Audiophonics Sabre DAC v3 - help setting up

[Cycleallday]

Just bought one of these and need a little help in getting up and running.

1. Do I have to power the DAC directly or will it take power from the PI 3 ?
2. If I provide power to the DAC will that then supply the PI 3 ?
3. Does each need its own power supply ?
4. The datasheet refers to a power button does this have to be fitted - what is its benefit?
5. What settings do I need to put into mode to use the DAC

Sorry for asking basic questions but the PI and DAC components are new to me.

Mel

[jonners]

1.If you look at the connection diagram on the Audiophonics page for this DAC it appears that it needs a power supply of 6/7V DC, and that it will send power to the RPi. However the video review on that page suggests that you need to supply the RPi separately. Unless someone here actually has one of these, I think you might do best to contact Audiophonics for clarification.
4. I doubt if the power button is necessary. They show a picture for operating it 'Sans bouton' but it's not very clear what you're supposed to do, is it?
5. By mode do you mean Moode? If so I suggest I2S DAC - Audiophonics ES9023.

[AlfaGTV]

The SabreDAC v3 will power the Pi if fed with 6-9V of clean DC.
I agree that the power switch shouldn't be necessary, but wont swear on it.
A friend of mine bought the kit, RaspiDAC with this DAC, chassi, OLED display, power button and all sorts of stuff.
We never got the display working with a useful player, but the power button was working in Rune Audio.
Anyways, i think 'Francoise' needs practice in writing usable instructions for their product. And by that i mean in the common tongue...

[Cycleallday]

Thanks Jonners, I have now found the English version of the Audiophonics data sheet which clearly states the RPI is powered from the DAC and which does need its own power supply.

My confusion was coming from reading early posts which had a mixture of v1 v2 and v3 boards discussed and it was not clear which if any needed their own supply as earlier models took power from the RPI.

[Cycleallday]

I thought I would complete this post and answer my questions myself in case any others come across the same issues.

1. This DAC is designed to operate from its own power supply - either a 6 volt switching supply or preferably a linear supply.
2. The DAC supplies power to the RPI
3. No RPI power supply should be connected
4. The DAC has to be fitted with a power button
5. The DAC needs to have a modified version of the audio player - it will not work with a standard download

Misc.
The DAC is designed to trigger all software power up/down functions and switch the power supply on/off as dictated by the power button (momentary on type)

The DAC can drive a 2 line display to show what is playing

The DAC carries an IC with its driver functionality onboard and any Audio player software has to be patched to handle this communication and the display functionality. Currently there are configured versions of Moode Audio and Rune Audio - Volumio may also be supported but I did not come across a suitable image or the necessary information to do it myself.

The power supply operation can be modified to use an on/off switch but this requires a chip to be removed and a simple on/off switch fitted. The display will not work if this modification is undertaken.

There is an additional modification shown in the documentation but I could not find any text to describe what it does and it is not clear from the diagram alone although I think it is to do with the display as part of the power switch modification - I am not using the switch.

No documentation or links to comprehensive information is supplied. There is an English "Data" sheet link but its location is not obvious and it does not contain all the information needed to fully understand the devices operation and software requirements. It is necessary to ask for help or trawl the French forum to get all the information which is normally supplied by the likes of IQ.

Initial impressions:

1. General personal comments
I cannot understand why the designers have implemented the power management functionality as it complicates the installation and adds no functionality which cannot be handled by the existing audio software and a simple on/off switch. It also raises the cost of the DAC

The main downside of this approach is that any Audio software upgrade may render the the DAC unusable until they are re-patched with the required communication software. Even now the latest version of Moode is not supported.

I could possibly understand the approach if the unit had been designed to be part of a standalone streamer with its own touch screen i/o and audio driver - but this is not the case and I can see little value in a 2 line screen - you already know what is playing from the device you use to drive the unit.

Care is needed in plugging the DAC into the RPI as the legs from the speaker connections will touch the shielding on the USB input slots and short - I have put a bit of plastic between them until I sort the issue out correctly.



2. Initial Audio Quality impressions
I have to say the quality is very good and better than the IQ unit I have.
I currently have it playing modern high resolution files (2L Nordic samples) through a Meridian Amp into Falcon Audio BBC Ls3/5a speakers placed near field as per their design and I would happily use this setup as my main streamer. My wife also hears the sound as being better than other RPI based systems and I am playing with.

When playing some standard ALAC rippings I can hear a background hash type noise. This may be self inflicted as my amp is having to play at 87 out of a 100 to provide a suitable volume - I will modify my amps gain on the inputs used to see if this corrects the problem when I get time (standard functionality on Meridian amp but I need to find its remote).

My conclusions
As it stands I would not recommend this DAC - there are cheaper options available which do not suffer the potential issues with ongoing software support.
The cost of the DAC, carriage, power supply and power switch has come to just over £100 which is well above other options based on this Sabre DAC.

Please understand these are my initial impressions as I have only had the DAC working for a morning so far.

Mel

[AlfaGTV]

5. The DAC needs to have a modified version of the audio player - it will not work with a standard download
...
The DAC can drive a 2 line display to show what is playing
...


Just a couple of comments, The Audiophonics DAC v3 will work with any distribution that supports the ES9023 dac, and i dont know of any distro that doesn't (provided it is fed 6v DC and has got a switching or impulse type power button connected)

The DAC has got nothing to do with the display functionality, you just happen to connect the OLED on the DAC for convenience. The pins are extensions from the Pi's GPIO interface.

And i dont really see the point in critizing the RaspiDAC for being a... hmm... RaspiDAC? ;)
If you dont want/need the OLED the same DAC is also sold with a slimmer chassi.
There are also an alterative power button which is a simple switching button, not the impulse button included in the RaspiDAC kit.

Other than that i agree with you, it is a very good sounding solution if you can stand the interface in moOde/Volumio/Rune.
And yes, Audiophonics is in dire need of putting some documentation together in english!

[Cycleallday]

Hi Mike,

The V3 DAC does indeed work with standard audio software providing the 'intelligent IC' is removed and basic on/off switching put in place. The website diagram shows how to do this. It may also work to a degree without this change but I have not tried it. However, by removing the power management functionality it takes us back to the lower cost version 2 DAC.

There is an English data/description sheet very low down on Audiophonics Dac v3 website page in the section marked 'Attachments' and called "Datasheet I-Sabre V3'. This describes the new power management functionality in the V3 Dac and how it interacts with the RPI Audio software nicely. Unfortunately it does not give details of the software enhancements needed. All other links seem to be to French documents.

For the full power management and display functionality to work as described in this sheet the revised audio player versions are required.

The link for these is:

http://forum.audiophonics.fr/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1712&sid=61cd079c766f8106d95cdd819eff9186

For me this DAC is a keeper destined to be integrated into one of my main systems. It is more expensive than other RPI options but is a quality board which is far cheaper than commercial equivalents (initial thoughts are that it sounds better than my v1 Bluesound node and is likely to replace this device in my main system)

Had I fully understood the differences between the v2 and v3 DAC then I would have saved money and chosen v2.

Mel

[danilo]

Thank you the info.
I've an Audiophonics gizmo brand new .. for a while.
Not even taken it out of it's packaging.. Yet. My Pi interest wore off before I could.
(Limited attention span .. obviously)
Seems like I should try it :-)

[WAD62]

Had I fully understood the differences between the v2 and v3 DAC then I would have saved money and chosen v2.

Mel

I run an Audiophonics V2/RPi2 combo in my kitchen setup, powered by an ifi PSU, into a mini-1, and IPL M4s

I'm running piCorePlayer, as it's part of my LMS/Squeezebox network

The Audiophonics V2 has replaced an IQaudio/RPi2 combo, which was excellent, however I find the Audiophonics has more punch...:eyebrows:

FYI I've stuck with a dogbone case, the additional DIY case components look beyond my ability...;)