SA30 build 1306, version 1.72

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“optimized Frequency Response for different sample rates”

@arcam_mark just wondering what this actually means in reality and what difference we might expect to hear, or what the different behaviour of the amp will be? Thanks :slightly_smiling_face:

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I dont see any difference. But i dont really understand what this means: “Fix - optimized frequency response for different sample rates” if this is the problem with the wrong bitrate shown on the display for example on the Patricia Barbers album Clique, there is no difference. with Node2i shows 88,2 and Arcam only 44.1 from the 2. song.

  1. song only shows 352,8kHz.
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We found that if the sample rate changed the frequency response at the upper limits could be slightly affected, so this beta build (#1306) addresses that issue.

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I can find no reason not to release 1306 as a public. It has been running perfectly on my SA 30 for a week , but I do not use the digital inputs, only analog and Roon via wifi. But all is the same as 1206.

Thanks for the update!
Ken

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Hello @arcam_mark / @arcam_nick / @arcam_paul / @ARCAM_CS-Tom

Could you share progress on the next official release of the sa30 firmware ?

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The next release will be a big update to streaming services so, as such requires a lot of testing - are there specific issues you are experiencing?

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Hello and thanks for the prompt feedback.

My main persisting issue is that once I’ve streamed (Via Chromecast), turning on the TV does not switch automatically to HDMI. I have to manually power down the amplifier to get sound back….

I don’t use the remote (amplifier is in another room), so having the possibility to switch to hdmi source from the app would be more than welcome :slight_smile:

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Thanks, we’ll check this out here - what make/model of TV do you have (may be a factor!)?

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I own a Q95T from Samsung.
Appart from this usecase, HDMI on/off works as expected

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You mention major updates to streaming services. Great to hear. Can we expect Tidal Connect and/or Spotify Connect in the next version update?

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Much as I would love to share information here, I’m afraid I must reserve it for official announcements :slight_smile:

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Do you have at least any rough ETA? :slight_smile:

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Aside from my previous answer, there are also external dependencies we have little control over…:slight_smile:

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It was worth to try anyway :smiley:
Thanks :slight_smile:

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Sorry to be so vague :slight_smile:

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Any news on this one? Do we have any potential release date and release notes?

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I’ve just seen a new file has been placed:

www.arcamupdate.co.uk/beta/SA30/

@arcam_mark any update what that is?

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I don’t know if anyone has tracked down the source before and if it’s been clarified exactly what the issue is, but it’s most likely about a problem that SoundStageNetwork editors encountered during measurements.

https://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2630:arcam-sa30-integrated-amplifier-dac&catid=97:amplifier-measurements&Itemid=154

Because of this unusual high-frequency behavior with the analog input when fed through the SA30 and digitized, especially when considering Arcam’s claim that the ADC operates at 32bit/192kHz, we brought it to the attention of the Arcam engineers. They acknowledged the issue and provided us with a fix (net version 1306), which, as of this writing, is not yet available to the public at large. With the fix, the frequency response was re-measured and yielded the following results:

frequency response original
frequency response original964×600 21 KB

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Thanks for the link. I had not seen a full set of measurements on the SA 30. Impressive. No wonder it can drive the snot out of my Sonus Faber Extremas. And no wonder it sounds so good doing so. The latest beta firmware opens up more streaming goodies.

Ken

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Thanks a lot @maciekb for the link. Indeed this is most comprehensive set of measurements for SA30 i’ve seen. It’s actually one of the best i have ever seen. ASR, that is quoted in many places so often, should learn from this. They even measured frequency response with real load, instead of dummy load!
For me this one was actually very interesting:

image
image907×600 38.7 KB

To be honest i’m a bit surprised, that author was surprised by the “double knee” :slight_smile:
It actually very nicely shows class G in operation, and we finally know up to what power SA30 is working in class A. It’s a whopping 40W for 4 Ohm load, and ~27W for 8 Ohm. Nice. It means mine is always working in class A :slight_smile:
In general not all measurements are perfect, but for a “budget” all-in-one device i would say it’s still very, very good.

Edit: Actually sent email to Diego, who made the measurement. Let’s see if and what he will comment on that :slight_smile:

Edit 2: Seems Diego is very responsive :slight_smile: He will add a note about class G to this graph, so that it’s clear from where this second “knee” is coming from :slight_smile:

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