The blue board was an early contender alongside the green SMPCB board. Substantial modification was done, including possibly pairing it with the SRC4392, but it lost drive around page 200.
I didn't follow this thread closely. what is this SRC4392 board? Please direct me to the relevant post, thanks.
Regarding the blue board, its can work too. It may even cost a little less than the green one. The consensus seemed to be it was more cheaply made than the green one too, and most people seemed to prefer the green one. That's my memory of it anyway.
I understand it is sadly not easy for newcomers to go through all the thread and pick up the right unit to tweak it. Nor is it probably for Mark to answer any single question around numerous boards on Ebay...
On top the offer may have change meanwhile (some links are gone) and perhaps some want also to enjoy real functionalities and not just a bare board.
Writing under Mark's control (please correct me if wrong, I will edit my post if needed!), well baring I don't even own such a board...
My understanding is the only offer that comes with remote + display, while being still acceptable (little deviation from the recommended board), seems to be:
ES9038 ES9038Q2M Mini DAC SPDIF I2S DSD Decoder DAC Headphone Out,LCD Display | eBay
There is though a blue board (from the same company?), a tad less expensive, that seems different from the other blue boards (that are not prefered), with perhaps different PS options ... not sure that one is acceptable but Mark can comment perhaps?
DSD DAC Decoder Board Support IIS DSD 384KHz Coaxial Optical Fiber DOP TFT sztop | eBay
Other than these all seem to be pale copies from the recommended one... or worst. Mainly blue boards etc.
I hope I got it wright... and the displays and boards connect sell as intended (?)
Happy New Year
Claude
On top the offer may have change meanwhile (some links are gone) and perhaps some want also to enjoy real functionalities and not just a bare board.
Writing under Mark's control (please correct me if wrong, I will edit my post if needed!), well baring I don't even own such a board...
My understanding is the only offer that comes with remote + display, while being still acceptable (little deviation from the recommended board), seems to be:
ES9038 ES9038Q2M Mini DAC SPDIF I2S DSD Decoder DAC Headphone Out,LCD Display | eBay
There is though a blue board (from the same company?), a tad less expensive, that seems different from the other blue boards (that are not prefered), with perhaps different PS options ... not sure that one is acceptable but Mark can comment perhaps?
DSD DAC Decoder Board Support IIS DSD 384KHz Coaxial Optical Fiber DOP TFT sztop | eBay
Other than these all seem to be pale copies from the recommended one... or worst. Mainly blue boards etc.
I hope I got it wright... and the displays and boards connect sell as intended (?)
Happy New Year
Claude
ClaudeG; said:
I have attached a picture of what appears to be an updated version of that board. Am I correct? Is this an updated version? It is offered with and without the display.
Lusya ES9038 Q2M DAC DSD Decoder Support IIS DSD Coaxial Fiber Input 384KHz DOP With OLED D5 001|Digital-to-Analog Converter| - AliExpress
Attachments
Sorry, kozard, but that has no ressemblance whatsoever to what I posted!
Wether it is a good thing, or jut another cheap DAC board, no clue.
Claude
Wether it is a good thing, or jut another cheap DAC board, no clue.
Claude
Go unmodded!
Just get the board I posted on a few days ago ... it's a bit more than $35 ... but Markw4 seems to like it ...
When it arrives, listen to it unmodded (burning it in concurrently) for at least a week. If after that time, & your juices are still flowing, then try a few simple mods like upgrading caps.
You may get bored of the board after a week ... so you can move to something else .. .say an AKM board. There are plenty of other "board threads" here on DIYA.
It's more the RULE rather than exception that certain fanboy threads get super long and filter-bubbly. Not just here on DIYA, but most forums.
Just get the board I posted on a few days ago ... it's a bit more than $35 ... but Markw4 seems to like it ...
When it arrives, listen to it unmodded (burning it in concurrently) for at least a week. If after that time, & your juices are still flowing, then try a few simple mods like upgrading caps.
You may get bored of the board after a week ... so you can move to something else .. .say an AKM board. There are plenty of other "board threads" here on DIYA.
Claude,
The second board you linked to does appear to be made by the same company as the green one. The second board also appears to have a MCU with more pins, display, remote, etc., all included. Another feature is that there is an I2S selector chip allowing two I2S sources to be used without having replug connectors. The downside of the second one may be that the MCU generates more noise, and that the I2S selector chip may introduce more jitter coming into the dac chip. Those potential issues could be corrected, but maybe more modding work in terms of keeping different loads on different dedicated regulators. Up to the person doing the modding, whatever they would like to do.
The second board you linked to does appear to be made by the same company as the green one. The second board also appears to have a MCU with more pins, display, remote, etc., all included. Another feature is that there is an I2S selector chip allowing two I2S sources to be used without having replug connectors. The downside of the second one may be that the MCU generates more noise, and that the I2S selector chip may introduce more jitter coming into the dac chip. Those potential issues could be corrected, but maybe more modding work in terms of keeping different loads on different dedicated regulators. Up to the person doing the modding, whatever they would like to do.
Thanks Mark, I will update my post accordingly and hopefully that guides whoever needs it!
Thanks again for all your work and involvement, here and around AKM!
Claude
Thanks again for all your work and involvement, here and around AKM!
Claude
UPDATED POST...
My understanding is the only offer that comes with remote + display, while being still only a little deviation from the recommended board, seems to be:
ES9038 ES9038Q2M Mini DAC SPDIF I2S DSD Decoder DAC Headphone Out,LCD Display | eBay
There is though a blue board from the same company, a tad less expensive, that seems different from the other blue boards (that are not prefered here!)
DSD DAC Decoder Board Support IIS DSD 384KHz Coaxial Optical Fiber DOP TFT sztop | eBay
To quote Mark on this second option:
The second board you linked to does appear to be made by the same company as the green one. The second board also appears to have a MCU with more pins, display, remote, etc., all included. Another feature is that there is an I2S selector chip allowing two I2S sources to be used without having replug connectors. The downside of the second one may be that the MCU generates more noise, and that the I2S selector chip may introduce more jitter coming into the dac chip. Those potential issues could be corrected, but maybe more modding work in terms of keeping different loads on different dedicated regulators.
Other than these all seem to be pale copies from the recommended one... or worst. Mainly blue boards etc.
Happy New Year
Claude
My understanding is the only offer that comes with remote + display, while being still only a little deviation from the recommended board, seems to be:
ES9038 ES9038Q2M Mini DAC SPDIF I2S DSD Decoder DAC Headphone Out,LCD Display | eBay
There is though a blue board from the same company, a tad less expensive, that seems different from the other blue boards (that are not prefered here!)
DSD DAC Decoder Board Support IIS DSD 384KHz Coaxial Optical Fiber DOP TFT sztop | eBay
To quote Mark on this second option:
The second board you linked to does appear to be made by the same company as the green one. The second board also appears to have a MCU with more pins, display, remote, etc., all included. Another feature is that there is an I2S selector chip allowing two I2S sources to be used without having replug connectors. The downside of the second one may be that the MCU generates more noise, and that the I2S selector chip may introduce more jitter coming into the dac chip. Those potential issues could be corrected, but maybe more modding work in terms of keeping different loads on different dedicated regulators.
Other than these all seem to be pale copies from the recommended one... or worst. Mainly blue boards etc.
Happy New Year
Claude
kozard,
The board you linked has its ground plane a cut up so that traces for the LEDs and the LED driver chips could be added on the bottom of the board. That's bad because having a good, continuous ground plane is important.
The board you linked has its ground plane a cut up so that traces for the LEDs and the LED driver chips could be added on the bottom of the board. That's bad because having a good, continuous ground plane is important.
As an aside, just heard back though a mutual friend of the local NDK rep about DuCOLoN clocks. Apparently they are intended for use in satellites, not audio. That, despite the frequencies they come in. Price is around $2,000/each. Oh, well.
The new Khadas Tone board 2 pro is ESS ES9038Q2M, with XMOS XU216, <$200. A bare board version is coming soon.
Why????????????
ES9038Q2M Board
Why mess around with that under-performer when what I posted here is FAR more ideal:
ES9038Q2M Board