Solved Desktop DAC/AMP with build-in PEQ

SDK Chan

SDK Chan

Finally completed my audio server + parametric equalization setup today, I noticed that the onboard chipset is at its limits so, I decided to buy this DAC/AMP in order to get stable noise free sound output.

Is it compatible with FreeBSD 14.2 ?
I cannot find anything in the hardware notes regarding my current onboard sound chip (ESS ES9118) which works, and the chipset in the bought DAC/AMP (ES9039MSPRO).
 
This is a standalone device and the FreeBSD compatibility part of it is just what USB sound support provides. Plug it in and see what you get and start from there. If their USB protocol is transparent then you just plug it in and that all. For example, I had Schiit Fulla 2 litle DAC and AMP and they claim fully transparent UAC2 device support for their usb part, however it was not the case in reality - i was not able to make this device working in bitperfect mode no matter what i tried.
 
of course if bitperfect mode is not the goal ( which will not work if you use some mixer stuff and equalizer ) and this device is fine with UAC - then it will work.
 
angry_vincent said:
This is a standalone device and the FreeBSD compatibility part of it is just what USB sound support provides. Plug it in and see what you get and start from there. If their USB protocol is transparent then you just plug it in and that all. For example, I had Schiit Fulla 2 litle DAC and AMP and they claim fully transparent UAC2 device support for their usb part, however it was not the case in reality - i was not able to make this device working in bitperfect mode no matter what i tried.
Click to expand...
The chip in that device is from the same family as my current onboard soundchip so, I think it should work, eventually.
After it arrives on Monday, I will tell whether the sound chip is compatible with bitperfect mode or not.
 
angry_vincent
Just be sure to use external equalizer like the ones build into ffmpeg (anequalizer) and MPD + some music player like ncmpcpp. That way the bitperfect sound will be rooted from the audio server (MPD) directly into OSS, and you will have the advantages of both worlds.
If I have time today, or tomorrow I will create a HowTo about bitperfect mode + equalizer + real-time audio server in userland.
 
LillieNB said:
The chip in that device is from the same family as my current onboard soundchip so, I think it should work, eventually.
After it arrives on Monday, I will tell whether the sound chip is compatible with bitperfect mode or not.
Click to expand...
The chip has nothing to do with compatiility. the chip is entirely internal to the device, and isn't a factor. As cracauer@ mentioned, it's the USB class 2 support that matters (for USB output, that is). That's all your computer sees: the usb device. The amazon (.com, I can't get the the .de version) listing has lots of nice icons and words, but doesn't specify whether the USB is class 2 or not. It's strongly implied, but not explicitely spelled out.

SO, make sure to come back here (to this thread) and let us know when you do get it working (or not).
 
LillieNB said:
It needs driver for Windows, but no driver for Mac OSX 10.6 upwards, and Linux.
Click to expand...
Windows needs to install drivers for every crap, even if you plug in your mouse to a different port it needs to re-install the driver. so that advertising platform is definitely not a reference...

The DAC is a plain standard USB AUDIO/MQA HID device, so yes, it will work:
Code: 
ugen0.2: <SMSL SMSL USB AUDIO> at usbus0
uaudio0 on uhub1
uaudio0: <SMSL USB AUDIO> on usbus0
uaudio0: Play[0]: 384000 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: Play[0]: 352800 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: Play[0]: 192000 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: Play[0]: 176400 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: Play[0]: 96000 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: Play[0]: 88200 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: Play[0]: 48000 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: Play[0]: 44100 Hz, 2 ch, 32-bit S-LE PCM format, 2x8ms buffer.
uaudio0: No recording.
uaudio0: No MIDI sequencer.
pcm7: <USB audio> on uaudio0
uaudio0: No HID volume keys found.
usbhid5 on uhub1
usbhid5: <SMSL USB AUDIO (MQA HID)> on usbus0
hidbus5: <HID bus> on usbhid5
hidraw5: <SMSL SMSL USB AUDIO Raw HID Device> on hidbus5
That's a DL200, but the DO400 (and pretty much all current SMSL DACs AFAIK...) also uses the XMOS XU316 USB interface.


Usually you can even switch them between USB 2.0 and legacy 1.1 mode, in which pretty much everything but your toaster can use it without a driver (don't. you absolutely want the asynchronous 2.0 mode).
 
sko said:
Windows needs to install drivers for every crap, even if you plug in your mouse to a different port it needs to re-install the driver. so that advertising platform is definitely not a reference...
Click to expand...
Did not know that, or did not notice that Windows reinstall even existing drivers for every device.


sko said:
That's a DL200, but the DO400 (and pretty much all current SMSL DACs AFAIK...) also uses the XMOS XU316 USB interface.
Click to expand...
One thing I wanted to ask.
I originally planned to buy the DL200 which you have, because I achieved to run OSS in bitperfect mode with ffmpegs parametric equalizer (anequalizer) with 10 band settings for the focal utopia 2022 revision, and noticed a huge sound difference, but my soundcard just as you said is a whimsy toy that cannot quite drive this headphones. I get noise, and a light crisp sound at some points in almost all flac files.

Before buying the DL200 DAC/AMP I noticed that there is a full balanced DAC/AMP the one I listed above so, I thought buying it, because my headphones also are balanced (have two inputs).
Do you think it would make a difference driving the utopia 2022 on the DL200 DAC/AMP vs driving the utopia 2022 on the DO400 sound quality wise ?
The main purpose is to get the already equalized file output from the PC to the headphones through the DAC/AMP so, the DAC/AMP only acts as a transmitter in this case.
 
The DL200 also has a balanced output; I'm currently powering a pair of Fiio FT1 Pro planar headphones as my "daily drivers" from that output.
While the DL200 only does the amplification part separate for both channels, the DO400 is fully balanced, i.e. the two channels processed individually right from the DAC. The question if this difference is in fact audible has been part of far too many heated discussions - so one should either trust the hard, scientific facts of actual measurements, or perform a blind A/B listening test to decide...
 
Might should add a bit about USB class 2 audio.

Windows 10 (and, it seems, 11) does NOT support Class2 audio out of the box. This is what that windows driver is mostly for (i.e. it's not really a driver for the specific device, but just for usb class 2 audio in general).

Linux supports USB Class 2 audio in the kernel (and has for a long time).

FreeBSD supports USB class 2 audio in the kernal as well.

But ... even devices that claim to be USB class 2 compliant are often not actually very compliant, and will happliy #@$%!$# your $#&*$@ at every ^%#%#@!@#$ opportunity.

To deal with this, the Linux driver has a large list of devices and their peculiarities so it can work around the ... problems. This is the work of many, many people over a long time. FreeBSD does not have the people-power to curate such a list of workarounds (and the linux workdounds are GPL'd, and so not license compatible with FreeBSD). As such, while linux may work with most devices, FreeBSD will only work with the better devices where better is defined as truly class-2 compliant (or at least not too egregiously #$%^%$#@).
 
Ok...
The SMSL DO400 DAC/AMP was delivered yesterday pretty late in the evening.
I tested it out with bitperfect mode, eq, and without any filtering or sound alteration settings the device provides.

After plugging the power adapter in, the device got on, but after a few seconds it turned off.
I turned it on again, but it turned right after a few seconds off.
That I did to fix it was to change the angle of the power adapter cable, because the device has loose connection issues.
Every single time it moves slightly, the device goes off.
For example, when I rotate the button to increase the volume.

Next thing, I could play music for about 15 minutes then the device overheated, and turned itself off.
I tried to put the device next to a window so that it could be cooled by the air coming in, but it did only delay the second shutdown for 5 to 10 minutes.

I could not let things be as they are, and searched for an alternative which I could use since this device is clearly defect.
Instead of DAC/AMPs I found out that there are audio interfaces.
Searching for FreeBSD compatible audio interfaces I found the Motu M2.
It seems to be great for listening to audio, and has a ESS Sabre32 Ultra DAC which by some user reviews delivers clear sound in that interface.
Another benefit it seems to have is low-latency.

This are the specs for my headphone:
  • Frequency response (+/- 3dB) :
    5 Hz – 23 kHz
  • Harmonic distortion rate : <0.2 % @ 1 kHz / 100 dB SPL
  • Impedance : 80 Ω
  • Maximum SPL (peak@1m) :
    104 dB SPL
So, these are not hard to drive for the interface in question.
I ordered the interface on Monday in the night so, it is expected to be delivered tomorrow, or on Thursday.

After I have tested out the Motu M2 I will reply to this thread again.
 
angry_vincent said:
Motu M2 is the device I also considering to get. And it is highly regarded exactly for being one of the best low latency devices among all.
Click to expand...
There is another concurrent for Motu M2 called Steinberg UR22C.
Motu M4 is regarded well, but looking at comparisons M4 only has two inputs more.
Regarding the audio listening aspect nothing changes.

Steinberg UR22C is somewhere near to the Motu M2, but both are for their quality very affordable compared to DACs.
Especially the M2 compares with $1000+ DAC/AMPs (Quoted from their site: "The same converter technology used in audio interfaces costing thousands").
Now I am interested whether the Focal Utopia 2022 can shine with them. The SMSL DO400 somehow lacked in quality.
 
LillieNB said:
Motu M4 is regarded well, but looking at comparisons M4 only has two inputs more.
Click to expand...
It has indeed 4 inputs and outputs. I had the chance to play with an M4 some time ago. You can use audio/virtual_oss to address the ports, as stereo pairs as well as individually. I liked the M4. Please note that the devices you mention are not just DAC with an amplifier, they're also ADC. If you don´t need to record anything you won´t need that.
 
Tieks said:
It has indeed 4 inputs and outputs. I had the chance to play with an M4 some time ago. You can use audio/virtual_oss to address the ports, as stereo pairs as well as individually. I liked the M4. Please note that the devices you mention are not just DAC with an amplifier, they're also ADC. If you don´t need to record anything you won´t need that.
Click to expand...
I have now tried the Motu M2 audio interface, too.
Sadly it does absolutely not work in bitperfect mode, it does not matter what I did.
Using virtual channels did partly work as some music plaid, and some music sounded corrupted, and it is not the file as I tried my onboard chipset again, and that file worked without any corruptions.
I tried recommended settings with the Motu M2, too in vchannel mode, but no luck at all.
For bitperfect settings, I applied the same settings I set for the SMSL DO400 (which worked with that device).

Today, I looked at some recommendations and a review of the Topping A70 Pro and E70 9028Pro DAC/AMP.
I decided to go with the Topping A70 Pro DAC/AMP as it is considered to be very well, and the chipset is the same as in the SMSL DO400 so, bitperfect audio mode should work well.
The Topping A70 Pro will be delivered tomorrow.
After detailed testing, I will reply here again.
 
Bad news again...
The Topping a70 pro DAC/AMP is recognized as a mass storage device on FreeBSD as well as Windows so, it cannot be run through the USB-C port.
But, I will not give up, and my next DAC/AMP has a USB-C, USB-A, and many other ports, and 2xESS 9038Pro (the same chip as in the SMSL DO400) so, it should work on FreeBSD with the bitperfect mode and parametric equalization.

The DAC/AMP in question is FiiO K9 Pro ESS Skylight.
According to some sources it is more than enough to drive my headphones.
This DAC/AMP will be delievered either tomorrow, or Monday.
I will write again, once I have tested this DAC/AMP, too.
 
NapoleonWils0n said:
i had a portable Fiio dac and it worked perfectly with Freebsd
however the battery has swollen and its not unusable
Click to expand...
I guess you mean not usable ?
Some time ago I had a FiiO BTR 7 device, and liked it.
I am happy that FiiO works with FreeBSD as it will save me the hassle to buy, send back for refund, and rebuy DAC/AMPs again.
 
I have a FiiO Olympus 2 and it works with FreeBSD out of the box.
Basically what has been stated before: If it shows up as a USB audio class endpoint you're good to go.

If you want something more fancy with EQ settings and what not you might be able to set the values using a different operating system and then still use the device as a USB audio interface under FreeBSD. That is if those settings are retained by the device itself.

LillieNB said:
The Topping a70 pro DAC/AMP is recognized as a mass storage device on FreeBSD as well as Windows so, [...]
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that an USB device can provide multiple endpoints. It can present both a mass storage device as well as an audio device. Have a look at the actual endpoints.
 
It brings out different USB device compositions..

USB in a NutShell - Chapter 5 - USB Descriptors

Details the USB descriptors including the Device, Configuration, Interface, Endpoint and String Descriptors
www.beyondlogic.org www.beyondlogic.org

So do a usbconfig -d ugen0.0 dump_device_desc and look for bNumConfigurations and see if it has a value more than one.
If so you have something else inside which might be undocumented.
bNumConfigurations = 0x0001
Click to expand...
 
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