EBay es9038q2m vs es9038pro

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Green77

Member
Joined 2007
Hello all,

I`m thinking of buying a new dac board. I have my music on a htpc(flac) and also use Spotify ;)

Today i use a Soekris 1021 v2 dac, but i need to try a new dac, mostly for fun and also to hear a new delta sigma (right?) dac.

What to buy?
This one and build a regulated dc supply will be cheaper...

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

Or is it better to go for a eBay board with a 9038 pro chip? Cost alot more..

ES9038PRO Ulitmate DSD DAC OELD Display Successor of ES9028 DAC / XMOS XU208 USB | eBay

Maybe a stupied question :rolleyes: . But will i hear any diffrent when i play from Spotify?

BR //Daniel
 
M

miero

Member
Joined 2011
I guess both of these boards are very poor implementations of ESS DACs. For the start you can try to count voltage regulators they are using for powering digital/analog/clocks...

Check this how a PCB of a proper low-cost implementation of ES9038Q2M looks
Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 digital DAC | pink fish media

Also it uses ESS voltage regulators for powering the DAC. The downside of that box is does not have a USB galvanic isolation...
 
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M

MBA

Member
Joined 2009
Green77 said:
Maybe a stupied question :rolleyes: . But will i hear any diffrent when i play from Spotify?
Click to expand...

Strictly technically Miero is right, both boards are inferior to your Soekris - but you want to test it "mostly for fun". You may well hear a difference. Remember, we are often fooled in our hearing as we tend to rationalize the money difference, that is scientifically proved. Will you really hear better/worse technical solution in a double blind test? Nobody tells you in advance as hearing and "better sounding" could be rather subjective. Hobby is about emotions. Enjoy your tinkering, your mindset will give you more satisfaction as numbers. Many people love tube sound in spite of much higher distortion... :)!
 
K

KHashmi316

Banned - Sockpuppet
Joined 2006
Hard to get a straight answer on what the exact diff. between chips are other than the model number itself; and ESS's own obscure (=uninformative) description. Notably, that es9038q2m is a Smartphone/mobile device while es9038pro is for serious and "pro" use.
Who knows?!
It's hard to buy standalone chips, tho' I have seen the 9038pro on Ali for ~$100 (chip only).
Have only seen the q2m in cheap devices (Ali price may be as low as $30): Lusya ES9038Q2M I2S IIS DSD DOP Coaxial Fiber SPDIF Digital Audio DAC Decoder Board support 32bit 384k DSD64 128 256 A9 012|Digital-to-Analog Converter| - AliExpress

hifimediy describes it this way:
Hifime S2 USB and SPDIF DAC (Sabre ES9038q2m) – Hifime Audio
"the Sabre DAC Chip ES9038Q2M which is the latest generation of the mobile hifi DACs and succeeds the ES9023, ES9018k2m and ES9028q2m."

BOTTOM LINE:
The whole wanky 575+ page DIYA thread: ES9038Q2M Board
.... is based on pee-on "$5" chip.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!


Refs:
ESS Technology :: ES9038PRO
http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en...debuts-vivos-new-xplay-6-flagship-smartphone/
 
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