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Review and Measurements of WesionTEK Khadas Tone Board DAC

OldStager

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With Audiophonics case and 5mm power input connected to GPIO pins :D
View attachment 37542View attachment 37543

@JaapDeventer :

Hello, this looks really beautiful, I saw it already over at the Khadas forum. It's exactly what I had in mind. Do you mind me asking a few questions about it?

I ordered exaclty the same case along with the KTB :) and this is really insipiring.

1) Would it be possible to tell me which parts you bought for this? (except the KTB and the case, as I said got that already). I mean, I can see them, but don't know the exact specifications.

2) This is rather one for the voodoo departement I guess, but when I saw this I was wondering: All the great above-average meassurements here at ASR are done without external power supply via GPIO pins right? Won't adding an external power source mess with the meassurements? I remember some Khadas guy saying something like "sure, you can use external, but make sure it's clean" or something.

3) This is also the generic version, right?

Thanks in advance! :)
 

JaapDeventer

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@JaapDeventer :

1) Would it be possible to tell me which parts you bought for this? (except the KTB and the case, as I said got that already). I mean, I can see them, but don't know the exact specifications.

2) This is rather one for the voodoo departement I guess, but when I saw this I was wondering: All the great above-average meassurements here at ASR are done without external power supply via GPIO pins right? Won't adding an external power source mess with the meassurements? I remember some Khadas guy saying something like "sure, you can use external, but make sure it's clean" or something.

3) This is also the generic version, right?

Thanks in advance! :)

1) Inside the houding a jumper wire and:
1572705186265.png

On the psu side:
1572704737998.png

2) My psu is a powerbank (for mobile phone). I need external power because my LG G6 doesn't provide enough power for the toneboard to start up. Once running I can remove the external power. But it doesn't sound as nice.

3) Yes
 

Zek

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How did you get attached to the front panel?
DC.jpg

There's no nut to screw on.
 

JaapDeventer

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1) Inside the houding a jumper wire and:
View attachment 37637
On the psu side:
View attachment 37636
2) My psu is a powerbank (for mobile phone). I need external power because my LG G6 doesn't provide enough power for the toneboard to start up. Once running I can remove the external power. But it doesn't sound as nice.

3) Yes
@JaapDeventer Okay thanks, that looks kinda affordable...and doesn't seem too complicated.

@Zek Yeah, I was wondering about that too

It fits tighty into the 8(?)mm hole I drilled.
 

zermak

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Look up for a straight panel mounted power jack for a more secure (and kinda professional) work :)
 

Nango

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After updating Volumio to V2.657 the hardware tone control disappeared, only "software" and "none" available and volume is fix, you can't change it.

What a nightmare this Volumio software is!!!!
 

flowjm

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After updating Volumio to V2.657 the hardware tone control disappeared, only "software" and "none" available and volume is fix, you can't change it.

What a nightmare this Volumio software is!!!!

My experience with Volumio has also not been great. For a supposedly "lightweight" version of Linux, it is remarkably unresponsive, and trying to listen to CDs using an external drive seems to require an internet connection for some reason, which I don't have at home.
 

OldStager

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I've finally received my custom Ghent Audio A01 cable in black color, so I could finally test if the Khadas Tone Board in Audiophonics case gets lifted or not, when placed on an JDS Atom.

Good news: not, they look perfect. Actually kind of cable porn with these shiny RCA connectors.

The bad news is that these connectors are quite loose, by that I mean 3 out of 4 is looser than a cheap "plastic" RCA cable I have at home. I've emailed Ghent about it and I'm waiting for his reply.

In conclusion, I'm really happy with this setup!

View attachment 37401

View attachment 37402

How many centimeters did you use here/tell them to do? It looks like optimal length for the purpose to me
 

Herbert

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Because they guessed this attracts people.
But now it looks like they are not interested in investing in further developments.
Also the openness has turned 180° as questions about a new board are now unanswered for weeks
in their forum...
Before that they said a new board would come Q3 in 2019 which is now over...
 

TLEDDY

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I have the French aluminum box coming from Audiophonics in France... in the meantime it is running naked and sounds great.

What is the address of their forum?
 

BYRTT

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Hi @Herbert,

Sorry but for some time have wondered why be so negative obout the new upcoming model and when it hits the shelves, we should know about how hard a modern calendar life can be in real world shouldn't we, you know employees can get sick, they can quit from day to day and so on, guess its better they take their time and get final proction version 100% perfect and right before any thinking of a release. Also if you personal is in deparate need for a ESS based stereo dac with ballanced output and without the ESS hump why not look at SMSL M500 or Topping DX7 Pro, SMSL is asked 399€ and Topping is 599€ at audiophonics and their benched numbers here at ASR site look perfect, will guess the upcoming Khadas product will also cost in the area of those two dacs and also the benched numbers be in same area.
 

Herbert

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Yesterday at 1:21 PM
#1,582

Hi @Herbert,

Sorry but for some time have wondered why be so negative obout the new upcoming model and when it hits the shelves, we should know about how hard a modern calendar life can be in real world shouldn't we, you know employees can get sick, they can quit from day to day and so on, guess its better they take their time and get final proction version 100% perfect and right before any thinking of a release. Also if you personal is in deparate need for a ESS based stereo dac with ballanced output and without the ESS hump why not look at SMSL M500 or Topping DX7 Pro, SMSL is asked 399€ and Topping is 599€ at audiophonics and their benched numbers here at ASR site look perfect, will guess the upcoming Khadas product will also cost in the area of those two dacs and also the benched numbers be in same area.

I would be fine if they announced that a new board was cancelled or delayed. They were not secret about their design before what gave them sympathy from the community , so they could be open about this. And I need a bare "humpless" board (for the sake of better measurements) that runs on his own like the generic version. Development is not dependend on one's person genius or unforseen happenings besides earthquakes.
 
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