ES9038Q2M DAC HAT for Reaspberry Pi
I designed this ES9038Q2M DAC HAT at the same time as ES9028Q2M (Actually as well as the second generation ES9018K2M HAT). The whole series share same dimensions and raw balanced output connectors as standard DAC core board. Can be swapped in between. I'll get them compared under the same configuration to see if there is any improvement.
The only thing is that ESS didn't lower ES9038Q2M output resistance as ES9028Q2M from ES9018K2M. Its internal resistance is almost as double as ES9028Q2M, so the current I/V stage has to be changed a little bit accordingly.
However my ESS controller/driver will cover both.
I'll have more update later.
ES9038Q2MRaspberryPiDAC by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
I designed this ES9038Q2M DAC HAT at the same time as ES9028Q2M (Actually as well as the second generation ES9018K2M HAT). The whole series share same dimensions and raw balanced output connectors as standard DAC core board. Can be swapped in between. I'll get them compared under the same configuration to see if there is any improvement.
The only thing is that ESS didn't lower ES9038Q2M output resistance as ES9028Q2M from ES9018K2M. Its internal resistance is almost as double as ES9028Q2M, so the current I/V stage has to be changed a little bit accordingly.
However my ESS controller/driver will cover both.
I'll have more update later.
ES9038Q2MRaspberryPiDAC by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
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Although this is for 1545 - works for 1544A too.
http://www.lundahl.se/wp-content/uploads/datasheets/1545a_2000_01_13.pdf
I used configuration E 1:4 for ES9018. Sounds the best.
With ES9028Q2M you will have to load the primaries with 260 ohms. That will reduce the signal by 1/4 to give you a 2V RMS assuming a 403 ohm output impedance per phase. That will put the primary impedance at 196 ohms (403*2 || 260). And secondary reflected impedance at 3.1K (196*16)
That is just enough source impedance not to cause phase shifts at higher frequencies over unbalanced RCA (per meter capacitance worst case is 300pf/meter)
The cap in parallel to 260 ohms should be 39nf for a 20K corner frequency
Hope this helps
hey this and the 28 look pretty awesome! i’m interested in a multisource system (source selection between RPi and external digital audio via SPDIF). would that be supported somehow? i guess i’d need an external board but i dont see how that would be passed to the hat if it gets the audio directly from the pi?I designed this ES9038Q2M DAC HAT at the same time as ES9028Q2M (Actually as well as the second generation ES9018K2M HAT). The whole series share same dimensions and raw balanced output connectors as standard DAC core board. Can be swapped in between. I'll get them compared under the same configuration to see if there is any improvement.
The only thing is that ESS didn't lower ES9038Q2M output resistance as ES9028Q2M from ES9018K2M. Its internal resistance is almost as double as ES9028Q2M, so the current I/V stage has to be changed a little bit accordingly.
However my ESS controller/driver will cover both.
I'll have more update later.
ES9038Q2MRaspberryPiDAC by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
also, what would be the aprox cost of the 28 hat?
thank you!
Hi Ian. Really looking forward to this. I presume I will require your isolator board as well as the DSD daughter card? Is the controller available yet? I do have a ES9018 i2s DAC which is currently mothballed. It has an i2c connector and am curious whether your controller will work with it.
I currently have my RPi3 connected to a Marantz HD-AMP1 via USB, using MPD with my self compiled kernel and booting off the network. Works fine other than the occasional drop outs. Sound quality is OK on the Marantz but not entirely happy with it though.
I am keen on using the volume control on the ES9018. I am hoping to eventually getting your DAC and hooking up to hypex ncores for an all-in-one system, and controlling everything using an android tablet.
I currently have my RPi3 connected to a Marantz HD-AMP1 via USB, using MPD with my self compiled kernel and booting off the network. Works fine other than the occasional drop outs. Sound quality is OK on the Marantz but not entirely happy with it though.
I am keen on using the volume control on the ES9018. I am hoping to eventually getting your DAC and hooking up to hypex ncores for an all-in-one system, and controlling everything using an android tablet.
Thanks smoothquark ,
Yes, you are right. ES9018 and ES9028 need the small DoP daughter board (which can be plugged in the IsolatorPi) to convert the DoP stream into DSD. However ES9038Q2M has a built in DoP decoder, so, for ES9038Q2M, the DoP daughter board is not a must.
My ESS controller were finished 5 months ago. I'll have some new update later.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-b...-i2s-dac-hats-raspberry-pi-4.html#post5243209
It's an universal ESS DAC controller. It can be connected either to RPi GPIO or as external. Theoretically is works for all ESS sabre32 DAC. So I don't think there is any problem for your DAC.
ESS9018/28/38 has internal 32bit digital volume control. Much better than any 24bit digital volume control, but still not as good as the analog one on my PASS XP-10. However according to my listening experience, the difference is not that huge.
Regards,
Ian
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Yes, I would very much like to purchase the controller to try if I can control the volume on my 9018 DAC. When I was using it, I found that the digital volume control on the DAC was better than the one on my Arcam C31 preamp. However, I do not think my current Marantz volume control is anywhere near as good. I shall await details on how to purchase...
Power supply upgrade for ES9028Q2M/ES9038Q2M DAC HAT
Power supplies for each voltage rail of my ES9028Q2M/ES9038Q2M DAC HAT are designed can be upgraded.
The small upgraded regulator board in the picture is the LT3042 ultra low noise LDO board.
But it doesn't mean LT3042 is the best. Different power supply solution may have different result. Battery power, ultra-capacitor power, and other low noise LDOs are all worth to try. That would be a very interesting experience. And now, it's possible for this series ESS DAC HAT.
ES902838Q2MregUpgrade by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
Power supplies for each voltage rail of my ES9028Q2M/ES9038Q2M DAC HAT are designed can be upgraded.
The small upgraded regulator board in the picture is the LT3042 ultra low noise LDO board.
But it doesn't mean LT3042 is the best. Different power supply solution may have different result. Battery power, ultra-capacitor power, and other low noise LDOs are all worth to try. That would be a very interesting experience. And now, it's possible for this series ESS DAC HAT.
ES902838Q2MregUpgrade by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
Hi zgtc,
It is possible to make ES9028Q2M/ES9038Q2M DAC HAT having spdif input. For spdif input as additional, maybe you don't need an external board. Both of them support spdif input.
Regards,
Ian
I designed this small LT3042 ultra low noise (0.8μVRMS) regulator PCB.
LT3042 is in a smaller package than ADM7154, so it could be bit difficult to assemble. Free 3042 samples can be applied at TI's website.
LT3042REGboard by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
LT3042 is in a smaller package than ADM7154, so it could be bit difficult to assemble. Free 3042 samples can be applied at TI's website.
LT3042REGboard by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
Universal ESS DAC controller
I designed this universal ESS DAC controller five month ago. It can be either plugged into RaspberryPi GPIO or connected by a cable as an external controller. I'm the first one who designs an ESS DAC controller in this way. And I like this idea.
It's based on a STM32 ARM cortex processor and has almost everything I can think of, OLED screen, Ir remote control (compatible with Apple), encoder, and hardware audio signal format analyzer.
Theoretically it's capable to control all different kind of ESS DACs by identifying chip ID. So far, ES9018K2M, ES9028Q2M and ES9038Q2M drivers are finished.
It can also work with Linux driver when it's plugged into RPi GPIO.
I'm doing some very interesting testings on it now, I'll have more update soon.
ESScontroller by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
I designed this universal ESS DAC controller five month ago. It can be either plugged into RaspberryPi GPIO or connected by a cable as an external controller. I'm the first one who designs an ESS DAC controller in this way. And I like this idea.
It's based on a STM32 ARM cortex processor and has almost everything I can think of, OLED screen, Ir remote control (compatible with Apple), encoder, and hardware audio signal format analyzer.
Theoretically it's capable to control all different kind of ESS DACs by identifying chip ID. So far, ES9018K2M, ES9028Q2M and ES9038Q2M drivers are finished.
It can also work with Linux driver when it's plugged into RPi GPIO.
I'm doing some very interesting testings on it now, I'll have more update soon.
ESScontroller by Ian, on Flickr
Ian
I guess there will be a group buy at some point?
Hi Nounouchet,
Yes, it's possible. Just need some additional code. But normally it's for two DAC chips configured as dual mono.
I'm not familiar with triamplification applications, but I think all DACs can be configured the same. Am I right?
Regards,
Ian
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ESS DACs have only two possible I2C address. So it impossible to control three DACs one by one at same time.
But it might be possible to figure out under which condition all three DACs can be controlled together at same address as single DAC.
Regards,
Ian
Can you use a uC to power down an ESS chip (e.g. uC-controlled power line)? Or put it in a sleep, reset, or some other mode where it ignores I2C? Then say you have two ESS chips both at the same I2C address, simply turn one off (or sleep/reset/whatever) to talk to the other. Kind of ghetto, and you probably wouldn't want to do it during playback. But seems a valid (if kludgey) way to get around the two I2C address limitation.