Review and Measurements of WesionTEK Khadas Tone Board DAC

[porotikos]

What does it sound like? A hum? Chatter? I had both and purchased a $400 PCI/USB card and it disappeared. There are much more affordable options that I’ve learned about since then.

well, best thing i could do was record it. not the best way to do it, i turned volume all the way up and put the phone near the headphones and voila. hope you understand what that is.
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/a0...71d8d119da43fd6146b910a920200327003059/736d62

i have to thank you for refering to the usb issue. i changed usb inputs. i also had recently purchased a cheap usb2 extender for the pc enclosure and also plugged khadas in there. same sound, no matter the usb or the cable i used. i think i am getting closer to the sollution but i need to find. is it khadas related, or pc related, or a mixture of both, i do not know. but i need to find this.
please understand that i dont blame khadas. even if it is top blame in my setup, this happens to my setup so in a sense it is my set up to blame. but i try to find if there is a weak link in the collaboration of my pc and the khadas. thank you

 

[Lavawood]

I call that motherboard chatter.
hopefully someone can help you with a more economical solution. I bought a SOtM USB EXP pci card. Cards similar to this go for $250-400.

 

[porotikos]

I call that motherboard chatter.
hopefully someone can help you with a more economical solution. I bought a SOtM USB EXP pci card. Cards similar to this go for $250-400.

wow, thank you so much. it is really nice to know for sure where this comes from.
is this common to all pc motherboards? my pc is getting old and atsome point i would upgrade. but if new motherboards also may suffer from this, i will try and fix what i have.
thank you again so much for your input
how could i search this, any idea the terms i should use?
and another question. does this thing, make the pc line out really transparent? or in order to eliminate such noises you also lose sound quality? thank you again very very very much

 

[porotikos]

i wonder if the sonkoz with its own power supply could help in my case. any ideas @Ben1987

 

[porotikos]

i wonder if a usb isolator would do the trick...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1500V-USB-...hash=item3b28c18c5a:m:myuZ5fvnDB6Z0MWY-Fhu91w

anyone tried this little thing? ill read more tomorrow... thank you

 

[Veri]

i wonder if the sonkoz with its own power supply could help in my case. any ideas @Ben1987

Yes, the Soncoz should be safe from this kind of issue.

 

[porotikos]

Yes, the Soncoz should be safe from this kind of issue.

That is a blessing. Thank you so much

 

[Veri]

That is a blessing. Thank you so much

Also note that JDS Labs tested the khadas tone board and found a problem when using it directly with speakers (not headphones)
https://blog.jdslabs.com/2018/11/jds-labs-atom-amp-official-release-benchmarks/#comment-22949
This is probably part of your problem.

 

[porotikos]

Also note that JDS Labs tested the khadas tone board and found a problem when using it directly with speakers (notheadphones)
https://blog.jdslabs.com/2018/11/jds-labs-atom-amp-official-release-benchmarks/#comment-22949
This is probably part of your problem.

Wow. Now i want soncoz laqxd1 to be released even faster. Thank youuuu

 

[Nybto]

Also note that JDS Labs tested the khadas tone board and found a problem when using it directly with speakers (not headphones)
https://blog.jdslabs.com/2018/11/jds-labs-atom-amp-official-release-benchmarks/#comment-22949
This is probably part of your problem.

Well, incase anyone is concerned by this being a generic issue I tested mine (KTB), full volume on a Benchmark pre-amp - absolutely silent loudspeakers (the Khadas is streamed to, and powered by, a Pi4 usb out).

 

[wiz2596]

Hi guys

My Khadas just arrived, I'm really impressed with the sound quality of this little thing, it's pretty amazing, lots of details and well defined bass

My only concern is if is there any problem to use this DAC without a case? Could performance be affected in a future?

 

[Kalander]

Hi guys

My Khadas just arrived, I'm really impressed with the sound quality of this little thing, it's pretty amazing, lots of details and well defined bass

My only concern is if is there any problem to use this DAC without a case? Could performance be affected in a future?

Like any other electrical circuitry left exposed there's always the danger of involuntary shortcuits plus the accumulation of particles from the room air, particles that may become conductive over time... As you don't seem like you're too bothered to have a 'show' object on display (but more interested in the sound outcome) you may stick the board into a sweets carton box provided with holes to accomodate the cabling...

 

[rickoo111]

Every so often everything sounds very "deep" and I thought at first it was my amp but it's the DAC because if I unplug it from the USB and then plug it back in the sound is back to normal.

Anyone else have this issue or know of a fix? Otherwise looks like I'll buy a Topping D10.

 

[Get a hearing test]

Didnt think it could sound better again, measurement speaks for itself. If onboard is 35% then 202hd is 60% and ktb 90%. At least on my current reference scale. Gonna look into soncoz laqxd1 later. Eventually plan to move onto balanced amp and dac and stop there.

 

[Veri]

and stop there.

heard that before..

 

[Windofrce]

Regarding foobar and Wasapi streaming mode. Should I use Event mode or Push mode?

 

[Veri]

Regarding foobar and Wasapi streaming mode. Should I use Event mode or Push mode?

Foobar is most stable in Push mode. There's no advantage to Event mode.

 

[Windofrce]

Anyone know why I have my music stuttering for example when my Android emulator is booting up? What does it have to do with DAC so it microstutter? I have very good pc configuration, ryzen with 8cores/16 threads and ssd drivers, 32GB ram...

 

[wiz2596]

Foobar is most stable in Push mode. There's no advantage to Event mode.

Why do push mode is more stable than event?

 

[Veri]

Why do push mode is more stable than event?

It's behaviour of foobar's wasapi component.