Does setting the DAC to Standalone mode reduce latency or have any performance benefits?
software mode there are more settings available, such as digital filters, but personally consider it irrelevant to change these settings.
software mode there are more settings available, such as digital filters, but personally consider it irrelevant to change these settings.
Actually, there is one advantage: when there is no microcontroller, it cannot cause any interference.
Do you have some digital attenuation before the first digital filter? If not, DACs usually clip on music, see https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...-intersample-over-issues.419223/#post-7828363 The hardware default for DAC chip attenuator settings is usually 0 dB.
Do you have some digital attenuation before the first digital filter? If not, DACs usually clip on music, see https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...-intersample-over-issues.419223/#post-7828363 The hardware default for DAC chip attenuator settings is usually 0 dB.
MCU interference can be mitigated with digital isolators. Also it is unclear what "setting the DAC to Standalone" means. If microcontroller is still there but DAC chip only is set to standalone mode then there are no benefits, only less functionality.
...or with good PCB design, frequency planning (such as keeping clock frequencies away from the frequencies the DAC is most sensitive to), putting the microcontroller on halt after programming the I2C bus... There are enough alternative options, but not having a microcontroller at all is a simple and effective approach to ensuring it doesn't cause interference.
Does not really work in practice as I2C is required also during playback either due to user input or changes in stream (e.g. attenuation, filter setting, sample rate changes).
Hardware mode VS Software Mode.
These "extra" options available are usually types of filters for sigma delta, volume/mute control, things that I consider irrelevant.
As for the main function, which is the sample rate selection, what is the advantage?
It is difficult to justify the software mode... apparently the hardware mode is already enough. Am I wrong?
Your wording was a bit unclear but I now assume you are planning to build a new dac. As already discussed HW mode does not typically bring any performance benefits. Whether or not HW mode is sufficient depends on the DAC chip and your requirements.
After setting the registers at startup, is this i2c connection used during the conversion process?
ESS DAC did not have hardware configuration mode, but it was added in the latest models like ES9039Q2M.
This got me thinking.
I2C is not used in conversion. ES9039Q2M works fine in HW mode but some features are not available.
Its usually just to simplify design and reduce costs. ESS wants to sell chips to everyone, from very low cost, lower performance products, to some much, much better products.
If a microcontroller is too expensive/complicated for a product, then probably a lot of the other circuitry surrounding the dac chip is also going to be cut to the bone. Most of the performance and SQ results from the quality or lack thereof of that surrounding circuitry. The dac chip only puts some limit on the best you can do if you try hard to do everything else really well.
Last edited:
ok, but... if you reverse the question, does it still make sense?
1 - Why use software mode?
2 - What are the benefits of implementing an MCU to configure the dac?
3 - Which of these settings available only in software mode are so relevant to justify this implementation?
**referring in general, not just the ESS model mentioned above.
