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Review and Measurements of WesionTEK Khadas Tone Board DAC

somebodyelse

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Hi to all my first post here!

https://forum.khadas.com/t/tone-board-external-powering/3051/53
In the last posts of the above thread there are some of my findings regarding the TB and external power.
Any comments would be welcome!!
Welcome to the forum. I've replied on the Khadas one - again having the schematic proves useful. I doubt there's any benefit from an external supply instead of USB power given the use of multiple regulators, both linear and switching, on the Tone Board, but it would be interesting to see any measurements.
 

DomieMic65

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Welcome to the forum. I've replied on the Khadas one - again having the schematic proves useful. I doubt there's any benefit from an external supply instead of USB power given the use of multiple regulators, both linear and switching, on the Tone Board, but it would be interesting to see any measurements.
Yes I saw your answer .. thanks for your response!
From what you can understand I don't have technical knowledge! I am just trying stuff (and making errors may be) that I happens to own or have access to!!
Since I have a diyer friend who had some LPSs that could be used we tried... and because of the strange behavior of the board I stuck with it!
Probably you are right and there is no significant difference so no need for extra expense for LPS etc ... but for the sake of "science" we/I experimented to the point we could!
I am planning to lent it to him for some time so that he can take his time and perform some tests.
I don't know if we will be able to record or publish them though!
For the "simple" LPS I think it would be possible to give the schematic for the others I think not! One of them is a commercial product -so I can't and don't have any to give- and the other is diy but I guess the designer doesn't want to give the schematic that open!
 

somebodyelse

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For the "simple" LPS I think it would be possible to give the schematic for the others I think not!
I meant the schematic of the TB being useful in working out what was going on with the USB input switching. Having said that, the schematic of the LPS might shed light on your issue with both USB and LPS power connected. You'll probably need to look at the power supplies with an oscilloscope to see what's really going on though.
 

BYRTT

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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.

Thanks, will say because of looking the many user inputs about a finished product inside a box and also because a ballanced output feature probably will will need some sort of build in higher voltage PSU than what a 5 volts USB cable can feed, then could fear we wont get any bare boards but a finished product as the M500 or DX7 Pro is, but lets see down the road where it ends.
 

sonci

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Can I use a chromecast audio power supply with the tone board?
It should be 5v/500ma.
 

DomieMic65

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KTB_iPAD3.jpg

First I tried with a cheap BT speaker I have using line in of course.
For sure it needs external power to the camera adapter.
It doesn't boot otherwise.
But with this setup I thought I was hearing some kind o distortion so I connected it to my Vali 2 too, and with my HD600 there was no distortion at all. It had to do with the cheap speaker.
KTB_iPAD1.jpg
 

hyperknot

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Thanks for checking it, it's awesome! One question when you said it need external power, does it mean that you needed only the lightning power or also an external powered USB hub?
 

DomieMic65

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I try it with my Mac mini and Audirvana now and while it shows in settings as capable of 768KHz when upsampling above 384KHz the sound is distorted.
I know that there is no point in such extremes but just for the conversation.
 

DomieMic65

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Thanks for checking it, it's awesome! One question when you said it need external power, does it mean that you needed only the lightning power or also an external powered USB hub?
It works with the lightning power only. But may be it’s better with additional power too. I would try it.
I have a feeling that the specific camera connection adapter needs more power than the other one (without lightning in) by itself. Even if I connect a thumb drive to transfer data I get a message of not enough power ... I don’t know if it would be the same with the simple adopter. Just a thought. Most probably the KTB wouldn’t work at all with the simple one.

Now that I am trying with my Mac mini and with or without the iFi iDefender/iPower I think that it benefits from the iFi auditions. I think... not 100% sure. I must hear more. In other cases I had mixed feelings about the iFi combo...
 

TLEDDY

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I ordered the Audiophonics aluminum case for the Sound Board.

Attempted installation and failed:

1. Case holes on bottom did not align with board holes

2. Side plates are not threaded to accept enclosed screws

Any other members have these issues?
 

DomieMic65

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I ordered the Audiophonics aluminum case for the Sound Board.

Attempted installation and failed:

1. Case holes on bottom did not align with board holes

2. Side plates are not threaded to accept enclosed screws

Any other members have these issues?
Ohh... I'm sorry.. can't you sent it back?
Quite frustrating I guess!
Can you post any pictures?

I am waiting for it too! I guess it will be here in the next days.
I hope it's not like this...
 

TorbjornJ

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Does your Khadas board have any model/version number printed on it? Could they have updated the board slightly?
 

PaulZH

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I ordered the Audiophonics aluminum case for the Sound Board.

Attempted installation and failed:

1. Case holes on bottom did not align with board holes

2. Side plates are not threaded to accept enclosed screws

Any other members have these issues?

No, mine was OK.
 

hyperknot

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I ordered the Audiophonics aluminum case for the Sound Board.

Attempted installation and failed:

1. Case holes on bottom did not align with board holes

2. Side plates are not threaded to accept enclosed screws

Any other members have these issues?

Did you follow the online manual? It's really not intuitive without following it, some holes are not used for example.
 

hyperknot

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Does your Khadas board have any model/version number printed on it? Could they have updated the board slightly?

You can check the firmware version, for example macOS displays it in System Report. I don't know a way to check the hardware version thought.
 

TLEDDY

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Let me know when you get yours.

As for return... likely costs a lot to ship international. Will see what they say in response to my service request.
 
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