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New FIFO buffer for RPI/SBCs

Hi Komerdor

the way that any FIFO buffer works...is by creating a buffer. There is no way around that.

Have you tried to delay the audio to match the Kali buffer ?

Hello Cdsgames. Yeah I am aware that is how FIFO buffers work, but did not take that into account when I bought the reclocker. Yeah stupid. Had to do my research better I think. Is there a way to reprogram the EEPROM to disable the buffer (which will probably cause underruns) or to at least make it a fixed size (using VHDL?)? I saw a jumper to enable/disable programming on the board. Of course I am aware I could potentially destroy everything connected.
 
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How about using Piano 2.1 without the Kali? Did you try it? Maybe you could replace Kali with an iso board later.

Yeah that works fine, but then I do not get the clock corrections. I now use the TV's DAC via HDMI. I am not sure if I can hear a clear difference. Do those "master" DACs, like the BOSS and other brands, also introduce a delay like this?
 
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How much buffering does the Kali do? It must be A VERY BIG BUFFER if you can hear a substantial delay in the audio.

At least 0.7 seconds, but in practice sometimes less and sometimes more. If it was a fixed delay I could at least compensate for it, but there is no way to know what delay it will cause. Without the Kali and only the Piano 2.1 there is no delay at all.
 
Yeah that works fine, but then I do not get the clock corrections. I now use the TV's DAC via HDMI. I am not sure if I can hear a clear difference. Do those "master" DACs, like the BOSS and other brands, also introduce a delay like this?

Master dacs have no buffer, they control the clocks. Send us an email and we will exchange for whatever unit or refund you.
 
So I actually sat down and tested the Piano 2.1 DAC without the Kali reclocker and quickly switching between HDMI and the DAC by the press of a single button. Playing music using MPD and *not* Kodi (sounding really bad, not sure why, probably the resampling). Even without the Kali reclocker the Piano 2.1 DAC is still *much* better. So I will keep the Piano 2.1 DAC and return everything else and buy the new Kali reclocker as soon as it is available only if the delay / jitter buffer can at least be disabled. Also have to return the 19v power supply which only seems to be for the Volt+ and not Volt :(.
 
One off-topic question if I may. I am not sure if it is a bug. If I switch from 2.1 mode to 2.0 mode the crossover does not seem to disable itself causing the front speakers to not have any bass. Could it be the 2.1 firmware that is still active when going from 2.1 to 2.0?
 
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Project is alive and well. Instead of 9028sqm we used new ess IC. That delayed us for about 6 weeks.

Driver is being worked on (75% done , next week we should complete the PCB routing then we need to review it .. and sending for samples..then testing.

It will be released this year, but depends on how many revisions we make (for release time).

Do I think its worth it ? I never listened to it (of course) but the design itself was made to compete with DACs much , much more expensive . Boss is an excelent DAC for the price and it will always be , however Katana was designed to compete with HIFI dacs and shame them . (no not all of them just the ones that are expensive for no reason)
Of course the Sparko opamps :) just wait until you hear 6 of them in tandem ..of yeah I forgot to say that each board will be hand trimmed for DC offset .
 
Contact our website , we will ship you an adapter.

Thank you. I contacted support. It was just the small converter cable they forgot to send me.

I will keep the Kali for now, but not use it. Will wait for the new one if the FIFO can be turned on/off. I currently set all sound to resample to 24bit/48k to at least match the 19.2Mhz clock. If I overclock the CPU, will it change this clock? What else can I do to improve the sound without using the Kali?
 
Two questions about the current Volt amps -

1. I'm interested in either the basic Volt amp or the Volt+ amp with the potentiometer removed. What is the gain setting in dB of these two amps when used as basic power amplifiers?

2. Does the Volt amp (when used with the optional capacitive multiplier) have the same THD performance as the Volt+ amp? Or does the Volt+ amp have other improvements other than the built-in capacitive multiplier?

Thanks
 
You can't turn off the fifo with an asynchronous solution like the Kali.
You have to wait for a synchronous solution (maybe one day...)

Yeah I am now playing movies with Kodi via HDMI and music with MPD via Kali + Piano DAC and just switch the outputs on the amplifier by hand.
Now looking for a solution to control my amp using IR from the Pi. I am using an older NAD without serial input, only the IR input/ouput. Tried connecting the Pi audio out to the IR input (both having a 3.5mm audio jack port) on the NAD playing the IR signals from a 48k WAV according to specs (from pronto hex retrieved from official nad2pronto tool converted to sound including 38k carrier wave), but think the signal is not powerful enough to get the NAD to register it (impedance mismatch?).

It took me too much time tuning the software to even come close to what the Kali does. Even ended up modifying the kernel drivers to ensure integer division for the freq to be used, but have no way to verify / analyse if it works and it still did not sound as good as using the Kali for the DAC.

I wished the Kali had a fixed delay so I could configure this into Kodi or there was at least a way to programmatically switch between using the Kali for the DAC or disable the Kali an do a passthrough to the DAC without reclocking.

At least I learned the Kali, not only the DAC, really makes a difference. More bass and more separation. I think the jitter / unreliable clock, when not using the Kali, causes these details to be missed by the DAC.

I am not resampling everything to 24bit/48k anymore and just let the Kali reclock. It is nice to have it verify what settings, made visible on the board, I am playing at.
 
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