Review and Measurements of WesionTEK Khadas Tone Board DAC

[somebodyelse]

btw i did a stupid thing. i wanted to connect my toneboard to my mixing console. and i had ordered rca to rca cables. and i just realised i need rca to jack cables. how stupid can i be? now i cant ttest the toneboard until i get these cables....
can someone confirm if i am correct using this cable?
https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/c02.html

Those should work, but there might be a better option. I'm assuming your mixing console has balanced inputs on TRS jack sockets. If that's the case you could use RCA to TRS wired similarly to the RCA to XLR. This doesn't appear to be a stock item though. One step beyond that is to add a series resistor to the cold line matching the 100 ohm in the Tone Board's output, balancing the impedance, but you'd probably have to solder this yourself.

 

[porotikos]

Those should work, but there might be a better option. I'm assuming your mixing console has balanced inputs on TRS jack sockets. If that's the case you could use RCA to TRS wired similarly to the RCA to XLR. This doesn't appear to be a stock item though. One step beyond that is to add a series resistor to the cold line matching the 100 ohm in the Tone Board's output, balancing the impedance, but you'd probably have to solder this yourself.

thank you for that. i will consider this.
right now i will go and buy two RCA to Jack TS adapters, like this one. https://access-prostage.gr/pa/kalodia/bismata/adaptors/metro-a-084.html
and hopefully, until i get a proper pair of rca to jack cable, these adapters will do.

again i have to ask. what are you guys using in foobar?
ds:speakers (xmos xs1-u8 mfa)
or
ks: khadas tone control

isnt there asio option with khadas?
i am afraid i did something wrong with the installation of the drivers. because i think there was some kind of error in the installation? or i didnt see correctly. i am tired and angry. and couldnt focus.hopefully tomorrow i will check this

 

[porotikos]

oh wait. in foobar, i can see this entry: ASIO: TUSBAudio ASIO driver
should i use this? is this the thesycon driver? pleae someone help. trying to realise what to use and i am buffled and cant listen to anything without cables....

 

[BYRTT]

...isnt there asio option with khadas?
i am afraid i did something wrong with the installation of the drivers. because i think there was some kind of error in the installation? or i didnt see correctly. i am tired and angry. and couldnt focus.hopefully tomorrow i will check this

oh wait. in foobar, i can see this entry: ASIO: TUSBAudio ASIO driver
should i use this? is this the thesycon driver? pleae someone help. trying to realise what to use and i am buffled and cant listen to anything without cables....

Yes there is ASIO option for KTB and it will show up in ASIO capable DAW/Player software after you install the official driver package v2.24, don't use the evaluation driver v4.11.0 which is only meant to be used for firmware update and it will fail in playback from time to time because its evaluation software.

Win7 have not support for 2nd generation XMOS (UA class 2) therefor official KTB driver package v2.24, is needed, where in later versions of Win10 there is native UA class 2 in box but it will only support normal Windows sound system and WASAPI, so if one also need ASIO in Win10 use same as for Win7 the official KTB driver package v2.24.

Below is Control panel for my KTB on Win7, you can use it recheck numbers for your own system is the same and up to date, Revision field is the firmware and Version is the driver package:

When we at it to hinder most sample rate conversion suggest you set Windows sound system to 44,1kHz/24bit because most web browser or program sounds are of that rate, you can see the 24bit setting below and suggest one use the 32bit setting on Win10.

 

[porotikos]

Yes there is ASIO option for KTB and it will show up in ASIO capable DAW/Player software after you install the official driver package v2.24, don't use the evaluation driver v4.11.0 which is only meant to be used for firmware update and it will fail in playback from time to time because its evaluation software.

Win7 have not support for 2nd generation XMOS (UA class 2) therefor official KTB driver package v2.24, is needed, where in later versions of Win10 there is native UA class 2 in box but it will only support normal Windows sound system and WASAPI, so if one also need ASIO in Win10 use same as for Win7 the official KTB driver package v2.24.

Below is Control panel for my KTB on Win7, you can use it recheck numbers for your own system is the same and up to date, Revision field is the firmware and Version is the driver package:

View attachment 42075

When we at it to hinder most sample rate conversion suggest you set Windows sound system to 44,1kHz/24bit because most web browser or program sounds are of that rate, you can see the 24bit setting below and suggest one use the 32bit setting on Win10.

View attachment 42076

thank you my friend. all settings areas you say they are. so i should be ok.
i just need someone to confirm that i should use ASIO: TUSBAudio ASIO driver in foobar.
tomorrow, when i get the adapters will confirm if all is working as it should.
i know i sound noobish. i know that i am going crazy with my cable mistake etc. i am sorry about that. cheers guys

 

[BYRTT]

thank you my friend. all settings areas you say they are. so i should be ok.
i just need someone to confirm that i should use ASIO: TUSBAudio ASIO driver in foobar.
tomorrow, when i get the adapters will confirm if all is working as it should.
i know i sound noobish. i know that i am going crazy with my cable mistake etc. i am sorry about that. cheers guys

No problem go crazy think i know how exited one can be about new hobby gear.

It can maybe take some little tweak time down the road to dial in the unit for the best subjective dream sound, for info mine setup perform at that level using TUSBAudio ASIO Driver in Jriver and up the buffering in Jriver from the default 50mS to 250mS, and into "TUSBAudio Control panel" "Buffer Settings" tab is upped to "8192 samples" plus at "Format" tab "Output" is set to "2 channels, 32 bits" so that Jriver audio path report back its own 64bit deep engine looks into a nice 32bit audio interface which should ensure bits best possible if we use digital volume. Not shure same settings will work optimal for other setups but now you have mine numbers or some suggestions of what to dial on should it not perform dream sound using the default settings.

Have best fun when adapters arrive

 

[porotikos]

adapters arrived. all seems to be working as it should. i thing there is a huge difference in sound from my asus xonar dg soundcard. but lets wait a bit. it could be placebo effect. thank you guys

ps. is there perhaps a program i can download, to check how the tone board is performing? i am guessing not, but i thought id ask

 

[scruffy1]

adapters arrived. all seems to be working as it should. i thing there is a huge difference in sound from my asus xonar dg soundcard. but lets wait a bit. it could be placebo effect. thank you guys

there's a huge difference even to an op amp upgraded xonar hdav1.3 in my opinion

it's clear sky versus cloudy and grey

 

[somebodyelse]

ps. is there perhaps a program i can download, to check how the tone board is performing? i am guessing not, but i thought id ask

Do you have a good ADC? If so you can try making measurements with REW. The problem will be that the distortion from the tone board may be lower than from the ADC. You could use a distortion magnifier if you're really interested.

 

[porotikos]

Do you have a good ADC? If so you can try making measurements with REW. The problem will be that the distortion from the tone board may be lower than from the ADC. You could use a distortion magnifier if you're really interested.

i think not. i dont think i have an adc my friend. so measuring is out of the question. ok. thanx

guys, i think something was off. the sound was too trebly and the cymbals were not what they were supposed to be. i checked it with revelations from iron maiden. a song i know like the back of my hand. also i am a drummer so i know exactly how they sounded before and how they should sound. so i started experimenting with foobar.

the options in foobar were
ASIO: TUSBAudio ASIO driver
or
ds:speakers (xmos xs1-u8 mfa)
or
dsd ks: khadas tone control
or
ks: khadas tone control

the one that sounded not right, was the first one.
i switched between the others and while i dodnt see much difference (if at all) between the rest, i think the difference between the first and last option was prominent so i now use ks: khadas tone control setting.
ks means kernel sound, right? is that a bad think? is it common for asio to not be the best? seems strange as from whati understood, the first option (asio) was the thesycon option so it should be the one. well i dont think it is.
sound through it sounded like it was compressed. not crankable.

please, can anyone using toneboard and foobar tell me what option they chose? the more guys mentioning their options, the better. if only a friend of mine could come right now at home, so that he could switch between options and i would sit on the couch listening without moving around. to ab the whole thing.

cheers

 

[Voron]

Hello! today I received your khadas !Considered the cost of the xmos Chip, I saw ! Where's the ESS chip?

 

[Veri]

Hello! today I received your khadas !Considered the cost of the xmos Chip, I saw ! Where's the ESS chip?

You can see the 9038Q2M chip here:

The chip looks like this when zoomed:

 

[BYRTT]

...i think something was off...

Now i'm using Jriver so not so good at foobar but you should have couple of options to dial on for ASIO feature into foobar settings such as buffer lenght plus bitdepth and turn dither on or off, also in "TUSBAudio Control panel" you can dial on buffer settings for ASIO and also suggest you check there than the "Format" tab "Output" is set to "2 channels, 32 bits". In general will guess you need to up buffers for ASIO to combat the trebly sound you talk about, sound will change the higher you set the buffers to a more class a like pure sound and less treble like. Myself also had to up ASIO buffers using Jriver as previous posted and nothing should be wrong with that, reason is probably because this unit interface is physically over a USB link combined the driver package is also relative old will introduce some small latency compared to say a more speedy direct interface as PCIe is and therefor we have to up those buffers.

So in short for ASIO to improve ensure:
1. 32bits are set in "TUSBAudio Control panel" and also in foobar.
2. Dial on buffer lenghts for ASIO into "TUSBAudio Control panel" and also in foobar.
3. Read up on if dither needs to be turned on in foobar settings, i dont know myself other than into Jriver its turned on going from the 64bit audio engine to the 32bit KTB interface.

 

[porotikos]

thank you so much my friend. did all that. still i think the khadas tone control, profile, seems better than asio
i will wait on my buddy to come tomorrow, or soon anyway, to do a blind test. dunno, perhaps also my ears need adjusting. id swear the sound has gotten significantly better, as if there was a burn in period, needed. but i know this is false. placebo effect as i said. anyway , thank you and thank you all guys. you rock

 

[porotikos]

dunno what to say. there was definitely burn in period. for 2 hours now, what i listen to, is magical. thank you guys so much for everything and for making this amazing thread from which i learnt about the tone board. long live audioscience reviews

ps. burn in time was around 3-4 hours i guess. test was done with the song revelations from iron maiden. ripped from vinyl. there is definitely difference in how i listened to, some hours ago, to now

 

[DomieMic65]

3. Read up on if dither needs to be turned on in foobar settings, i dont know myself other than into Jriver its turned on going from the 64bit audio engine to the 32bit KTB interface.

Is this turned on by default or must be set?
Did you try disabling it?

 

[BYRTT]

Yes on is default setting, in its not recommended never tryed disable setting.

 

[porotikos]

more on my khadas, foobar etc. (someone may find these helpful)

ASIO: TUSBAudio ASIO driver
or
ds:speakers (xmos xs1-u8 mfa)
or
dsd ks: khadas tone control
or
ks: khadas tone control

from these options, ks is really buggy. after a day or so, started giving me error that file cant be played.
ds from what i read is not ideal, maybe not even bitperfect (from what i read from various forums)
so, i am going with asio right now. and if i want to play any dsd ill change to second option.

one problem has occured today. foobar hanged twice...
had to restart it. i am starting to guess that it may be due to the cable. my khadas came with the black one. perhaps ill change it if this happens again.
when your cables had problems, what were you witnessing? what error messages did you get? if you got any. thanx

so far i am really really impressed. even my girl who doesnt even have a fav band, immediately told me that the sound was cleaner.
so, lets all cheer for khadas. thank you guys

 

[DomieMic65]

Is foobar setup correctly for playing DSD (or even all the other formats)?
You should be able to play everything with the ASIO driver. No need to change...
Here is a good guide (in two parts):
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/digital/pc-software/foobar-2000-for-dummies/
https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.co...-part-3-new-experimental-sacd-plugin-v-0-9-x/

 

[OldStager]

I decided against external powering and want to go by the Y-OGT cable-way to connect my phone to the Khadas.

In order to keep the chain of parts short and to save money, I'd prefer to have as few adapters as possible....

My phone has USB C. Yet, I'd didn't find any Y-OGT with USB C male connectors on it. Is that just not common or am I too stupid to proper google it? I'd rather not use a micro USB Y-OGT which then demands a micro USB to USB C adapter....

And is there anything I need to be aware of in terms of powering the OGT? Instead of a battery pack, I might as well just hook it to a phone charger, as there's a plug-bar there anyway to power the amp I'm using....