Is the on-chip volume control on the ES9028/38 supported by Moode??

[ken300]

Hi,

I've got an Allo Kali / Piano 2.1 setup at the moment feeding straight into a power amplifier (no pre-amp). Bypassing the pre-amp gave an big improvement in sound quality so i want to avoid having one in the future.

All the dacs that i've used (RPi HATs) have been based on the PCM15** chips and they've all had 'hardware' volume control (built into the chip itself?) so as the volume is turned down there isn't a huge loss in sound quality, I listen at very low volumes (about 10%) so this is a big benefit. All of these dacs have suffered from clicking at start of playback though and I'd like to try a Sabre ES90** based dac. These ES90** chips don't usually have an on-chip volume control (I think only the latest ES9028QM2 and ES9038QM2 have), i don't want to use a pre-amp but if i use 'software' volume control it will lead to a big reduction in sound quality at my usual listening volumes!

I notice that Moode now supports the Allo Katana which uses the ES9038Q2M, including being able to use the volume control on that chip simply by selecting 'hardware' as the mixer type just like on the PCM51** dacs that i currently use.

If i got an Audiophonics ES9028Q2M or ES9038Q2M and selected the 'ES9028' driver in Moode, could i then just choose 'hardware' for the volume control too or would i be limited to 'software' volume only??

[Tim Curtis]

Hi,

Software volume only. moOde just uses a generic I2S driver (hifiberry-dac or rpi-dac) for the Audiophonics boards because AFAIK, Audiophonics has never submitted ESS drivers for acceptance in mainline Linux kernel.

Below is list of all driver overlays present in latest kernel.

Code:

pi@rp3:~ $ ls -l /boot/overlays
total 384
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1027 Aug  8 07:58 adau1977-adc.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1587 Aug  8 07:58 adau7002-simple.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2425 Aug  8 07:58 ads1015.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2425 Aug  8 07:58 ads1115.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2426 Aug  8 07:58 ads7846.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1798 Aug  8 07:58 adv7282m.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1387 Aug  8 07:58 akkordion-iqdacplus.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1473 Aug  8 07:58 allo-boss-dac-pcm512x-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1208 Aug  8 07:58 allo-digione.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1659 Aug  8 07:58 allo-katana-dac-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1011 Aug  8 07:58 allo-piano-dac-pcm512x-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1585 Aug  8 07:58 allo-piano-dac-plus-pcm512x-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1454 Aug  8 07:58 applepi-dac.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1668 Aug  8 07:58 at86rf233.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2144 Aug  8 07:58 audioinjector-addons.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   787 Aug  8 07:58 audioinjector-wm8731-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   575 Aug  8 07:58 audremap.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2138 Aug  8 07:58 balena-fin.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   449 Aug  8 07:58 bmp085_i2c-sensor.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   983 Aug  8 07:58 dht11.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   663 Aug  8 07:58 dionaudio-loco.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1027 Aug  8 07:58 dionaudio-loco-v2.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   765 Aug  8 07:58 dpi18.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   789 Aug  8 07:58 dpi24.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   856 Aug  8 07:58 dwc2.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   423 Aug  8 07:58 dwc-otg.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1403 Aug  8 07:58 enc28j60.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1279 Aug  8 07:58 enc28j60-spi2.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1562 Aug  8 07:58 exc3000.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1932 Aug  8 07:58 fe-pi-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1437 Aug  8 07:58 goodix.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1259 Aug  8 07:58 googlevoicehat-soundcard.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1212 Aug  8 07:58 gpio-ir.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1096 Aug  8 07:58 gpio-ir-tx.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1373 Aug  8 07:58 gpio-key.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   258 Aug  8 07:58 gpio-no-irq.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   994 Aug  8 07:58 gpio-poweroff.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1250 Aug  8 07:58 gpio-shutdown.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1662 Aug  8 07:58 hd44780-lcd.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   779 Aug  8 07:58 hifiberry-amp.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   655 Aug  8 07:58 hifiberry-dac.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1693 Aug  8 07:58 hifiberry-dacplus.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   959 Aug  8 07:58 hifiberry-digi.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1125 Aug  8 07:58 hifiberry-digi-pro.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2468 Aug  8 07:58 hy28a.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2939 Aug  8 07:58 hy28b.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1318 Aug  8 07:58 i2c0-bcm2708.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   941 Aug  8 07:58 i2c1-bcm2708.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   270 Aug  8 07:58 i2c-bcm2708.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1035 Aug  8 07:58 i2c-gpio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2185 Aug  8 07:58 i2c-mux.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   644 Aug  8 07:58 i2c-pwm-pca9685a.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  3934 Aug  8 07:58 i2c-rtc.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  4635 Aug  8 07:58 i2c-rtc-gpio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  4402 Aug  8 07:58 i2c-sensor.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   343 Aug  8 07:58 i2s-gpio28-31.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1272 Aug  8 07:58 iqaudio-dac.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1511 Aug  8 07:58 iqaudio-dacplus.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1326 Aug  8 07:58 iqaudio-digi-wm8804-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  5212 Aug  8 07:58 jedec-spi-nor.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1276 Aug  8 07:58 justboom-dac.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   955 Aug  8 07:58 justboom-digi.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1348 Aug  8 07:58 lirc-rpi.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1916 Aug  8 07:58 ltc294x.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1605 Aug  8 07:58 mbed-dac.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1329 Aug  8 07:58 mcp23017.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 15229 Aug  8 07:58 mcp23s17.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1833 Aug  8 07:58 mcp2515-can0.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1833 Aug  8 07:58 mcp2515-can1.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  4237 Aug  8 07:58 mcp3008.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  4237 Aug  8 07:58 mcp3202.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  3438 Aug  8 07:58 media-center.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   720 Aug  8 07:58 midi-uart0.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   857 Aug  8 07:58 midi-uart1.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1099 Aug  8 07:58 mmc.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   796 Aug  8 07:58 mpu6050.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2850 Aug  8 07:58 mz61581.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2287 Aug  8 07:58 ov5647.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2356 Aug  8 07:58 papirus.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   569 Aug  8 07:58 pi3-act-led.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   818 Aug  8 07:58 pi3-disable-bt.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   265 Aug  8 07:58 pi3-disable-wifi.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1446 Aug  8 07:58 pi3-miniuart-bt.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2334 Aug  8 07:58 pibell.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2617 Aug  8 07:58 piscreen2r.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2713 Aug  8 07:58 piscreen.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2454 Aug  8 07:58 pisound.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1544 Aug  8 07:58 pitft22.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2385 Aug  8 07:58 pitft28-capacitive.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2802 Aug  8 07:58 pitft28-resistive.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2802 Aug  8 07:58 pitft35-resistive.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1145 Aug  8 07:58 pps-gpio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1057 Aug  8 07:58 pwm-2chan.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   946 Aug  8 07:58 pwm.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1031 Aug  8 07:58 pwm-ir-tx.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1315 Aug  8 07:58 qca7000.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 86222 Aug  8 07:58 README
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1922 Aug  8 07:58 rotary-encoder.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   489 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-backlight.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  3406 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-cirrus-wm5102.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   643 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-dac.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2598 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-display.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1018 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-ft5406.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   771 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-proto.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   893 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-sense.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   499 Aug  8 07:58 rpi-tv.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1298 Aug  8 07:58 rra-digidac1-wm8741-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1174 Aug  8 07:58 sc16is750-i2c.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1344 Aug  8 07:58 sc16is752-i2c.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1875 Aug  8 07:58 sc16is752-spi1.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   846 Aug  8 07:58 sdhost.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1729 Aug  8 07:58 sdio-1bit.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1797 Aug  8 07:58 sdio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   804 Aug  8 07:58 sdtweak.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   376 Aug  8 07:58 smi-dev.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   981 Aug  8 07:58 smi.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1508 Aug  8 07:58 smi-nand.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   919 Aug  8 07:58 spi0-cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   492 Aug  8 07:58 spi0-hw-cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1547 Aug  8 07:58 spi1-1cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1920 Aug  8 07:58 spi1-2cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2293 Aug  8 07:58 spi1-3cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1547 Aug  8 07:58 spi2-1cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1920 Aug  8 07:58 spi2-2cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2293 Aug  8 07:58 spi2-3cs.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   666 Aug  8 07:58 spi-gpio35-39.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   635 Aug  8 07:58 spi-rtc.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1968 Aug  8 07:58 superaudioboard.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 35594 Aug  8 07:58 sx150x.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1529 Aug  8 07:58 tc358743-audio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2380 Aug  8 07:58 tc358743.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  4878 Aug  8 07:58 tinylcd35.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   928 Aug  8 07:58 uart0.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   980 Aug  8 07:58 uart1.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   715 Aug  8 07:58 upstream-aux-interrupt.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  3215 Aug  8 07:58 upstream.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1412 Aug  8 07:58 vc4-fkms-v3d.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1136 Aug  8 07:58 vc4-kms-kippah-7inch.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  2367 Aug  8 07:58 vc4-kms-v3d.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root   758 Aug  8 07:58 vga666.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1116 Aug  8 07:58 w1-gpio.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1251 Aug  8 07:58 w1-gpio-pullup.dtbo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root  1080 Aug  8 07:58 wittypi.dtbo
pi@rp3:~ $

-Tim

[anhton82]

Hi Tim,
So on Moode 4.3 we still have hardware volume control with Katana Dac ? I consider about the issue like that, because I don't use a preamp too.
Thank you !

[Tim Curtis]

Yes, the nice 32-bit hardware volume control on ES9038 is fully supported in moOde 4.3 as are the chip options.
http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=435

-Tim