Description
Khadas Tone Board Generic edition Hi-Res Audio DAC Board
Designed for the music enthusiast, the Tone Board is an amazing USB HiFi Sound Card. Its excellent performance and compatibility will take the listening experience to a whole new level. Integrating the XMOS advanced Multi-Core RISC architecture microcontroller and ESS flagship 32-Bit stereo mobile audio DAC ES9038Q2M in such a small PCB as well as three independent high performance OPA and four Ultra-Low phase jitter oscillator for our audio system, make this little DIY DAC module a bit of a giant killer.
The ESS ES9038Q2M DAC chip, one of today’s best solutions for high-fidelity audio decoding, embeds ESS’s famous HyperStream 32 BIT 768kHz architecture and DSD256 support along with advanced reconstruction filters and complex dithering making the chip immune from upstream clocking problems. Performance is reference standard, > 120dB SNR, very low harmonic distortion (0.000337% @ 1kHz) and significantly low jitter (< 3ps clock jitter.)
The XMOS interface U208 (8 cores). Supports direct streaming via USB 2.0 and natively supports DSD 256, perfectly competitive the ES9038Q2M DAC chip. If your USB source and files support this format, you won’t need to resample or have your precious music converted by extra processes.
The Khadas Generic Tone Board also supports connections via SPDIF so supporting audio separates like CD players. To use the SPDIF input you must have the USB disconnected.
There are detailed and independent reviews of this unassuming little DAC module over on audiosciencereview.com that you can take a look at. This DAC is one of the best they have measured. Place it in a small box available here on KJF audio and you’ve got yourself a reference level DIY DAC for not a lot of cash. No wonder there are loads of fully built commercial DACs out there from the likes of Nord with this little board in, a true giant killer.
Outstanding Performance
- XMOS XU208-128-QF48: 8 xCores up to 500MIPS, fully compliant with USB 2.0 specifications.
- Very Quiet Power Supply: Ultra-low noise, high PSRR LDO for powering Hi-Fi applications.
- RCA Connectors: High-quality RCA to deliver audio with tiny, clear, powerful and rich sound details.
- ESS ES9038Q2M DAC: Industry’s highest performing 32-bit mobile DAC with unprecedented dynamic range and ultra-low distortion.
- Accurate Low Noise Clock: Ultra-low phase-noise crystal oscillators with superior phase-noise characteristics.
Box Contents
- Tone Board
- USB-C Cable (USB-2.0 to USB-C)
Compatibility (Generic Edition)
- Desktop PCs
- Laptop PCs
- Raspberry Pis and other SBCs via USB
- All other devices via included USB-C to USB-2.0 cable
ES9038Q2M
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Industry’s highest performance 32-bit mobile audio DAC
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Unprecedented dynamic range and ultra-low distortion
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THD compensation and clock gearing
XMOS
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Flexible multicore microcontrollers
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For professional multichannel USB audio
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Low latency and timing determinism
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Execute multiple real-time tasks simultaneously
LDO Linear RegULATORS
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Ultra-low noise
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Ultra-high PSRR
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Precision power supply
Crystal Oscillator
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Professional Audiophile Crystal Oscillator
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Extremely low close-in phase noise
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Very low rms phase jitter
AUDIO OP-AMPS
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High-performance, bipolar-input
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Superior sound quality
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High slew rate
There are loads of projects and commercial projects out there on the web, I’ll try and maintain a list here of a few that I really like for inspiration.
A really cool headphone amp with Toneboard
Reviews
This has been reviewed in a few different places, the best technical review is at Audio Science Review, a great site for in depth technical reviews.
We also lent a board to Audio Appraisal who have an excellent website with some really nice reviews and builds of lots of great DIY gear and commercial gear. They did a great review of the board
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.