ES9038Q2M Board

[squinones]

Hi, this is my first post in this forum. I have a short question: Do any of you have any experience with this ES9038Q2M board?

ES9038 Q2M DAC DSD Decoder Support IIS DSD 384KHz Coaxial Fiber DOP | eBay

[DRONE7]

Yes, the last few pages of this thread detail it...

Chinese ES9018K2M I2S DAC

from about post #191 onwards....

[squinones]

Thank you Drone7! Interesting review, sounds like you like it, thank you very much.

[squinones]

Drone7: What kind of powser supply are you using with this board?

[TioFrancotirador]

It is great board!
I got it. Rpi-> hifiberry digi+ pro -> es9038q2m board. Powered by Salas Reflector D 5V, -/+15V. Works great!

[squinones]

You have an interesting setup. I am planning to use the board connected to the Toslink on the sound card of my PC. What do you have after the ES9038Q2M (amp, speaker and/or headphones)? Have you tested other DACs with your system?

I have not decided on the power supply yet, maybe I will start with this for 15 USD:

JDS Labs - 15VAC Power Adapter

or something like this for 35 USD:

STUDER900 15W Regulated PSU DC Linear power supply 5V 6V 7V 9V 12V 15V 18V 24V | eBay

The DAC output will go to directly to my speakers:

LSR305 Products | JBL Professional

I building my own chassi, it will be similar to this design but in aluminum:

M-Audio

[DRONE7]

@squinones

The board arrives set up for dual rail supply +15 0 -15 volts and the supplies you have linked are single rail. +15 0 volts

It can be run on single rail but you will have to do some soldering and desoldering on the board at J8 through J10.

From the sellers description...

Power supply: regulated DC voltage double 15V

* It is recommended to use dual 15V power supply to play board best results

Note that "o" = connection and "x" = no connexion... see attachment ...very confusing as this is back to front from usual

Power supply instructions: board shipping silent dual 15V power supply,
change the power supply need to set the corresponding jumper:
Jumper setting Description: (O = connection; X = off)

Also, it will not perform or sound as good on a single rail.

@TioFrancotirador you are using dual rail too ?
I see you posted in the Volumio forums...did you get i2s working with Raspberry pi and what settings did you use ?

[TioFrancotirador]

Regardless of DAC powering is everything. At least you should use dual rail -/+15V. Then if you want to go further desolder onboard 8V reg and power it from separate offboard regulator.
I am using Salas Reflector Ds (-/+15V and 8V) for powering since I consider them as best regs!
I am using Rpi3 with hifiberry digi+ pro. Although Es9038q2m works in asynch mode, it does not do the all job well. Its final quality still depends on I2S signal quality and it works much better with hifiberry digi+ pro than without it.
Also onboard opamp is so, so and might be replaced with better one.

[DRONE7]

Yes, I am building dedicated supplies too but interim using some dual switching with buck step-down and a lot of C for smoothing..

you say...

Although Es9038q2m works in asynch mode, it does not do the all job well. Its final quality still depends on I2S signal quality

So you tried i2s ?
What o/s and which overlay/driver ??
I am still trying to get it to lock and produce sound with any driver/overlay... tried on MoOde and Volumio.
Any info appreciated.

However, usb to i2s works fine.
As does toslink and coax from other sources (cd player, tv box etc.)

[TioFrancotirador]

I am using Volumio with chosen hifiberry digi+ pro as I2S dac in configuration. That's it. It works.