Touch hardware mods

[SBGK]

Couldn't wait any longer, dipped my toe into the hardware mods with a simple BNC output replacing that dreadful RCA digital output.

The small length of coax is VHAudio 75ohm coax, the BNC 'socket' is a Neutrik true 75ohm chassis mount connector (used here as a cable end)

Audible result is an improvement in vocal 'esses' and 'f' sounds, and a more relaxed feeling. Changes are small, but noticeable and all positive.

nice job. oops, you left the toslink in. shouldn't it be a female bnc for direct connection to the dac ?

[HumanMedia]

nice job. oops, you left the toslink in. shouldn't it be a female bnc for direct connection to the dac ?

Yeah left the toslink in for the moment, as it may get used in another system later, if I end up doing more modding (likely) I may remove the TOSlink at that point.

BNC is a socket as would appear on the back of equipment. For shelf space flexibility, I don't connect it directly to DAC, but use a standard Blue Jeans 75ohm digital BNC cable between the SBT and DAC - one end plugs into this new BNC on the SBT and the other end into a 10db attenuator directly attached to the DAC (which may end up on another shelf)

[TheOctavist]

Couldn't wait any longer, dipped my toe into the hardware mods with a simple BNC output replacing that dreadful RCA digital output.

The small length of coax is VHAudio 75ohm coax, the BNC 'socket' is a Neutrik true 75ohm chassis mount connector (used here as a cable end)

Audible result is an improvement in vocal 'esses' and 'f' sounds, and a more relaxed feeling. Changes are small, but noticeable and all positive.

please show me how to..do.this...although my mytek has aes, toslink and coax...

[andyjayh]

Excellent, thanks HM This is one of the mods I have been thinking about doing so these pics really help.

[SBGK]

Fidelity Audio level 1 mods now applied, will take a week or 2 to burn in, initial view is a lot more layering to the sound and more detail across the board. I was expecting a better treble, but am surprised at how much detail I was missing in the mid/bass. quite pleased with the results so far. best source I've had, anyway. difficult to say how good it is, but feel it is in a different league now.

new clocks were fitted and
caps fitted were 5 x Sanyo Oscon SEPC 470uF 6.3v

edit - other half even complimented it, said the sound is very good, excellent.

edit - it's very, very good. has transformed the sound, even 16/44 sounds fantastic. i have no affiliation to this company. if you have a high resolving system it is well worth it.

edit - it's not that it has lifted a veil from the sound like the TT3.0 mods, it is like it is a totally new player, words can't really do it justice. £600 sunk cost with linear ps, SBT and mods, but will a £600 streamer ever sound this good ?

[brgds]

new clocks were fitted and
caps fitted were 5 x Sanyo Oscon SEPC 470uF 6.3v

SBGK, could you pls advise on where those caps are fitted, or a picture?

thanks,
Andy

[andyjayh]

Great feedback on the Fidelity Audio mods SBGK I've read many good things about these mods and it seems like your experience backs this up.

[SBGK]

the the 3rd picture down in the link below has the fidelity audio mods, note a cap has been replaced at the power supply top left, I also have an extra 1 on the clock board.

note - the Touch came back from Fidelity Audio without wireless functionality ie not even an option to select wireless and there were dents in the facia. Am speaking with them, but they don't seem to want to accept responsibility for the fascia damage. Not sure if the wireless issue is a result of their mods, but as i don't use wireless it is not an issue

http://www.odysseyaudiohk.com/cgi-bi...num=1308418896

here are my settings copied from the TT3.0 thread

final update to settings

here are my mods

warning - this is for advanced audiophile systems, 95% of the people on this forum won't gain any benefit as their system is just not capable of resolving the details that would show a difference.

power conditioner,linear ps, meicord ethernet cable, TT3.0 all options enabled, tt -k, SBT default priorities & buffer, hardwire coax, toslink removed, Fidelity Audio level 1 mods, fidelizer audiophile, process lasso priority and core affinity settings. wav files only.

the level 1 mods have really transformed the sound, it is still difficult to believe.

Hope TT4.0 has something up it's sleeve.

fidelizer sets the priority of squeezeserver to idle, when it should be normal and it sets the affinity to 0, not good. to get round this I have configured process lasso so that squeezeserver has a default priority setting of Normal and affinity setting of 1,2,3, (fidelizer sets it to 0, wtf), all other processes have affinity 0 and no default process priority. Process lasso also has a mediaplayer classification setting, so have set squeezeserver to have multimedia classification (has a very nice effect)
The start up process is start pc, start fidelizer, start squeezeserver. Process Lasso starts with the system start. then tt -k. these are the best settings I have had. you are free to try them or castigate them as per your whim, but i'll stand by them in any listening test.

re John Swenson's screen removal mod, which he highly recommended, I have found that the same effect can be achieved by taking screen off the front (but still connected to the board and swivelling it 90` so it faces downwards, this way the emf producing part is furthest away from the sensitive bits, does make quite a difference. shall post some pictures in the diy section.

to those who say digital is digital and it is perfect end to end and these tweaks have no affect, you can try this experiment. if you have an ethernet connected touch hold a magnet close to the ethernet cable while the Touch is playing, now explain why there is a change in the sound. undoubtedly the bits are getting to the Touch because it is ethernet and yet there is a change in the sound.

here are the pictures

bon chance mes ami

[HumanMedia]

Interesting - seems like they have moved the position of two of the decoupling caps since the photo they have on their website.



From SBGK's photos, it seems as though one cap has been moved to the clock board itself joining the other two and one seems to have moved close to the power input lines.

It seems like they do provide for DIY-ers by providing the clocks and caps separately at their Ebay store:
http://stores.ebay.ie/fidelityaudiobyaudioupgrades
But no 'kit' of required parts for DIY-ers, or instructions. (Yes I've asked them but no response)
If they were closer to where I'm located, I'd get them to do it in a flash, but Im half a world away and can't be without my SBT for any length of time.

[andyjayh]

Fantastic write up SBGK much appreciated and useful pics also. Loving the case btw!! I have been thinking about re-casing mine for a while now to get better access and fit some PSU regs etc but nothing as exotic as yours, lol

Interesting your feedback on the difference this level 1 mod makes, inspires me to get on with some modding myself. As HM points out FA do supply the parts directly if you fancy a crack yourself, not sure about it without some for of guidance though. Have no problem with handling a soldering iron but would like to know where to put them so to speak.

Also waiting to see what TT4.0 brings, been very impressed so far and following your mods in the other thread. Decided to keep mine as standard from Soundcheck for now as I haven't played with the spdif output much to date, only using the Touch DAC output.

Once again thanks for your time for posting this info.