Folks.
The 4.9.41 kernel with the latest Piano21 driver was just released.
I then - finally - ripped my main system apart
to be able to test the Kali and Piano21 with my custom audio kernels.
I patched and compiled the kernels and ...
...so far all my regressions tests (dual-mono) ran successful
* with or without Kali in Kali-master and DAC-master mode
* all samplerates
* and -6db
I'll hand the custom kernels over to Tim for testing and integrating them.
Doesn't look too bad to me.
The 4.9.41 kernel with the latest Piano21 driver was just released.
I then - finally - ripped my main system apart
to be able to test the Kali and Piano21 with my custom audio kernels.
I patched and compiled the kernels and ...
...so far all my regressions tests (dual-mono) ran successful
* with or without Kali in Kali-master and DAC-master mode
* all samplerates
* and -6db
I'll hand the custom kernels over to Tim for testing and integrating them.
Doesn't look too bad to me.
Hi Cheng,
just happen to come across this thread.
I am doing exactly what u are doing for past 2 yrs.
Pi2/3 (picoreplayer) -> hifiberry Dacpro+ i2s -> Ian PCMtoi2s -> diy AD1865 dac/PCM1704/dddac1794
few days back i just remove the hifiberry and replace with a Kali reclocker board. Sound much cleaner. I am using a MMCX coaxial to connect between the kali to Ian. there is a MMCX connector on the bottom side of kali and I verify that it is MCLK signal. For picoreplayer i use the latest v3.21 audio modded ver and driver is generic I2S. i tried hifiberry dac (not Dac+) woks also.
just PM me if u need any further info
ck
just happen to come across this thread.
I am doing exactly what u are doing for past 2 yrs.
Pi2/3 (picoreplayer) -> hifiberry Dacpro+ i2s -> Ian PCMtoi2s -> diy AD1865 dac/PCM1704/dddac1794
few days back i just remove the hifiberry and replace with a Kali reclocker board. Sound much cleaner. I am using a MMCX coaxial to connect between the kali to Ian. there is a MMCX connector on the bottom side of kali and I verify that it is MCLK signal. For picoreplayer i use the latest v3.21 audio modded ver and driver is generic I2S. i tried hifiberry dac (not Dac+) woks also.
just PM me if u need any further info
ck
Hi Cheng,
just happen to come across this thread.
I am doing exactly what u are doing for past 2 yrs.
Pi2/3 (picoreplayer) -> hifiberry Dacpro+ i2s -> Ian PCMtoi2s -> diy AD1865 dac/PCM1704/dddac1794
few days back i just remove the hifiberry and replace with a Kali reclocker board. Sound much cleaner. I am using a MMCX coaxial to connect between the kali to Ian. there is a MMCX connector on the bottom side of kali and I verify that it is MCLK signal. For picoreplayer i use the latest v3.21 audio modded ver and driver is generic I2S. i tried hifiberry dac (not Dac+) woks also.
just PM me if u need any further info
ck
just happen to come across this thread.
I am doing exactly what u are doing for past 2 yrs.
Pi2/3 (picoreplayer) -> hifiberry Dacpro+ i2s -> Ian PCMtoi2s -> diy AD1865 dac/PCM1704/dddac1794
few days back i just remove the hifiberry and replace with a Kali reclocker board. Sound much cleaner. I am using a MMCX coaxial to connect between the kali to Ian. there is a MMCX connector on the bottom side of kali and I verify that it is MCLK signal. For picoreplayer i use the latest v3.21 audio modded ver and driver is generic I2S. i tried hifiberry dac (not Dac+) woks also.
just PM me if u need any further info
ck
Hi ck,
Thanks for the post. I'm glad that someone has tried connecting kali to IanPCM board successfully. Do you mean the uf.l connector at the underside of the kali board? (photo attached)
I have tried connecting the mclk signal to the uf.l connector as well as the the 40pins top connector (pin 29/gnd) of the kali without any success. I even bought another IanPCM just to confirm the problem.
Right now, I am using full Ian's Fifo/isolator/clockboard/IanPCM configuration with Rpi3(Volumio) & different nos dacs.
I hope to get the kali to work with IanPCM someday, as I actually prefer the simple minimalist one board solution and since I have another IanPCM board lying around
I will send you a PM.
Cheers
Thanks for the post. I'm glad that someone has tried connecting kali to IanPCM board successfully. Do you mean the uf.l connector at the underside of the kali board? (photo attached)
I have tried connecting the mclk signal to the uf.l connector as well as the the 40pins top connector (pin 29/gnd) of the kali without any success. I even bought another IanPCM just to confirm the problem.
Right now, I am using full Ian's Fifo/isolator/clockboard/IanPCM configuration with Rpi3(Volumio) & different nos dacs.
I hope to get the kali to work with IanPCM someday, as I actually prefer the simple minimalist one board solution and since I have another IanPCM board lying around
I will send you a PM.
Cheers
Attachments
Been running the Piano21 in dual-mono with Kali in master-mode and server-resampled 352,8/384kHz for a while now.
PS = 2 buffered iPowers:
1. Pi
2. Kali and Piano
Works very well!
IMO no need to run @ -6db. I think it even gets worse if you run two SW-VCs.
Bypassing the DAC filters (with above samplerates), internal VC (@0db) and DSP IMO is the way that type of DAC sounds best to me.
I'd never thought the Piano21 would make any sense. The whole DSP stuff just would have been useless to me.
With a little tweaking (and quite some driver/kernel hacking) it turns out to be quite a nice DAC.
Enjoy.
PS = 2 buffered iPowers:
1. Pi
2. Kali and Piano
Works very well!
IMO no need to run @ -6db. I think it even gets worse if you run two SW-VCs.
Bypassing the DAC filters (with above samplerates), internal VC (@0db) and DSP IMO is the way that type of DAC sounds best to me.
I'd never thought the Piano21 would make any sense. The whole DSP stuff just would have been useless to me.
With a little tweaking (and quite some driver/kernel hacking) it turns out to be quite a nice DAC.
Enjoy.
No -- just big Rifas. Supercaps are not necessarily the holy grail of buffering.
Today I tried following:
Kali & Boss in slave-mode ( the only way Boss works with Kali) vs. Kali & Piano21 - in Kali-master and in dual-mono mode.
All fed with 352.8/384 material.
I favor the Kali&Piano combo in this config.
It sounds more natural. The instruments are a little more realistic.
The Boss sounded a bit bloated and muddy on one hand and a bit
thin on the other hand.
What I don't know if the Boss is able to handle the Kali master clock!?!?
My guess would be that it just uses the internal PLL in slave mode!?!?
This then would be a little unfair battle.
Anyhow. It's done now.
Kali & Boss in slave-mode ( the only way Boss works with Kali) vs. Kali & Piano21 - in Kali-master and in dual-mono mode.
All fed with 352.8/384 material.
I favor the Kali&Piano combo in this config.
It sounds more natural. The instruments are a little more realistic.
The Boss sounded a bit bloated and muddy on one hand and a bit
thin on the other hand.
What I don't know if the Boss is able to handle the Kali master clock!?!?
My guess would be that it just uses the internal PLL in slave mode!?!?
This then would be a little unfair battle.
Anyhow. It's done now.
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
LOL... Hey Soundcheck, long time!
Thanks for all the assistance getting this and the Boss DAC going and into the Distros. Appreciate that!
Good point on the Boss versus the Kali... curious if the MCK/PLL settings are configured the same for the Boss as the Piano 2.1. Ioan's posts a few months back on the various config options left me with the impression that only a few would produce the best sound.
Totally agree on the LED's... In a darkened room they cast shadows! I get worried about needing sunscreen when they're on!
I've had fair-to-good results daubing them with black permanent magic marker... typically needs a few applications to build up, a black paint-marker or fingernail polish would be more effective with a single application.
Greg in Mississippi
P.S. Been quiet as I've been playing with my 2 Soekris setups (one fed from an SDTrans384 SD card player, the other from an RPi -> isolator (Ian's or Allo) -> Kali stack... trying mightily to get the 2nd setup to sound as good as the 1st, danged, that SDTrans384 is GOOD... and working to get my higher-end vinyl setups running.
Thanks for all the assistance getting this and the Boss DAC going and into the Distros. Appreciate that!
Good point on the Boss versus the Kali... curious if the MCK/PLL settings are configured the same for the Boss as the Piano 2.1. Ioan's posts a few months back on the various config options left me with the impression that only a few would produce the best sound.
Totally agree on the LED's... In a darkened room they cast shadows! I get worried about needing sunscreen when they're on!
I've had fair-to-good results daubing them with black permanent magic marker... typically needs a few applications to build up, a black paint-marker or fingernail polish would be more effective with a single application.
Greg in Mississippi
P.S. Been quiet as I've been playing with my 2 Soekris setups (one fed from an SDTrans384 SD card player, the other from an RPi -> isolator (Ian's or Allo) -> Kali stack... trying mightily to get the 2nd setup to sound as good as the 1st, danged, that SDTrans384 is GOOD... and working to get my higher-end vinyl setups running.
Last edited:
Allo should have considered a "glb_mclk" option for using the Kali-master clock also for the Boss.
Of course from an Allo perspective it didn't make sense in the first place,
since the local clocks are potentially better then the Kali clock.
For us it might have made sense though.
I'm pretty sure that a slightly adapted firmware on the Boss mcu would have been able to manage that clock-switching (slave/Kali-master/local clocks) easily.
I am still not convinced to go for Soekris. Especially now where he starts pushing into the commercial market with more advanced solutions and seem
to leave us "diy-beta-testers" and "road-pavers" hanging on the basic stuff. We've seen that before though.
Of course from an Allo perspective it didn't make sense in the first place,
since the local clocks are potentially better then the Kali clock.
For us it might have made sense though.
I'm pretty sure that a slightly adapted firmware on the Boss mcu would have been able to manage that clock-switching (slave/Kali-master/local clocks) easily.
I am still not convinced to go for Soekris. Especially now where he starts pushing into the commercial market with more advanced solutions and seem
to leave us "diy-beta-testers" and "road-pavers" hanging on the basic stuff. We've seen that before though.
Yeah, that layout looks better with regards to where inputs, outputs and power connector are located. Still, please add pads for a PCB mount power connector like MKDSN from Phoenix or similar. Not all like the sparks and "user friendliness" of the 5.5 mm connector. I like the old Volt+, I hope the new design will perform even better.
Last edited:
Hi,
I have the kali installed on rpi3 togehter with mambo ls. The software is moode v. 3.8.2.
I have the following problem:
All sample rates are running perfectly except 16/48, 24/48, 24/96. There I get very loud noise.
I thought that the oscillator for 48 khz is brocken. But sample rate 24/192 is running OK.
When I play the same music without Kali. Everything is fine.
Did anyone experience the same problem?
I have the kali installed on rpi3 togehter with mambo ls. The software is moode v. 3.8.2.
I have the following problem:
All sample rates are running perfectly except 16/48, 24/48, 24/96. There I get very loud noise.
I thought that the oscillator for 48 khz is brocken. But sample rate 24/192 is running OK.
When I play the same music without Kali. Everything is fine.
Did anyone experience the same problem?
Oh yeah this will perform better. Its a dual mono , we improved on almost every component . Every capacitor in the signal path was changed to Japanese film . Signal input capacitor can be bypassed . Inductors were upgraded .
We think that as far as TPA311x , this will be the top performing amp (yeap from all of them), not only THD+N but as musicality . I am not sure most people will hear the new PPS caps in the audio output , but trust me they make a difference ( I heard them).
We will have it for sale in about 2 weeks .Comes already in a box (like volt+). Stepped attenuator , PSU included.
Now...back to work on the next amp project I think we will surprise you all with the next choice .
(release time its not 2 weeks , rather 3-4 )
We think that as far as TPA311x , this will be the top performing amp (yeap from all of them), not only THD+N but as musicality . I am not sure most people will hear the new PPS caps in the audio output , but trust me they make a difference ( I heard them).
We will have it for sale in about 2 weeks .Comes already in a box (like volt+). Stepped attenuator , PSU included.
Now...back to work on the next amp project
I think we will surprise you all with the next choice .(release time its not 2 weeks , rather 3-4 )
Last edited: