Khadas are designing the Tone 2

Matthew · February 17, 2020, 11:29am

Khadas are designing the tone 2 here are some photos .

ravelo · February 17, 2020, 8:29pm

apparently, the need was to make a lower profile tb , but why ?
compared to tb1, tb2 seems to have smaller, lighter rca connectors, a second usb socket, and 2 additionnal coaxial connectors : maybe one for power supply and the other for optical in/out ??

RDFTKV · February 17, 2020, 9:07pm

Does the second image show a combination optical/coaxial connector? Also highlighted in the first image, "Designed & Customized for Tone2.

jgalt91 · February 18, 2020, 4:24am

Does this Tone 2 fix the ES9038Q2M buzzing others were commenting here and in other audiophile forums? It was the ES DAC problem not Khada’s fault, but maybe they have released a fixed DAC without problems? If I remember correctly there were various DACs from them affected by it

arnuks · February 18, 2020, 9:44pm

Will second usb be clean usb audio out?

ABSNimes · February 19, 2020, 3:02pm

Can’t see any balanced outputs…
Hope they can be soldered on the PCB
Too few hints by now, wait & see

Gouwa · February 19, 2020, 4:23pm

Yep, you can’t see by eyes, but it’s confirmed that the Tone2 support Balanced outputs

ABSNimes · February 21, 2020, 11:03am

Great to read your input Gouwa, thanks.
Some more informations please :

2 ESS chips used ?
Pads on the PCB for DIYers ?
ESS chip Hump solved ?
Optical Toslink/RCA SPDIF combo connector ?
24bits/192KHz support for above connector ?
Bare stuffed board available without box (optional) ?

BTW I’m awaiting firmly your newcomer

RRZC777 · March 4, 2020, 12:36pm

Hope it can be made thinner.

jgalt91 · March 5, 2020, 3:40pm

I don’t think it can be thinner than what it is now unless they put a minijack instead of RCAs (which would be a horrible decision for a HIFI DAC)

Gouwa · March 6, 2020, 2:25am

We just designed a brand new RCA Jack, and the thickness reduce from 13.8MM(1st Gen Tone Board) to 10.0MM:

RCA Jack for Gen1 KTB

Customized RCA Jack for Tone2

Matthew · March 6, 2020, 8:08am

Thank you for all the new information on the tone 2 it keeps us anticipating how good it is going to be.

trululu85 · May 13, 2020, 11:24pm

hello guys, is there any news on this? can’t wait for khadas 2

destine1 · July 10, 2020, 5:54pm

How’s the Tone 2 coming along?

AKBAAR · July 11, 2020, 6:17pm

its comming!!! Tone 2

Vladimir.v.v · July 11, 2020, 7:17pm

yes, at the moment the information has not been updated regarding TB2

Electr1 · July 12, 2020, 4:25am

Man, you are more Hyped up than any one else right now, May god bless you with a new TONE2

Vladimir.v.v · July 12, 2020, 10:38am

it’s good that TB has its fans!

ABSNimes · July 14, 2020, 12:30pm

Tone Board 2 is delivered with a new RCA Jack : Ring the Bell !
“A major unexpected discovery which considerably slowed down the production of TB.”

Please Khadas, be serious !
Say you’re hardly working on TB2, hiring some skilled guys, expected availability timeline, etc…
More than 12 monthes without real informations and facts about TB2 !!!

What about solving ESS Hump for TB1 ?
Is there a guide for DIYers for troubleshooting ?
Which parts to replace & which value ?
Acting this way would increase your customer care…

Disapointed (again)

jgalt91 · July 14, 2020, 1:15pm

That’s been discussed in audiophile forums, and if I remember correctly and it’s a problem of ESS chips (I don’t know if they fixed it already in new DACs) so Khadas can’t do anything to fix the Tone Board 1.

I agree sometimes customers/users need a lot of patience but also this kind of projects, specially those that involve hardware design, compatibility, etc. take time and a lot of testing as you can fix software bugs but not hardware ones once you already shipped it. Tone Board 1 was competing quality wise with other much more expensive DACs, so you got a high quality, cheap priced DAC, and you also want it right now. Too much asking, no?