Digital Output Modules & I2S

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Stephen Healy

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2023
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Kenilworth, UK
Hi everyone,

I am pleased to announce there has been a consolidation of our Digital Output Modules that now offer consistent alignment across PULSAR, ZEN Next-Gen and ZENith Next-Gen.

With regards to the optional Digital Output Module, these 3 products are now available with:
  • No output module fitted (NEW option for PULSAR which now has lower starting RRP to reflect absence of module)
  • SPDIF Board (NEW option for PULSAR, previously only available as module on ZEN Next-Gen and ZENith Next-Gen)
  • PhoenixUSB Lite Board
  • PhoenixI2S Lite Board (NEW option for all 3 products)
1733849460350.png

In short, I2S is here for PULSAR, ZEN Next-Gen and ZENith Next-Gen whilst PULSAR now also has more configuration options in terms of dedicated output stage that brings it in line with the ZEN/ZENith Next-Gen.

These output modules can be fitted into existing units, so existing owners can pursue these new options if desired. This allows for more adjustability in case you change your DAC in the future, or want to leverage a different/better connection type.
The installation of the boards must be performed by an approved Innuos dealer, so please contact them for more information regarding your specific system.

More information on the boards and new pricing details can be found here:
PULSAR: https://innuos.com/pulsar/
ZEN Next-Gen: https://innuos.com/zen-ng/
ZENith Next-Gen: https://innuos.com/zenith-ng/

Any other questions, please let me know - happy to get a discussion going in the comments!
Stephen
 
Good news, however, I thought I had previously read the boards were supposed to be able to be fitted by the user, ie flexibility, no need to go back to the supplier to make changes, or was that only adding additional memory?
 
frank7036 said:
Good news, however, I thought I had previously read the boards were supposed to be able to be fitted by the user, ie flexibility, no need to go back to the supplier to make changes, or was that only adding additional memory?
Click to expand...
The fitting of an M2 SSD can be done by a user, this is absolutely fine as there is an easily accessible bay specifically for this on ZEN and ZENith Next-Gen. For the output modules, these are not the 'push-in' kinds of boards and do involve going into the internal of the product and adjusting wiring etc, so this must go through an approved dealer.
 
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Octaviars said:
@Stephen Healy what kind of signal goes from the motherboard to the I2S board?

What does the settings 0-7 on the slector on the board change?
Click to expand...
It goes USB from the mainboard to I2S on the module and is converted at very high precision due to nature of clocks and power supply used.

The 0-7 dial accounts for the different positive/negative lines on the Bit clock and Word clock, as well as master clock frequencies and DSD channels. We'll have a graphic for this up on our site soon so that the different profiles can be compared against what is needed for your DAC.
 
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Hi again Steven,
It is interesting to read that Innuos is creating the digital audio data in USB and then converting to I2S as it is my understanding that I2S was developed specifically for digital audio communication between chips and devices - see below. Can you elaborate why Innuos chooses to add the extra complexity into their data stream? Perhaps I am misunderstanding what you wrote?
Cheers. Frank
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Many digital audio systems are being introduced into the consumer
audio market, including compact disc, digital audio tape, digital
sound processors, and digital TV-sound. The digital audio signals in
these systems are being processed by a number of (V)LSI ICs,
such as:
• A/D and D/A converters;
• digital signal processors;
• error correction for compact disc and digital recording;
• digital filters;
• digital input/output interfaces.
Standardized communication structures are vital for both the
equipment and the IC manufacturer, because they increase system
flexibility. To this end, we have developed the inter-IC sound (I2S)
bus – a serial link especially for digital audio.
clock SCK
2.0 BASIC SERIAL BUS REQUIREMENTS
The bus has only to handle audio data, while the other signals, such
as sub-coding and control, are transferred separately. To minimize
the number of pins required and to keep wiring simple, a 3-line serial
bus is used consisting of a line for two time-multiplexed data
channels, a word select line and a clock line.
Since the transmitter and receiver have the same clock signal for
data transmission, the transmitter as the master, has to generate the
bit clock, word-select signal and data. In complex systems however,
there may be several transmitters and receivers, which makes it
difficult to define the master. In such systems, there is usually a
system master controlling digital audio data-flow between the
various ICs. Transmitters then, have to generate data under the
control of an external clock, and so act as a slave.
 
Hi Frank, this is more in the context of older digital sources with internal DACs like CD players and DATs etc.
When it comes to separate transport and DAC, our approach is a bit more conventional, and keep in mind that even if going USB out, your DAC then converts that into I2S to pass onto the conversion state. What the PhoenixI2S Lite offers is a way of doing that in a very high-performance manner on the source side rather than DAC side - whether this is better or not is entirely relative to the exact DAC in question, so is quite case-by-case in terms of potential benefits.
I believe some of the first units with the PhoenixI2S module are under assembly now, but exact shipping lead times will need to be determined via the dealer.
 
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Hi @Stephen Healy ,
Happy Christmas and holidays ….
My Zenith NG + I2S board arrived which is great. Setting it up at the moment (restoring backup) and I’ve looked for information on the I2S dial configuration but cannot find anything as yet. You mentioned that At sometime there will be a table/graphic posted to show what pin configuration each number corresponds to?
Do you happen to know what number would match the PS Audio Directstream DAC I2S input?
Cheers and I’m looking forward to continuing great quality music.
Frank
 
Hi Frank, based on the diagram you provided it looks like profile 2 is what you would need on the PhoenixI2S board. We'll look to get the pin profiles up publicly shortly.
 
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Hi Innuos,
I hooked up the NG using a basic Belken HDMI cable using Profile 2 (as it came out of box - #2 at 12noon) and after remembering to swap the output to i2s under “system” settings my DIirectstream DAC registered the handshake and music eventuated using a Flac file 16/44.
I then tried to play a .dsf (dsd) file I have on the system using Native DSD but no music! I also notice the track would only play 9sec (Innuos screen) then revert to the beginning and start again.
If I change the mode on the NG to DSD over PCM the track plays according to the DirectStream as a 1bit (DSD64) file and music eventuates.
However, the DirectStream DAC plays native DSD via i2s - Its been doing it for years via the PS Audio DMP connected with i2s.
Any thoughts / other settings that may need changing??View attachment IMG_1435.jpeg
 
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