AUDIOPHONICS RaspDAC Mini Kit - I-Sabre ES9038Q2M

[Kit1cat]

Any one have any thoughts on the new Audiophonics mini kit?

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/diy-kits-and-boards/audiophonics-raspdac-mini-kit-diy-streamer-for-raspberry-pi-dac-p-13300.html

[Hip Priest]

I have a RaspDac with the ES9038Q2M. It's extremely good. Plays my DSD files without fuss, and I believe it sounds a little better than the IQAudio Dac+ it replaces - perhaps a little more relaxed?

I'm using it with Volumio, which is just 'OK'. (I prefer PiCoreplayer - but need MDP so that my girlfriend can use it with Spotify Connect!). Volumio does not support non-open source drivers which are required for the ES9038Q2M, so it's a bit of a faff keeping Volumio up to date.

[mikmas]

Looks quite slick - although it should be for that price (considering you have to build it yourself AND add an RPi).
Proof of the pudding would be the ease of assembly and initial set up.

Like the 'coax in' feature but strikes me as a right royal pita to access the SD card when it fails (as they inevitably do ...) given that it's deeply recessed and behind the display bit.

Might have missed the bit about a PSU but presume you have to source that as well??

[mikmas]

Just had another look and noticed they have moved the SD card slot - which is good ;)

But no mention of a PSU - just a 'switched' cable for micro USB connector ....

[Sherwood]

Any one have any thoughts on the new Audiophonics mini kit?

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/diy-kits-and-boards/audiophonics-raspdac-mini-kit-diy-streamer-for-raspberry-pi-dac-p-13300.html

Looks neat and keenly priced. They can't spell Sabre, but lets hope that they how they know how to get the best of the chip! :confused:


BTW. This is what Allo should be looking to produce: a design with all ports on one side! How difficult can that be?

[ReggieB]

I have an early version of this AUDIOPHONICS RaspDAC I-Sabre V4 - Kit DIY Network player Raspberry Pi 3.0 & DAC (https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/network-audio-players-raspdac/audiophonics-raspdac-i-sabre-v4-kit-diy-network-player-raspberry-pi-30-dac-p-11136.html). I enjoyed building it (pretty simple), with one exception, I couldn't get the screen to work. That didn't (and doesn't as I still have it) bother me, but if I had the chance again, I'd have paid a little extra to get the built version. The problem wasn't the construction, but the modifications to the software to get the player talking to the screen. It was beyond me.

As a network player it works very well, and the Sabre DAC is very good.

[Kit1cat]

Thanks for your thoughts guys. Think I might give this a go. I already have a couple of pi/dacs and power supplies, so that's not a problem, build looks easy but not so sure on the setup. I like the look of the case and it's layout, plus I am hoping to connect my old cd player to it.

For any one interested there is a discussion about the kit on the moode forum.

http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=664

[WAD62]

I have a RaspDac with the ES9038Q2M. It's extremely good. Plays my DSD files without fuss, and I believe it sounds a little better than the IQAudio Dac+ it replaces - perhaps a little more relaxed?

I'm using it with Volumio, which is just 'OK'. (I prefer PiCoreplayer - but need MDP so that my girlfriend can use it with Spotify Connect!). Volumio does not support non-open source drivers which are required for the ES9038Q2M, so it's a bit of a faff keeping Volumio up to date.

FYI piCorePlayer provides spotify connect capabilities via the 'Spotty' plugin, along with spotify integration as an LMS library...

[Hip Priest]

FYI piCorePlayer provides spotify connect capabilities via the 'Spotty' plugin, along with spotify integration as an LMS library...

Thanks for the tip - I’ll look into that.