DAC ESS Sabre ES9038Q2M

Tone Board uses a decoding chip ES9038Q2M. Not only is it ESS flagship product, but it is also one of today's best solutions for high-fidelity audio decoding.

It embeds famous HyperStream 32 BIT 768kHz architecture and DSD256 support. Advanced reconstruction filters and excellent finesse in dithering complete the picture. 

This component is at the heart of the device. It promotes accurate audio reproduction with sustained momentum and a wider soundstage. This takes advantage of excellent performance such as > 120dB  SNR,  very low harmonic distortion (0.000337% @ 1kHz) and significantly low jitter (< 3ps clock jitter.)

XMOS USB U208

The ToneBoard connects directly to a USB source through XMOS interface U208 (8 cores). This type of interface is among the best existing solutions to stream audio through USB.

This USB chip natively supports DSD, that is to say the source provided the DAC recognize this protocol as a standard audio and will not impose any additional conversion step that may alter the quality of the digital signal.

USB-C / SPDIF / RCA

The ToneBoard has a S / PDIF port configured by default as input. It may nevertheless be configured output depending on the particular needs of each installation.

As part of this DAC module, the USB interface is already connected to a USB-C connector type, which means that this product is completely up to date on this connection and will operate without adapter with most of the upcoming devices (PC, Smartphone, Tablet, Audio Players, DAP ... etc.)

Finally, the analog stereo RCA output is on high quality gold plated terminals.

Note: The Coaxial S/PDIF input can only be used as an input if no computer or device is connected via USB (the switch is automatic).

Formidable audio performance

Component selection and integration, quality connectors, high quality  PCB manufacturing, Khadas made no compromise on audio quality.

The device also takes advantage of two clocks with ultra-low noise quartz and very low phase noise.

The power stage operates thanks to low dropout regulators as a way to limit unwanted noise while retaining a very accessible power system.

Extremely intuitive integration

In its most basicss functions, simply connect the card to a computer or an audio source via USB plug-C for a functional system.

The device is compatible with Windows, Linux, MacOS. Windows, however, requires a driver (see download tab on this page).

Software Solutions & Stand-alone.

With its XMOS interface, ToneBoard is natively recognized by Volumio and can be configured as direct audio output in the software solution.

For advanced users, it is also possible to configure Raspbian directly to drive the card.

By default, the port S/PDIF is configured as an input and allows direct connection without any configuration up to 192kHz

Test Audio Science Review

KHADAS has been the subject of a detailed comparative analysis by the Audio Science Review platform.

Click here to access the Khadas review.

Dimensions

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