# DFRobot DAC Audio Decoder Board for Raspberry Pi 3B+/ 4B

**URL:** <https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267>\
**Category:** Hardware\
**Tags:** oram, audio-output, audio-input\
**Created:** [October 7, 2024, 6:57am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267 "2024-10-07T06:57:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 8\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![infinitymodular](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/infinitymodular/32/12471_2.png) [@infinitymodular](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/infinitymodular)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 6:57am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/1 "2024-10-07T06:57:17Z")

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Has anyone tried to use the [DAC Audio Decoder Board for Raspberry Pi 3B+/ 4B](https://www.dfrobot.com/product-2486.html) with zynthian?

I’m interested to know if this works, as it provides analog and digital audio IO. I’m also interested as to whether or not this would work on PI5. I’ve pinged the latter question to DFRobot.

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**Author:** ![riban](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/riban/32/2331_2.png) [@riban](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/riban)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 7:24am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/2 "2024-10-07T07:24:25Z")

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Hi @infinitymodular! A warm welcome to the community. I hope someone here can give you a definitive answer from experience with this board - I don’t have that, but it looks like it should work with some manual configuration. It uses fairly standard I2S chips for its audio so _may_ work with one of the existing soundcard profiles but if not, it should be fairly easy to add one, once someone has the board and can do some tests.

FYI I am hanging out for someone to build an 8 in & out board for the RPi5. There is currently only an 8 out device.

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**Author:** ![infinitymodular](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/infinitymodular/32/12471_2.png) [@infinitymodular](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/infinitymodular)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/3 "2024-10-07T08:13:02Z")

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Right… thanks for the response. Yes, I am ultimately wanting to build a zynthian to mix into my eurorack setup, and be the main DAW/brain/Seq of the rack. I also want the option of being able to bring in and out direct digital audio goodness together with analog line IO. Let me see what DFRobot replies about pi5 compatability. If it’ll work with pi5, then I’ll get it and start to muck around. Problem with being in South Africa is the availability of decent components at a price where importing costs supercede the cost of the components. Uggg. I’m also planning to implement a DFRobot 5" DSI display. They have a newer model that supports pi5. In the mean time, I’m going to get a better handle on the ins and outs of the rotary encoders and buttons… as well as CV and Gate IO.

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**Author:** ![marcus](https://discourse.zynthian.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@marcus](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/marcus)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2024, 10:31pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/4 "2024-10-07T22:31:41Z")

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They are developing a CS42448 driver for Teensy 4, do you think this can help with one for Raspberry Pi?

> **[CS42448 board ( 6 audio inputs / 8 outputs ) ?](https://forum.pjrc.com/index.php?threads%2Fcs42448-board-6-audio-inputs-8-outputs.72479%2Fpage-2)**
>
> I know you're aware of the multi-channel USB thread, because you posted on it. Unfortunately, at the moment this is the only game in town (that I'm aware of) that supports 8-channel USB. I say "unfortunately", because as it stands it's pretty tricky...

> **[USB interface for multi channel outputs, not just stereo](https://forum.pjrc.com/index.php?threads%2Fusb-interface-for-multi-channel-outputs-not-just-stereo.70176%2F)**
>
> Hi folks,
> 
> I'd like to update the USB audio for Teensy 4 to handle more than 2 channels (starting with 4 but eventually 8) which it only currently supports, so that I can play 4/8 different channels from my computer and use them as outputs on the...

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**Author:** ![wanthalf](https://discourse.zynthian.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/w/ed655f/32.png) [@wanthalf](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/wanthalf)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/5 "2024-10-08T22:41:23Z")

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We have just been talking about the CS42448 - and exactly this board - in [another thread](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/foss-digital-audio-mixer/9881/18).

But thanks for the links!

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**Author:** ![jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/jofemodo/32/2_2.png) [@jofemodo](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/jofemodo)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/6 "2024-10-08T23:41:54Z")

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This path is probably more interesting in the long term:

[https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=376745](https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=376745)

The cs42448 is EOL.

Regards

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**Author:** ![infinitymodular](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/infinitymodular/32/12471_2.png) [@infinitymodular](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/infinitymodular)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/7 "2024-10-09T14:36:47Z")

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oooh… that does look interesting

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**Author:** ![gordoste](https://discourse.zynthian.org/user_avatar/discourse.zynthian.org/gordoste/32/15856_2.png) [@gordoste](https://discourse.zynthian.org/u/gordoste)\
**Post date:** [March 22, 2026, 4:23am UTC](https://discourse.zynthian.org/t/dfrobot-dac-audio-decoder-board-for-raspberry-pi-3b-4b/10267/8 "2026-03-22T04:23:39Z")

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Hi everyone, I’m “gordoste” from the RPi forums thread you linked to. I ended up submitting a patch to the RPi kernel drivers to resolve the issue that we identified in that thread. My PCM3168-based soundcard is now working great and I’ve been running it for several months in my sound system (I’m using it as a digital crossover). I’m currently going the process of crowdfunding it via Crowdsupply, so if you’re interested, head over to the [project page](https://www.crowdsupply.com/ezsound/ezsound-6x8) and sign up for updates. If you know of any other communities who might be interested, I’d love it if you could spread the word. If there is enough interest, we’ll be able to manufacture it and we can all bask in the glory of open source multichannel sound!