DAC sabre Audiophonics

Hi all,
I want to buy the DAC AUDIOPHONICS ES9038Q2M KALI EDITION
DAC 32bit 768kHz / I2S & SPDIF
Can you tell me if there are any problems with Volumio and Raspberry Pi 3 model B?

Thanks.

1 Like

Hi ADVolumio01,

I wonder why this question didnā€™t come up earlier here on the forum.

It is NOT officially supported - but it works :smiley:
This means you have to alter 1 file, which is leading to loosing possibility to do an OTA upgrade of Volumio as for now (December 2019)

I did not test the KALI edition but the normal one - should not make a difference.

The trick is to add 1 line to the ā€œdacs.jsonā€ file.
The driver is already integrated.
(Should be very easy for the Volumio team to integrate itā€¦)

If you want to give it a go send me a PM - i donā€™t want to publish the hack here as long as iā€™m not sure the Volumio team wants to have it integrated.

For the others - we are talking about these i2s dacs:

The one i successfully tested is:
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-and-interfaces-for-raspberry-pi/audiophonics-dac-i-sabre-es9038q2m-raspberry-pi-i2s-spdif-pcm-dsd-micro-usb-power-supply-p-14011.html

The KALI edition:
https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-and-interfaces-for-raspberry-pi/audiophonics-dac-i-sabre-es9038q2m-kali-edition-raspberry-pi-i2s-spdif-pcm-dsd-p-12811.html

Best Regards
Josef

:smiley: :smiley: :smiley:
Hi, thanks ā€¦ I will replay you by mail.

Hi Josef, sorry but this is my first time in this forum, how can I contact you in PM?

In case this only needs a line for the dacs.json file, then I see no problem with supporting it as long as the identification string (sound card name) does not clash with an existing one (which you have tested and obviously did not).
Can you send us the line?
(Might not be integrated immediately because of the upcoming holidays)

Hi gkkpch,

That sounds great :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: . No worries, i will be patient.
Have a relaxed christmas and a good new year.

The line that needs to be added is:

{"id":"audiophonics-es9028q2m-dac","name":"Audiophonics I-Sabre ES9028Q2M","overlay":"i-sabre-q2m","alsanum":"1","mixer":"Digital","modules":"","script":"","needsreboot":"yes"},

Even if it is called ES9028q2m it also works with the ES9038q2m without distortion or other issues. Also the volume control is working.

Best Regards
Josef

Hi Josef, I purchased the
AUDIOPHONICS DAC I-Saber ES9038Q2M Raspberry Pi / I2S & SPDIF / PCM DSD
Could you tell me the changes to make in order to manage it with Volumio?
Thank you.

just read the whole post, it is in there.
come back when youā€™re stuck

Hi,

maybe it helps to know the path to the dacs.json file for a quick and dirty fix - ( for the non linux gurus like me - it would :smiley: )
Take care - you will loose OTA update functionality with that as long as it isnā€™t integrated into the official build !

/volumio/app/plugins/system_controller/i2s_dacs/dacs.json

Otherwise please wait for the new version that will be available after the ā€œchristmas/new yearā€ chilling phase.
Also - i understand - the community has now little time during the free days to test something :wink:

Thank you gkkpch for considering to integrate this.

Best Regards and thank you all
Josef

Thanks to both, sorry for the pressing request. I will receive the DAC in the next few days and I wanted to test it immediately. if it doesnā€™t work with Volumio I wanted to return it and I donā€™t have much time.
I just need to know if itā€™s worth waiting for, hoping that it will work sooner or later.
Thank you.
PS: sorry for my english.

Sure it will work

Thanks Josep

Hi Josef, I am not expert in the Linux system.
I have insert the sd card in the Ubuntu PC and I found 3 folders but not the folder app.
What have I to do?
Where can I find the file dacs.json?
Thanks.

Hi VolumioDaniele,

Itā€˜s easier.

Just leave your Volumio device running

In your browser go to [ip-address of your device]/dev and enable ssh access

Ssh to your device and cd /volumio/app/plugins/system_controller/i2s_dacs

Sudo nano dacs.json

Insert the line mentioned above

Save and exit

Reboot

Choose the Sabre dac in the web ui

Reboot

Enloy listening :smiley:

Best Regards
Josef

Hi Josep, sorry but I donā€™t understand.
This system is by me very unknown.
Can you tell me every step?
Thanks and sorry.

Hi ADvolumio01,

Even if you did only post quotes without any question - iā€™d like to help you - but - i need to know where to start.

What system do you use to deploy - Windows, Mac, Linux ?
Where do you get stuck with it ? - opening a ssh session, editing the dacs.json file ?

Tell me more about your setup and skills.

Best Regards
Josef

Letā€™s hope the ā€œvacation modeā€ of the dev team will not last too long for us hungry users :smiley:

Hi Josef, in the browser (Windows 10) I insert the ip address/dev and I enter in the ā€œpageā€ ā€¦ I enable SSH and write ā€œ/volumio/app/ā€¦/i2s_dacs/dacs.jsonā€.
The system gives me an http address that I insert in the browser.
After long time it opens a freezed window and I can not do anything. In this windows I donā€™t find the list of supported dacs.
If you can help me, I will be very happy. Thanks a lot.

1 Like

[quote=ā€œVolumioDanieleā€]

[quote=ā€œgkkpchā€]

[quote=ā€œJosh2000ā€]
Hi ADVolumio01,
ā€¦
This means you have to alter 1 file, which is leading to loosing possibility to do an OTA upgrade of Volumio as for now (December 2019)

Hi team (gkkpch) , could you tell me if you are going to make the Audiophonics 9038 DAC usable? I would like to use Volumio, but if you donā€™t want to manage Audiphonics products, tell me that Iā€™ll switch to another player.
Iā€™ve been waiting since December.
Thank you.

Hi VolumioDaniele,

Itā€™s not really complicated.

Tell me where you got stuck to get further.
Is itā€¦

  • get an ssh connection to your device
  • how to edit the 1 file
  • save it and reboot ?

Donā€™t expect the Volumio staff is fixing that in a short time, because this board unfortunately and simply is currently not supported - and they have to work on more important ticketsā€¦

one way would be to stay patient gkkpch will integrate it one day, as he said
the other way is to frickle around with getting 1 single additional text line into that linux config file - i am willing to help you.

As i told you - i have got the same hat board in my test bench - and it is working - AND is sounding pretty well to me.

Iā€™m happy if iā€™m able to help - but please answer my 3 questions.

Best Regards
Josef