XMOS XU208 32Bit 384kHz DXD DSD256 DSD reclock SPDIF USB I2S in/out PCB

This item includes XMOS XU208 384kHz DXD DSD256 high-quality USB to/from I2S, to DSD/SPDIF PCB (and 2.54mm spacing 10x2row gold plated header pins, JST-XH 2pin white socket)

FAQ:

1) What is the different between XU208 XMOS PCB and XU216 XMOS PCB?

The firmware in our XU208 and XU216 stereo PCB is compatible with the default windows inbox usb audio 2.0 driver. No extra driver installation is needed and the XU208 PCB can support 384k PCM I2S in out for stereo playback and recording.

The firmware in our XU216 multichannel PCB is designed to require additional driver installation for use in Windows 10/11(as of 202203). The full feature version windows signed driver is available in the our store.

For the latest version of MAC and Linux, no driver installation is needed for all of our xmos PCB. Please notes Windows default inbox driver does not support ASIO, it only support WASAPI to playback PCM and DSD. 

XU208 is using smaller TQ64 package and XU216 is bigger TQ128 package. XU216 contains two XU208 in one silicon, the processing power of XU216 is double.

2) Which PCB sounds better, XU208 or XU216?

For normal usage, the sound quality is the same. The default inbox windows usb audio 2.0 driver has a little bit higher latency, but it only affect advanced recording usage. If the room environment contains a large amount of EMI noise(from the behind equipment), our XU216 pcb with the full feature version driver can sound better technically due to the feedback method used.

3) Can I use the free lite version or the full feature version windows driver with the XU208 PCB?

Yes, full feature version driver can reduce the latency. But XU216 pcb with the full feature version driver still sound better in EMI noise environment technically.

Feature:

1) XMOS XCORE-200 XU208 with 1 Tiles 8 Cores upto 1000MIPS real time processing power in dual issue mode. The latest xmos xCORE-200 includes unique hardware divider and it is used to generate the I2S bit-clock from the oscillator directly(old xmos BGA U8 uses software divider). Asynchronous reclock usb audio data to I2S signal for all the modern DAC standard input.

2) Support upto 32bit 384kHz 2 channel input and 2 channel output or DSD256(native) two channel output. I2S input and output is working at the same sampling rate.

3) 4 layer gold plated PCB, Solid ground plane (a must for high speed digital circuit)

4) NDK NZ2520SDA Ultra low phase noise oscillator and Murata capacitor sourced from Japan directly (guarantee no fake product from China)
According to the official datasheet, the phase noise of NZ2520SD is much better than the famous crystek 957 under 25khz(human listenable range)
For easier comparsion(lower is better), we overlay the two phase noise graph at the same scale, under 25khz(human listenable range) nz2520sd(red line) is better, over 25khz(human unlistenable range) crystek 957 is better.

5) No switch mode power supplies in the PCB

6) Sampling rate and bits depth is displayed directly on the 128x64 OLED panel. OLED display is the latest technology with highest contrast, complete dark background, full viewing angle and it looks much better than the commonly used LCD display

7) Sampling rate can be displayed on the 14x LED PCB

8) Compact size 50mm x 50mm

9) PCB is powered by external 3.3V 800mA regulated supply on the white JST-XH 2pin 2.54mm spacing socket, it is usually connected to the same 3.3v digital power DAC is using(warning: over-voltage or reverse-voltage can damage the xmos chip immediately, double check before power on)

*No driver is needed for MAC OS version 10.6.4  and above

*No driver installation is required for Linux with UAC2 compliant kernel

*No drivers is needed for Windows 10/11

*DSD256 only support in native mode (for windows requires >=v3 driver version)

Please check your DAC should support the following I2S signal specification to decode each sampling rate:

*The I2S data output from XMOS is always 32bit(BCLK/LRCK/2=32), the USB audio data received from computer can be 16bit, 24bit or 32bit.

DSD playback steps using foobar2000 in Microsoft Windows 10 default inbox driver(no extra driver installation) 202203:

1. Download and install the latest version of Foobar2000 from the official website (the latest version tested to work is v1.6.10)

http://www.foobar2000.org/download

2. Download and install the official WASAPI output plug-in for Foobar2000

https://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi

3. Download the latest version of Super Audio CD Decoder plug-in for Foobar2000

http://sourceforge.net/projects/sacddecoder/files/foo_input_sacd/

3a) unzip the downloaded file to a folder, foo_input_sacd-1.4.8.zip

3b) Foobar > Files > Perferences > Components > Install > foo_input_sacd.fb2k-component

4a. Configure the output device: Foobar > Files > Perferences > Playback > Output > Device (WASAPI(event):speakers(DIYINHK USB Audio 2.0))

4b. Configure for DSD output: Foobar > Files > Perferences > Tools > SACD > Output(per device) > Type DSD

5. Set the windows mixer to full volume when playback DSD

More detail: http://www.google.com/search?q=foobar+dsd

User guide:

1. External regulated 3.3V power supply is connected to the 2 pins JST-XH 2.54mm spacing white header 3.3v GND.

(the current usage is ~350mA 3.3V when playback 44.1kHz, ~450mA when playback 384kHz. If OLED and led panel and dac pcb is connected, additional current will be drawn)

2. For DSD playback, LRCK= DSD D1(Left channel), DATA= DSD D2(right channel), BCK = DSD Bit Clock.

3. For DSD playback, windows volume mixer must be set to full volume.

(If the pcb is flashed with specific DAC chip bit perfect volume control firmware, DSD playback volume is allowed to change in the operating system volume mixer)

4. If you do not play DSD from the computer, the PCB will not output DSD signal. It's the same as our old PCB without DSD

5. This 384K PCB is pin to pin compitiable with our original BGA XMOS 384k PCB, user can replace and upgrade directly. The DIN for ADC input is assigned to one of the middle pin in the 20pin header, this pin is used for ground in the old pin assignment.

6. Different DAC require different software command to switch between DSD and PCM mode. Please read the corresponding DAC datasheet for detail.

8. Use a fresh install of windows and a dedicated USB port always avoid problem and run stable

9. The length of I2S connection to your DAC chip should be as short as possible for best result and below 10cm is recommended

Tips:

1. There are cheap USB Type-C cable in the market that can only be used for charging, it contains no data signal wiring inside and it cannot not be used for data transfer or USB audio playback.

2. This XMOS PCB is only working when either one of USB Type-c or USB type-B cable is connected. If one cable is connected to the computer and one cable is hanging around, the pcb cannot be detected.

*This item is in limited stock, maximum two per buyer. Please contact us if you want to buy more than two.

*OEM are welcome, free customized logo on the bottom right corner of the OLED display for 100pcs+ only.

*The free 4.13 xmos driver do not directly support 384k in windows 10. Please use the default inbox windows 10 driver. i.e. no driver installation is needed, this pcb is plug and play in windows 10. The full feature signed windows 7/8/10 v4.67+ driver in the store can also support this new PCB.