Low cost ES9018 Dac - Builders Thread

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#161
jean-paul said:
It should at 3 to 4 times the cost, 6 times the building time and 10 times the bug fixing time (that the Subbu does not need as we took care in shipping out a relatively well tested device). You can speculate what you like but I wait patiently for the final reports.
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I don't think DIY are really sound battle, more a pleasure to make "things"!
It's just my opinion but I think in blind tests, few, if it's not no, peolple detect differences between subbu DAC or es9018K2M Syllable DAC!😉
 
#163
It is a good DAC regardless of price, it also "just works" 😉 I don't like the lable "budget" as it sounds better than quite a few non-budget A branded DACs. IMO price is not very relevant, it is performance that counts. For some reason I think you never heard a V3 ? BTW the DAC this thread is about is as budget as the V3 is in its class (with free bugs and PCB errors as a bonus).

Regarding the budget-ES9018K2M DAC: I think the silence is deafening. Is there any builder that finished this ES9018K2M DAC with good result ? By now there should be many built DACs. Please report your results.

SDF said:
It's just my opinion but I think in blind tests, few, if it's not no, people will detect differences between Subbu DAC or ES9018K2M Syllable DAC!😉
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Well, I would not be surprised. That is why I am curious. I think the neccesity for an output stage might also introduce more problems than it solves.
 
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#167
jean-paul said:
It is a good DAC regardless of price, it also "just works" 😉 I don't like the lable "budget" as it sounds better than quite a few non-budget A branded DACs. IMO price is not very relevant, it is performance that counts. For some reason I think you never heard a V3 ? BTW the DAC this thread is about is as budget as the V3 is in its class (with free bugs and PCB errors as a bonus).

Regarding the budget-ES9018K2M DAC: I think the silence is deafening. Is there any builder that finished this ES9018K2M DAC with good result ? By now there should be many built DACs. Please report your results.



Well, I would not be surprised. That is why I am curious. I think the neccesity for an output stage might also introduce more problems than it solves.
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Hi Jean-Paul,
I listen to my default-mode ES 9018 almost everyday. The skipping is much less, but it still skips sometimes. I can't recall either of my V3's skipping except on scratched cd' s. My main dac is the version that is close to your original design. It has a solid focused image. I like the 9018 too, but I can't truly compare it to the Subbu,s until I replace the TPS chips or find similar power board. I wired up a homemade LM 317 supply and haven't found anything better to plug in. Can you recommend a good low noise supply? I'm not sure I have the skill to replace the on-board chips. But I think it's worth the effort to hear this dac at its best. Regards.
 
#169
jean-paul said:
It is a good DAC regardless of price, it also "just works" 😉 I don't like the lable "budget" as it sounds better than quite a few non-budget A branded DACs. IMO price is not very relevant, it is performance that counts. For some reason I think you never heard a V3 ? BTW the DAC this thread is about is as budget as the V3 is in its class (with free bugs and PCB errors as a bonus).
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Budget refers to the price, not the performance. I've not heard your DAC, but I gather a lot of attention has gone into tuning it, plus it's pretty simple so harder to screw up. Given this, I'm simply predicting that it does indeed sound good.

The ES9018K2M is a different level of DAC, aimed at a different market. It's more expensive than the 9023 and has better THD and DR. IF well implemented it should sound better, but well implemented is the key.

jean-paul said:
]Is there any builder that finished this ES9018K2M DAC with good result? By now there should be many built DACs. Please report your results.
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Mine's taking much longer than I hoped it would, my diabetic eyes are really struggling these days with the smaller SMD parts. Already screwed up one of the ADM7150 regs. A through hole project would have been a better idea in retrospect, but I'll finish it now.

jean-paul said:
]
I think the neccesity for an output stage might also introduce more problems than it solves.
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There's no reason it should, with a bit of care. ESS provide a schematic for an output stage that maintains the DR of the DAC. It's then just a case of doing it right. All part of the fun!
 
#171
I finish to assemble three dacs.
"Normal" build, ground "tweak", i2c "tweak", without arduino controler, I2S feed from Joro's usbtoi2s (feeding flawlessly: a buffalo III via I2S and a subbu v3 via SPDIF ) board with dual power and a BBB running mpd

I have several questions:
- I was unable to use I2S using the inputs above S2
- I2S is working only using galvanicaly isolated inputs and S2 on OFF position- up to 384KHz and 128DSD, without glitch, yesterday played for about 6-7 hours. When I put S2 on ON position one dac is playing the other one distorts. I measured everything after REG5 but the values are the same. the only difference between them is that the working one has reg3, reg4, reg6 and the other one reg12, reg 11, reg13.
- I was unable to use any of spdif inputs on neither boards
I2S:
- it is strange that without addr shorted the chip address is 0x49 and not 0x48 as it should be. it is the other way around, shorted is 0x48
- does anyone with access to k2m datasheet can confirm that xx11xxxx means k2m rev W


Personal thoughts regarding the project:
- a little bit upset about the lack of involvement of the developer
- not so happy about the quality of the board. I was impress about the quality of the subbu board, salas boards, myfreemen and wire headphone amps. The ESS chip from the third board is fried (I don't know why now) but I was surprised to see that it didn't had any solder on the back.
- now the good parts 🙂 it really fits my momentarily needs, relatively cheap, has I2S inputs, DSD capable, balanced outputs for bal-bal headphone, isolated I2C.
- it was fast delivered
- it sounds good and offers me the possibility to toy around with opamps

Bottom line for me was a positive experience (only a bit on the positive side but positive).

Most probably the next project around K2M will be a success if:
- the quality of the board will be at diy standards
- the project will have adequate developer support

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_uiYCepmQHSQUhXMmJQc2Vyc3c/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks to all the previous participants of this thread for "debugging" the project to this point
 
#176
cmiu007 said:
I was unable to use any of spdif inputs on neither boards
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Even if you would like to use those pesky SPDIF inputs it would be difficult to use them at all, I see 😉

Keep polishing, maybe the car will run a few kilometers without bugs in the end. Make that 3 cars (if the third one gets a new engine).

I did not miss the main thing, out of 3 DACs at least one of them more or less works ! 😀
 
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#180
I will start my build next coming days. As i understand from Cmiu007 he could feed the dac with Spdif either I2S without having an MCU installed. HE also have problems with SPDIF buffers as he was able to listen to Spdif feeding the Ess chip directly bypassing the 74HC1GU04 gate. Something seems to be wrong with that Spdif signal buffering and it must be something simple. I will see after build 🙂
 
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