True synchronized mode really makes difference
I had been listening to DSD format musice on my ES9038Q2M Dual Mono DAC the whole week last week. When I switched back to PCM music with setting the ESS DAC into true sync mode by stopping DPLL and configuring the BANDWIDTH=0, I really felt the improvement. By comparing with sync mode under the same XO clocks, true sync mode comes with more air and liquid,solid stable 3D image and quieter background. The better XO clocks I use, the more obvious I feel. The only issue is that ES9038Q2M doesn't support DSD and DoP at true sync mode.
I don't know if anybody uses the DPLL ratio status watching function on the ESS controller. It's a really powerful feature to evaluate the clock quality and DPLL status. I found something interesting. At sync mode, ES9028Q2M and ES9038Q2M work in different way. ES9028Q2M DPLL was in "free wheeling" status which means that the DAC is using the external mclk rather than the DPLL. While under the same condition, ES9038Q2M DPLL still trying to lock to the input music stream though the music signals are already synchronized with the mclk. If the XOs are good enough, the changing of DPLL ratio is just 1 or 2 above or below the center numbers.
When setting to true sync mode, the DPLL will always stop at 0 without any change (truly stopped).
I really like the sound of true sync mode, I'll do more test to see if ES9028Q2M can support both PCM and DSD at this mode.
Regards,
Ian
I had been listening to DSD format musice on my ES9038Q2M Dual Mono DAC the whole week last week. When I switched back to PCM music with setting the ESS DAC into true sync mode by stopping DPLL and configuring the BANDWIDTH=0, I really felt the improvement. By comparing with sync mode under the same XO clocks, true sync mode comes with more air and liquid,solid stable 3D image and quieter background. The better XO clocks I use, the more obvious I feel. The only issue is that ES9038Q2M doesn't support DSD and DoP at true sync mode.
I don't know if anybody uses the DPLL ratio status watching function on the ESS controller. It's a really powerful feature to evaluate the clock quality and DPLL status. I found something interesting. At sync mode, ES9028Q2M and ES9038Q2M work in different way. ES9028Q2M DPLL was in "free wheeling" status which means that the DAC is using the external mclk rather than the DPLL. While under the same condition, ES9038Q2M DPLL still trying to lock to the input music stream though the music signals are already synchronized with the mclk. If the XOs are good enough, the changing of DPLL ratio is just 1 or 2 above or below the center numbers.
When setting to true sync mode, the DPLL will always stop at 0 without any change (truly stopped).
I really like the sound of true sync mode, I'll do more test to see if ES9028Q2M can support both PCM and DSD at this mode.
Regards,
Ian
Attachments
Hi guys! Previously there was some problems with DSD playing, but it was the hardware problem, which was solved sucesfully with Ian's (private) help. Today I am so happy with the sound quality of Ian's DAC! Awesome job Ian, congratilations!
After reading your post today I have done the same procedure with transfering your DAC to True Sync mode. It sounds much better in this mode - more accurate\natural sound, I confirm!
But I can't understand why you say there is no possible to play DSD? In this terms - I have not see any changes. At least DSD64 and DSD128 files are plays OK. ESS Controller indicate the input data correctly. Have I missed something and the information on the ESS-controller display is not what is going on in real?
The one only "bad" thing is that if I pause DSD playback then big pop occurs while the DAC goes to standby mode with "NO INPUT" status some seconds later after. This is not happens with PCM data. It is not happens with DSD when DAC is out of "true sync" mode too.
I am using Roon -> Ropieee on RPi3b+FifoPi+9038q2mpi.
After reading your post today I have done the same procedure with transfering your DAC to True Sync mode. It sounds much better in this mode - more accurate\natural sound, I confirm!
But I can't understand why you say there is no possible to play DSD? In this terms - I have not see any changes. At least DSD64 and DSD128 files are plays OK. ESS Controller indicate the input data correctly. Have I missed something and the information on the ESS-controller display is not what is going on in real?
The one only "bad" thing is that if I pause DSD playback then big pop occurs while the DAC goes to standby mode with "NO INPUT" status some seconds later after. This is not happens with PCM data. It is not happens with DSD when DAC is out of "true sync" mode too.
I am using Roon -> Ropieee on RPi3b+FifoPi+9038q2mpi.
Hi bisesik
You did good job to your project. Congratulations!
I'm glad that you experienced the same to the true sync mode. In my system, when I play DSD at true sync mode, it has music, but the sound was not correct. It also has pop sound as same as you. DoP was no sound. And in the user's manual of ES9038Q2M, ESS clearly said that this mode doesn't support DSD and DoP.
What watch DPLL status number was showing on the OLED when you play DSD at true sync mode? Did you set DPLL DSD bandwidth to 0? Did you use external mclk from FifoPi? Did you set jumper switches to sync mode on ES9038Q2M DM board(I suggest switching both on)? Please let me know.
Regards,
Ian
You did good job to your project. Congratulations!
I'm glad that you experienced the same to the true sync mode. In my system, when I play DSD at true sync mode, it has music, but the sound was not correct. It also has pop sound as same as you. DoP was no sound. And in the user's manual of ES9038Q2M, ESS clearly said that this mode doesn't support DSD and DoP.
What watch DPLL status number was showing on the OLED when you play DSD at true sync mode? Did you set DPLL DSD bandwidth to 0? Did you use external mclk from FifoPi? Did you set jumper switches to sync mode on ES9038Q2M DM board(I suggest switching both on)? Please let me know.
Regards,
Ian
Some lack in SQ or what?
Strange but I have music in Volumio and in Roon through DoP selected. Moreover if I selecting Direct DSD in Volumio, then DSD64 file plays as 192kHz (ESS-controller sais that).
0x00000000
Yes, for both PCM and DSD options in ESS-controller setup.
Yes via the small u.fl cable you put with FifoPi.
Yes, exactly as you described, but it works when the second pin is in OFF position as well (0x92 or 0x90 - no matter).
I believe you also loose the digital volume control so be careful if you don't have a pre-amp like me
The Volume function works fine in true sync mode while DSD playing.
What was displaying on the OLED when you play DSD at true sync mode? What XO frequencies did you use on FifiPi?
That's a good news, I'll try another ES9038Q2M DM to see if that works for me.
Regards,
Ian
That sounds great. I'll try the true sync mode on other ES9038Q2M DM DAC board for the DSD play back, to see if it works for me.
Regards,
Ian
Hi Bisesik,
Could you try if dsd256 plays well too in truesync mode?
You may find some free files there 2L High Resolution Music .:. free TEST BENCH
Sync mode requires that MCLK is a specific multiple of the input sampling rate so you should be able to play only one sampling rate (DSD64 or DSD128) with a specific clock. So unless the Fifo divides the MCLK automatically for you based on the input sampling rate you were not in sync mode.
Maybe Ian can confirm if FifoPi has logic to detect the input sampling rate and divide the MCLK accordingly in true sync mode?
My guess would be that you need MCLK = 2 * DSD (since for PCM it's 128 x FS) rate so for DSD128 you would need a 22.xx clock and for DSD64 you would need a 11.xx clock.
Last edited:
Hi Wealas,
Please no worry, FifoPi exactly has the logic that switching the MCLK automatically to 2*times multiple of input Fs detection. That's why FifoPi needs two XOs for the two Fs groups.
So, with FifoPi, music will be always synchronized with the mclk.
The key thing of the true sync mode is to stop the internal DPLL of ESS DACs so that the sync clock will be pure and without any ASRC processing.
Regards,
Ian
I think it is not the problem of the Ians hardware, but there is no way to force Roon or Volumio send DSD256. Roon says that my bridged rpi can work with DSD128 only (up to DSD128) and any DSD256 or DSD512 files are downsampled to 5.6MHz=DSD128. So I think it is more about RPI GPIO (I2S) SW driver issue\limitation
Ah, try this: go to device settings and set DSD mode to Native then scroll down to max rate and set to 256, then go back to DSD mode and switch to DoP but don't touch the max rate, just save. That's how I could get it to do DSD512 over DoP on my tweaked player. Roon said it was a limitation in their interface