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.
- Printed quick start guide is written with very small characters
- 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.
- Type A USB connector (J2) was bent (just a few degrees, I manage to straiten it without braking anything)
- The stereo in and out connectors need a lot of force to plug and unplug (leave the impression of cheap)
- 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)
- 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.
- The sound is VERY bad. Even with other high quality and same impedance headphones (Sennheiser) the sound is still bad.
- On high volume the noise is unimaginable high.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- I like the push buttons with rubber cap
- 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.
- 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.
