Kategorie: ES 9028Q2M

Hifi-fine-tuning / some little thoughts / external 5V – XMOS-bridges (“Skysong” here)

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so,  😉

today some little thoughts about hifi-fine-tuning here..

as i´ve ordered again some “green” “SMPCB V1.07” (its the fourth meanwhile, burnt one as testing out some dual dc ;-( ) and as i´m stuck now to buy some new bluray-player (for hdmi to i2S) i´ve reactivated my Skysong XMOS-bridge (http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/?p=1883) ->I2S->ES9038Q2M (green V1.07) to get some hifi “with ease” (from PC)..

cause i´ve got a little trouble at higher-resolutions (24/192) i´ve feeded the xmos-bridge (think its the same with all of them) again with an external 5V power-source, et voilá, again such a great difference to the usb-powered thing (said a lot about it in the above mentioned blogpost)->really again 10-15% better tune, hifi-began 😉 , means the music “disengages” from the speaker..

okay, and as i think my new Mission LX-2 are very “roomy” + “light”, i´ve got sometimes the feel that the old Mission 780 sound a little bit more “hifi” in some cases; they seem to be more “vocal”-focussed..

to “compensate” this i thought i change the standard NE5532 to my “heavenly” AD797ANZ (http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/?p=1693) as they have these unbelievable room, and some 3D-ish at their own and correspondent absolutely perfect with the sabre-chip-characteristica->”..i think the speciality on these Sabre-Chips is this digitally room/3D-feeling + also with the great soundstage..so i stay, as said, with the AD797ANZ“

(we had a schematic of the recommended op-amps for the ES9038Q2M, also with greater dynamic + thd/dnr etc..))->

so, i´m listening right now to these “combo” with the “heavenly” AD797ANZ (although i think they sound also a little bit “distorted”) and try to get the best out these special (what i like so much) roomy/3D-ish ess-sabre “hyperstream” technology (and to find the right speaker + amplifier for it)..

will post more in future, stay tuned and have a nice “happy new year” !! 😉

Raspberry Zero W V1.1 + Volumio / I2S-connection + Dietpi-Update V6.12

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so, 😉
its a little bit silent here lately but it doesn´t matter->here some infos about a Raspberry Zero W V1.1..
because they´ve updated the Arduino-ESP32-core here on github->https://github.com/espressif/arduino-esp32, and my self-made-noob-sketch didnt work since then on my Doit-ESP32S-V1 anymore, i thought also about to use my raspberry zero W V1.1 to control the ES9038Q2M via web or BT (for the I2C-control of the Digipoti MCP4131 for example, or the relais-control for the different-filter-settings and so on..)
for this (on a raspberry) “Node Red” (a programming language/editor) looks like a very good attempt/approach..post maybe then a little bit more..
anyway first i have to get the zero to work with any of these chinese-ess90xx-boards..
I´ve ordered the zero w without a pre-soldered header and without a “hammer header”; u can get them so at pimoroni for example of about 13,50€ !! (incl.shipping)->https://shop.pimoroni.de/products/raspberry-pi-zero-w
(u can also get there a raspberry zero (without wlan) for 5,05€ !! (+3,50€ shipping)->https://shop.pimoroni.de/products/raspberry-pi-zero

but this self-soldering is IMO on this little raspberry a bit more complicated than normal, it was difficult to get an I2S-DAC-board on this to work..
heres again a little picture how to connect the I2S-lines: (the pin-layout on my zero w V1.1 is exactly the same as before (on a RPI3B for example) (because someone said there are different pin-layouts on different zero´s)

so, i have to use Volumio first to check out where the problem was (the soldering 😉 ), and i took the fresh 2.413 (https://volumio.org/get-started/)..
works absolutely fantastic here now with an ES9028Q2M (+Muses8920); almost no horrible pops+clicks at changing volume/tracks/audio-formats..
I use here now the “hifiberry-dac” settings; the “RPI-DAC” settings are working too (but be careful while using the hifiberry-dac settings->u have to set the target-bitrate to “24bit”(audio resampling on); else u get a horrible noise (but this was clear if u have followed this blog/read a little)..


as said, fantastic here now (i´ve originally wanted to use my old ES9023 for this; but got no sound at all (was this soldering problem 😉 )..
and by that u can use the raspberry zero W V1.1 also with a normal usb-cable on a normal usb2.0-port (500mA)..for me here its enough; hadnt to use the original Pi-power supply (2,5A or something)..
also, Dietpi is now at V6.12 and i still want to buy some green ES9038Q2M V1.07 and some OPA627 😉
greets for now 😉

OP-Amps: finally the AD797s arrived / a lot of room / fine-tune / laid-back sound / not such a “revelation”..

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so 😉 ,
today my long awaited AD797s arrived..


first impressions:
a lot of “room”, almost “a laid-back”-sound, misses a bit the “liveliness” from OPA2134, the “contur” from the LME49710s and the “harmonics” from the Muses8920 😉 .. (not so “spectacular”)
but again a bit less distorted and with more dynamics-(range)-THD..
in this case (at this level) i think its also very important in which different “devices” u use the different-OP-Amps; voltage-wise and so on..
i´ve tested all the OP-AmPs on an ES9028Q2M (and some on the ES9038Q2M) with Volumio (on a pi) at full volume (no software-mixer)+ some with a Skysong-USB-bridge..(Win)
i think these needs more “burn-in/play-in”-time than the other..very “fine/high-resolution”-tone..
(i will then maybe post an update..)..
Conclusion (for now): not such a “revelation” as the other (Muses8920, LME49710, OPA2134) but very fine, room, laid back sound..
if i had to choose between these 3 OP-Amps (Muses8920, LME49710 ,AD797) it would be really a very very difficult “task”, because they are really very “close/tight” to each other with different advantages/disadvantages..
hmm..
the best for u would be, you order all the 3 (4) 😉 and get this “different-OP-Amp”-experience too..really..it was such a fun to “hear-out” the differences, where others say that they even wouldn´t exist ..
fabulous, so much fun 😉 ..
so, i guess i would stick with my “allround” Muses8920; guess its the best for now on this “cheap-manufactored” chinese-boards..on more high-end equipment the AD797+LME49710s could be the better choice..
(but as also said,very very difficult to choose, maybe i´ll swap then again 😉 )..

so, another “building-lot” is my combined ESP32S Bluetooth/Webcontrol now with the 4-port-relay for the filter settings + the MCP4131 (Digi-Poti) for the stepless HW-volume-control..
I´ve attached today my Mega2560 with an 3.5″ display via hardwareserial to it (rx,tx)(because i havent got the right libraries+pins+connections to set it also up on the ESP32s..)


i will have just to work out the right display/layout/font-settings (a lot of work anyway)..maybe i will also display some track-information on it->like Artist,Title, fileformat , length and so on..in Moode by example u can use a python script to send out some metadata-info…
a lot of possibilities and by the way, i don´t want to miss my HW-volume-control via Digi-Poti since some days anymore..
u have, as said, again a more finer/better option to adjust the overall volume..absolutely fine with these HW-volume control on the ES9038Q2M..


more to come, many greets and stay “tuned” 😉

Alsamixer-/control I-Sabre-K2M (-Q2M)=”Game-changer” + Audiophonics ES9038Q2M Kali-Edition..

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so, !! 😉
don´t understand/got it at first, but as “Terry” sent us a link to the new Audiophonics-ES9038Q2M KALI-edition->
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/diy-dac/audiophonics-dac-i-sabre-es9038q2m-kali-edition-raspberry-pi-i2s-spdif-pcm-dsd-p-12811.html, (Link-forum here)
i´ve looked through the description (after a few times visiting) and saw
“DietPi-compatible” and this picture:

then i looked through some other audiophonics-documentation and there it says:(Link-Audiophonics-topic->LINK)
“..Audiophonics I-Sabre K2M DAC Board ALSA Driver !!”->”.. SatoruKawase/I-Sabre-K2M” !!
and this is exactly the same repository “SatoruKawase/I-Sabre-K2M”which “Kennyliveforever” mentioned and from, i guess, DietPi download the binaries for the changed “I-Sabre-K2M”.dts-overlay !
so, thats really a “game-changer” !!
it´s so possible now to change the ESS-HW-control+FIR-selektion+Sources “on the fly”, means via an “alsamixer-terminal” !!

“millions of new possibilities” 😉 (display and usability-wise)
(just tried here right now to change the filter-settings via an alsamixer-terminal->no success..same with input-selection+HW-volume-control..guess its audiophonics/mcu-specific; but nevertheless a great improvement !!)
+
I´ve just seen at audiophonics too that it is possible to upload some driver (in this case audiophonics-ES9028Q2M) via the plugin-upload option in Volumio !! (maybe we´ll get there some new/updated “generic” ES9038Q2M-driver too !!)(LINK)

thats all wonderful, greets for now !! 😉

Update: ES9028Q2M 384khz (MPD) in newer Dietpi (6.4 and up) I-Sabre-K2M-driver..

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so, 😉
after “Kennyliveforever” made a great post about porting/including the I-Sabre-K2M-driver in Volumio->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=64, i´ve re-checked this driver-option in Dietpi (v6.6) again..
a few months ago i tried everything to get this driver in Dietpi (earlier versions) to work and there was/i heard absolutely nothing..
Now with the new DietPi (v6.4 and up) there was/must be a change in installing the driver..after you change the soundcard in rpi-config to “i-sabre-k2m” there “comes” a rpi-update and after that it loads some software from codeload.github.com, install some compiler-binaries and after that it compiles a complete new .dtbo (overlay) and includes it automatically afterwards..
some month ago, as said, these steps were absolutely not proceeded..

and now we have our lovely “384khz” back !!!

(i really don´t know why this is not clearly communicated via “fourdee” at dietpi..)
anyway, i started this whole blog/site by/of this problematic and alone for this, this blog has been paid off !! 😉 
okay, i had only a few minutes to test it, but i think with this ess-driver which uses (i hope) and demands the special capabilities of the ES9028Q2M i have a here a really better sound (about 10-20% min., i “surmise”); it comes now really up to my best combo at present->ES9038Q2M with Muses8920+Skysong-USB-bridge !!
but, and this is very important too: i strongly recommend to upgrade your ES9028Q2M to “Muses8920” too !!
(they cost only about 3,50$ from this seller by example (and they are not “fakes”, guess so 😉 )->https://www.ebay.de/itm/362255966842?ViewItem=&item=362255966842)
(i will test if this i-sabre-k2m driver also works with the ES9038Q2M..)

Op-Amps: NE5532 vs OPA2134 vs. Muses 8920 (02) + ESSabre-Link (+DietPi 6.5)

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so, 😉
got yesterday my “OPA2134” and had finally the time to check it out 😉

okay, fired up my Raspberry with the ES9028Q2M and thought first:” ? why sound it so “distorted” ?” (my main “rig” is at present->Skysong/Singxer USB-bridge (golden Crystek CCHD957s) + unmodified ES9038Q2M (Blue)..
Changed then the NE5532 to the OPA2134 and the result ?

Surprisingly good !! 😉

bought a few month ago some OPA2604; they were really, really, really bad (in any case on these Sabre-boards)..

This OPA2134 is very lively, airy, is more about middle-highs and really less “distorted”..
you can use them without any problems/thoughts to upgrade your NE5332..!

by that it brings me some “glance” back (in the highs) which i missed since 5 or 6 years ago, as i had to change my lovely Via VT1828S (onboard) to an “ordinary” Asus Xonar DX..;-)

changed then to the “Muses 8920” and ? Better 😉 ..it has the best from both op-amps: this airly, lively (OPA2134) but also the “push” (NE5532) mainly in the middle-lows..;-)(“its all about the slew-rate” 😉 ; funny+interesting article here->http://nwavguy.blogspot.de/2011/08/op-amp-measurements.html )
anyway this OPA2134 is as said very good..
the next possibility would be an “AD797” or some LMEs..(and Burson V5 of course)
ES Sabre itself recommend these “AD797″ + some LMEs (for the ES9006+ES9008 series)..its from a very interesting download->”Maximizing DAC performance…”->http://www.esstech.com/index.php/en/support/downloads (thx to “Mark04” again, over at the DIY-audio-forum->LINK)

(picture from “janos_904“->hope i could use it here..)

so, and another thing is that i´ve updated to Diet 6.5 and with every version it sounds better and better and the main advantage is that u have meanwhile almost no horrible “pops” in changing the music-file-format like flac to wav or 44,1 to 192khz for example..
i guess its also because u got a better/fresher raspian-(firmware) everytime u update it via DietPi..
greets for now..

ES-SABRE FORUM (Update) + HC-06 BT Rename + Dietpi 6.4 (+ES9028Q2M)

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so, 😉
sorry, i´ve just seen that it was impossible for unregistered user/guests to see any content in the forum->forget to uncheck “Force Guests to register/login to access the full content“(it was, as i hardly remember, because of the f***** spam-attacks); its solved now..->FORUM
second i´ve made a new post how to change the “identifier/baudrate/pin” of a HC-06-BT-module->http://essabre-90xx-rpi.sfb2.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=34
third i´ve updated to “DietPi 6.4“->http://dietpi.com/ and it plays here soo very well with my “ES9028Q2M”->absolute wonderful..(just connected 2 DIP-buttons via a breadboard to the 8 pin HW-control on it..); soo nice..(i will also try in future to solve/control it via some BT/Arduino-control)
fourth i´ve installed/set up a “search“-widget in the upper right..thought it was already there but wasn´t 😉


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