ackoDAC based on ES9018

[acko]

Originally Posted by hochopeper

That AKX sounds pretty handy!

I had a question about the upcoming AKD16. Is it a similar setup to the AKD18 but without the need for external IV stage? Will it be capable of handling similar multichannel i2s inputs? Is the IV on the pcb or integrated into the ES9016 chip? I'm looking to take i2s signal from a minidsp and trying to keep system complexity down a bit so integrated IV appeals to me. I will need 6ch for a 3way active setup.

The AKD16 series DAC based on 9016 chip will be offered with more integration like IV and controller on-board. (There is no IV on chip). The digital inputs are the same as 9018 DAC. At this stage 2CH is planned but 8CH version can be done if there is sufficient interest.

[mcspack]

Hi Acko and all,

How would I go about connecting the ackodac in 4 channel quad mode? I have the 8 channel version. I will be connecting it to the exa transport via i2s. Also, as far as register settings, what are the optimal settings for my configuration? I want to run with the ASRC and oversampling on.

thanks,

Will

[gillib]

Crossposting:

I just finished my ackoDAC with tube out:

Buffalo III DAC Tube Output Stage

Bruno

[qusp]

nice work gillib! good to see another ackodac out in the wild

[acko]

Originally Posted by gillib

Crossposting:

I just finished my ackoDAC with tube out:

Buffalo III DAC Tube Output Stage

Bruno

Hi Bruno,

Thanks for sharing. fantastic effort!. If I am not mistaken this DAC board is a special build with a 9018 chip instead with outputs combined in stereo.

Also, looking closely your SDATA from transport goes to only one input of the DAC. The original manual indicated just this but I have since update manual as below:

"Stereo PCM I2S sources have 3 signals, Bit Clock, Word Clock and DATA. The Bit Clock (BCK) goes to 'CK', Word Clock (LRCK) to D1 and DATA to D2, D3, D4, D5 of the Digital Inputs of this DAC module."

So you are loosing dynamic range and output level with only one input connected.

Sorry I did not update you on this but I did post on the above sometime back.
Will send you the updated manual.

[glt]

Originally Posted by acko

Hi Bruno,

...
Also, looking closely your SDATA from transport goes to only one input of the DAC. The original manual indicated just this but I have since update manual as below:

"Stereo PCM I2S sources have 3 signals, Bit Clock, Word Clock and DATA. The Bit Clock (BCK) goes to 'CK', Word Clock (LRCK) to D1 and DATA to D2, D3, D4, D5 of the Digital Inputs of this DAC module."

So you are loosing dynamic range and output level with only one input connected.

...

Or you could try setting the quantizer to 9bit (which also enables internal source sharing)

[acko]

Originally Posted by glt

Or you could try setting the quantizer to 9bit (which also enables internal source sharing)

Of course, yes, the undocumented feature of the 9018/12 Sabre chips. Thanks GLT.

[gillib]

@acko and glt
Thank You for Your precious information. I will change that.

Special thanks to glt for his work concerning the Sabre DAC, his homepage is extreme valuable.

Bruno

[mcspack]

Hi GLT,

How would I set the register for 8bit quatization, as that is the way I would like to implement my quad set up. This sets up register 15, but how does this differ-compare to the reg 14 setting that is documented for ackodac? Do both of these give me the input sharing? Can I use one or the other or both? Does quatization also give me better noise characteristics? I would then combine the outputs 1,3 2,4 5,7 6,8 ?

thanks,

Will

[glt]

Originally Posted by mcspack

Hi GLT,

How would I set the register for 8bit quatization, as that is the way I would like to implement my quad set up. This sets up register 15, but how does this differ-compare to the reg 14 setting that is documented for ackodac? Do both of these give me the input sharing? Can I use one or the other or both? Does quatization also give me better noise characteristics? I would then combine the outputs 1,3 2,4 5,7 6,8 ?

thanks,

Will

You can find the settings for the quantization here: Sabre32 H i F i D U I N O
Quantizer is reg15
Rerouting is reg14

Both will result in using 1/2 the inputs, but only 8 bit quantizer will turn off 1/2 of the internal digital logic. This "lowers out of band noise".

You can do both with no harm

You can read more here: Sabre32: Effect of Quantizer Setting H i F i D U I N O

PS: I don't claim to know the theory of what is going on internally. Just collecting and passing along what others have said and when I can, I test it too :-)