Kategorie: 768khz

New: Topping D10s (1 x ES9038Q2M) vs. SMSL Sanskrit 10th SK10 MKII (AK4493)

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hi there, 😉

unfortunately nothing new from here building/buying around some new ESSabre (9038Q2M) chips (DIY) but 2 new, interesting DACs “came up the table” lately:

The Topping D10S with 1xES9038Q2M in it, XMOS XU208 + OPA2134  (changeable)->

goes for only 99$ !!  (Amazon,Aliexpress,Ebay,Audiophonics,Shenzhenaudio)..

a very detailed test about it is here (as always “audioscenereview”)->https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/topping-d10s-usb-dac-and-bridge-review.14859/

and/or the SMSL Sanskrit 10th SK10 MKII for a little bit more (110$)  (Amazon) ->

audioscenereview-review is here->https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-sanskrit-10th-mk-ii-dac-review.12148/

question is which sounds better ? (i will make a new thread about it in the forum (Link) and hopefully someone will/can post his/her experiences with both of them)

as i originally wanted to buy some Topping D50S (2xES9038Q2M, 250$ Amazon) because of the 3 inputs (USB,coaxial,toslink) the Sanskrit would be the better choice..

but as i like these phenomenal, unbelievable, “airy”, “openstage”-sound from the ESSabre-chips sooo much, its the question if these AKM4493 were sounding similar..

more to come… (gather some more information about them (the two) right now) 😉

Bargain of the day->Topping D50S ! (Dual ES9038Q2M +XU208 +BT + Remote) / AK4137 SRC

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so folks 😉 ,
sorry thats its a little bit silent here on essabre-90xx-rpi lately, but there were a lot of other things to do 😉 , but i´ve just seen by chance this bargain on massdrop->
Topping D50S, XU208+Dual ES9038Q2M + BT + Remote for only 200$ !! ->
LINK
vs. “old” D50->
the D50S (in opposite to the D50) has a built-in BT-modul (was at first sight, in aspect to the “ultimate hi-fi”, is not soo good) but also comes with a remote-control + had made some improvement “soundwise”, means they solved the “IMD ESS hum”, where at mid-levels, intermodulation distortion suddenly rises”..

very good test/article about the D50S is here->https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-new-topping-d50s-dac.7914/

also they made some minor sound-improvements (all in the article)..

https://drop.com/buy/topping-d50s-dac?utm_source=linkshare&referer=Y6KDJ4

as said for only 200$ (190$ if u first join massdrop via these essabre-links here(“Xavier”)) its maybe worth a try..
so and as lately said that the onboard spdif-conversion (on the ES9038Q2M) is not so optimal we have to look for an alternative and also somebody said at my praised diyaudio.com-forum->Link that “..upsampling to DSD is always better concerning thd/snr and so on, because of eliminating/move the noise in an unaudible range..” and to reduce jitter i´m thinking about to buy some SRC4192..(SNR= 768khz, DR: 186dB !! ● THD+N: -150dB ) -> http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/?p=1833

there are some around for only 27$ on ebay->Link and the “high-end”-version with toslink and coaxial option + 1.3″ display (+ AK4118 spdif-receiver chip) for 80$->Link..

my goal at present is to raise the sq directly from a transporter via spdif and then maybe upsampled, but still more jitter-less to feed it in the ES9038Q2M..

will maybe then report more about it..

by that the raspberry 4B+ is out and so on..maybe then more,

greets for now !! 😉

SFB2

Massdrop: SMSL SU-8 Version 2 DAC 200$ Dual ES9038Q2M + Volumio 2.565 (12-03-2019)

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so folks 😉 ,
sorry that i lately post so much “massdrop”-related things, but this is first an audio (ESSabre)-site and second heavy related to the ES9038Q2M 😉
as said, DUAL ES9038Q2M on it, some additional specs:
Input: USB, optical, coaxial
Balanced !! Output: RCA, XLR 
USB sampling rate: PCM: 44.1–768 kHz; DSD: 2.28224–22.5792 MHz
200$ (instead of 250$)
Link-Massdrop-<
(PS.: and btw.: u get 10$ “start”-bonus !! if u join massdrop via these essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com – link(s) (on the site + right via the “widget”(“Xavier”)) !!..
so hop, hop and join !! 😉 )
(“display-wise” its not soo great, but for all these problems we have here on essabre-90xx-rpi “tons” of display-tuts and possibilities (for DIY)) 😉

Driver (Shenzhen-Audio) are here (XMOS V4.47)->https://download.shenzhenaudio.com/Smsl/SU-8_v4.47.0.zip
and an review is here ->https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/smsl-su-8-version-2-balanced-dac.5433/
interesting at this review is the following “SINAD“(some distortion-/noisemeter)-diagram, with some “oppononents” like Benchmark DAC3, Schiit Modi USB, Chord Mojo, Katana, Auralic Vega and such->

by that some new “Volumio” is out (now at VERSION: 2.565)->LINK, some fixes, and since V2.527:->Add direct DSD Support to many USB DACs, Mpd 0.20.18 version..

essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com-wise its a little bit on “hold”, just ordered (as said before) some Burson V5i-D and can then report about the Op-Amp and the “general”-massdrop-experience..

greets from here for now and stay tuned !! 😉
SFB2

…coming back to the AK4137 SRC / 22€-27$

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so, 😉
in still waiting/searching for the right +-15V toroidal transformer and the right case, i was searching yesterday again at these fabulous diyaudio.com-forum->https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/314935-es9038q2m-board-347.html and there is still some AK4137-modding “in the work”..
As said in this post before->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/2018/09/raspi-ak4137-single-hat-for-2-3b-3b-pi-iso2dsd-v7/ the AK4137 is an digital up-sampler/sample-rate-converter (SRC) with such enormous values like: up to 768khz, DR: 186dB !! ● THD+N: -150dB –
“„..The main function of this board is to improve the quality of the Raspberry Pi I2S signal and reduce jitter..”+”And the AK4137 reconstruction clock reduces the Raspberry Pi output signal jitter enhancement.”..

so and as this raspi-hats, “standalone” boards are meanwhile down to 22€/26$ (Link) respective 23€/27$(Link), u can give it a try..

by that, i have to say that these ES9038Q2M (stock) + some AD797s + raspberry pi (or some xmos-device) already have a superb sound/tune; as posted before i had a Cambridge-Audio-DAC-Magic (150€) here, and it was very well and clean manufactored (Wolfson-chips in it) but it was nevertheless absolutely no comparison to what ESS-chips (ES9038Q2M) are capable of->much better soundstage,3D,positioning,resolution->

“Forget about dual Wolfsons, this new unit shows what the ESS Sabre chip is truly capable of..Just fantastically detailed all along the entire frequency range, wide open, huge soundstage and separation, no noticeable coloration, but slightly warm and ultimately spot on timbre. There’s more than sufficient dynamics and air. A very worthy musical experience..“

so, back to the theme: i havent got understand it at first right, but with the following pictures its more clear..

 

and so you can select via the K1-K10 jumper/bridges the appropriate sample-rate/DSD-PCM-options, like with with the different filter-settings on the ES9038Q2M par example..

such a “standalone” PCB with I2S-in and I2S-out is better for a XMOS-usb-bridge for example (or the expensive versions of these have a spdif-input too (to directly connect to a transporter CD/Blu-ray))..

would be very interesting if these AK4137 have such a great impact on the tune (less jitter and so on) also on 44,1khz/16bit (Redbook)..

another thing is that some user, also in the diyaudio-forum, means that these “upsampling” by the AK4137 in general or in special this “PCM to DSD” conversion have enormous advantages noise-wise..the noise will be moved in some inaudible frequencies or better completely removed (through this sigma-delta-extra extrapolation/conversion).

anyway, as we have now different possibilities to “pimp-up” the already very good “sounding” ES9038Q2Ms->soldering some other voltage regulators on it (keyword “AVCC” etc.), use another,cleaner power supply (toroidal +-15V), use other OP-Amps (AD797,Muses) + upsample/reduce jitter with the AK4137, we must now see whats the best cost-performance relation..

so, back to the top, these 22€ for some AK4137 could be also a very good alternative but as i had yet not such a hat here, i unfortunately cant say anything to the benefits..

(if anybody has some experiences with the AK4137 and with a ES9038Q2M please share your experiences here in the comment-section !!)

many greets for now !! 😉 

 

New ESS chip out !! -> ES8620 audio-solution (usb-bridge) !! / Gustard U-16

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so, 😉
found by chance this new ESS-Baby 😉 in searching for new driver on shenzhenaudio..
Gustard U-16 (ES8620) !!

https://www.shenzhenaudio.com/gustard-u16-es8620-support-pcm32bit-768k-dsd512-dop-and-native-dsd-digital-interface.html(284$)
->”Adopting the latest USB audio interface solution ES8620 from ESS, USA
Supports up to PCM 32bit/768KHz and DSD512, and supports both DoP and Native DSD.
ESS’s USB interface chip design is a completely optimized architecture for high-quality digital audio signal processing. It is not a general-purpose chip with USB digital audio interface code, so it has immediate impact on sound quality improvement;”
“…128MB SDRAM is used as the system buffer and digital audio processing FIFO..”
“..the machine uses up to three FPGAs to implement USB audio interface clock management and external 10M clock part of the audio clock frequency synthesizer..”



first (interesting) review i found is here->https://www.dastereo.ru/t/gustard-u16-debyutnyj-konverter-na-es8620-xmos-amanero-upali-otzhalis/28117

didnt find any real opinions/soundtests against the other ES-chips till now (Update: and i guess i won´t find any at all because it is (unfortunately) only a “usb-bridge” (more or less)->”High performance usb digital audio interface” 😉 )

more to come, greets !! 😉

New XMOS-USB audio driver (V4.47) / SMSL 8A V3 / Winbond W25Q64 (Qxx) Arduino/ESP32S SPIflash

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so, 😉
there´s apparently a new XMOS-USB audio driver, V4.47 (Link) (08-06-2018) out; found it first by reading some reviews for the Sabaj DA3 (->https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=ktk1k2hchrlfmloktc0k3c5og0&topic=152638.340 ) and yesterday at an Audiophonics-Ad concerning the new SMSL 8A V3->https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-without-volume/smsl-m8a-v3-usb-dac-es9038q2m-32bit-768khz-dsd-xmos-xu208-p-12934.html and also directly at Theyscon->current release : V4.47..
by that there´s also a new V4.41 from Thesycon/Jlsounds->Link forum..)
also the new SMSL 8A V3 has a “2nd generation XU208” (259€)->

by that i´ve bought some new “Winbond W25Q64” (64Mbit/8MByte) SPI-“serial flash-memory” (only 1,29$ par example->Aliexpress) to use it maybe on an Arduino to display some graphics on the TFT-display and because the Arduino by example has a very low ram-amount (32kB !!) i wanted to extend the memory to store some data for the bitmaps..

On an ESP32S its not soo critical (4MB); u can store the bitmaps in the SPIFFS-subsystem but anyway i didnt find a “SPI-flash”-library for the ESP32S and the Arduino in general !! searched thousand hours on google and yesterday i found per chance this SPI-flash/library/tools on “RinkyDinkElectronics”->Link, the same guy who made this beautiful UTFT-library !! and which i used before ! 😉 ->Library : SPIflash

connected and it runs fabulously 😉

and hooray !! 😉 , i´ve finally ordered an “ES9038Q2M”-“Green” V1.07, (i have a “Blue”-one here) to check finally out if there´s a “shitty” PCB/components-problem on the “Blue” or if they sound the same..

by that, next OP-Amp will be the “OPA627“(AU)->”The Bugatti Veyron on the Op-Amps” 😉

many greets and more to come !! 😉

 

 

Raspi-AK4137 single-HAT for 2/3B/3B+ Pi (30$) ; “Sonore” ISO2DSD v7

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so, 😉
thx to this phenomenal (post) in the diyaudio.com-forum->https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/314935-es9038q2m-board-278.html,
we have now here our AK4137 as a single HAT for the Pi !! 😉
as said in earlier posts, we have to improve the signal-quality(lower jitter and so on) over I2S->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/2018/06/srcs-ti-4192-ak4137-volumio-update-foo_dsd_asio/


it costs only 30 !! $ and u can get it here->LINK
“..The main function of this board is to improve the quality of the Raspberry Pi I2S signal and reduce jitter. And make up for the Raspberry Pi I2S output without MCLK! The original I2S output of the Raspberry Pi does not have MCLK and most high-performance DACs require MCLK to work. And the AK4137 reconstruction clock reduces the Raspberry Pi output signal jitter enhancement.
This board supports Raspberry Pi 2B 3B 3B+”..
so, as also posted earlier the AK4137 has 768khz (PCM) + 12.288 MHz DSD and DR: 186dB !! ● THD+N: -150dB ->AsahiKasei(AKM) datasheet->Link

(u use it between the Pi and our ES9038Q2M for example..a really long explanation on the other functions of this HAT is in the ebay-description above)

by that i came by chance (and according to the previous post) about this “Sonore ISO2DSD“-converter (a GUI for the sacd-ripper) + “Sonore DSD2FLAC“->


u can download both from here:
https://www.sonore.us/iso2dsd.html
https://www.sonore.us/dsd2flac.html

many greets for now !! 😉

Volumio (now at V2.452) did it->DSD/Lock light on ES9038Q2M / Alsamixer Archphile XMOS USB Audio etc..

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so, 😉
after i tested “Archphile” with the Skysong-Xmos-USB-interface and still don´t know how to limit the DSD-rate to the DAC/-combo (it uses 705600 but the ES9038Q2M doesnt support it, i got only a heavy white noise), tried everything in the /etc/mpd.conf; i used again “Volumio” as it said in one of their forums something about their DSD-native/DoP-compatibilty..
so let it run and hooray, the DSD-Led on the ES9038Q2M + the DSD-indication on the skysong-bridge were lit !!

(hadn´t got the DSD-indication before afaik).

wonderful, true DSD/DoP-sound !! 😉

had used foobar2000 with the Asio-driver/DSD-processor, the singxer audio-panel said:”Asio active(PCM-mode)-352800khz sample-rate”, see 2 posts before, but meanwhile i think it was converted !! to PCM- (with soxr by example) >because i hadnt got the DSD-led on and it wasnt not such a great improvement to “normal” PCM..
now with volumio it sounds absolutely fantastic, absolutely real DSD-“sound” !! (“real” DoP)

by that i´ve think meanwhile “Archphile” is for the really high-end USB-DACS->384khz,768KHz (and above); think its about the “Arch-linux ARM”-kernel/core..
also u got a wonderful “Alsamixer-volume and master-clock”-mixer for the XMOS-USB-audio interface (with the command “alsamixer”)->

also interesting in Volumio is that if use the “resample-option” in the settings it affects also the “DoP-chain”->set at 384khz resample/sox/very high, got my red light (PCM) on the bridge on and no DSD-light on the ES9038Q2M..
interesting II. is that u can resample up to 768khz (in Volumio) and u can hear something (but heavy white-noised) on the ES9038Q2M although somebody posted it can only play/(is capable of) up to 384khz in “asynchron-mode”; but i heard here something..->


greets for and more to come !! 😉

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