comparing six I2S zero boards

Hi folks, you may be interested in this overview.
zerodacboards.jpg
devices of pic. above:
miniBoss|Justboom|IQaudIO
pHAT|muc89|DACBerry ONE
explain2.jpg
i hope i’m right with this information i got.
you know, i had to solder the GPIO connector to the RPI zero w board. for some boards the pins where a bit to short to reach in the GPIO jack from the DAC board. The solution was ,to have a distance of 1mm before soldering the GPIO to the RPI board.

With Volumio 2.310 (new Kernel) i think volumio was a bit slower. also i deactivate everything unnacessary (background pic, album download)

The sound comparison is coming soon on my soundcheck - so stay tuned.
volumio-soundcheck-invitation-for-hamburg-germany-t5918-20.html

ok, volumio 2.310 ist now running on the zero boards.
I don’t know why, but first i didn’t get the device connected after put it into my home net.
volumio.local doesn’t work.
but with a network scanner i could find and start the ui with IP adressing of the device.
after that volumio.local does work.
strange, maybe a DNS time delay. whatever :smiley:
next days i will explain the zero board more detailed.

This is the justboom DAC zero device. i like this compact case. it’s beautifull.
It does have headphone, line out and rca jacks (RCA to be self solderd)
i used the gold plated rca phono jacks from switchcraft.
(PJRAN1X1U02AUX white, PJRAN1X1U03AUX red)
The red case is from ModMyPi.

Be sure that the GPIO connector is full connected to the DAC board jack.
maybe take a little distance when solder.
justboomDACzero.jpg

The IQaudIO DAC Zero plus Zero headphone is the giant under the zero devices.
The case is very stable from high quality smoked acryl.
Case and boards are made in scotland.
I don’t know if case and headphone board is still available.
For me, It’s for shure an eye catcher.

IWaudIOdaczero.jpg

The allo mini Boss comes with two gold plated RSA jacks, but no headphone possibility.
The clear acrylic case is bright shining and the metal standoffs are beautiful.

miniBoss.jpg

The pHAT DAC can be used very compact, because it comes without a soldered GPIO Jack.
I soldered it directly to the RPI zero connector.
The RCA jack is an extra equipment and not every vendor does have it.
I did not found a suitable case on the market.
There are some possibilities for 3D printed cases.

pHATdac.jpg

I’m happy that i found this board at muc89.com . It’s with a Sabre ES9023 DAC.
The gold plated RCA phono jacks can be ordered optional.
Here, the electronics and headphone jack are downside the board.
Without soldered RCA it should be easy to find a suitable case.

SABREberryZero.jpg

after having my soundcheck,
i would say, if you ask me for the best DAC with headphone AND rca jack with a very affordable price,
try the SABREberry zero (muc89.com) with the ES9023
or the justboom DAC zero.
I tried also different loudspeaker and headphones.
So what a great entrance into the volumio world, for about 50€ for the complete device!

looking for the best SQ on zero and headphone jack is not needed, you should try the mini boss, but on cheap equipment like mobile speaker the IQaudIO is very similar to it.

And if you are looking for a swiss knife of zero DAC with optical output too, the DACberry ONE zero should be your choice.
with a more powerfull headphone amp, you could also use a wider range of headphones.
the soundquality, i think is very balanced.

Hi,

Thanks for this review.
I have been a long time lurker in the forums, but had to register just to ask this question:
Can the TOSLINK on the DACBerry ONE be configured for audio input, or is it output only? I’m trying to find a solution to output TV audio to my speakers. The problem is that the TV only has optical out and my amplifier is from the 80s :slight_smile:

And since this is my first post, I’d like to say hi to everybody in this great community.

Cheers,
Ves

Hi Ves,
welcome!

the manufacturer says its input/output.
osaelectronics.com/product/ … y-pi-zero/
i only used the analog connections.
have fun.

1 Like

Ah, silly me… I read that page before posting, and the only line I missed from the specifications is Optical and Coaxial Input/Output :laughing:
In need of more coffee I guess :slight_smile:
Thanks again for your help and effort!

ok, to complete the comparision here.
I just get after month the case for the DACberry ONE. see here:
osm_zero.jpg
cases are avaible in many different colors.
It’s bigger than the justboom case, and smaller than boss zero and iqaudio zero.
screws are to fix the board at bottom. the top plate can be just opened without screws.
for mobile using i have to DIY fix the top plate.