40k will do?
Yep. I measured 4k ohm output impedance from the balanced outputs.
So 40k ohm input impedance is factor of 10 - all good.
Just burn NAA OS image to RPi4 and lovely sound.
Make sure you buy the balanced cables innoMaker sell too.
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They have a case now too ! 
If you want an Hifi Dac pro, choose the top : double mono and clean power !!
But itās worth assessing your real needsā¦ 
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Iāve measured the innoMaker it is well designed.
Havenāt seen any decent measurements of the Ian Canada one.
I can tell you that from doing lots of measurements the past 12 months two DAC chips does not automatically make a DAC good - all depends on implementation (everything around the DAC chips)
And most of their specs are pulled from the ESS datasheet.
Their actual HAT cannot support DSD512 inputā¦ even though they say this on their website (because ESS datasheet says it)
innoMaker say the same. But it is good with PCM353kHz input.
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Mmh, compared today the InnoMaker hat on my bathroom endpoint with active speakers against the ifi audio Gryphon and for me the difference in the SQ is too great for using the InnoMaker hat.
Tried it with and without hqplayer and two power supplies. The only advantage is the hardware mixer, which can controlled with Flirc, but also here Iād some problems (jumps sometimes to vol 0, while changing the volume), but this can be an issue in RoPieeeXLā¦
Yeh I simply use Jussiās own NAA OS image.
From the Gryphon measurements Iāve seen, the Innomaker measures better
But the Gryphon does bit perfect DSD conversion to analogue, per this thread topic
Not sure about sound quality - we all have different preferences
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Shure, everyone has different preferences, but for me the Gryphon sounds much better (measurements are for me only s starting point).
In which way can I use Flirc with the NAA OS image?
Volume control with the Touch screen id smooth with the InnoMaker, but not with Flirc.
@dabassgoesboomboom
Should I wait for this one:
S.M.S.L D6S ES9039Q2M Digital to Analog Convertor (DAC) (shenzhenaudio.com)
Or going with the S.M.S.L D-6?
The d-6 is working (now in my bath room) perfectly, also with directly DSD (then in the DAC the volume control is disabled) and native DSD (upto DSD512) is possible with RopieeeXL.
It might measure better than D-6
But since it has an ESS DAC chip, you cannot bypass the ESS modulator.
The D-6 DAC running in DSD Direct mode (AKM 4493S) allows you to use HQPlayer modulator if you output DSD.
D-6 is excellent enough in my opinion. Get TRS to XLR cables to use the balanced outputs.
SMSL has multiple new AKM 4499EX DACs now but unknown how they perform.
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Do we have information if this also applies to the ES9039Q2M chip? I canāt find anything at the moment.
This information has been available for a decade or more for ESS chips.
Google ES9039Q2M datasheetās block diagram and compare to AK4993S for example
Yes you can see modulator not bypassed there
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What 9039 changed from earlier is that new āDSD FIR with VOLā block that didnāt exist before.
Overall, the volume control has been moved to earlier phase in the DSP pipeline.
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Thanks guys for the clarification.
I have now ordered an SMSL D6 as a starting point for upsampling tests with HQPlayer.
In the meantime, I can take my time and see what other solutions the market has to offer. I hope that at some point someone will present us with a great RPI DAC HAT solution that also supports DSD natively, preferably with an AKM chip.
I heard on the diyaudio.com forum that you can get DSD natively out of an RPI with GentooPlayer and a Diretta driver.
Maybe someone can say something about this. I need to do more research first.
You can get it with any sw ā¦ if you use usb output ā¦ my rpi4/RoPieee/NAA can do up to DSD512 due to my dac specs but you can go up to DSD1024 ā¦ at least
Iām not talking about usb, I mean i2s.