Khadas Tone Board

Khadas Tone Board unboxing video on Youtube.  You deserve it! Buy on Amazon.com

Hi-Res Audio Board Designed for Music Fanatic.

Khadas Tone Board is an amazing USB external Hi-Fi sound card in Khadas family.
Its excellent performance and compatibility will take the listening experience into a whole new level.
And that’s just the beginning…

Inherit Khadas Consistent Breakthrough Design.

We integrated XMOS advanced multi-core RISC architecture microcontroller and ESS flagship 32-Bit stereo mobile audio
DAC ES9038Q2M in such a small PCB. And, we choose 3 independent high performance OPA and
4 ultra-low phase jitter oscillator for best noise reduction. The same as you think,
each power supply path is powered by an independent, ultra-low noise
power supply and the OPA is powered up to ±5.5V.
There are a lot of examples of such designs, but in general,
we try our best to get better performance through optimal design.

Flexible Interfaces Support Secondary Development

Khadas aspires to help the DIY enthusiasts grow by achieving their ideas and dreams step by step, as well as Tone Board.
Khadas Tone Board has 2 RCAs for analog output @ 2.0Vrms
and 1 RCA for S/PDIF in or out.

For Extension:

• One 30-Pins FPC connector for 8 channels analog output extension
• Two 10-Pins FPC connectors for OLED display and I2S extension

And Others:

• One 40-Pins female header is used for connecting VIMs
• One 20-Pins SMT header for debugging XMOS and VIMs

Of course, users can enjoy Tone Board via USB-C interface and Tone Board is a ideally choice for audio developers for obvious reasons.

More good News:
Khadas new heatsink can fit with VIMs and Tone Board.
Convenient for customers to develop and Mold/Enclosure/Case design
So that the customized product can evolve from idea to reality ASAP.

• Khadas Tone + VIMs connected through GPIO Pins
• Generic Edition won't have GPIO Pins on board.
• Tone + VIMs will have GPIO Pins

Key Performance Parameters:

THD+N ≤ 0.000337%

Tone Board has excellent THD+N parameter that means we can

barely hear the distortion over the THD+N signal ratio.

SNR ≥ 120dB

The higher the SNR means the clearer the sound in audio system.
Generally, the SNR need to be lower than 110 dB in Hi-Res audio system.

DNR ≥ 120dB

The DNR which let’s hear a wide range and very subtle sounds,
meanwhile, the sound field is horizontal and vertical,
and the sense of space and layering is like a live concert.

Crosstalk (Channel Separation) ≥ 127dB

The higher the crosstalk separation, the higher the isolation level of the
left and right channel so that you can get stunning stereo effects.

Frequency Response ± 0.08dB

Tone Board can output stable enough signals at each frequency point. For the bass,
the low frequency sound is enough but not boom and no dryness, and the alto,
the person’s Voice of middle frequency is close to the front,
the tooth sound is clear and it has the high definition and
the degree of separation, finally the treble is not sharp
and it’s transparent with depth.

Sample Rate and Compatibility.

The XMOS USB audio to ensure a rock-solid connection. We selected to use the
XMOS XU208 microcontroller for its stability, powerful functionality,
and its reliability. You can be sure that the Tone Board will just
work when connected to most audio sources,
such as computers and mobile media terminals.

Ultra-low Phase Noise Clock Jitter.

The SiTime ultra performance oscillator SiT820&8209 series with just 0.5ps phase jitter
and output frequency stability as low as ± 10PPM. We chose it as a reference clock
in our audio system so that the data clock jitter < 30ps.

Multiple Audio Formats.

Tone Board supports mainstream lossless audio formats such as
APE, FLAC, OGG, WAV, ACC, ALAC, MP3, WMA…

More Design Details.

As we known, Tone Board is an amazing audio sound card with excellent audio architecture and very elegant
material selection, there are more design details that we can’t help sharing with you.

Outstanding PCB Design:

one Board has reasonable PCB stack-up and layout,

which was designed with 4 layers immersion gold PCB process

in order to get better analog signal quality and excellent power integrity.

Professional Tuning:

Professional instruments APx555 has high-performance and modular two-channel audio analyzer, which is the new standard-performance and versatility in audio analysis to test and tune Tone Board.

Different Components and Solder Wires:

In order to study the influence of different material resistance, capacitors and solder wires on audio quality, we have tested many times and finally chose the most suitable

Music Fanatic Audition：

Thanks for the music fanatics giving us many valuable advices !

Specially Customized Cables.

For different audio cables and connecters, we did lots of tests. Finally we specially customized
RCA-3.5mm cables and 3.5mm extension cables.

Customized Headphones and Earbuds.

Finally, there is an exciting news that we specially tuning and customized headphones and earbuds for music fanatics.
It is worth having it.

Focus on Ergonomics, KH series is a comfortable headphone that can be accompany
you enjoy music for a whole day.

KE Series are Triple Drivers Hybrid Earbuds for music fanatics.

Khadas Tone Board Specifications
Edition	VIMs Edition	Generic Edition
XMOS	XU208-128-QF48 8 xCores, Core Share up to 500 MIPS
DAC	ES9038Q2M 32-Bit Stereo Mobile Audio DAC
THD+N	≤ 0.000337% @1KHz
SNR	≥ 120dB @ 10Hz~20KHz
DNR	≥ 120dB @ 10Hz~20KHz
Crosstalk	≥ 127dB @ 10Hz~20KHz
Frequency Response	±0.08 dB @ 10Hz~20KHz
Sample Rate	PCM: Up to 768KHz @ 32bit DSD: Up to DSD256 @ 1bit
Clock Jitter	Reference Clock Jitter < 3ps Data Clock Jitter < 30 ps
Audio Formats	APE2/FLAC/OGG/WAV/ACC/ALAC/MP3/WMA…
Line Out	1x Red RCA for Right Channel, 1 x White RCA for Left Channel
Indicator	White LED x1
Mounting Holes	Size M2 x 5
FPC Connector	30-Pin 0.5mm Pitch: for 8 Channels Extension
FPC Connectors	10-Pin 0.5mm Pitch: for VIMs I2S Extension 10-Pin 0.5mm Pitch: for OLED Display	NC
S/PDIF IN	Up to 192KHz	Up to 192KHz
S/PDIF OUT	Yes	Not Support
USB-C Port	NC	Power Supply(5V/500mA) & USB 2.0 Data
40-PIN Header	2.54mm Pitch Female	Not Soldered
20-PIN Header	2.54mm Pitch	Not Soldered
Dimensions	82.0 x 74.5 x 24.0 mm	82.0 x 74.5 x 17.0 mm
Compatibility	Android [1] LibreELEC Linux Distros(Support Volumio)	Windows PC Linux PC macOS Raspberry Pi [2]
In the Box	Tone Board VIMs Edition Screws set	Tone Board Gerneric Edition Screws set Header: 40 PIN Female Header: 20 PIN
[1] Android support only 44.1KHz output due to the Sample Rate Conversion(SRC) resampling implementations.
[2] Should also support other Single Board Computers(SBCs)