Benefits of balanced headphones interconnection

August 6, 2018
by nihtila

Designing Arduino-compatible board

January 25, 2017
by nihtila

Understanding audio measurements: Crosstalk

January 8, 2017
by nihtila

Understanding audio measurements: THD+N vs. amplitude and frequency

January 8, 2017
by nihtila

Understanding audio measurements: noise, SNR, and dynamic range

January 8, 2017
by nihtila

DAC digital filters and their impact in time and frequency domains

January 7, 2017
by nihtila

Tips

Practical tips that has come to mind that may not be so obvious and are worth sharing.

Tip 4: Building a DIY reflow oven from two toaster ovens and Controleo3 kit

April 8, 2020
by nihtila

Tip 3: Robust high-bandwidth passive DIY probes

March 16, 2019
by nihtila

Tip 2: Beware of ground issues when using laptop on bench

January 5, 2019
by nihtila

Tip 1: Component check on printed paper before PCB order

May 3, 2018
by nihtila

Inactive older projects

These are older projects I am not working on anymore. Some of them are in active daily use, some completely ditched and forgotten. I do have ideas to improve and release new versions of some of them though. One day, maybe.

  • Analog MV8-OP1 clone for Roland MV-8000/8800

    April 9, 2018
    by nihtila
  • Modular HP Amp 2017

    February 4, 2018
    by nihtila
  • HP Buf – High-current buffered amplifier board for HP MoBo

    February 4, 2018
    by nihtila
  • HP TPA – Simple IC amplifier board for HP MoBo

    February 4, 2018
    by nihtila
  • HP MoBo – Modular headphone amplifier motherboard

    February 4, 2018
    by nihtila
  • miniD Preamp – Tiny miniDSP-based 4-Channel Preamplifier

    January 8, 2018
    by nihtila
  • Addon H-MCU – Microcontroller addon for H-DAC

    February 18, 2017
    by nihtila
  • HP Pre 2016 – DAC-preamplifier with headphone amplifier

    February 12, 2017
    by nihtila
  • Addon H-Filter – Simple through-hole balanced preamplifier addon for H-DAC

    February 6, 2017
    by nihtila
  • PSU Pre 2016 – External power supply for DAC-preamplifier

    February 5, 2017
    by nihtila
  • Simple PSU 3 – 3-channel linear DC power supply

    February 1, 2017
    by nihtila
  • Smart PSU 3 – 3-channel linear DC power supply with monitors

    January 26, 2017
    by nihtila
  • Addon H-PreAmp – Preamplifier/headphone amplifier addon for H-DAC

    January 25, 2017
    by nihtila
  • Addon BalOut – Balanced output addon for H-DAC

    January 16, 2017
    by nihtila
  • H-DAC – High performance 192 kHz / 24-bit DAC with addon options

    January 15, 2017
    by nihtila
  • Dual Trafo Board – Small dual transformer board

    January 1, 2017
    by nihtila
  • SharcDSP – miniSHARC-based 8-Channel Digital Signal Processor

    November 24, 2014
    by nihtila
  • Hypex UcD180 Power Amplifier

    November 19, 2014
    by nihtila

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ADC (3) Addon BalOut (2) AK4490 (6) AK4493 (6) Arduino-compatible (4) audio fundamentals (4) audio measurement (5) balanced (4) balanced audio (4) board (14) DAC (16) digital filter (3) distortion (3) fully differential amplifier (2) H-DAC (11) headphone amplifier (6) HP Buf (4) HP MoBo (3) I2C (2) LM4562 (7) LME49724 (4) M-DAC (3) manufacturing (2) microcontroller (5) miniDSP (3) modular (3) NE5532 (2) OPA1632 (3) opamp comparison (2) PCB (2) PCM1794A (4) PCM2707C (2) preamplifier (3) PSU (5) review (2) Room EQ Wizard (2) S/PDIF (5) signal processor (2) SNR (3) THD+N (9) UMIK-1 (2) USB-audio (3) volume control (3) W-DAC (5) Wee DAC (15)
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@2021 - Tomi Nihtilä


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nihtila.com
  • Home
  • Projects
  • Measurements
  • Learning
  • Tips
  • General info
    • My design philosophy
    • Audio fundamentals
    • Assembly instructions
    • Books, links, and articles
  • Shop
    • kaamostech.com
  • Contact
    • Contact (KT)
    • Newsletter (KT)