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Post by chris1967 on Mar 18, 2015 17:33:53 GMT
Recently after doing some reading in the forums i decided i needed a dedicated music only streamer for my digital music. Commercial products seemed too expensive, pc with foobar (which i was using up to now) seemed ok especially if one had a hiend pc but always it bugged me that so many processes run in the background surely this was potentially detrimental to the sound? Hardware with a linux based distro (such as Linux AP) was also on the dear side, although musical performance seemed to be what i wanted, Until i stumbled on the new Rasberry Pi2. www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/I was astonished that most commercial streamers had similar (or inferior) hardware. So i got one, and powered it with LM338T regulated power supply @5,25Volts www.ebay.com/itm/5-Amps-Voltage-Regulator-Module-Output-1-5-32V-LM338T-/161379188572?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2592f2ff5cThe reason for the 5 amp supply was to ensure enough power for the USB ports at all times plus stability of the hardware. Of course another bonus is that it is fanless for use in a quiet music environment. I am using TCMODS tcmods.org/ on an 8gb ultra Sandisc. I have used Volumio but i was not happy. It immediately "saw" my dac's and the attached USB hard disk. (DACs i use are:JLSounds isolated USBtoI2S receiver with AKM4396 and HiFiINHK Xmos USBtoI2S on Soekris R2R) The resulting sound is ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL, and much better than my icore3 laptop with 4Gb ram that i was using with foobar. I am using Volumio App on my android phone to control the whole thing. The total cost of the Rasberry Pi2 including memory card/trafo/supply/and box was under 100euros. I don't think there is any other better deal for this absolutely superb sound. It streams DSD 128 files like a charm. CPU never exceeds 3-4% and core temperature is never above 39Celcius. Not bad...
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z3d
quite active
Posts: 170
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Post by z3d on Mar 20, 2015 17:42:15 GMT
Interesting indeed! I was looking into a cheap source and came too to the raspberry B+; I'd also need a dac and there are many that it's possible to stack with the rasp board, I'd like to heard some but I don't know anyone owning one. For sure that's a nice idea for a hifi-entusiast beginner having to spend "only" around 250€ (rasp+dac+headphone amplifier)
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solderdude
Administrator
measureutternutter
Posts: 4,882
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Post by solderdude on Mar 20, 2015 17:46:34 GMT
How is the JLSounds isolated USBtoI2S receiver with AKM4396 ?
Has been on my mind for a long time...
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Post by chris1967 on Mar 22, 2015 16:38:04 GMT
Interesting indeed! I was looking into a cheap source and came too to the raspberry B+; I'd also need a dac and there are many that it's possible to stack with the rasp board, I'd like to heard some but I don't know anyone owning one. For sure that's a nice idea for a hifi-entusiast beginner having to spend "only" around 250€ (rasp+dac+headphone amplifier) It is cheap but the sound is nowhere reflecting the meager price. This streamer sounds to me better than PC and foobar i have been using until now, and i have heard it in 2 hiend systems (upper 5 digit systems) and it sounded superb. I have not as yet compared it to commercial streamers but i will in the future and the result i suspect will be very interesting.
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Post by chris1967 on Mar 22, 2015 16:44:02 GMT
How is the JLSounds isolated USBtoI2S receiver with AKM4396 ? Has been on my mind for a long time... It has been my main dac for a year now, sensible price, sensible performance and DSD also. Superb receiver, and honest dac. Great detail and adequate soundstage although lacking a bit in depth. I supplied with two Salas bib. www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1215.20.html Downside is that it has some digital glare and with revealing amps and headphones this might lead to fatigue. It could become a different beast if one adds the oscillator board and the JG buffer, but i didn't bother.
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Post by chris1967 on Apr 19, 2015 9:20:17 GMT
I have been using this for a while, and i tell you look no further for a hiend streamer! I am cuurently using tcmods moOde player tcmods.org/ updated to be able to connect more than one hard drive simulatniously. I am going to try Archphile archphile.org/ Michael, the guy behind this project is a fellow Greek and is very eager to help and constantly update his project according to our inputs. A very good solution also. Personally ia have tried with JLSounds and DiyINHK usb interface without any problem, and a friend has tried with all the budget dacs including his top flight Rockna. Audiobyte Black Dragon Aune s16 Chord Hugo Devialet G2 Labs BerryNOS Red (i2s) HifiBerry DAC+ (i2s) HifiBerry Digi+ (i2s) IQaudIO Pi-DAC+ (i2s) IQaudIO Pi-AMP+ (add-on module) JDS Labs Objective DAC (ODAC) LH Labs Geek out (via powered USB hub) Marantz HD DAC 1 Pioneer U05 RaspyPlay4 (i2s) Rockna Wavedream DAC Soekris R2R + DIYINHK USB receiver (hahaha the Soekris was mine!!) Basically this list has been compiled by my friend DrPanK (Panagiotis) who has at any moment many equipment connected to his rig (he writes for part time audiophile and enjoy the music among others) I truly find it that there is no reason to go for more expensive solutions. Try it and enjoy!
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z3d
quite active
Posts: 170
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Post by z3d on Apr 19, 2015 20:59:15 GMT
Interested in those Raspberry's DACs (HifiBerry DAC+, IQaudIO Pi-DAC+, IQaudIO Pi-DAC+); did you make any A/B comparisons between those and the more expensive units?
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Post by chris1967 on Apr 20, 2015 5:36:13 GMT
The difference between the small piggyback I2S units (i have heard the Hifiberry DAC+and the Mamboberry I2S dacs) and their more expensive counterparts (such as Audiobyte Black Dragon/Chord Hugo/Soekris/ and even the new AuneS16, which is superb) is chaotic.
If you are on a budget i suppose they are fine, and they do sound ok, but no comparison for the bigger units.
This becomes even more chaotic and evident if you listen to the Rockna Wavedream.
Of course the better the system the more the improvement if you use better equipment.
The focus point here is the Rpi2 as a stripped down computer/streamer though, this is the reason that the cheap dacs sound nice (as well as their expensive counterparts, which sound even better) because the simple yet strong enough hardware, accompanied by the Linux based mpd platforms, is able to supply the best possible signal to the dacs.
I have moved slowly away form PC based systems (with foobar/jriver) for critical listening, since i have experimented with Linux based systems (Linux AP/ RPi2/Tcmods).
Foobar starts to sound nice if you have a beast of a PC (i7/lots of ram, SSD disk(s), large stabilized PSU, and windows set for minimum processes), this is expensive and tedious.
The reason for the Rpi2 is that for once the hardware is dead cheap compared to hardware necessary for a good Linux AP system (not to mention PC for foobar and JRiver).
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Post by deireleire on Apr 20, 2015 14:53:39 GMT
Looks like a decent simple fanless cheap solution. Only the usb disk makes noise, unless it's an ssd. Have been looking for something like that :-)
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Post by chris1967 on Apr 21, 2015 9:26:18 GMT
You have three alternatives for noiseless operation,
1. SSD (powered in usb box) 2. remote NAS with ethernet wired connection (The best imo, and the one i use for critical listening sessions) 3. wireless dongle and wireless trasmission from your NAS/PC based data base
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Post by chinook9 on Apr 22, 2015 0:08:40 GMT
Chris: Could you answer a couple of questions?
What you are using as a display?
I have a Twisted Pear Buffalo III SE using a DIYINHK Isolated XMOS DSD DXD 384kHz USB to I2S/DSD. I expect this is likely to work. Do you agree?
I have a Patriot "Gauntlet2" external SSD enclosure. It is USB 3.0 micro-B "powered", however, the power still comes from the USB port. Is this likely to work if I use the same power source you use?
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Post by chris1967 on Apr 22, 2015 7:27:41 GMT
It is headless so no display is necessary. You can control it via the Rpi2 IP address, on any computer that is on the same network (a simple yet very effective interface that helps you set and control your Rpi2 software eg TCMods/MoOde), (you can check this through your router network menu). You can use GMPC gmpclient.org/ also on your pc on the same network Or you can use an application that controls MPD on your android or apple device (tablet/phone) such as mpdroid etc appcrawlr.com/android-apps/best-free-apps-mpd. I don't have an apple device so i don't know which. About compatibility up to know we have not found any receiver not to work (there is even a fix for some older c-media receivers on the mpd) you will not have any problem with th DIYInhk. I doubt it will work with the usb3 disk, and even if it did i would not recommend you drain so much power through the RPi2. Use an externally powered USB disk or NAS. There are some thoughts about the power that is used/consumed. I have not seen the Rpi2 CPU more than about 20-30% and that is when it searches the database, if this is completed and even with DSD files the CPU is never above 2-4%. So i am not sure one really needs such powerful PSU, but in reality i always like to over engineer. The headers also could be used for power should you think that the small micro USB cable is not sufficient for more than 1Amp, but you loose power overload and polarity protection
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Post by chinook9 on Apr 22, 2015 13:24:21 GMT
Thanks for the response Chris.
I have never had a need for a network so I have never dealt with them but I'll do some study and see if I can understand what is needed.
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Post by chris1967 on Apr 23, 2015 8:16:50 GMT
If you plan to have your music on a hard disk connected to your RPi2, and MoOde, it is fairly simple.
Connect an ethernet cable to your RPi2 from your router.
Check the IP address, from your router menu.
Enter this IP address on your browser and there you have your control menus.
If you need Android/i device app remote, do the same on the apps (enter the RPi2 IP address in the required field).
Very simple.
To set a NAS is a little different and a little more complicated, but also fairly easily manageable.
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Post by chinook9 on Apr 23, 2015 13:22:49 GMT
Thanks Chris. Sounds pretty easy. Is there any reason I couldn't set this up initially with an external powered HDD and then replace this hard drive with an external powered SSD after everything is tested and working?
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