RPi B+ and ES9018K2M DAC: can't get it to work!

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Hi guys,

I have been fiddling around with this for quite a few evenings and weekends without much avail and I hope that you can help me. I am trying to get an ES9018K2M DAC to work with a Raspberry Pi B+ that runs Volumio.

I have bought the ES9018K2M DAC board from DIYINHK, together with the required 12v and 3.3v power supplies.

Problem: I get extremely distorted sound when trying to play back most files. Noise first appeared to be completely random, but after careful listening I now believe there is some relation between the noise pattern and the rhythm of the song being 'played'. When playing back a 24bit 96 kHz file and cranking up the volume of my amp, I can hear the song faintly playing, overlaid with noise and cracks.

Here's what I have tried already to get it to work:

1. I have tried using various versions of Volumio (1.4, 1.41, 1.5 and 1.55) and various firmware versions for the RPi. I have also tried Runeaudio (that runs on Archlinux) with the same results. This leads me to believe that it is not a software problem, although I am not 100% certain.

2. I followed the steps described here on the volumio.org forum, i.e. connected the I2S pins to the DAC; modified /etc/modules; /etc/asound.conf and /etc/mpd.conf as described.

3. On paper, everything seems fine and all the settings are as should be. I shortened the I2S jumper wires to 2-3cms, but that did not have any effect.

4. To rule out a bad soldering connection, I checked all the soldering points on the DAC board and they look as they should.

5. The voltage outputs of the PSUs for the DAC are as specified.

6. I rechecked (and rechecked again) that I connected the correct pins of the RPi to the DAC.

7. I made a thread about this on the volumio.org forum more than a month ago but so far haven't received any replies.

At this point I really do not know what else I can try to get it working or other diagnostic tests I can run to determine the problem. Does anyone here perhaps have any pointers or tips?

Many thanks for your help and expertise!
 
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