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C5535 eZdsp USB Stick Development Kit First Impression

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: DEM-OPA-SO-2B, DEM-BUF-SOT-1A, CD74HC00

Just received yesterday afternoon the C5535 eZdsp USB Stick Development Kit. This make me vary happy even if it arrived 1 day later than estimated by FedEx. The ordered was placed on https://estore.ti.com/Default.aspx exactly 1 week before. First I was surprised by the packaging. 5 different items were ordered:

1 of: TMDX5535EZDSP - C5535 eZdsp USB Stick Development Kit
2 of: MSP-EXP430G2 - MSP430 LaunchPad Value Line Development kit
1 of: TTL-LOGIC-DATABOOK - TTL LOGIC DATA BOOK
3 of: DEM-OPA-SO-2B - FREE DEM-OPA-SO-2B
3 of: DEM-BUF-SOT-1A - FREE DEM-BUF-SOT-1A

and they came each in it's own box. This looks to me like a waste of space, boxes and handling effort.

The transportation, packaging and handling were all free and I highly appreciate this. Thank you TI.

Another surprise was the TTL databook. On the website (https://estore.ti.com/TTL-LOGIC-DATABOOK-TTL-LOGIC-DATA-BOOK-P2187.aspx) it's written: "This edition covers everything from standard TTL and Schottky TTL circuits to CMOS logic and VSLI processors." False, it covers only  standard TTL and (Low) Schottky TTL, e.g. I can not find CD74HC00. On the data book cover it's written 1988 so I assume it's a 20+ years old edition.

The 2 Launchpad's and the free demo boards all looks great, I didn't have time to use them yet but they seem to be just perfect. Thank you TI once again.

Enough off topic, let's talk about C5535 eZdsp. I took the printed quick start guide (printed really, really small) and want to try the out of the box audio demonstration.

  1. Printed quick start guide is written with very small characters
  2. The display looks like a broken LCD (but it works). Also it fade out a little when too many pixels are lightning up and the refresh rate is too small for a spectral VU-meter. In my opinion (considering the screen printing mask, the chips placing and the general filling) the displayed letters in the audio demo are upside down.
  3. Type A USB connector (J2) was bent (just a few degrees, I manage to straiten it without braking anything)
  4. The stereo in and out connectors need a lot of force to plug and unplug (leave the impression of cheap)
  5. Very sharp burrs debris from PCB panelization. Combined with point number 4 it becomes a very unpleasant experience (when I plug and unplug the 3 mm Jack the unfinished portions of the PCB edges tend to pinch and cut the skin - I had to file them)
  6. When I started the audio demo I heard sound only in the right channel. This spoiled all the joy.  The left headphone was broken. I measured the continuity and the left speaker it's interrupted, it's not the wire or something else, it's the speaker coil.
  7. The sound is VERY bad. Even with other high quality and same impedance headphones (Sennheiser) the sound is still bad.
  8. On high volume the noise is unimaginable high.
  9. On high volume the clipping is so strong that you cannot hear the music. Later I found out the clipping distortions problem are also treated in the FAQ. The answer is hilarious, it says that because of the CODEC type all I can do it's turn the volume down. I don't know if it's possible but maybe it will be a good idea for the designers to choose another CODEC and redesign the audio part for the next versions. The sound quality is unacceptably low and leave the impression of cheap and crappy. In conclusion this board it's unusable as an external USB sound card but the purpose of the board it's to demonstrate the C5535 capabilities so I can live with that.
  10. In my opinion it was a bad idea to put a type A USB connector (J2) because if you are working on a desktop you need another USB extension cable (which is not so common) and if you are working on a laptop the board is too big   to plug it directly in a USB port. Also the PCB contain push buttons, connectors with headset attached , all of this can lead to bent or break of the type A connector from the board and/or laptop. In my case I need to work on a desktop and didn't have a USB extension cable so I need to spend time improvising from a normal USB cable and 2 female USB connectors mounted on a piece of prototype PCB. A more comon type B  connector  for J2 would be more suitable.
  11. There are no pads on the back of the PCB so it will scratch the desk. LounchPad have pads even if it's 20 times cheaper.
  12. There are 2 green + 4 colored LED's on the board with 4 different colours, 4 (small) different sizes, 4 different light intensity. It looks kind of funny and lame.
  13. I like the push buttons with rubber cap 
  14. The DVD disk was not recognized by the desktop. Lucky me, a laptop can read it and I was able to save the content on the desktop computer.
  15. Installing the CCS failed a few times by freezing the computer. In the quick start guide it is NOT stated what to choose from the CCS package. It takes me hours until I figured out that I should uncheck the XDS560 becouse it will try to install a driver for a PCI board that I don't have and it will freeze the computer.

I am new to TI MCU's, DSP's and software packages so I am aware that many of the problems could be becouse of me. My previous experiences with LaunchPad and eZ430-Chronos were absolutely great. With each day I like working with TI products more and more. Last week I discovered the Concerto processors which I like very much and I can hardly wait to explore them. Until then, my first DSP kit was not so great. Even for only 55 $ instead of 99 $, still not great. I just hope the joy of programming it will compensate this little annoyances.

On the bottom line, the definitions of disappointment is: wrong expectations. Maybe the Chronos and the LaunchPad are just too good. :)

Don't misunderstood me, I am not trying to say that C5535 eZdsp it's a bad product. Maybe I was a little bit unlucky this time.

Please consider all this story as a feedback rather than a complain.

 

Later edit by George Busuioc:

Now, a few weeks later, all my disappointment has vanished. After lowering the  CODEC  gain, everything comes to normal.

No matter if you develop some product or just want to learn DSP, this board is the way to go. C5535 is an amazing DSP and it comes with a lot of bundled peripherals, free software libraries and coding examples. The price is unbeatable too.

  • Mate, this looks like a review on a consumer product rather than an engineering board.

    A consumer would want to get good stuff from cheap price, while an engineer would need to build up good stuff from cheap materials. You have to choose your own position.

    I've just received my C5535ezDSP this week, and it is definitely worth $55.

  • I have been using the C5535 eZdsp now for the past 2 weeks, and it is nothing short of a miracle.

    Any issues with sound have simply to do with adjusting values on the aic3204 codec. I reduce the gain to 0 db to use line input. Most of the preset examples have the gain up very high for mono microphone input, that is probably why you are saying everything is noisy and distorted. As for your left channel of sound missing on the headphone output, try a new set of headphones. The 1/8" audio jacks on these boards are very trustworthy and stable.

    I definitely like the new ability to monitor the UART port directly thru the debug interface. I was waiting for that feature to be added since the C5505 board came out. They skipped it in the C5515, and now finally it is there in C5535. So happy for that. Makes it worth every penny of the $55 I spent.

    Cheers!

    Chris

  • Hi George,

    if you want to expand your board with a edge connector, the document "ezdsp5535_TechRef_RevC.pdf " from Spectrum Digital references the wrong connector.

    Its not a Samtec MEC1-120-02-S-D-A. The Digikey partnumber is also wrong.

    For the correct partnumbers have a look at this: http://e2e.ti.com/support/dsp/tms320c5000_power-efficient_dsps/f/109/p/97036/339817.aspx#339817

     

  •  

    Thank you all for your reply.

    Yesterday I realized that only the defective speaker had an unglued cap. This might be a clue that somebody else before me tried to fix the headphones, so this might be a refurbished kit. Other clues are the bent USB connector, the SD card already inserted and the fact that nothing was sealed in plastic bags. Maybe somebody else made some bad settings then return the board to TI. Maybe it's defective.

    I am not expecting any miracles but the sound is like the output of a broken final stage amplifier. I just hope that after restoring the "factory settings" everything will came to normal.

     

  • Hi everyone, I'm really new with DSP's and I'm having trouble finding info about how even configurate the CCS for programming this little guy. For example when I install CCS what should I choose? The regular, The premium or Custom? If I install regular is only for MSP430 and Stellaris I think, the premium is only for thirty days and so on. Where can I find info for this eZdsp? I went and checked the Digital Spectrum site and just found the schematics and stuffs like that, but where can I find the source code for the demo and additional examples?? 

    Compared to the Launchpad this kind of info is getting hard for me to find, besides I only have time to do research on this things in my spare time, any shortcut would be appreciated ;)

     

    Thanks for your time.

     

     

  • Download the 2.50 CSL via:

    http://software-dl.ti.com/dsps/dsps_public_sw/dsps_swops_houston/C55X/CSL-c55x-lowpower-versions.htm

    Follow the Release Note 20110624 pdf to configure everything.

    Regards.

  • Thanks for your response, but why do I need this chip support library? Sorry if it sounds like a silly question, but I have no previous experience using DSP's and the only approach I had with CCS was with the easy steps for the Launchpad so I'm looking for info from the most basics and I haven't been able to find it in your website (if there's any this basic) about the Release note you mentioned I couldn't find that particular number in the technical documentation :S do you have any link?

    Best Regards.

  • You do not need the CSL if you know how to program DSP. Since you are looking for something to begin with. I referred to the CSL because of the step by step with pictures installation guide in the release note. You can try folllowing it to install and use the CSL examples to learn about the device. The CSL 2.50 20110624 is the last one on the link I posted. I will post here if I can think of anything more basic.

    Regards. 

  • OK NOW I get it, I already downloaded it and I realized that the Release Note would be copied in the installation directory. I will give it a look. Thanks for your help.

    Best regards!

  • Christian Caballero: "I'm having trouble finding info about how even configurate the CCS for programming this little guy. For example when I install CCS what should I choose? The regular, The premium or Custom?" 

     


     

    I had the same problem. I installed the CCS Premium from (a copy of) the DVD that came with the kit but without XDS510 or XDS560 (uncheck them), not shure wich one. You can uncheck them both just to be shure. Later I found out that the eZdsp C5535 kit is using XDS100 v2. In my case, if I try to install XDS5xx the installation process freeze.

    After installing, the status of CCS is "Licensed" and from my understanding it will not expire, but it will work only with this kit. I am as new as you are with the eZdsp C5535 kit so I might be wrong...

    Just like you, I am doing this in my spare time. The blinking LED demo was the only attempt to compile anything and it worked. I was looking for some sort of tutorials too, but I didn't find anything specific to C5535 eZdsp USB Stick Development Kit.

  • Now, a few weeks later and after lowering the CODEC gain, everything comes to normal. No matter if you develop some product or just want to learn DSP, this board is the way to go. C5535 is an amazing DSP and it comes with a lot of bundled peripherals, free software libraries and coding examples. The price is unbeatable too.

    I know these words sounds like an advertising, but it's not. I am not affiliated in any way with TI and I am writing this just because I'm really impressed.

    Thank you and keep up the good work, TI

  • I'm new to the eZdsp but just got the LED blinking example running today, and tried out a few other example projects.

    I wanted to reprogram the DSP with the orginal "soundcard" application but couldn't find it among the included example projects... Is there another location where it can be downloaded?

     Best regards,

    Flo

  • Flo,

    I think this is what you are looking for:

    http://processors.wiki.ti.com/index.php/C5000_Connected_Audio_Framework

    Regards.

  • Thanks Steve!

    I managed to build and run it.

    Now I would like to change the sampling rate to 44.1kHz. I've seen some hints on the linked wiki:

    Q: How do I enable 48khz record?

    A: see the definitions as below Playback=2 channels at 48khz, Record=1 channel at 48khz: Defined: REC_SAMPLE_RATE = RATE_48_KHZ PLAY_SAMPLE_RATE = RATE_48_KHZ SAMPLE_RATE_TX_48kHz SAMPLE_RATE_RX_48kHz SAMPLE_RATE_I2S_48kHz Undefined: ENABLE_PLAYBACK_TWO_SAMPLE_RATES ENABLE_STEREO_RECORD

    But I'm not sure where to declare these. Would you please tell me? If 44.1 is not possible I would like to use 48kHz.

    Also the wiki seems to be a bit out of date and contradictory. Are we on version 1.x or 2.x? I didn't quite understand.

    Best regards,

    Flo