PLAINDAC + PLAINDSP: UNIVERSAL I2S DAC'S FROM UNDER 10,- €

[PolyPV]

Hi all,

we are proud to introduce our Plain series DAC's to the audio DIY community.

Finally it's here. A high quality I2S DAC below the 10,- Euro barrier.
A perfect match in price, size and quality with a lot of single-board-computers out there.
Only 42 x 17 mm and can be mounted nearly everywhere.

We are offering 3 different levels:

PlainDAC
Equipped with a PCM5100 from TI (SNR 100 dB) and a dedicated LDO for the analog part.
This is a perfect match if you want to connect the output to an amp or music system that have their own volume control.
https://polyvection.com/shop/plaindac/

PlainDAC+
PlainDAC+ is populated with a PCM5121 (SNR 106 dB) and does also feature a separate LDO.
Additionally this one adds integrated hardware volume control and access to GPIO4 of the DAC.
https://polyvection.com/shop/plaindac-plus/

PlainDSP
This one is the most advanced one. PCM5142 (SNR 112 dB) is used and again a dedicated LDO.
There is also volume control build in and additionally you have the possibility to make use of the build in DSP.
Currently we are working on a pice of SW that makes it possible to use two of this for a digital stereo crossover.
Some basic EQ functions are also on it's way.
https://polyvection.com/shop/plaindsp/

If you are using a Raspberry: all three are compatible with the hifiberry drivers which are integrated in the official kernel.
For everybody else we have created a little cmdline application that allows you to startup and control the DAC's directly from userspace. You just need to check that generic I2S output is enabled.

We are located in Germany and are shipping to a lot of countries.
If you have questions feel free to send them to info[at]polyvection.com or drop me a PM.

Best wishes,
Philip.

[gkkpch]

The PlainDAC works very well with RuneAudio and an Odroid-C1+.
For more details, see http://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=115&t=16260

[jcoman]

Just wanted to post my results:

I have 4 of the RPi Model As, and I've put PlainDACs on each of them. They work wonderfully, a ton better than the built-in audio. They are a little loud for the amps I'm using (Sure Electronics Class D/Ts), so I had to add a passive attenuator to the line level between the DAC and the amp, but a couple of 10K resistors, and voila! Now no more hiss/hum at low volume levels!

They fit nicely in pretty much every Pi case (I used the Pi tins from Sparkfun), and they don't require an external power supply, so I would recommend them to anybody looking to improve the Pi's audio for not much money/hassle.

I used the PlainDAC instead of the PlainDac+ because as far as I can tell, the software volume control from Rune and the hardware volume control provided by the + model are the same method (dithering on the digital stream before it hits the DAC).