Khadas Tone2 Pro Review (DAC & Amp)

[Phorize]

@Gouwa nice work. Out of interest do you know when you’ll be shipping a bluetooth module for the tone 2 pro?

 

[kidoman]

Has the filter issue highlighted by @amirm fixed yet?

 

[Veri]

Has the filter issue highlighted by @amirm fixed yet?

Yep it's definitely fixed:
https://forum.khadas.com/t/tone2-pro-firmware-v1-2-mcu-update/11944

 

[Grooved]

Has the filter issue highlighted by @amirm fixed yet?

Like @Veri said, it's fixed since April and 1.2 firmware (it also improved jitter)

I don't know if @amirm can added these information at the start of the thread (was done for other devices, but maybe only after checking himself)

 

[randomusername]

quite disappointed to see only 52mw balanced output at 300ohm. Can anyone confirm TP2 Pro can reach 83mW as specified on the khadas web site with additional PSU?

 

[Grooved]

quite disappointed to see only 52mw balanced output at 300ohm. Can anyone confirm TP2 Pro can reach 83mW as specified on the khadas web site with additional PSU?

It would have been great to get more, but I don't really understand the disappointment : it's mainly a DAC with balanced/unbalanced output to link it to an amp, with now volume control on these output if needed, and if you want to use it as a mobile DAC/headphones amp with Laptop or Smartphones (as it works without power supply, but may add one if you want) :
- 52mW at 300ohm would be the same than the third best headphones dongle (Hidisz S9 tested in balanced)
- 200mW at 33ohm would be the second best (E1DA 9038D would go third, but his 155mW are in unbalanced, which makes it good for unbalanced headphones) :

Now, that's right that for someone who only want to use it as a Desktop DAC/Headphones Amp, it may be better to buy one with power supply and more power. But if you plan to use it as Laptop DAC/Headphones Amp, this one can be use everywhere, not the case of one with power supply.

Can't confirm that you get more power by adding a power supply, but it's possible as using only one cable for data+power shows 5.05V and 0.52A with full MQA decoding (even a 16bit/44.1 MQA file) and 0.42A if FLAC (tested with a 24/88.2 one)

 

[Machinistnl]

Well, this works as a sort of mobile solution.

 

[cleareyes]

Hey, I’m thinking of building a raspberry pi zero portable flac player. Reasons being longevity through repairability.
Is the Tone 2 pro the best choice? are there any alternatives I should pursue?

 

[Machinistnl]

Hey, I’m thinking of building a raspberry pi zero portable flac player. Reasons being longevity through repairability.
Is the Tone 2 pro the best choice? are there any alternatives I should pursue?

Best choice for what exactly? The Tone2 Pro works well with my Rpi4 running Ropieee if that helps.

 

[cleareyes]

Best choice for what exactly? The Tone2 Pro works well with my Rpi4 running Ropieee if that helps.

Audio quality.
Or let me instead ask; If you were to assemble a portable music player based on a rpi, what would your parts list be, or at least your choice of dac / headphone amp?

 

[randomusername]

Does khadas have plans to release tone 2 hat soon? I am looking for an high fidelity pi hat too

 

[somebodyelse]

Does khadas have plans to release tone 2 hat soon? I am looking for an high fidelity pi hat too

If/when the bare board appears it will almost certainly be using the pinout for their VIM boards like the original Tone Board did, not the Pi pinout.

 

[Grooved]

Audio quality.
Or let me instead ask; If you were to assemble a portable music player based on a rpi, what would your parts list be, or at least your choice of dac / headphone amp?

Hi, it depends on your portable use : is it a "mobile" use with headphones, or is it being able to move easily the streamer/DAC/headphones but still being able to plug it on a power source.
They are cheapest options sounding good, but I would would say the Tone2 Pro may be your best option is you need to :
- use headphones (balanced or unbalanced) and lineout (balanced or unbalanced)
- use Tidal and so to get the most of it need to decode+render MQA (and as more and more Hifi track are 16bit MQA instead of standard FLAC)

For the first point, even if more power would have been great, it better than almost all dongle headphones
For the second point, if you need MQA, it will be an even more important point as there won't be a lot of option with MQA DAC and headphones amp at this price range, and/or less mobile than this one.

 

[cleareyes]

Hi, it depends on your portable use : is it a "mobile" use with headphones, or is it being able to move easily the streamer/DAC/headphones but still being able to plug it on a power source.
They are cheapest options sounding good, but I would would say the Tone2 Pro may be your best option is you need to :
- use headphones (balanced or unbalanced) and lineout (balanced or unbalanced)
- use Tidal and so to get the most of it need to decode+render MQA (and as more and more Hifi track are 16bit MQA instead of standard FLAC)

For the first point, even if more power would have been great, it better than almost all dongle headphones
For the second point, if you need MQA, it will be an even more important point as there won't be a lot of option with MQA DAC and headphones amp at this price range, and/or less mobile than this one.

Hey Grooved,

usage is completely portable. Initially I thought about just getting an LG V20,
but figured if I made a raspberry pi zero-based portable player it would last longer, or be easier to repair down the line.
For example I would not be restricted to only one battery option.

Essentially it’s an offline portable music player, use with headphones, wired and Bluetooth LDAC, play FLAC. MQA is not a priority, but sound quality is.
I get cds from the local library and rip them.

 

[Deleted member 36544]

I'm new to the forum but have been perusing it for a few weeks for more objective information on dac/amps.

I've had a few dac/amps in the last few months... Ifi hipdac, Creative G6, Luxury & Precision W2, Creative SXFI and also using my Denon PMA150H output. The W2 lacks a touch of character for me, and I actually prefer the SXFI amp over it for casual/fun listening. The only problem with the SXFI is that it has an audible noise floor with my SE846's and the bass is a tad messy. Hence why I bought the TP2 and it's pretty good. The sound signature is between the two, nearer the W2 in terms of taughtness and presentation.

Edit:
Having now auditioned the TP2 for a few days with the SE846's in both SE & Balanced output I have a few negatives which have ultimately left me back at the L&P W2.

1. The initial volume level is like the SXFI amp, just a touch too high even in low gain SE.
2. The background may be totally black in low/high gain and SE/balanced, but, after a certain volume level background noise suddenly appears out of the blue... Not good.
3. Although the menu system and joystick is easy to use & understand, I've on occasion had the misfortune of it not responding properly, i.e. menu selection moving left when I'm rotating right.
4. I wish there was a quicker way to alternate between volume & track selection modes. Perhaps having the lock function on 4 clicks, and having the 3 clicks options to go back to volume control?

It's good to see a company that listens and gets involved in these communities so I'm sure they'll sort out any of these issues that they can. In the meantime I'll keep one eye on progression here but I'll be using the W2 for now.

Cheers!

 

[Metrallaroja]

Almost a month of using the Khadas Tone 2 pro and I'm very happy with it.

Eeasy to use, clean sound and nice looks. It works great as a pure DAC or as a portable headphone amp.
The functions arent the most comfortable to travel throught with the knob but it does its work, and the only way I can imagine to be easier in such a compact dac/amp would be software related in pc/mobile.

It would be also nice if amirm could revisit it since it already got those filter fixes and now a preamp function in the v1.30:

Tone2 Pro - Firmware v1.30 (Line-Out Volume Adjustment & More!)

Hello Community! We’ve just released the v1.30 firmware for your Tone2 Pro, download it from: https://dl.khadas.com/products/tone2/firmware/tone2_pro/tone2_pro_firmware_v1.30_210730.zip Changelog: Added the pre-amp feature (when enabled, line-out volume is controlled by the volume knob)...

forum.khadas.com

 

[Phorize]

Hey Grooved,

usage is completely portable. Initially I thought about just getting an LG V20,
but figured if I made a raspberry pi zero-based portable player it would last longer, or be easier to repair down the line.
For example I would not be restricted to only one battery option.

Essentially it’s an offline portable music player, use with headphones, wired and Bluetooth LDAC, play FLAC. MQA is not a priority, but sound quality is.
I get cds from the local library and rip them.

You may want to look at the topping nx4 dsd. I have both the tone 2 and the nx4. If you don’t need the preamp function then the nx4 is better suited to portable use, having a decent battery and plenty of power.

 

[MalinYamato]

This is not a headphone amp, it is a DAC, but if you, against my recommendations, choose to plug your high-end phones directly into it you may realize that it is indeed not an amp but a DAC -- an excellent DAC that I become to love.

I seriously needed to downsize to have something more portable which I may set up at hotels on my trips between Europa and Asia. Wow, Tone board 2 Pro is an excellent DAC and, to me, it wasn't difficult at all to learn how to operate. Both power and audio go through a single USB C cable from Raspberry PI USB 3, which reduces adapters, bricks, and cables -- good for me on the go. The annoyance is that the blue light, which indicates MQA Studio, disappears after a while. Tone board 2 Pro integrates well with Volumio3 with no additional drivers. The amp is Zen Can Signature V2 HFM.

I tried ifi xDSD Gryphon, but I did not like its amp performance and the price-performance is terrible. Along with xDSD, Gryphon I tested the ifi iDSD micro signature. It sounds lovely but has no MQA decoder. While comunting I am going to use Ifi Go Blu thou, which replaces BTR5 and E1DA 9038S G3.

 

[dsnyder0cnn]

This is not a headphone amp, it is a DAC, but if you, against my recommendations, choose to plug your high-end phones directly into it you may realize that it is indeed not an amp but a DAC -- an excellent DAC that I become to love.

I agree. Same here.

Shown here with the iFi ZEN Stream and THX AAA 789 headphone amp. Headphones in rotation today are the E-MU Wood Series Teak and HiFi Man HE400se (with balanced cables)

 

[WondrousHippo]

I think for insensitive full-size headphones it’s lacking, but for IEMs it’s fantastic. Digital volume brings perfect channel balance and lots of usable range.