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Review and Measurements of WesionTEK Khadas Tone Board DAC

Nam

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I appreciate amirm very much for all the reviews. I purchased this Khadas Tone Board as my first dedicated DAC, it is a huge improvement over the intergrated DAC in my intergrated amplifier Yamaha A-S501 (which I found night and day better than aux output from iphone 6s+ and ipad air 2), for less than 99$.

I am using USB output from a cheap android box (DLNA controlled). I am unable to notice any difference between this android box and a PC running Windows + Jriver + wasapi, at least with 16bit 44khz source.

I am looking to improve the sound by switching from USB to Coaxial, as amirm measured (2db SINAD improvement).

Is Khadas TB's coaxial input performance affected by the source's coaxial ouput?
 

WoodyLuvr

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I am looking to improve the sound by switching from USB to Coaxial, as amirm measured (2db SINAD improvement).

Is Khadas TB's coaxial input performance affected by the source's coaxial ouput?
Thanks for the kind words. 2 dB of SINAD is not significant. I would not chase money to get that.
Concur with @amirm better to put that money towards a future transducer (speaker/headphone) upgrade where you will experience far greater audible benefits or to buy more music.

BTW: I heard absolutely no difference between USB and Coaxial with my Tone Board and have elected to stay with USB... though my ole ears are pretty bad so take that with a grain of salt ;-)
 

kiat

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I've spent a few hours today critically listening to the difference of sound quality of the tone board using a direct USB connection vs a linear PSU and a powerbank, I can't hear any difference at all, sighted or blinded. All three connections sounded the same to me.
How do you connect the linear PSU to the board? Wanted to try the same thing

thanks !!!
 

somebodyelse

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Firmware updates from linux are now supported by Khadas, currently for x86-64 processors. The tool is essentially what I tried a few posts above, with some of the text messages changed, as can be seen from the source on GitHub. If you want to upgrade from an ARM board (Raspberry Pi etc.) or a Mac you can compile it yourself, or ask them nicely - they've been quite quick with support so far.
 

SaturN

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Hi amirm,

I'm new here - I read many reviews that you wrote.

I doubted which DAC to buy for my build (Good Headphone amplifier) TOPPING D10 (Use as 2 boxes) or Khadas Tone Board (and build it into an Amplifier case)
I finally bought the Khadas Tone Board and decided testing it using my EMU0204 and RMAA.

When I'm connecting the EMU0204 from line OUT to IN I'm getting 113dBA (Noise and Dynamic range) - as reference
When I'm using the Khadas Tone Board I'm getting 87dBA (no mater 24bit or 16bit) - (Attached image)

I tried many things including flashing new firmware choosing different settings in windows, changing cables, using ASIO etc. - the results are same (or even worse).


Can you please advise what I'm doing wrong? (or maybe my product is not as good as the one that you got)
Next step will trying to connect the Khadas board to one computer and measure with EMU0204 connected to another (maybe problem with common ground)
 

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Ben1987

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Firmware updates from linux are now supported by Khadas, currently for x86-64 processors. The tool is essentially what I tried a few posts above, with some of the text messages changed, as can be seen from the source on GitHub. If you want to upgrade from an ARM board (Raspberry Pi etc.) or a Mac you can compile it yourself, or ask them nicely - they've been quite quick with support so far.
About How To Upgrade Firmware, we will continue to update and add notes and you can read this post first:
https://docs.khadas.com/toneboard/H...#Upgrade-On-Ubuntu?tdsourcetag=s_pctim_aiomsg
Keywords:
Upgrade On Windows
Upgrade On Ubuntu
Upgrade On Mac OS
……
 

helloworld

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Hi amirm,

I'm new here - I read many reviews that you wrote.

I doubted which DAC to buy for my build (Good Headphone amplifier) TOPPING D10 (Use as 2 boxes) or Khadas Tone Board (and build it into an Amplifier case)
I finally bought the Khadas Tone Board and decided testing it using my EMU0204 and RMAA.

When I'm connecting the EMU0204 from line OUT to IN I'm getting 113dBA (Noise and Dynamic range) - as reference
When I'm using the Khadas Tone Board I'm getting 87dBA (no mater 24bit or 16bit) - (Attached image)

I tried many things including flashing new firmware choosing different settings in windows, changing cables, using ASIO etc. - the results are same (or even worse).


Can you please advise what I'm doing wrong? (or maybe my product is not as good as the one that you got)
Next step will trying to connect the Khadas board to one computer and measure with EMU0204 connected to another (maybe problem with common ground)
crosstalk -0.1db?that’s very weird
 

drewfIr

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Dec 15, 2018
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About How To Upgrade Firmware, we will continue to update and add notes and you can read this post first:
https://docs.khadas.com/toneboard/H...#Upgrade-On-Ubuntu?tdsourcetag=s_pctim_aiomsg
Keywords:
Upgrade On Windows
Upgrade On Ubuntu
Upgrade On Mac OS
……


@Ben1987,

Wow, great job; very impressed by Khadas's support. Thought that we
Linux users where not going to be able to upgrade the firmware. The
step by step guide you guys wrote up "Upgrade On Ubuntu", is very
detailed and helpful; Thank You.

Can not wait to receive the Tone Board and try all this out.

Thank You Very Much :)
 

drewfIr

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@Ben1987,

When you guys get a chance can you please take a look at this thread:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...rintable-case-for-the-khadas-tone-board.5098/

Have some concerns about possible temp issues, in that case design.

kahdas-page3.jpg


Can see my comments about this from this post on down:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...se-for-the-khadas-tone-board.5098/post-127114

If you could please comment one way or the other about this. Whether
this case design needs to be modified or heat sinks need to placed on
any of the chips. When running the Tone Board on all the time. Your
input would be helpful.

Thank You
 

WoodyLuvr

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Have some concerns about possible temp issues, in that case design.

If you could please comment one way or the other about this. Whether
this case design needs to be modified or heat sinks need to placed on
any of the chips. When running the Tone Board on all the time. Your
input would be helpful.

Thank You
Done; posted message in that thread.

I have blasted my Tone Board now for over three weeks and it only gets warm to the touch. I be very surprised if small chip set heat sinks would mitigate enough heat to warrant the cost and with any noticeable/noteable effect.
 

drewfIr

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Done; posted message in that thread.

I have blasted my Tone Board now for over three weeks and it only gets warm to the touch. I be very surprised if small chip set heat sinks would mitigate enough heat to warrant the cost and with any noticeable/noteable effect.

Alright, seems like heat is not an issue then. @JohsonChou said pretty
much the same thing. Thank You for sharing your experience. And nice job
on the Steampunk DAC HeadAMP:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...iontek-khadas-tone-board-dac.4823/post-124963
 

Ben1987

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I have blasted my Tone Board now for over three weeks and it only gets warm to the touch. I be very surprised if small chip set heat sinks would mitigate enough heat to warrant the cost and with any noticeable/noteable effect.
Tone Board's power consumption is relatively small, it is not necessary to heat sink alone. It is better to leave some cooling holes and keep the heat exchange between the inside and outside of the case faster.
 

Nybto

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Why do you want to do DoP when you can do Native?
I am powering the board with an ipower that is switched by a 12v trigger, the whole system including the Tone Board, shuts down from a single press on the remote (very family friendly!). So no possibility to use the usb input. Thanks for the reply, hadn't realised DoP required that extra bandwidth (I would have thought that this modern chipset could take it however).
 

Roen

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I am powering the board with an ipower that is switched by a 12v trigger, the whole system including the Tone Board, shuts down from a single press on the remote (very family friendly!). So no possibility to use the usb input. Thanks for the reply, hadn't realised DoP required that extra bandwidth (I would have thought that this modern chipset could take it however).
If SPDIF can support 24/192, then you can do DoP64.
 

drewfIr

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Tone Board's power consumption is relatively small, it is not necessary to heat sink alone. It is better to leave some cooling holes and keep the heat exchange between the inside and outside of the case faster.

@Ben1987,

Thank you, for the suggestion.
 

derp1n

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