Review and Measurements of WesionTEK Khadas Tone Board DAC

[amirm]

@willow, can you please tell me if the DAC emits noises or pops on its analog outputs when turned on or off?

I connected it to my Arcam rHead and set the volume to 12:00. There is a tick/pop on power on and power off on my Sennheiser HD-650 headphones.

I measured the levels using Audio Precision and I get this:

Turn on is around 2 second mark. Turn off is around 6.

 

[Veri]

After reading the entire thread my conclusion is this is more of a DIY component than a complete product. The turn on and off pop issue bothers me, especially after seeing one owner here become very defensive about it. I would have to say guilty until proven innocent on that one.

All it needs is a case though. Which will come very soon, likely.. pretty unparalleled performance in this price range.

 

[Ron Texas]

I connected it to my Arcam rHead and set the volume to 12:00. There is a tick/pop on power on and power off on my Sennheiser HD-650 headphones.

I measured the levels using Audio Precision and I get this:



Turn on is around 2 second mark. Turn off is around 6.

Is this mere annoyance or a speaker blowing shotgun blast? Thanks for the goods, Amir.

 

[amirm]

Is this mere annoyance or a speaker blowing shotgun blast? Thanks for the goods, Amir.

I will have to hook it up to my speakers to know for sure. Right now I have to go and paint our new shed!

 

[Nango]

All it needs is a case though. Which will come very soon, likely.. pretty unparalleled performance in this price range.

This could be an option for a full system:
http://zynthian.org/

 

[jaytrinitron]

Here is intermodulation distortion versus level:
View attachment 16343

Here, we have typical response similar to what we get from other desktop DACs using ESS' later DAC chips.

Does the "hump" on the 9038 affect audibility or only measurements?

 

[amirm]

Does the "hump" on the 9038 affect audibility or only measurements?

I don't know yet. Would have to devise a specific test case/tracks that hits in that region and then AB with another DAC that doesn't have that problem.

 

[Zoide]

I don't know yet. Would have to devise a specific test case/tracks that hits in that region and then AB with another DAC that doesn't have that problem.

What about purely in terms of dB / percentages? Is any part of that hump past the threshold of what is considered audible?

 

[amirm]

There are no threshold analysis for IMD of this kind. It is 65 dB down so I say it is very unlikely to be audible.

 

[Silou]

Is it possible to connect a little OLED Panel to the Board? If it its possible, what would be outputted to the panel?

 

[Veri]

It took some effort to tease out the same distortion in THD measurements but I finally got there:

View attachment 16369

In normal THD+N vs level it would not show up (or hardly at all). Shows the usefulness of IMD measurements.

As suggested I will write a new article with lots more data and then try to forward that to ESS and see if we get an answer.

Hey amir I was randomly reading this older blog post http://www.itsonlyaudio.com/audio-hardware/wm8741_vs_ess9023/

Is it me or is that the infamous ESS 'hump', from a ESS9023 chip no less.. (graph chip annotation is wrong, it's the --23 not the --18 chip).

I really wonder what the hell causes this ever returning glitch.

 

[Xyrium]

Anyone use the SPDIF connector on this for an output, or is in input only? I realize most of these aren't reconfigurable, but.....

 

[Dominique-T]

As far as I know, input only. it sounds as good as measured by Amirm.

 

[Veri]

I think it can be output if you program it.

 

[Dominique-T]

Hello, one of our Partner has studied out the Metal Case. I will ask him if he would like to share his case to our users to buy. Later I will let you know.

Hi Willow,
No news from your partner for a nice small case?

 

[Xyrium]

Thanks guys. I'll go through the Wesiontek website to see if I can find something on this.

Edit: From their website: "1 RCA for S/PDIF in or out."

Looks like it either makes the determination itself, or can be configured. Sorry I missed this earlier guys.

 

[amirm]

Edit: From their website: "1 RCA for S/PDIF in or out."

From what I recall, this is only possible if you use their CPU board. The generic version doesn't support both directions.

 

[Xyrium]

That makes sense! Thanks Amir.

 

[Dominique-T]

@amirm

Do you know if it would be possible to select USB or USB input via a switch? I would like to use the USB to read files from my SMSL DP 3 et my CD drive from the SPDIF.

Dominique

 

[Veri]

@amirm

Do you know if it would be possible to select USB or USB input via a switch? I would like to use the USB to read files from my SMSL DP 3 et my CD drive from the SPDIF.

Dominique

The USB will only accept a direct USB connection to phone, pc or compatible device. Not something like a hard drive.