I am assuming the new display will be larger than the current digital numbers. If you need to change to a different case I really encourage you to use one that is opened from the top, at least for the kit. The current case is with the end plate coming off, which for me leads to breaking the wires when I try to put it back together. That is why I had to send mine to you for repair a while back. Also, if I download the latest software, will that give me the new balance control that keeps the volume almost constant? And lastly, I recently added a pre-amp to my system - it sounded a bit better than the custom buffer I had been using. But since the pre-amp has no remote I am keeping the Tortuga passive feeding it. To my ears there is just no change in the sound when I add it in and remote volume and balance are a wonderful thing for a couch potato like me.
Regarding the OLED displayThe new OLED (organic LED) display is a 1" tall by 3.25" wide rectangle. The overall display unit is larger than this but that's the size of visible glass panel. Since it's a pixel based graphical display the entire area is available for display of either text, numbers or images.
The existing 7-segment displays have numbers that are 0.56" tall and is reasonably visible from seated listening positions assuming the equipment is located 10-15 feet in front of the seated listener. The primary volume level numbers in the OLED display will be roughly the same size and will also be blue text/numbers against a nearly black backgroung. In my opinion the OLED display has better overall display contrast than the blue 7-segment LED display. The objective with the OLED display is for the user to clearly see the display as good as or better than the 7-segment. However, there will be certain display info such as when selecting options, enabling/disabling certain features, or viewing diagnostic info etc. that will will user smaller fonts and require the user to be at the unit to view the info.
The OLED display will fit within the current enclosure and occupy roughly the same 3D space as the existing dual 7-segment display assembly. However, the OLED display WILL require a new front panel that is custom milled to fit the OLED display glass. I debated putting the entire display behind the existing acrylic front panel but concluded that the loss in contrast, clarity and brightness was too big a price to pay. Coming up with just the right custom milling to perfectly fit the OLED display glass and supporting module was a PITA.
The OLED display will plug into existing V25 boards but will require a firmware update to be operational. A physical jumper (shunt) will also need to be added across a pair of pins on the J7 header to select OLED.
Regarding other stuffWith most everything mounted to a slide-in mounting board except the front/rear panels with our end-access-only extruded enclosure I rarely have wire breakage when opening/closing a unit. However, if you use really fine silver hookup wire or the like then it can get a lot easier to break a connection between the RCA/XLR jacks and input connection points.
The constant volume during balance adjustment is working well for the V25 board. Have not updated the V2 firmware with that yet but your note reminds me that I should get that done.
Yet again, you are witness to how the Tortuga LDR preamp gets out of the way of the music and imparts a light to non-existent footprint of its own to the sound.