Review and Measurements of E1DA 9038S BAL Portable DAC & Amp

[Labjr]

Now that there is going to be volume control, will DSD be possible?

 

[Veri]

Now that there is going to be volume control, will DSD be possible?

What makes you think so? DSD natively doesn't support volume control, it must be converted to PCM to allow digital volume control.
I believe the current USB receiver/controller won't do DSD, and as the device is optimised for it I wouldn't count on it happening.

Also, DSD is pointless. See for example Miska's review of the EVGA Nu Audio. There's no real performance difference between PCM and DSD. Why not convert DSD to PCM on your device, and send it to the E1DA?

 

[doctorjuggles]

Does anyone know if this cable would work to feed single-ended earphones? (I know that @IVX said most cables won't work, but I don't fully understand the technical reasons why, so I can't figure it out)

 

[Fabio]

Does anyone know if this cable would work to feed single-ended earphones? (I know that @IVX said most cables won't work, but I don't fully understand the technical reasons why, so I can't figure it out)

Better keep it safe and wait for 9038D

 

[Veri]

Does anyone know if this cable would work to feed single-ended earphones? (I know that @IVX said most cables won't work, but I don't fully understand the technical reasons why, so I can't figure it out)

You CANNOT convert balanced to single ended within a cable. There are guaranteed to be several pins being shorted electrically which can DAMAGE source and/or destination equipment.

I don't understand why people want to "try it anyway", I mean what could go wrong? Everything. Don't try it.

 

[doctorjuggles]

You CANNOT convert balanced to single ended within a cable. There are guaranteed to be several pins being shorted electrically which can DAMAGE source and/or destination equipment.

I don't understand why people want to "try it anyway", I mean what could go wrong? Everything. Don't try it.

We have more than one set of earphones/headphones and some of them are not balanced. I appreciate the reply, but you really cannot imagine why people might want to convert this to balanced? It's an audio forum, we tweak, it's in our nature

And you can convert it if you have an XLR pin, I'm listening to it as I type

 

[Veri]

We have more than one set of earphones/headphones and some of them are not balanced. I appreciate the reply, but you really cannot imagine why people might want to convert this to balanced? It's an audio forum, we tweak, it's in our nature

And you can convert it if you have an XLR pin, I'm listening to it as I type

I said to unbalanced in same cable though.

XLR is perfectly balanced (as all things should be )

 

[Peter Pan]

Does anyone know if this cable would work to feed single-ended earphones? (I know that @IVX said most cables won't work, but I don't fully understand the technical reasons why, so I can't figure it out)

Both by looks and the description this seems to be a cable to use balanced headphones/IEM's with single ended equipment, not the other way around.

 

[doctorjuggles]

Thanks Mr Pan! Didn't even notice that was the wrong way around

@Veri - I've noticed Ivan talking about a very specific set of circumstances in which it would work. I just wasn't sure. I would prefer to have one DAC and a cable rather than two DACs if possible, but it looks likely I'll need to buy another

 

[snip3r77]

anyone knows when the single ended/ 9038D will be released? Thanks

 

[Veri]

anyone knows when the single ended/ 9038D will be released? Thanks

It's still in the works.

 

[Hifihedgehog]

*baited breath*

 

[chi2]

Sorry for the mixup. I am experiencing troubles with a Dragonfly Red attached to my Samsung S10 5G and meant to have read about similar issues with the E1Da 9038S. Turns out that this relates to the ibasso DC01 which has a known incompatibility with the S9 and the S10. It's good to know that the E1Da 9038S fully supports the S10/S10 5G. Guess in this case I can't wait for the D version and will pay your aliexpress store a visit .

So I got the 9038S in today’s mail and it turns out that the Samsung S10 (I have the 5G version) has issues with it, too. The 9038S seems to connect fine (led on) but there is no sound at all. Direct C to C or OTG cable with a power bank attached doesn‘t make any difference.

Does anyone successfully use the 9038S with a Samsung S9 or S10? If so which player software do you use? I‘m considering USB Audio Player Pro which, having proprietary audio drivers, may overcome the connection issues.

Thanks for any input,
chi2

 

[Fabio]

So I got the 9038S in today’s mail and it turns out that the Samsung S10 (I have the 5G version) has issues with it, too. The 9038S seems to connect fine (led on) but there is no sound at all. Direct C to C or OTG cable with a power bank attached doesn‘t make any difference.

Does anyone successfully use the 9038S with a Samsung S9 or S10? If so which player software do you use? I‘m considering USB Audio Player Pro which, having proprietary audio drivers, may overcome the connection issues.

Thanks for any input,
chi2

I have the first gen and had worked flawless with note 8 and now with note 10+ always with UAPP. Which software are you using?

 

[chi2]

Thanks for your reply, @Fabio. I tried Spotify and Tidal. Complete silence.
Now, 7.5$ later, I know that the USB Audio Player Pro at least manages to connect to the 9038S. However, the audio volume is fixed and set to a much too high level. I swiched to software audio volume but still can‘t change the output volume at all.

 

[mmicko]

Thanks for your reply, @Fabio. I tried Spotify and Tidal. Complete silence.
Now, 7.5$ later, I know that the USB Audio Player Pro at least manages to connect to the 9038S. However, the audio volume is fixed and set to a much too high level. I swiched to software audio volume but still can‘t change the output volume at all.

I'm using 9038S wit S9 and PowerAmp without problem, after turning ON HiRes output in setting is even possible to play 24/96 flac...
If you have fixed volume in UAPP, then you have perhaps Bitperfect funkction turned on. 9038S don't support HW volume control over USB therefore you can't adjust the volume. After turning Bitperfect off, you should be able to adjust volume without problem.

 

[chi2]

@mmicko: THANKS! That was the breakthrough. I had the bitperfect option activated in the app with the consequence, as you said, of fixed volume. Now, the only thing missing is support for Spotify.

 

[mkawa]

has anyone tried connecting this directly to a pixel 3? does it provide enough power via usbtg? my k3 can be powered by my phone; thinking about selling it, as this is smaller and measures a bit better, but my phone needs to be able to power the e1da as well

 

[mmicko]

has anyone tried connecting this directly to a pixel 3? does it provide enough power via usbtg? my k3 can be powered by my phone; thinking about selling it, as this is smaller and measures a bit better, but my phone needs to be able to power the e1da as well

In Discord discussion Pixel 2 users reported that is possible to run without power bank, but battery last only 4hours of music play with 9038s ...

 

[xxiii]

Waiting in the sale 9018D. I have Honor 9 (he sees a different USB dac) and ATH M50x headphones with a 3.5 jack . Greetings from Russia.