I2S connection via RJ45 on dac Aqua

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Hi all, I have the Aqua Formula xhd rev2 dac and I would like to connect it to the k50 via I2S RJ45, but the Aqua has a non-standard pinout and requires a cable to be built ad hoc. Has anyone tried this link and could you tell me what solution they went for? Thank

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I used to have an Aqua La Scala DAC and after a lot of discussion with both Antipodes and Aqua we couldn’t get it to work. I think Aqua use a different protocol to Antipodes, who use a more common one. I ended up changing the Aqua to an Ayon DAC and got Tubulus to make me a RG45 Concentrus cable with custom pin out which now works really well.

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Thanks for the information, from what you tell me I should leave the K50 alone, because I already have the Formula. But have you tried to follow the pattern suggested by Mark Cole here??

Thanks

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Digging into old emails about this from the UK Aqua dealer, it looks like Aqua use a different I2S protocol to everyone else. The only choice I had if I had kept the La Scala was to use their Linq streamer, which I wasn’t keen on as it didn’t have the functionality I wanted from the K50.

I decided to go for a K50 as the streamer and try different DAC’s instead. Currently happy with the Ayon but am looking to try out a Mola Mola DAC in the near future.

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Just to let you know I have had a bespoke rj45 i2s made to connect K50 and Aqua Formula. It arrived yesterday and I am very pleased with the result.

A euro 100 premium over the stock cable price. Made by a Netherlands company. www.tubulus.net I chose the Concentus model

I sent the pin out diagram that @MarkCole posted a while back. Took less than 4 weeks from order to delivery
Regards
Alan

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Thanks for sharing. I followed a different method, I describe it because someone might want to do it: I purchased a Clear Network CAT-7 which features Telegartner connectors, I opened it and modified the pinout, according to Mark Cole’s instructions, only on the Formula side. Practically an I2S Cardas Clear RJ45, without Cardas having ever produced it.

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Good to know that this works. I have recently acquired an Aqua La Scala, just waiting for a crimping tool to arrive in the post, then I will give this a go. I was going to try with a cheap cable first to see if it works, thanks for reporting your results here. I’m interested in how this connection will sound compared to the others. I have an Afterdark network cable I’m not using, with the Telegartner connectors, which I plan to modify when I have had some practice.