Kategorie: ES 9038Q2M

Thoughts about an upgrade to ES9038PRO->too expensive at present+DIY-audio-forum

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so, 😉
thought about an upgrade to an ES9038PRO by example..
we´ve had here a post to a “HIFIME UDA38PRO DAC”->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/2018/02/es9038pro-new-es9038pro-out-hifime-uda38pro-dac-es9038pro-sa9227-219e/, 219€ and now looked today through Ebay and found this one:

roundabout 190$..->LINK
looks very nice manufactored, nice layout, 4 Op-Amps..
very interesting is also that they recommend:
“..default include NE5532*2 + NE5534*2 Op-amp
you can upgrade the op amps :AD797 AND muses8920” (have absolutely the same opinion here too (and also at the “DIY-audio.com-forum”; link at the right..)+ our “fabulous” “OP-Amps recommended by ES-Sabre”-list->Link..

so, but nevertheless i must say that as i heard my combo (“Blue”ES9038Q2M+Muses8920) after a little timely distance it is already a superb fine tune/sound..(but as said, u have to use Muses8920 or AD797 or similar)..

by that, some user at the phenomenal DIY-audio.com-forum->Link at the right link-list also said that he also has the impression that the “Blue”-ones sounded “flat” (as i said/posted before)..

so because it is already a really fine sound/tune here, and this 200 bucks are to expensive  for me right now/at present i guess i will maybe order some “Green” ES9038Q2M (V1.06 or V1.07)->but/and “we” have to be very careful in selecting the right ones, because there are also absolutely great differences on the “Green”-layouts concerning the quality of the layer+components !!)..->selected “Green”-one (V1.06) for now: Ebay 36€->Link
(interesting feedbacks/ratings btw. !!)

i´ve ordered some LME49720 and will test it against the Muses (next step would be to buy some AD797 or 2 LME49710)..

so i think its the best for now to stuck and further “experiment” with the ES9038Q2M !!

(and provide it with some really great “Talema” or something/similar 😉 )

Very,very interesting post by Iancanada@diyaudio-forum/ESS-controller…

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so, 😉
came by chance about this post in the diyaudio-forum->http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/302687-es9018k2m-es9028q2m-9038q2m-dsd-i2s-dac-hats-raspberry-pi-post5386371.html
its from iancanada@gmail.com, Github->https://github.com/iancanada/DocumentDownload..
“Dimdim” from the famous Hifiduino-project is also there and they discuss a project in which the “..Sample rate, clock frequencies, X*Fs, date length, PCM/DSD/DoP format..” could be determined by a “signal format analyzer” (developed by Iancanada) running on the ARM-processor/Raspberry Pi to “run the ES9038Q2M in high-performance-mode” 😉 ..

a lot of really interesting infos !! (i dont write here some more cause i don´t know if i have the “permission” for it..)
also with the pictures..i took only here one or two; hope its okay for Ian..(if not please mail) 😉 (i personally think posting here a lot of pictures from his projects could help him to sell more from it/have more budget to develop !)
a MUST read !! 😉

(interesting is also that he uses some STM32 for his “ESS-controller; we/i´ve made some tutorials/first steps with it here too)

(another interesting topic there is by “Mikett“; he says “..in the end I stuck with the 49720. It sounded slightly better than the 5532. The 5532 seemed to provide better drive but the higher frequencies on the 49720 was better I thought.” and thats absolutely the same as i feel/think about the “drive” on a NE5532 and second about the LME49720 which ESS recommends (see the table in an earlier post)

ES9038Q2M: DAC DSD Decoder Support IIS DSD 384KHz Coaxial Fiber DOP+TFT LCD !!

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so, 😉
absolutely fresh:”Our” ES9038Q2M now with the promised I2C/TFT-display..!! 😉
Aliexpress->$79.90 – $96.90 (with and without Apple-TV-remote!!)>
Link-Aliexpress !!  (+NEW: also on Ebay->LINK)
(theres also another link on ebay; but its a little bit confusing because the picture shows “ES9028Q2M” printed on the PCB->Link Ebay (63,66$))
this one from Aliexpress says: “ES9038Q2M VR1.07“

(the second and third pictures are from Ebay)
absolutely great for now !! we can maybe use then a greater TFT(over I2C) and it looks that we havent then to read out the Anamero(XMOS-)-boards for the sample-rate+format !!(+it displays the filter-settings of course).
so we have a lot to test out in future !! 😉

ES9038Q2M+Skysong/Singxer XMOS-USB-bridge->(final) thoughts/settings tone optimization

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so, 😉
after i tested a lot of different op-amps+filter-settings on the ES9038Q2M (Blue) lately i came to this (final) conclusion:
The Muses 8920, are/”sound” brilliant on these Blue, i think they are lately called “YJ-ES9038Q2M” Q2Ms..
much better as with the NE5532 or the OPA2134 for example (other possibility would be the AD797, LMEXXXX (see earlier post))..

by that to provide the Skysong/Singxer USB-bridge with an external 5V power supply also boosted the overall performance of the Bridge by 10-15% !!
absolutely to recommend !! 😉

absolutely wonderful bridge (read elsewhere they should be the “finest” with the best XMOS-implementation)..(i have the version with the golden crystek cchd957s))..

the filter-settings have here for me not such an impact on the sound/tone, guess 2-3%, max 5% 😉 , but u can hear it if u want..but the differences are really “paper-thin” (on other DACs/millboards it could have a greater impact)..
by that “kennyliveforever” made a great post in the forum-> http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=64 about how to include the “original” essabre-driver (I-Sabre-K2M) for the ES9028Q2M in Volumio (and then maybe in other audio-distros)..
so far for now !!

Op-Amps: NE5532 vs OPA2134 vs. Muses 8920 (02) + ESSabre-Link (+DietPi 6.5)

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so, 😉
got yesterday my “OPA2134” and had finally the time to check it out 😉

okay, fired up my Raspberry with the ES9028Q2M and thought first:” ? why sound it so “distorted” ?” (my main “rig” is at present->Skysong/Singxer USB-bridge (golden Crystek CCHD957s) + unmodified ES9038Q2M (Blue)..
Changed then the NE5532 to the OPA2134 and the result ?

Surprisingly good !! 😉

bought a few month ago some OPA2604; they were really, really, really bad (in any case on these Sabre-boards)..

This OPA2134 is very lively, airy, is more about middle-highs and really less “distorted”..
you can use them without any problems/thoughts to upgrade your NE5332..!

by that it brings me some “glance” back (in the highs) which i missed since 5 or 6 years ago, as i had to change my lovely Via VT1828S (onboard) to an “ordinary” Asus Xonar DX..;-)

changed then to the “Muses 8920” and ? Better 😉 ..it has the best from both op-amps: this airly, lively (OPA2134) but also the “push” (NE5532) mainly in the middle-lows..;-)(“its all about the slew-rate” 😉 ; funny+interesting article here->http://nwavguy.blogspot.de/2011/08/op-amp-measurements.html )
anyway this OPA2134 is as said very good..
the next possibility would be an “AD797” or some LMEs..(and Burson V5 of course)
ES Sabre itself recommend these “AD797″ + some LMEs (for the ES9006+ES9008 series)..its from a very interesting download->”Maximizing DAC performance…”->http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/support/downloads (thx to “Mark04” again, over at the DIY-audio-forum->LINK)

(picture from “janos_904“->hope i could use it here..)

so, and another thing is that i´ve updated to Diet 6.5 and with every version it sounds better and better and the main advantage is that u have meanwhile almost no horrible “pops” in changing the music-file-format like flac to wav or 44,1 to 192khz for example..
i guess its also because u got a better/fresher raspian-(firmware) everytime u update it via DietPi..
greets for now..

Different filter types->ES9038Q2M + other..

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so, 😉
because i´ve got now the possibility to change the 7 different-filters “on the fly” (on the ES9038Q2M), means no annoying jumper settings, and via BT or web-control, i can say/state a little bit to my impressions about it:

I tested it via jumper (manually) a few weeks ago and at that time i´ve got the feel that it makes a huge difference, up about to 20%, and i really loved the “linear phase fast roll-off filter” (JP3+JP6)..
but, now, yesterday, i didnt feel it was such a huge difference, only about to 1-2% !! the other “circumstances”, quality of the source, the right op-amp, the quality of the power-supply (15V and or +/- 15V) have absolutely a really greater impact of the sound/tune..
The filter here on the ES9038 are really on the digital/sample-site, there is no more 3D, spacious or something and had almost no effect on the “true original”-tune..
if u really like the bitperfect, faithful, “true to original” tune, u have to improve your hi-fi in another place..
with the different filter u hear something more expressed (or decreased) but the overall “sound/tune” stays the same..
so, in this case, i/u have to work more on the power-supply-side, onboard voltage supply on these Chinese-ES9038Q2-boards/cable/source-material and so on (as said).
On the other hand are there a few differences in the “sound/tune”->here is a very interesting picture from stereo.net.au->https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/81435-ak4490eq-filter-adjustment/, its about filter settings on an AK4490EQ, but the basics are the same..(i´ve also posted a few month ago an article about different-filter-types and the impact on the sabres from resonessence-labs (“Invicta-Mirus”)->
http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=21

and i got/have almost the exact feel about it !!

very interesting is also this “Sound Source Positioning”->had the exact impression in changing from one filter to another->also thought “..this voice/guitar/something is more in the back or in the front..” and so on (normal hi-fi experience) !!
Summary: u can hear/have differences, the filter on this board have not soo much impact (imo), but also try to improve your hi-fi in another place !!

(filter/jumper settings ES9038Q2M “Blue”)

NodeMCU: ES9038Q2M Web-Remote-Filter/Source-Control..

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so, 😉
got yesterday my “NodeMCU V3” IoT-module->approx..2,60€ Aliexpress/Ebay/Bangood etc..
really freaky/whacky 😉 ..
i just tried something out; have to wait here for other things/”items” 😉 to come..
It has a full 802.11 b/g/n WLAN onboard and can fully work as a webserver; its much faster than an Arduino and has also programmable GPIO-pins..
and u can fully use the Arduino-IDE..
anyway, wrote a little sketch, can now access to it via Wlan and can select the source and the different-filter on the ES9038Q2M..
u can also use some HTML-Slider to adjust maybe the onboard HW-Volume-Control (and then via some digi-poti->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/2018/02/es9038q2m-project-2-building-a-bt-controlled-hw-volume-control-digital-pot-10kohm-mcp4131/)..
but originally i wanted to control our lovely “DIY-DAC” via Bluetooth; but a web-interface could also be an (additional) option..
so only some “tech-demo”-pics..
(but this NodeMCU is really,really freaky “stuff” 😉 )
(i could here only test two filter right now :”BrickWall” and “minimum phase fast roll-off” and i must say to my degrace: i´ve heard no difference 😉 (but could be also a wiring-problem; have to evaluate more)(but tested it via Jumper some weeks ago and “Minimum-Phase-Slow-Roll-Off” and “Linear-Phase-Fast-roll off” looks the most promising (for me))..
but i will test it more…

 

 

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