USB Audio DAC mod + LaserBoy Correction Amp

[seanharrison]

probably winamp can't output more than 2 channels.

I was using my projector fine with winamp on my laptop, I have come to the conclusion that the Soundcard and op-amp are dead. When Barold built them up for me, 1 channel had died on the soundcard, but i was happy with it working without that, But i have noticed over time that the soundcard has been running extremely hot, I think may has died due to the faulty channel

Im starting to get pissed off now, Spend all this money trying to get this up and running, and part by part its falling apart. First my scanners broke and now my soundcard dac. I dunno what to do. How much is the FB3 ?

Damn open source is killing me!

Im not saying i hate it, I love laserboy and spaghetti

[drlava]

I was using my projector fine with winamp on my laptop, I have come to the conclusion that the Soundcard and op-amp are dead. When Barold built them up for me, 1 channel had died on the soundcard, but i was happy with it working without that, But i have noticed over time that the soundcard has been running extremely hot, I think may has died due to the faulty channel

Im starting to get pissed off now, Spend all this money trying to get this up and running, and part by part its falling apart. First my scanners broke and now my soundcard dac. I dunno what to do. How much is the FB3 ?

Damn open source is killing me!

Im not saying i hate it, I love laserboy and spaghetti

There seems to be some incontinuity here. At one point you say it works fine with laseroids, then at another point you say this. what's really going on?

[JoJo]

Im starting to get pissed off now, Spend all this money trying to get this up and running, and part by part its falling apart. First my scanners broke and now my soundcard dac. I dunno what to do. How much is the FB3 ?

So you first worked with a free soundcard solution, which uses software functions, originally created for our EasyLase USB product and "misused" for the soundcard DAC. Then, as this solution is not good for you, you ask for the FB3?
Have you EVER thought about asking for the ORIGNAL EasyLase DAC, which works with Spaghetti, Mamba, LDS, Phoenix, HE-Laserscan plus the games?
Let me get this straight: The function calls for the lasergames were originally created for EasyLase. Our function calls were used for the soundcard DAC WITHOUT asking us for permission.


Joachim

[Zoof]

I was using my projector fine with winamp on my laptop, I have come to the conclusion that the Soundcard and op-amp are dead. When Barold built them up for me, 1 channel had died on the soundcard, but i was happy with it working without that, But i have noticed over time that the soundcard has been running extremely hot, I think may has died due to the faulty channel

Im starting to get pissed off now, Spend all this money trying to get this up and running, and part by part its falling apart. First my scanners broke and now my soundcard dac. I dunno what to do. How much is the FB3 ?

Damn open source is killing me!

Im not saying i hate it, I love laserboy and spaghetti

Hi Sean,
Sounds like you're ready to bail out. Just want to point out that there isn't an API available for the FB3 so none of the community software (including laseroids ) is going to work on it. Sounds like your bad luck is with the hardware and not the software.

(Gee I just wished you had said you love the games too )

Matthijs

[seanharrison]

There seems to be some incontinuity here. At one point you say it works fine with laseroids, then at another point you say this. what's really going on?

I think the soundcard has overheated everything apart from the XY channels 1&2 has all of a sudden stop working. I found a old analogue multimeter, and when i messure the outputs from the op-amp with circle.wav, channels 1&2 XY messure 5 volts. But the other 4 channels have little or no reading. I have tried reconfiguring the op-amp, but this does not solve anything. I'm going to buy a new DMM today. And i might be able solve this when i find out whats going on.

I might get and try the new CM6206 soundcard if i have no look.

So you first worked with a free soundcard solution, which uses software functions, originally created for our EasyLase USB product and "misused" for the soundcard DAC. Then, as this solution is not good for you, you ask for the FB3?
Have you EVER thought about asking for the ORIGNAL EasyLase DAC, which works with Spaghetti, Mamba, LDS, Phoenix, HE-Laserscan plus the games?
Let me get this straight: The function calls for the lasergames were originally created for EasyLase. Our function calls were used for the soundcard DAC WITHOUT asking us for permission.


Joachim

Hey Joachim, I wasnt being serious when i said about the FB3 lol, It was just sarcasim.

Tell me more about the Easylase, This might be a good solution for me..

I know its compatible with all the software that i want to use.

How much is the Easylase?

Hi Sean,
Sounds like you're ready to bail out. Just want to point out that there isn't an API available for the FB3 so none of the community software (including laseroids ) is going to work on it. Sounds like your bad luck is with the hardware and not the software.

(Gee I just wished you had said you love the games too )

Matthijs

Im not gonna bail out on your guys, It is just a bit of bad look. I will get this soundcard DAC sorted or atleast get another one built. and if all else fails i will opt for the Easylase. But i dont have alot of money at the moment so OPEN SOURCE all the way

And sorry, I DO LOVE your games Zoof!

[carmangary]

I like the EasyLase card. I have an EasyLase, RIYA, Moncha, and modified soundcard.

I HATE the modified soundcard because it is a pain in the ass to get adjusted and set up. Then, if you hook it up to a different computer or O/S, you have to go through the whole process again. I almost removed support for it from Spaghetti because I got tired of people blaming Spaghetti for problems with the sound card setup but now that some people have it working and are helping others I feel better about leaving it in.

EasyLase, RIYA, and Moncha all have their pluses and minuses. I like my RIYA the best, though, because it has the most features.

[drlava]

Hi JoJo, the easylase function calls were emulated in EzAudDac as a compatibility layer because they were rather ubiquitous with open-hardware software and the ONLY api in laseroids (somewhat of a compliment to easylase). EzAudDac does not use any of your code. The sound card dac is not meant to be a replacement of easylase by any stretch, it does not currently support things such as DMX. Without a laser safe device, a sound card DAC should probably not be used in situations that where the scanners have the possibility of pointing into the audience. When hobbyists desire this capability, they can get a laser safe device and/or upgrade to easylase or another DAC (but chances are they know the software they use will support easylase).

The sound card DAC is meant to be a self-buildable solution well under $100 with 48kpps and 16 bit x/y/r/g/b output for hobbyists. It leverages the mass sound card market to reduce price. For this, it does the job well, but as a self-buildable solution, not pre packaged, there will the bumps along the way. As open-hardware software continues to include the native EzAudDac function calls, the easylase calls in EzAudDac will no longer be needed.

[James Lehman]

I HATE the modified soundcard because ...

I hope you can see that the modified sound card that you have is just one example of how it might be done. The real idea that it demonstrates has nothing to do with a particular piece of hardware.

The whole idea is to "genericize" the concept of outputting laser control signals.

A modified sound card is the only source of laser control signals I have ever had. I don't HATE anything about it. I suspect many other people don't HATE it either.

BTW. The drivers for this USB card that everyone has been using (CM106-L) are not that good.

Using a modified 5.1 or 7.1 PCI sound card, inside a desktop computer, might produce much more solid and reliable functionality. Quite honestly, using a PCI card makes building the correction amp easier, because you get +/-12VDC from the PCI slot.

James.

[dar303]

I haven't had any problems with the USB DAC, I think it is great!
You have to know a couple of things about the hardware before you use it;
1. the outputs are inverted
2. The output swing is only +/-5V with the original +/-9V DC-DC converter and the existing trimming instructions. Get the +/-12V DC-DC converter and set it for +/-10V output swing (on X/Y) instead!
3. If you restart the computer everything will turn to maximum output!
I might try to find a way to turn the power off if there is no data on the USB-port.


If you take this into consideration it isn't that hard!

[JoJo]

Hi JoJo, the easylase function calls were emulated in EzAudDac as a compatibility layer because they were rather ubiquitous with open-hardware software and the ONLY api in laseroids (somewhat of a compliment to easylase).

I know this. But maybe there was a reason, why the games just supported EasyLase. Have you ever thought about this?

EzAudDac does not use any of your code.

I also know this. And we will not say anything against it, as long as this project will not become commerical. But as soon as a commerical product uses our calls as "backdoor" to communicate with software, we will react in this or that kind.

The thing is a bit complicate, but let me try to explain:
There is a difference between "open-hardware" software and "open-software" hardware
Open-hardware software, like Mamba, gives the user function calls to use with all possible hardware. You know the "mld-calls", which are described for the user.
Open-software hardware, like the EasyLase, gives the user hardware-calls to use with all possible software. This is, why the "EasyLase.dll" is described for the user.
So what you have done, is to direct the output of a non-open software (for example the games) into your own DLL, which let's the software "think", there is an EasyLase connected.
This sounds not to be illegal. But naturally, this was NOT the goal of the development of EasyLase or the different commercial software,like LDS.
Sure, this all was very simple. It is not a big secret how to misuse an existing (documentated) API for other purpose. It was a question of time until somebody does it.
We never saw a reason to hide things or close doors until now. It worked about 4-5 years. But time has changed and many people in companies start to think about that question.
We are not just sitting at home and wait until someone buys our product. We cooperate with many other companies and there are many agreements with other companies, for example software companies. There are political and financial reasons, why a software X uses the interface Y instead of the interface Z. Software X does not support hardware Y, just because it looks nice. I hope you understand
You see, our problem is NOT Spaghetti + Soundcard or other hobby projects.
But as soon as you opened the door for using other hardware, you also opened the door for companies (for example in Asia) to use this.
And believe me: A commerical product ALWAYS is step 2 of a hobby project. I can tell you many examples, where exactly this happened.

The sound card DAC is meant to be a self-buildable solution well under $100 with 48kpps and 16 bit x/y/r/g/b output for hobbyists. It leverages the mass sound card market to reduce price.

Unfortunately, not everything is used for what it was meant to use for..
I don't want any reaction of you guys here and now.
I just wanted to explain, that not all of your projects, make everybody happy (specially me). And that some projects, originally started to make some freaks happy, can influence business of some commercial showlaser companies. Not because 10 hobby-laserists are not buying a commercial product, but because companies take the project-results to save time and cost and fight us. So the red alarm-lamp is on now.

Joachim