Project 3: read out/write data (over I2C) via the onboard mcu ES9038Q2M/-ES9028Q2M

so folks 😉 ,
essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com needs your help 😉
as i just want to read out some data from the mcu on these boards like data-rate (192khz,384khz and so on), data-format (PCM,DSD) and maybe the HW-Volume for just displaying it on a small 3,5″ display for example (or use it to display it via some app/tool on a raspi/web etc..) “we” have now to find a way to solve this..



as we now have the possibility to access the I2C-bus via the new connection on an ES9038Q2M (they used it also to display/change some values via their hardware) we have to find a way to simple control/change/read-out data over it..
the normal “adresses” on an ES9038Q2M must be/are “hidden” due to some NDA-bla bla, and the real register-adresses are “encrypted”/are only in the mcu..

but how can i/we connect a raspberry/Arduino/ESP32 to it via I2C ?

i think we have now here to make a really long tutorial to get such “experimental setup” to work. how to exactly connect and to which pins, which tools/commands to use (python/i2c-set and so on)..
i will make a new thread in the forum->”Project 3: controlling the onboard mcu on an ES9038Q2M/-9028Q2M
there i will make this tutorial but i first to have to gather all possible informations about it and there u come in !! ;-)
so please post all your informations/experiences concerning this topic in the forum or here in the comment-section !!

a good start for now are these (new) “VinnyLorrin“-repositories at github->https://github.com/VinnyLorrin
->”ES9028Q2M-controller”,”ES9038Q2M-Linux_Driver”,”ES9028-controller-PCB” and so on..very good, first, informations about it…
(many many thx btw. to “eslei” at the diyaudio-forum for getting first infos/an entry->https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/digital-line-level/314935-es9038q2m-board-322.html

thread in the forum->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=86
greets for now 😉

The OPA627AU arrived – very “warm”- not so much “digital-room/-soundstage”/ Volumio now at V2.502 / dimdim.gr

so 😉 ,
finally the OPA627AU (as dual on one DIP-8) arrived..
and indeed, absolutely more “analogue/tube-sound” (in comparison to the AD797ANZ + LME47910-20s) here..
very “warm”, but with a lot of “body”, more “natural”, not so digitally “harsh” as the AD797ANZ (or the LME47910 of course) by example..


better for high-volumes->thought first “more right/true”->more hi-fi..(but also maybe a little bit “fatiguing/boring” due to the analogue “timbre”)
not so much “digitally room/3D” what i liked the most on the ES Sabre-Chips; very “sweet”..
The OPA627AU and the AD797ANZ are absolutely on a very similar “level”; u absolutely dont go wrong in using the OPA627AU..
but for me, i think i stuck with the AD797ANZ; more “room/clinical”, but thats really an absolutely personal impression/affection/taste..)
i think the speciality on these Sabre-Chips is this digitally room/3D-feeling + also with the great soundstage..
so i stay, as said, with the AD797ANZ (all on this “Blue” ES9038Q2M; the “Green” have a slightly different characteristic as mentioned in an earlier post..)
(Update 2hrs later: i will definitively stuck with the AD797ANZ; for me absolutely the better choice !!)

by that Volumio is now at V2.502, some minor bugfixes + Pi Kernel-bump to 4.14.71; couldnt determine any differences in the overall tune..


by that i want to suggest/introduce you to http://www.dimdim.gr again..
absolutely great site; inventor of the famous “Hifiduino-project”; a lot of very interesting infos/tips there; take a look over there !!


more to come !! 😉

ESP32S + 3.5″ TFT-display (480×320) (par.) ILI9481 Bodmer/TFT_eSPI

yeah, 😉
got it finally to work !!
so, another important step in the way of (building) your own DIY-DAC !! hooray !! (and thats what this site is all about, see “Introduction”) 😉
(YouTube-link->https://youtu.be/zjiCJ8Jtsug)
so II,
after the ESP32S is a much more powerful thing than an Arduino (the main advantage is also the great SPiffs/Flash-Ram of about 4MB(32Mb) for storing little images/icons like DSD64 and so on) and its a little bit difficult to get normal tft-displays on an ESP32S to work (different pin-layout and so on),i´ve bought this second tft (this time 3.5″) and only for ca. 6€->Ebay (Link)


main problem on these “cheap” 3.5″ is that some must be parallel connected (and not via SPI) so u have to find a way to solve this..
i´ve used the famous “Bodmer/TFT_eSPI”-library (works for some displays in parallel mode + on an ESP32)->https://github.com/Bodmer/TFT_eSPI
u only have to change some values in the “User_Setup.h” + “User_Setup_Select.h” to match your needs->other pin-definitions + the right tft-driver-selection (post maybe a link to these 2 files here or in the forum)..
here it works fine with the “ILI9481”-tft-chipset:

so III,
i can now use the ESP32S for the HW-digi-poti, for the filter-settings and so on, all with a very nice gui via wlan..(or bluetooth or via mqtt with an app par example (see all the posts before))..very nice 😉

greets for now 😉

Volumio v2.444 out / “Allo Katana”-support -> works on “chinese”-ES9038Q2M too !! / massive.. ;-)

so, 😉
a new Volumio is out->V2.444 ; its here->https://volumio.org/get-started/..
changelog says: “..Pi kernel bump to 4.14.56, Allo Katana support etc.”..
tested it here rightaway with the ES9038Q2M (2*AD797)->”massive” 😉


but back to the Katana-overlay: at first “hear-out” i´ve got the feel its more “massive”, more “accentuated” (especially with the 2*AD797)..
don´t know at present if its the Katana-option, or the optimized Volumio-“footprint/improvements” (see changelog)..
unfortunately i´ve got only 192khz/24bit with “audio resampling on” (set it up for 384khz but got only 192/24)->

by that, there´s also a new “Volumio ESS9028QM“-option; works too (with the “Blue” ES9038Q2M) (but didnt test if it reaches 384khz)..
but anyway there´s absolutely an improvement “sound-wise” again !! “sounds” again more “right”; really heavy, absolutely to recommend !! (RPI 3B-ES9038Q2M-2*AD797)

by that i´ve experimented a little bit more with “node-red” and now with “MQTT-broker,-subscribe+publish” and so on; really freaky, u can seamlessly connect an android app (->picture) with a pi zero as mqtt-broker and then via bluetooth (or websockets) to an arduino or esp32s..as said absolutely “whacky” 😉


(“IoT MQTT Panel”->google/android-playstore->
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=snr.lab.iotmqttpanel.prod&hl=de)

(this is as said, all for (in favor) of our lovely “DIY-DAC“-project , display and usability-wise)..
(will post maybe then more..)
but as said, really a sound improvement with the new Volumio (+”Katana”-option)..
greets for now 😉

ES9038Q2M: “Project 2”->building a BT-controlled HW-Volume-control (digital pot 10kOhm) MCP4131

so, 😉
because its a little bit silent around here lately, we still don´t know if the “Blue” ES9038Q2M has a “shitty” pcb and the “green”-ones sounds better, i have still buffer/”lock”-problems in windows using the V4.36 Singxer-driver on the Skysong-XMOS-USB in sample rates above 16/44 i wanted to use the onboard-HW-volume control, to which u can connect a normal 10kOhm-potentiometer (see pictures) easy..

 


i tested it here, and it works far not so good as expected and i guess u have a very small range of about 20% or so (in my feel) too..
i thought i could easy use the Arduino with analogwrite () and connect one pin to the middle of the onboard-3 pin but what i´ve read so far is that the Arduino can only send out PWM-signals so u need an external digital potentiometer (thats what i´ve read so far, don´t know if its true) and control it via the (in this case) SPI-bus/protocol..
for this u can buy a cheap MCP, in this case a MCP4131 of around 0,89€ and a Dip-8 socket (0,51€) etc.,etc..(more to come..)


(very good tutorial for this right now:
http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/MCP4131-digital-potentiometer-circuit.php)

i will post here any “improvements” (and (maybe) a full tut) asap..!! 😉

“Project 1”->Cambridge Audio Azur 540A IR/BT-Remote DIY – *Works* !! ;-)

so, 😉
after i´ve got my “Arduino Mega 2560 R3”->on sale 11,99€ Amazon->LINK a few days ago, i just wanted to revive my “Project 1” Cambridge Audio Azur A540 Remote via a “Bluepill” (STM32F103C8T6) or an Arduino; original post here-> http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/2017/12/programming-subkurs-i-ir-receiver-raspberry-pi-project-1-cambridge-audio-azur-540a-remote/..


I´ve ordered an Arduino because this Bluepill/STM32-programming via the Arduino IDE is still very complicated at present imo, because there were nowhere really clear,simple instructions and libraries (pin assignments and so on)..(more maybe later)..
so i´ve decided to “fall back” on this original Arduino-thing, hoped it would be easier at first for me..
long story short: (I´ve made a really long TuT over at the forum->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=18)
because i didnt know how to send and receive IR-signals (simultaneously) and which pins i then i have to/use edit in the boarddefs.h (Arduino IRremote-library) i switched over to my HC-06 Bluetooth-Modul….
etc..etc 😉
Full story (as said) here->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=18




and now it works here absolute fantastic !!! 😉

DIY-DAC: Display Audio-params->already there->HiFiDuino-TFT../too complicated at present..

so, 😉
after listening for days through this super phenomenal Skysong-XMOS-USB-ES9018K2M-Combo (a really hifi-upgrade by 10-15%) i came back to my STM32F103-“Bluepill”/Arduino project to build your own DAC/display audio-parameter (Input,sample-frequency and so on)..
and i knew there was already such a project and it was !!!!
its the HiFi-Duino-TFT-Project on http://www.dimdim.gr/arduino/tft-hifiduino-code/ !!! (based on the famous/original HiFi-Duino-project/code; is well known)
and here->Universal USB to I2S Interface Indicator->http://www.dimdim.gr/arduino/universal-usb-to-i2s-interface-indicator/

after reading the documentation about it, our “F0,F1,F2,F3,DSD-on etc”-schematics became a really new sense->they were already used by this above mentioned code for example and also in conjunction with the Anamero-Combo-boards..look here->

the code looks like this->
// —————————- Amanero ——————————————————————————
#ifdef Amanero
/*
* I1 = F0
* I2 = F1
* I3 = F2
* I4 = F3
* I5 = DSD_ON
* I6 = DSD 64 or 128
*/
// Check for PCM or DSD
if (digitalRead(I5) == false) // PCM detected
{
type = 0;
if (digitalRead(I1) == false && digitalRead(I2) == false && digitalRead(I3) == false && digitalRead(I4) == false)
{
SR = 32;
……………
}
else if (digitalRead(I1) == true && digitalRead(I2) == false && digitalRead(I3) == true && digitalRead(I4) == false)
{
SR = 176.4;
}
..
else if (digitalRead(I1) == true && digitalRead(I2) == true && digitalRead(I3) == true && digitalRead(I4) == false)
{
SR = 352.8;
}
else if (digitalRead(I1) == false && digitalRead(I2) == false && digitalRead(I3) == false && digitalRead(I4) == true)
{
SR = 384;
}

and so on !! burner 😉  ..
you can get the sketch here->Link or via the forum (http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/); i will upload it there later too..
so to see, the absolute breakthrough i would say 😉
but this are only “teaser”; for me its absolute to complicated right now/at present and i don´t know if i continue to “walk on this way”/have the time for it in the near future but for introduction..
greets for now 😉

Programming-Subkurs I: IR-Receiver -> Raspberry Pi / + “Project 1”: Cambridge Audio Azur 540A Remote

so,
because this site is all about “Building your own DIY-DAC” 😉 (and audio in general) i just new invented a new category: Programming (Rpi+STM32) + “Projects”-> in this case “Project 1 – building your own Cambridge Audio Azur 540A Remote” 😉
okay, got a wonderful IR-Receiver+Remote-Set (HX1838) from Aliexpress today->0,78€ !! (inkl.shipping)->Link

and have here at home an “Cambridge Audio Azur 540A” – Amplifier..



(really good sound (more maybe later), got almost everyday better 😉 )
but with a really horrible, horrible IR-Remote->i have to point to from 1cm away 😉 ), so i thought i build an own ir-modul (receiver and transmitter) with this DIY-things and a STM32F103C8T6 “Bluepill”..
long story short: tried to setup LIRC on a RPI according to this TUT->https://tutorials-raspberrypi.de/raspberry-pi-ir-remote-control/
bu there was no output in the console..googled a lot and the solution is->”LIRC not working on Raspbian Stretch Raspberry Pi”->
“## 0.9.4 disruptive update
The configuration is so much changed that updating from 0.9.0 requires
manual intervention. This could be done using the update scripts or as
a completely manual process. Many users will always need some manual steps”
from here->https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=192891
another thing is, its not a .sh file (as wrongly described) , but a python one, so->”sudo python3 lirc-old2new“..
(now it works..)
(more to come..)

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