• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Making a Case/Enclosure for the Khadas Tone Board

Sekenenz

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2019
Messages
45
Likes
74
Location
Italy
I don't have the files with me but its approximately 15mm for the board, excluding RCA connectors.

Edit: Its closer to 15mm rather than 20mm I originally mentioned.

@maxxevv would you mind if I took inspiration from your model to make mine?
I hope the tb will arrive before the end of February otherwise I will lose my reservation to the workshop. In case I had to make it without the tb available, I would like to know what thickness of the card you used to make yours. (1.2mm?)
 
Last edited:

milw50717

Active Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
162
Likes
156
My KTB just arrived, it was ordered just before CNY. No notification of shipment was received.
 

Sekenenz

Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2019
Messages
45
Likes
74
Location
Italy
Instead I received an email of apologies for the delay due to the CNY.
Mine was ordered on January 20th.
 

gvl

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
3,427
Likes
3,982
Location
SoCal
Just waiting on the case .. and KTB board .. before the drilling commences. Found the spacers at a large ACE hardware. No go at Lowes or Home Depot.

View attachment 21812

I must say that @maxxevv's case looks to be the bee's knees.

It's hard to drill the holes of this diameter precisely on center without a drill press especially with a drill bit like that. Have a round file handy when you get to it.
 

milw50717

Active Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2019
Messages
162
Likes
156
Thanks again to TimW for all his work and for sharing the dimensions for drilling. They really do save a lot of time and make the build quite straightforward. Let's not look too hard at the USB opening :)

No LED as yet, but I can see myself doing that shortly.
20190215_155336.jpg
 

maxxevv

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
1,872
Likes
1,964
@maxxevv would you mind if I took inspiration from your model to make mine?
I hope the tb will arrive before the end of February otherwise I will lose my reservation to the workshop. In case I had to make it without the tb available, I would like to know what thickness of the card you used to make yours. (1.2mm?)

Its just a logical engineering decision derived solution. If you can make it better, by all means.

BTW, I've raised a dispute with Aliexpress on my order for the KTB. The postal tracking has not updated in over 1 month.

Khadas insists that the item is on the way, well, they have a week left for that to arrive at my doorstep. In my experience on Aliexpress over the years, that's a lost item. Either that or that they have given me a fake holding number for tracking.

In either case, I'm damn pissed with the whole thing.
 

gvl

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 16, 2018
Messages
3,427
Likes
3,982
Location
SoCal
I ordered from Amazon and tracking had no updates for at least 3 weeks but it finally arrived a month later.
 

maxxevv

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
1,872
Likes
1,964
I usually receive items via Aliexpress within 2 weeks of leaving the sellers' warehouses in China.

See the difference ?
 

Sin Hizer

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2018
Messages
83
Likes
45
As mentioned some weeks ago, that I was in the process of fabricating a custom machined case for the KTB.
Well, its done, but the KTB has yet to board the plane leaving China, despite my placing an order 5 weeks ago....

As for costs, well lets just say that its not much cheaper than the KTB itself unless we have like a machine run of 20 pieces at one go.

NOTE: The lighting is for illustration purposes only, should one decide to install an additional LED light to indicate power. It shouldn't be that bright.

View attachment 21783 View attachment 21784 View attachment 21785 View attachment 21786

So what is the pricing if we get 20 orders together?
 

drewfIr

Member
Joined
Dec 15, 2018
Messages
55
Likes
46
As mentioned some weeks ago, that I was in the process of fabricating a custom machined case for the KTB.
Well, its done, but the KTB has yet to board the plane leaving China, despite my placing an order 5 weeks ago....

As for costs, well lets just say that its not much cheaper than the KTB itself unless we have like a machine run of 20 pieces at one go.

NOTE: The lighting is for illustration purposes only, should one decide to install an additional LED light to indicate power. It shouldn't be that bright.

View attachment 21783 View attachment 21784 View attachment 21785 View attachment 21786

Looks great. For which version of the Tone Board is this designed
for? If the VIMs version can fit, would interested in being one of
the 20; once pricing is known. Thanks
 

fljoe

Member
Joined
Dec 30, 2018
Messages
19
Likes
17
This is great ..my exact setup when my KTB arrives.. looking into getting someone to make a similar case for me .. the french audiophhonics case won't be back in stock until March 15th. Thanks for posting this .. a little inspiration to make something on my own :)
 

headwhacker

Active Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 25, 2018
Messages
165
Likes
224
I ordered my KTB direct from their online shop. There was no tracking reference given. I was just surprised when I looked at my mailbox yesterday and my KTB was there.
 

maxxevv

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
1,872
Likes
1,964
So what is the pricing if we get 20 orders together?

The design will be flipped though look externally the same. But as it is, it hasn't been fit tested with an actual KTB as mine has gone missing in the mail system.

You only see the top side here but it has an acrylic under-cover and 4 rubber feet too.

I will have to ask again when I update the design. As it is, its approx US$70 per set (including all the items listed above) for a 20 piece production run.
But in any case, whatever I post here will be excluding mailing costs and whatever transaction costs such as Paypal or listing fees.

Looks great. For which version of the Tone Board is this designed
for? If the VIMs version can fit, would interested in being one of
the 20; once pricing is known. Thanks

Its designed as a close fit for the generic board. So, it will not fit the VIM version.

I ordered my KTB direct from their online shop. There was no tracking reference given. I was just surprised when I looked at my mailbox yesterday and my KTB was there.

Mine has been in the mail system for 37 days. It usually takes 15 working days or less for items to reach me from Aliexpress once they appear in the mail system tracking. And its not available anywhere other than the official store anyway. I have raised a dispute on Aliexpress for it, see if it turns up within this week.
Will have to order from Taobao instead if it doesn't but that will be wasting another 2 weeks .... :facepalm:
 

PaulCoddington

New Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2019
Messages
4
Likes
4
Posted by @pos in the tone board thread:

@Audiophonics just released a 15€ aluminium case for the tone board: https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/alum...num-casing-for-khadas-tone-board-p-13626.html

UPDATE 1: Audiophonics has a new batch coming in (6 weeks) and a replacement will be on its way. If these problems are fixed, the case looks quite good in real life, is solid build and easy to put together with nothing more than a jeweller screwdriver set (two sets of small Phillips head screws).

UPDATE 2: Audiophonics emailed to say it would be easier for them to refund and have me re-order than replace it. Now that the refund has gone through, it turns out "easier" seems to mean, in effect, "the customer will bear liability of shipping costs in the event we ship faulty goods". At this point, they are offering full refund only if the case is returned, which means I will be out return shipping costs, which may be less than, equal to, or more than the shipping costs on ordering a new case (I don't yet know how much). I have provided them with photographic proof that the case is faulty, other customers have the same complaint (see the reviews section on their website), they acknowledge in their emails that the next batch does not have the fault (therefore they acknowledge, in writing, the first batch is faulty). If I order a new case, I can expect the same outcome if the replacement turns out to be faulty (I risk throwing good money after bad on an already borderline cost effective solution). Now attempting to escalate to management. Multiple reviewers report faulty product since I last posted.

UPDATE 3: Have sorted out full refund from Audiophonics, new case ordered, waiting on stock. One point that should be noted (which I did not spot earlier) is that although the case is solid metal, it is not heavy enough to stay balanced when cables are plugged in (if they are thick heavy ones, such as Monoprice, it tips back and rests on cables and rear rubber feet with the front feet a few mm up in the air). The unit is packed away while I'm moving elsewhere, so I have not yet checked if there is some space inside the front of the case to add some ballast.

UPDATE 4: The replacement case has arrived. The finish is greatly improved overall, there are no scuff marks or chips in the coating or rough edges, the labelling is the correct way around. The "DC In" label now reads "USB/DC In", the power LED is visible through the hole in the front panel, the text is finer and sharper and reads "Khadas" with "Tone Board" in smaller letters underneath, the spurious and misleading Audiophonics logo has been removed. Internally, there is a single custom spacer for all three phono sockets rather than 4 round washers cludged together on the outermost two. This would look quite professional if the socket labels were on the back (not the top) or absent altogether (they are not really necessary, given the phono sockets are colour coded). Very happy with this as a "no machining effort" case solution for people with limited tools/time/skills. The new version did not come with rubber feet, which are necessary to ensure the small screws on the bottom that hold the board do not scratch surfaces and that the bottom of the case remains scratch free. I'm going to try and find some larger flatter thinner feet than the hemispherical ones the first case came with, as I think they will be more tipping-proof (see Update 3). In the meantime, my desk has a tablecloth, so no problem.


khadas.jpg

I ordered one a month ago and just got around to putting it together yesterday (my tone board was delayed by Chinese New Years break, but Khadas kindly upgraded me to express shipping to make up for it, which was a pleasant surprise and much appreciated).

The case finish is a bit rough: there is a sharp jagged edge on the top panel that is not coated (bright silver, not black), a scuff across the top panel and the labels are printed upside down.

Some of the black is chipped off in places, but luckily only on the inside of the case and also inside a screw hole.

It looks like there are some teething problems with quality control, as one reviewer on their website has a misprinted case as well.

I've emailed Audiophonics about it, but it is too early to expect a reply.

Apart from these faults, it has promise. Someone with tools might just redrill the bottom to mount the board the other way to match the label, and people like me who have no tools could file the rough edge and use a spray can to hide the upside down labels if no remedy is provided.

It is not possible to fix this problem by rotating the top of the case: it mounts the lower half with an asymmetric key/groove join that cannot be reversed.

Of course, it works fine. It's just that the card+case are expensive enough (after exchange rates and shipping costs) to care what they look like (and part of the rationale of getting a case was to make it easier to sell down the track if need be).
 
Last edited:

baszek

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
7
Likes
5
I have used khadas paper box :) - don't look at that usb cable... I have bought some usb-c cable - waiting for delivery and I just wanted to test my khadas board.
By the way I saw that it is producing some heat, so I am not sure if it is safe to keep in such a small closed paper box ?????
khadasBox.jpg
 

maxxevv

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
1,872
Likes
1,964
Just got my KTB delivered in the mail. After missing in the system for over 40 days. Its a first really. In my 6+ years of using Aliexpress, I have never recovered an item / delivered safely to me after going missing in the mail for more than 20 days.

As previously shown for the case I had prepared for it, it was a perfect fit.

Special thanks to the people here such as @TimW for the accurate board drawings. Making it possible to fabricate the case without actually having the board at hand! *Two thumbs up !!*
20190227_201551~2.jpg

20190227_201605~2.jpg


Edit:

Mounted a 5V Blue LED just for kicks. This was done without solder work, so position of LED isn't ideal. But it gives a good idea of the overall aesthetics when fully set up. :)

20190227_235403.jpg
 
Last edited:

maxxevv

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 12, 2018
Messages
1,872
Likes
1,964
I have used khadas paper box :) - don't look at that usb cable... I have bought some usb-c cable - waiting for delivery and I just wanted to test my khadas board.
By the way I saw that it is producing some heat, so I am not sure if it is safe to keep in such a small closed paper box ?????
View attachment 22737

I ran my board for approximately 1 hour outputting to my Matrix HPA-3B, the case actually gets warm even though it is quite a substantial case that has actual venting holes on the bottom and at the side.

Would suggest not keeping that box for too long. Or at least leave one side open.

Cardboard and heat don't play well together.
 
Last edited:

baszek

Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
7
Likes
5
Just got my KTB delivered in the mail. After missing in the system for over 40 days. Its a first really. In my 6+ years of using Aliexpress, I have never recovered an item / delivered safely to me after going missing in the mail for more than 20 days.

As previously shown for the case I had prepared for it, it was a perfect fit.

Special thanks to the people here such as @TimW for the accurate board drawings. Making it possible to fabricate the case without actually having the board at hand! *Two thumbs up !!*
View attachment 22754
View attachment 22753
Wow - this looks cool ! Can you please let me know where can I get it ?
 
Top Bottom