Allo Katana DAC

[Tim Curtis]

Hi,

Here's a few pics of Katana 1.2 :-)

Each board in the stack is listed below.

Microcontroller
Analog Output (SQ optimized version)
Katana DAC (ES9038Q2M in Master mode)
Isolator 1.2 
Raspberry Pi-3A+

It was apparent after listening to the first few albums that sound quality was in another league compared to my other DAC's. What struck me right away was bass quality, detail/realism and a very pleasing analog-like overall sound. I played Classical and Jazz Guitar for many years and I know how certain instruments sound and what I heard was very realistic and very dynamic :-))

After I get some more listening time under my belt I'll post my list of "reference" albums and I'll try to describe what I'm hearing in more detail. I'll also swap in the other Analog Output board (THD optimized) and see how that changes the sound.

Temperature levels off at a nice and cool 48C :-)

Code:

pi@rp3:~ $ ./sysmon.php
CPU: 1.4 GHz | LOAD: 1% | TEMP: 48°C | RAM_USED: 43% | DISK_USED: 35% | CORES: 4 | ARCH: armv7ll

               

-Tim