Hi! My name is Istvan, I'm from Hungary. Currently I'm listening a cheap, chinese ES9018K2M I2S Dac (with some capacitor tuning and 4 independent Superreg Power Supply) with my Raspberry PI4 and Volumio (common settings: Generic I2S DAC, audio resampling: ON, Bitdepth 24 BIT,sample rate: native) . The sound quality is perfectly acceptable for me, only have one issue: when I switch to DSF file, I hear a loud clicking noise when the song starting or I search in song.
If I buy an ES9038 Q2M board with built in controller, will this problem go away? Or maybe need buy an USB-I2S controller?
I previously owned an Onkyo TX8130 network receiver, there was no problem playing DSF files...
Please help, If you can...
If I buy an ES9038 Q2M board with built in controller, will this problem go away? Or maybe need buy an USB-I2S controller?
I previously owned an Onkyo TX8130 network receiver, there was no problem playing DSF files...
Please help, If you can...
Hi Istvan,
Sometimes pops like you described are cause by the player software or by the OS. Could be that it has something to do with using DoP protocol to play DSD over RPi GPIO bus. Only way to be sure would be try changing those variables and see if the problem goes away. Its not all that uncommon of problem actually.
Pops can also occur because of dac hardware. If software is not cause then it makes sense to focus on hardware. Sometimes switching to a USB interface as the source of I2S signals helps because a good USB interface has two signals that can sometimes help to solve pop problems: MUTE and DSD_ON. The mute signal means just that, mute the dac output while MUTE is asserted. DSD_ON can allow firmware to mute the dac while the changeover to DSD mode is taking place. In addition, it may be possible to dispense with DoP and use Native DSD instead.
The final chance to stop a pop from occurring may be a dac chip's 'auto-mute' feature (if it has a one) that tries to mute the dac chip at appropriate times. Often that works pretty well, at least so long as a big pop noise is not being sent by the software that neither the USB board nor the dac chip knows is not an intentional part of the music being played.
Sometimes pops like you described are cause by the player software or by the OS. Could be that it has something to do with using DoP protocol to play DSD over RPi GPIO bus. Only way to be sure would be try changing those variables and see if the problem goes away. Its not all that uncommon of problem actually.
Pops can also occur because of dac hardware. If software is not cause then it makes sense to focus on hardware. Sometimes switching to a USB interface as the source of I2S signals helps because a good USB interface has two signals that can sometimes help to solve pop problems: MUTE and DSD_ON. The mute signal means just that, mute the dac output while MUTE is asserted. DSD_ON can allow firmware to mute the dac while the changeover to DSD mode is taking place. In addition, it may be possible to dispense with DoP and use Native DSD instead.
The final chance to stop a pop from occurring may be a dac chip's 'auto-mute' feature (if it has a one) that tries to mute the dac chip at appropriate times. Often that works pretty well, at least so long as a big pop noise is not being sent by the software that neither the USB board nor the dac chip knows is not an intentional part of the music being played.
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Dear Markw4!
Thanks for the reply! I tried all value of buffering, but can't help.
Now I found a new style ES9038Q2M dac, I think I'll give it a try.
Here is the link:
ES9038DAC
Quote from Description: Support 32BIT/44.1-384KHZ DSD64-DSD128 output, full frequency music switching without popping sound.
Thanks for the reply! I tried all value of buffering, but can't help.
Now I found a new style ES9038Q2M dac, I think I'll give it a try.
Here is the link:
ES9038DAC
Quote from Description: Support 32BIT/44.1-384KHZ DSD64-DSD128 output, full frequency music switching without popping sound.
Hi Istvan,
you might need to try something other than buffering. Maybe find a USB board and send the dac I2S through the USB board. Maybe try it with Linux, Windows (if ASIO driver available for USB board, etc.).
Adjusting software buffers cannot fix some types of pops coming from software. So, one should try other types of software and or computer hardware changes.
Regarding the dac you linked to, to me it looks like junk and I probably could not stand to listen to it. I would rather listen to the dac in my laptop or cell phone.
IMHO, there is no point using ES9038Q2M unless the circuitry around it supports getting low distortion sound out of the dac board. The dac chip doesn't matter as much as all the other stuff does. All a dac chip does is set a maximum limit on the best sound you can get if you do everything else really well. However, in cheap dac boards the only thing that is good is the dac chip, the thing that matters the least.
you might need to try something other than buffering. Maybe find a USB board and send the dac I2S through the USB board. Maybe try it with Linux, Windows (if ASIO driver available for USB board, etc.).
Adjusting software buffers cannot fix some types of pops coming from software. So, one should try other types of software and or computer hardware changes.
Regarding the dac you linked to, to me it looks like junk and I probably could not stand to listen to it. I would rather listen to the dac in my laptop or cell phone.
IMHO, there is no point using ES9038Q2M unless the circuitry around it supports getting low distortion sound out of the dac board. The dac chip doesn't matter as much as all the other stuff does. All a dac chip does is set a maximum limit on the best sound you can get if you do everything else really well. However, in cheap dac boards the only thing that is good is the dac chip, the thing that matters the least.
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Dear Mark.
Sorry for off-topic question.
I am planning to buy an item from Linsoul, but i am New in Linsoul.
I have a question : (For example calculation)
Normal price for Yinlvmei S3 now : 199 USD
After black Friday discount : 179 USD (for example)
If i have a 50 USD Gift Card : 179 - 50 =129 USD
And if i apply %10 discount (LINSOULBFCM10) : 129 - 12.9 (%10 discount) = 116.1 USD
Is my calculation correct? Can i buy it for 116.1 USD?
Many thanks for your help.
Sorry for off-topic question.
I am planning to buy an item from Linsoul, but i am New in Linsoul.
I have a question : (For example calculation)
Normal price for Yinlvmei S3 now : 199 USD
After black Friday discount : 179 USD (for example)
If i have a 50 USD Gift Card : 179 - 50 =129 USD
And if i apply %10 discount (LINSOULBFCM10) : 129 - 12.9 (%10 discount) = 116.1 USD
Is my calculation correct? Can i buy it for 116.1 USD?
Many thanks for your help.
Regarding multiple discounts, it depends on the seller's policy. Many seller's limit or do not allow combining discounts because it would cause them to lose money on a sale. IME most discounts are calculated to make at least a little bit of profit to help pay for the costs of running a business. You might have to ask a seller about their particular policy on that.
However, a gift card is normally something that somebody paid for. It is not actually a discount.
EDIT: Regarding Yinlvmei S3 in particular, there is a customer review on the their webpage at: Yinlvmei S3
– Linsoul Audio The person rated the unit as only 2 out of 5 stars due a problem with the sound. You might want to take a look at that and see what you think.
However, a gift card is normally something that somebody paid for. It is not actually a discount.
EDIT: Regarding Yinlvmei S3 in particular, there is a customer review on the their webpage at: Yinlvmei S3
– Linsoul Audio The person rated the unit as only 2 out of 5 stars due a problem with the sound. You might want to take a look at that and see what you think.
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Potstip,
We can't talk about that here since ESS considers the details to be confidential. If you have a datasheet and an ES9038Q2M board one way to get started is to buy a $10 logic analyzer and see what the existing firmware is doing to configure the board. Once you understand that then you would only have a small amount more to figure out on your own.
Another option would be to enter into an NDA agreement with ESS and then ask them for help.
We can't talk about that here since ESS considers the details to be confidential. If you have a datasheet and an ES9038Q2M board one way to get started is to buy a $10 logic analyzer and see what the existing firmware is doing to configure the board. Once you understand that then you would only have a small amount more to figure out on your own.
Another option would be to enter into an NDA agreement with ESS and then ask them for help.
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I do not get it because es9038q2m datasheet is already accesible for public usage;
http://www.esstech.com/files/1016/0459/4805/ES9038Q2M_Datasheet_v1.3.pdf
I read whole pages but i just do not understand the clock logic and ask for help. I do not see anything confidential here.
http://www.esstech.com/files/1016/0459/4805/ES9038Q2M_Datasheet_v1.3.pdf
I read whole pages but i just do not understand the clock logic and ask for help. I do not see anything confidential here.
all ESS datasheets and even evalboard design files are freely available for download at ismosys.com
If you are taking all the defaults then you only need to set the input format to match what you are sending (e.g. I2S, LJ, 32bit, etc.). Most USB boards, if that will be the source, use I2S protocol and 32-bit. The other thing is getting Q2M to enable the outputs, which was discussed a little starting around post #5607
Yes i am sending I2S. Maybe my bad i did not explain properly.
With pcm mode and ASRC. Is 24.576Mhz clock enough for playing 192Khz and am i have to do any clock configration from registers (different that the default ones) due to i am not using 100Mhz or 50Mhz clocks smillar to evo board or commercial products?
With pcm mode and ASRC. Is 24.576Mhz clock enough for playing 192Khz and am i have to do any clock configration from registers (different that the default ones) due to i am not using 100Mhz or 50Mhz clocks smillar to evo board or commercial products?
If you want to operate the device in synchronous mode, then there are some settings involved. However, unless you are using a high quality output stage and high quality AVCC voltage regulator, etc., going to synchronous mode with an ultra-low jitter clock probably won't help the sound that much.
Hello Mark;
What made you think I wanted to use synchronous mode?
I wrote;
With pcm mode and ASRC.
And the question is;
Is 24.576Mhz clock enough for playing 192Khz and am i have to do any clock configration from registers (different that the default ones) due to i am not using 100Mhz or 50Mhz clocks smillar to evo board or commercial products?