JohnSwenson wrote: > > So now we should probably start thinking about Gen1 details, such > physical size, what case (these two go together. SWAMP05 wound up being > 4.3" x 3.6". I don't see Gen1 being any smaller. There are a lot of > connectors to put on it, so I don't think my original idea of 4x3 with > the 3 as the back edge with the connectors working, it just isn't going > to fit. If we put the connectors on the long side (as I did in SWAMP05) > the smallest dimension it can be is 4", the smallest the other could > then be is about 3.5". They could be larger. > What connectors are we talking about on each side ?
If we are thinking ahead for Gen2, it would be important that we can put it in a nice box without being forced to have a lot of ugly visible cables sticking out of the front. I think that's more important than getting it as small as possible. JohnSwenson wrote: > > Based on previous discussions I think I'm going to put a USB hub on the > board, so we will have 4 USB type A jacks, even with stacking that takes > up a lot of room for full size jacks. I envision two stacks of two > jacks. I was thinking originally of doing two USB with an RJ45, but now > we have 4, AND the 2USB-1RJ45 don't have builtin magnetics for the > Ethernet. So I'm looking at two stacks of two USB, single Ethernet by > itself, stacked RCA jacks, TOSLINK, HDMI and DC power. > A built-in hub sounds nice, but one question that comes to mind is why we need more than two USB connections ? An IR receiver and a USB DAC are obvious things that could use USB, but what else is there if we are talking about a player device ? If we are talking about a server device 4 USB connections would be nice because then you also want the ability to connect a USB hard drive, but the previous ideas was to not design it as a server as I understood it. Still, if the only issue is that it makes the board larger and a few dollars more expensive, I don't have any issues if we want to select the 4 built-in USB connector solution since it opens up some flexibility for the future. JohnSwenson wrote: > > The other big thing we need to decide is what we are going to do about > WiFi. I personally like the concept of using the Wizfi630 module which > does everything for us without needing any processor resources or > drivers on the wandboard. Others want to use the builtin WiFi module on > the dual wandboard. It's cheaper since it is already there, but you need > to get all the right drivers installed etc, and it's difficult to get > all the functionality we can get from the Wizfi630. > Letting those who want WiFi pay the extra $35 for the Wizfi630 sounds ok to me. JohnSwenson wrote: > > Then there is the issue of balanced output or not. Balanced adds to the > cost and complexity, but is still easier to do on the main board rather > than on a "daughter board" which can be done. If it's on the main board > then everyone is paying for it. In the case of HDMI it is litterally an > extra 95 cents connector, but balanced takes quite a bit more circuitry > and quite a bit of extra space. We are probably talking at least an > extra $75 to add Balanced. Do we want to add that to every board or have > available a $150 add on board which has to somehow mount in the box and > connect to the main board. If we do the add on board then the main board > and case have to be designed for it. Although once we have a "modular > system" there are other add on boards that could be developed. > Definitely put it as a separate board for $150, the people who care about balanced outputs isn't going to care if they have to pay $150 extra. I think it's important to keep the audiophile stuff which adds significant costs outside the main board, else you won't be able to use the main board in cheap devices, like a Squeezebox Radio kind of device. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ erland's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3124 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=97881 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
