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Raspberry Pi 2 - Listening impressions


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Would be interested in learning if others have had similar impressions or not. I've been playing in the computer audio game for a few years, owned 3 Dacs going back to a Valab as the first, and have been using a CAPS Lagoon, with my humble Rega BrioR and RS5 speakers.

 

Out of curiosity I bought a Raspberry Pi2 and have it running USB out to Dac using Volumio software, Flac files are all on a NAS. The sound quality to my ears sounds incredibly good. I've run it both as the standalone PC, and also as UPnP renderer with files being fed from a laptop running JRiver. Sounds identical either way to me, both extremely good.

 

Anyone else have similar findings with a Pi 2, or could my ears just be playing tricks on me?

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I have been running an RPi2 with a HifiBerry Digi+ outputting SPDIF to my Twisted Pear Opus Dac for three months now. I use MoOde Player taking advantage of its Sox upsampling to 192/24. The combination sounds very good. I can hear the superiority of native 192/24 (e.g. the Kind of Blue from Pono mentioned in the Music Downloads forum), but 44/16 via SoX is very nice. Files (Flac, Wav, and MP3) are sourced from an NAS. Never a skip, tick, or rebuffer.

 

People using any of the three related mpd/integratedOS players (Volumio, Rune, and MoOde) seem to have positive reports. PiCorePlayer also works fine with the richer LMS environment. This neighbohood seems to be a leading contender for quality budget playback for those who can deal with bit of fiddling.

 

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I only find a first-gen Raspi B for now. One thing that do not like with the earlier ones, including a revision after mine is the combined Ethernet + USB interface. Not sure if they fixed this in the v 2.

 

How does it sound with the same file as WAV instead of FLAC?

 

How does it sound with HQ Player rather than JRiver?

Dedicated Line DSD/DXD | Audirvana+ | iFi iDSD Nano | SET Tube Amp | Totem Mites

Surround: VLC | M-Audio FastTrack Pro | Mac Opt | Panasonic SA-HE100 | Logitech Z623

DIY: SET Tube Amp | Low-Noise Linear Regulated Power Supply | USB, Power, Speaker Cables | Speaker Stands | Acoustic Panels

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I only find a first-gen Raspi B for now. One thing that do not like with the earlier ones, including a revision after mine is the combined Ethernet + USB interface. Not sure if they fixed this in the v 2.[/Quote]

 

I understand that it has not been fixed. It would seem to be ameliorated by the added computational power and increased memory. My initial use with the I2S HiFIBerry Digi+ was prompted by this situation as I thought that using the combined Ethernet+USB for the incoming music files and the output might not be the best configuration. One of the comments to Chris' article suggested that it (NAS input and USB to a Dac) worked fine.

 

How does it sound with the same file as WAV instead of FLAC?[/Quote]

 

My old ears could hear a slight difference on my old Squeezebox setup with the same Dac. Those now slightly older ears cannot hear a difference on my RPi2/MoOde configuration.

 

How does it sound with HQ Player rather than JRiver?

 

I've never tried Jriver.

 

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I understand that it has not been fixed. It would seem to be ameliorated by the added computational power and increased memory. My initial use with the I2S HiFIBerry Digi+ was prompted by this situation as I thought that using the combined Ethernet+USB for the incoming music files and the output might not be the best configuration. One of the comments to Chris' article suggested that it (NAS input and USB to a Dac) worked fine.

Skip

 

I have been running it USB connected to outboard DAC and have not had any issues with pops/glitches even with 96/24 files. And it must not be impacting the sound quality as I have been surprisingly impressed with how nice it sounds. I bought the Pi2 as kind of an experiment just wanting to play with one and see how it worked - I did not expect that it would sound as good as it does.

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  • 1 month later...
Would be interested in learning if others have had similar impressions or not. I've been playing in the computer audio game for a few years, owned 3 Dacs going back to a Valab as the first, and have been using a CAPS Lagoon, with my humble Rega BrioR and RS5 speakers.

 

Out of curiosity I bought a Raspberry Pi2 and have it running USB out to Dac using Volumio software, Flac files are all on a NAS. The sound quality to my ears sounds incredibly good. I've run it both as the standalone PC, and also as UPnP renderer with files being fed from a laptop running JRiver. Sounds identical either way to me, both extremely good.

 

Anyone else have similar findings with a Pi 2, or could my ears just be playing tricks on me?

 

I just finished installing a Pi2. I had been using a Windows box with and ESI Julia Sound card, out to a Benchmark Dac 1 Pre, using Foobar. I am transfering my music to a new USB drive. The Windows box was very long in the tooth and starting to fail. My plan was to go out from the Pi to the Benchmark, but an emergency forced me to sell the Benchmark. I had also done research on the i2S dacs out there for the Pi - I wanted to compare just for giggles. But with the emergency,the sound quality of the dac took on more importance. My plan was still to buy a new dac as money permits. I purchased an IQAUDIO Pi-DAC+. I installed Volumio. I play Volumio from my Android phone or tablet. Putting it all together took about 10 minutes. Getting it set up took about an hour with the help of my Linux Geek son in law. I also have a Linux laptop as my main computer. I'm still moving my music files over from my hard drives in the windows box to a USB drive, but I also just recently attained almost a terrabyte of new all hi rez files, whereas most of my previous files have just been regular FLAC. Most of these titles on the new drive I had not heard or not heard in hi rez before. So, some of what I'm hearing may be the hi rez. I've twiddled with the Volumio gain settings. I have a passive TVC preamp (Promitheus), and gain is a little bit of an issue. I maxed the gain and originally left the gain "boost" on as well, but that proved to be too much. So I took the boost off. Once I got everything set up, I must say the sound, to these ears, is excellent. Since i'm listening to all hi rez at the moment, I can only say that from memory, compared to the regular rez files on my other hard drives, yet to be dropped in, this is superior. I find that hard to believe, but there is little doubt in my mind that this is in the ballpark of what I had. I run the TVC into a Quad 909 amp, KEF LS 50 speakers and a Vandersteen sub. It's still early. I'll report back when I start listening to the files that I'm intimately familiar with, but there is no doubt this is within the zone of what i've been accustomed to. Very surprising and great to have all the extra space.

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Hi Guys,

 

I tried several OS, Moode, Volumio, Archphile and finally Rune Audio, this last one was plug and play, the other didn´t recognize my PSaudio Direcstream DAC via USB, how do you handle this situation ? My first impressions was OK using a simple cell phone SMPS , yesterday I build a new Linear power supply and this Pi2 is now very serious.

 

Regards,

 

Alexandre.

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My first impressions was OK using a simple cell phone SMPS , yesterday I build a new Linear power supply and this Pi2 is now very serious.

 

Any links or schematics I could have a look at? I was looking at some info for a DIY one just yesterday.

Dedicated Line DSD/DXD | Audirvana+ | iFi iDSD Nano | SET Tube Amp | Totem Mites

Surround: VLC | M-Audio FastTrack Pro | Mac Opt | Panasonic SA-HE100 | Logitech Z623

DIY: SET Tube Amp | Low-Noise Linear Regulated Power Supply | USB, Power, Speaker Cables | Speaker Stands | Acoustic Panels

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I did use this one Placid HD , in fact I did use two in paralel because Raspberry is a little power hungry, but I believe must be simple options somewhere ..

 

Thanks.

Dedicated Line DSD/DXD | Audirvana+ | iFi iDSD Nano | SET Tube Amp | Totem Mites

Surround: VLC | M-Audio FastTrack Pro | Mac Opt | Panasonic SA-HE100 | Logitech Z623

DIY: SET Tube Amp | Low-Noise Linear Regulated Power Supply | USB, Power, Speaker Cables | Speaker Stands | Acoustic Panels

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I tired one using Volumio connected by ethernet to my NAS and then to a Dragonfly USB DAC. Sounded and worked fine. Ran it for a week or two.

 

Already have enough stuff running so didn't need it and re-purposed it to something else but not because it didn't work or sound just fine.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey Now,

 

I am using a RPi2 via USB to a couple of different DACs and players with Volumio. It sounds very good. Current connection for the RPi2 > Regen > Meier Daccord and is playing all files up to 192 kHz with no issues via Ethernet. The primary player in this set up has been JRMC. I have Audirvana+, Fidelia, Roon, BitPerfect and iTunes, but I haven't tried them yet because JRMC has worked so well with the JRemote on my iPhone.

 

I was recently using the RPi2 with an iFi Nano and was able to stream DSD files with no issues. I am using powerline network for Ethernet and it is working well for me. I have 3 Airport Expresses around the house, but those are limited to Redbook and I am getting a larger Hi-rez library and am thinking about more RPi2s to replace the AEXs. My music is on a mirrored 1TB RAID HD connected to my iMac with FW800+Thunderbolt adapter. I have been thinking about getting a NAS set up. I really am enjoying the RPi2s, but want to try Moode and maybe a BeagleBone just for fun 8^).

 

--

Finest kind,

Chris

- -

Finest kind,

Chris

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Hi, I tried to play with RPi2 with these configurations:

 

-- 2 TB external usb HD inside MiniPro Oyen casing connected with 5V LPS.

-- Usb wireless dongle in another port. I use Samsung tablet to remote connect to the dongle to control Volumio

-- Player is Volumio

-- Power supply is 5V external LPS for RPi2 board

-- Usb audio output to MF M1 Dac

 

Unfortunately, the sound has a lot of pops in this setup, especially when the wireless usb dongle is running something when I tried to communicate with tablet. Anyone knows what is the problem and better configuration?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm running a RPI2 in this way:

 

- i2s IQaudIO dac directly mounted on the Raspberry, RCA output to my AMP

(occasionally I have also used my LHLabs Geek Pulse X or GeekOut dacs over USB)

- Wired via ethernet connection

- Samsung M3 2Tb HD directly connected in one of RPI2 USB port (you need to set MAX_USB_CURRENT=1 in /boot/config.txt) so that the USB disk get enough current to work

- Player: initially I was using Volumio, than I switched to RuneAudio and finally to Moode Audio. Main reason, the upgraded interface

 

I never had a dropout in the sound.

I guess you are right in thinking the problem might be in wireless UDB dongle

 

My 0.02

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I just ordered my CanaKit. I am really intrigued and curious to see this type of low profile setup compares to my fat Macbook Pro with Audirvana.

 

I have no doubt in my mind that this type of setup will yield surprising results. Hopefully good ones.

RIG:  iFi Zen Stream - Benchmark DAC3 L - LA4  AHB2 | Paradigm Sig S6 Cables:  anything available

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Thank you to share your setup details. So you saying I should try to control RPI2 with Ethernet like you do instead of usb wireless dongle? I have bought TP-Link TML-3020 portable router and will give it a try then.

 

Well, it's just a guess, but wired vs wi-fi is the biggest difference I can see from yours and mine setup.

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Thank you to share your setup details. So you saying I should try to control RPI2 with Ethernet like you do instead of usb wireless dongle? I have bought TP-Link TML-3020 portable router and will give it a try then.

 

Not all wireless dongles are supported.

 

 

Try this (props to Krisbee) the principle is the same regardless of OS

 

Thanks

A brief follow up on what Peter has said and the ref to his post at theaudiostandard forum. Once you have worked out how to connect to your RPi via SSH, you can log in as the "root" user with password "volumio" (unless your're not using Volumio).

 

Two points - (a) commands do not need to be prefixed by "sudo" , (b) the following single command will append the appropriate line of text to the "/boot/config.txt" file:

 

 

 

echo max_usb_current=1 >> /boot/config.txt

 

Then reboot your RPi either via the Volumio web interface, or via the command line:

 

 

 

reboot

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Hullo:

Thought I would check in on this thread too since at this stage I am pondering future server options for my home audio system. I am beginning to think about moving on at some point from my MacMini 2010 SSD/Amarra/Berkeley USB over the next 6-12 months. Basically I only play 16/44 files from my CDs in to my redbook only tube DAC, but would like eventually to do more streaming with QOBUZ/TIDAL or something. My goal is best SQ in my two-channel set up first, ease of use second, and cost is not unimportant of course. I do have experience with QOBUZ streaming (I love their large selection), but find I don't use it as much because of loss of SQ so I am giving it up for now but may go back later.

 

Here are the options I have thought of so far:

1. one of the CA CAPS options, perhaps CAPS Pipeline V4 which seems to be the top one as best I can tell

2. stay with my MacMini adding in Uptone's fan control and their Linear Power Supply JS-2 (I already use the Uptone Regen which is wonderful, even more so when I stick a Synergistic ECT on top of it).

3. Raspberry Pi-2 with Moode or Rune software for MPD (as described on Part-Time Audiophile), with JS-2 or another good LPS. I like this low cost quasi-DIY idea at least in theory as it would allow me to experiment with higher quality parts, software and adjustments/tweaks over time.

4. Sonore Signature Rendu (expensive, recommended by someone who should know, but haven't done much research myself)

5. Auralic Aries (more affordable than Sonore, but according to PTA not necessarily better than the RPI-2)

 

I would appreciate any ideas/pointers that any of you might suggest about the choices I am already thinking of, or of course about other things not yet on my radar.

 

Thanks in advance...

hltf

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How do the Moode, Volumio and RuneAudio players compare to each other as far as ease of use and sound quality?

 

I am used to the nice Audirvana GUI on my MBP.

 

The three you mentioned are very very similar in terms of interface and ease of use, which is expected because they sort of share common "roots": the orginal raspfi project splitted into Volumio and RuneAudio, Moode Audio interface was build based on RuneAudio...

 

Also how they sound, IMO, is very very similar since they are all using MPD.

Of course I made my comparison on the same Raspberry device just switching the boot card.

 

Comparing my MacBook Air with Audirvana 2.2 connected to LH Labs GeekPulse X vs the Raspberry and the IQaudio i2s Dac the sound quality goes in favour of the Mac, especially for well recorded hi-res at 24/96 or DSD, but not of a huge margin.

For casual listening I'm more than happy using the small Pi.

 

Let's also not forget the difference in price of the 2 systems compared ( say 1500$ against 130$).

 

When I level the comparison using the same dac (LH Labs GeekPulse X) on the USB output of the raspberry, the difference becomes much much smaller.

Mac+Audirvana is still better, but now for a small margin.

 

Additionally, I was reading a few days ago on an Italian audiophile forum (people that I "know" from experience that they know what they are doing and what they are talking of speaking of audio) that when you remove from the equation the USB output, SQ will increase even more on the Rapsberry, bringing the difference to a very very thin level.

 

In their case they were comparing the raspberry/hifiberry digi+ (i2S-->Spdif transport) with a MacMini/Audirvana powered by a Keces DC-116 Linear Power Supply.

 

In both cases they were connecting to a Naim V1 DAC.

 

I will be away for two weeks, but I will be experimenting myself when I come back. I have in fact just ordered both the HiFiBerry Digi+ transport and a Keces DC-116 LPSU dual output (12V & 5V) which I will use to power both the raspberry and my LH Labs DAC.

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