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Review and Measurements of WesionTEK Khadas Tone Board DAC

Oukkidoukki

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It should be from specs....what kind of power source is goood if u use spdif without pc?
 

Veri

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It should be from specs....what kind of power source is goood if u use spdif without pc?

I think you will need to use something like a samsung phone charger. It only has a usb-c in, no standard barrel plug.
 

Oukkidoukki

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Ok....well it said that smartphone via usb will work........when I connect my oneplus 5t to smsl sanskrit pro via usb, i put otg on in oneplus and it starts working..(even though it can give wierd noise first couple of seconds).....I thought this would be similar......i dont even know what that otg is, why i have to put it on.....why not just plug and play...
 

Dominique-T

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

I know... The files are read by the DP3 and the DP3 is connected via USB to the DAC, so I would like to use the second input (S/PDIF) to connect my CD drive to the DAC and I am looking for a possibility to switch to one or the other.
 
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TimW

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Just got my Tone Board so here are my initial impressions. The board is nicely made and the connectors feel high quality. The power led is a nice neutral white, not too bright. The board gets warm under operation. There is a considerable turn on and off pop that I will avoid sending through my speakers. There is no background hiss with my systems, even when volume is cranked to the max. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the board automatically switches between its two inputs, with usb taking president.

For instance if I am playing something with the SPDIF input and then start playing something on the usb input it will quickly switch to usb. If I then pause the usb input it will wait for a few seconds and then switch back to the SPDIF input. Initially I tried this with a powered usb hub and it did not switch back to SPDIF so that's something to be aware of. I have used this DAC with a windows 10 laptop running Roon and with a couple RPi's running RoPieee. The Tone Board works like a charm in both scenarios. Once we have a case figured out for this thing it will be an excellent option for many people.
 

gvl

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Any surprises in the sound department, good or bad?
 

Dominique-T

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Thank you ! i did not realize that switches automatically... You just need to be patient, it comes after few seconds to switch back to S/PDIF.

Just got my Tone Board so here are my initial impressions. The board is nicely made and the connectors feel high quality. The power led is a nice neutral white, not too bright. The board gets warm under operation. There is a considerable turn on and off pop that I will avoid sending through my speakers. There is no background hiss with my systems, even when volume is cranked to the max. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the board automatically switches between its two inputs, with usb taking president.

For instance if I am playing something with the SPDIF input and then start playing something on the usb input it will quickly switch to usb. If I then pause the usb input it will wait for a few seconds and then switch back to the SPDIF input. Initially I tried this with a powered usb hub and it did not switch back to SPDIF so that's something to be aware of. I have used this DAC with a windows 10 laptop running Roon and with a couple RPi's running RoPieee. The Tone Board works like a charm in both scenarios. Once we have a case figured out for this thing it will be an excellent option for many people.
 

Oukkidoukki

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Yes, if someone figures out cheap airy case or atleast somekind of roof and floor... let us know...too scared to leave this like this...
 

Ron Texas

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I wouldn't get it due to the loud on/off pops alone. It's USB powered, and sometimes computers reboot on their own, or power glitches, common in the summer for Houston, will turn computers off. Perhaps they will bring out a version with a case and a muting relay.
 

Nango

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Will/Can this Khadas Tone Board benefit in any way from such a PSU like https://www.amb.org/audio/sigma11/ with 5.5V output??

_s11_assy.jpg


Someone builds and sells these PSU inside a chassis so I wanted to ask him to wrap up the board inside the chassis, if it works........ and only if it benefits in any kind from such a so-called "premium" PSU.
 
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TimW

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Will/Can this board benefit in any way from such a PSU like https://www.amb.org/audio/sigma11/ with 5.5V output??

View attachment 16953

Someone builds and sells these PSU inside a chassis so I wanted to ask him to wrap up the board inside the chassis, if it works........ and only if it benefits in any kind from such a "premium" PSU.

When Amir measured the SPDIF input and got those excellent results he was using a switching power supply Khadas sent him. I have built this power supply, the σ11, and you should know output voltage is adjustable by changing out D5 or adding R10. So you shouldn't be restricted to 5.5V from it. I could do some listening with my σ11 vs my computer but I doubt I will hear much of a change.
 

Nango

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Yes, he told me he can do a variety of outputs "from-to", one of them was 5.5V which would match the Khadas TB. Would be nice to know if this board benefits from a premium grade PSU, isn't it? Even if it does not output better results but may be the sound quality or signature is different in terms of stage, depth, resolution, etc., and the chassis would be the "bonus" on-top........
 
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TimW

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Alright I connected the Tone Board to my PC through an iFi iDefender and a usb extension cable. This way I could quickly switch between PC usb power and the 5.00V my σ11 outputs. Listening with my STAX L300 earspeakers Alice in Chains Unplugged sounds awesome. I listened to a short portion of a song several times in a row and then plugged the σ11 output into the iDefender and listened again. It still sounded awesome but I couldn't hear a difference. My advice to you is save the money you would spend on this power supply for something else. A custom case is expensive enough when someone else is making it for you.
 

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Transpareo

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I wonder how this board is psu and mb-dependent measurement-wise. Is it a UAC2 device? I also side-glanced some talk about the official case coming, is it true?
 

Oukkidoukki

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Maybe it sounds so ”open” and ” airy” because there is no case:D.......so maybe we should leave it that way.....just kidding.......half true though....after testing cables and seeing stuff like furutech ncf boosters I don’t know where to believe anymore:)
 
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