Alright, that’s good to know. It feels like the cause is somewhere around the oscillator, since that’s where doing things changes the noise level, but I guess fluctuations in the clock could expose issues elsewhere on the board or within the DAC itself…?
Have you played DSD files on Sky Song via I2S or OPTO? I try it but I have no sound, and I have NLOCK on the display. Do you know why? I have DAC OPTO input connected to the SACD player and I2S via the XMOS audio interface and RPi with Moode.I've tried two variations of ES9038Q2M DAC board: this one
I've only ever had DSD audio working over the optical port when playing as DSD-over-PCM. Most SACD players won't output DSD over optical - which model do you have?
DSD audio kind-of works for me (with noise) over I2S from my Blu-ray player's HDMI output.
You should check the XMOS audio interface's capabilities. Maybe you can try setting the RPi to output DSD-over-PCM, and if your XMOS audio interface has an S/PDIF output, you can connect that to the coaxial input and see if you get a different result.
If you can get DSD-over-PCM working but not proper DSD, it does rather suggest that there could be a general issue with the oscillators or the design of this board.
DSD audio kind-of works for me (with noise) over I2S from my Blu-ray player's HDMI output.
You should check the XMOS audio interface's capabilities. Maybe you can try setting the RPi to output DSD-over-PCM, and if your XMOS audio interface has an S/PDIF output, you can connect that to the coaxial input and see if you get a different result.
If you can get DSD-over-PCM working but not proper DSD, it does rather suggest that there could be a general issue with the oscillators or the design of this board.