Raspberry Pi 3B+; anyone using it yet?

[davide256]

Wondering if anyone has tried this yet with DietPi/Roon?  I've ordered one, if it works  with my Hifiberry DIgi+  I'll move on to ordering a Digione.

[mjb]

It works fine with the latest version of Volumio, though I’ve no experience with Roon. Very nice board. 

[davide256]

7 hours ago, mjb said:

It works fine with the latest version of Volumio, though I’ve no experience with Roon. Very nice board. 

Thanks for responding!  What intrigues me about it is the wifi 5G support, as I understand the earlier Pi2 version has compromised USB when physical Ethernet is used, definitely prefer the Digi+ coax to USB output feeding DAC.

[mjb]

1 hour ago, davide256 said:

 What intrigues me about it is the wifi 5G support

Yes, this was the main reason I upgraded, and it works well. The Ethernet port is now gigabit, though restricted in thru-put to 300Mb/s. The new Arm processor is about 20% faster than the previous Pi, so the overall experience is noticeably “snappier”. I believe an i2c board is still the way to go as you’ve mentioned. Good luck!

[Skip Pack]

Moode 4.1 was released a couple of days ago and includes and update to the recent stretch-lite kernal required by the 3Bplus (plus key dead). I installed it yesterday and listened last night. Works well, sounds quite good. 

Skip

[franz159]

1 hour ago, Skip Pack said:

Moode 4.1 was released a couple of days ago and includes and update to the recent stretch-lite kernal required by the 3Bplus (plus key dead). I installed it yesterday and listened last night. Works well, sounds quite good. 

Skip

+1

Upgraded from Moode 4.0 to 4.1 and my (subjective) impression is that it went up in sound quality. I'm totally aware this could be psycho-acoustic!

[davide256]

Got it today, up and running in 30 minutes with Roon/ Digi+. Also received some DC to micro USB adaptors, so now able to run this off an HDPlex. So far better than the Pi2 but the built in wifi is nothing to write home about, worked ok on the strongest 2.4G SSID but link wouldn't stay connected on its 5G counterpart, about 20 feet from wifi router with no wall/ metal in between. Time to order the Digione w/ case.

[davide256]

No joy on the USB audio front with the Pi 3B+.  Compared the Hifiberry Digi+ coax vs ISO Regen-Schiit Eitr USB conversion to coax combo, USB  was brash, irritating vs a fairly enjoyable sound with the Digi+

[jabbr]

On 4/10/2018 at 8:51 PM, davide256 said:

No joy on the USB audio front with the Pi 3B+.  Compared the Hifiberry Digi+ coax vs ISO Regen-Schiit Eitr USB conversion to coax combo, USB  was brash, irritating vs a fairly enjoyable sound with the Digi+

I think I'm having better luck than you. My 802.11ac has been solid and I'm able to do DSD256 via HQPlayer effortlessly over Wifi and out to USB2 to my iFi Micro.

[jabbr]

My preliminary SQ is good enough over Wifi that I've ordered: http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/316150-mezzanine-power-board-raspberry-pi.html using LT3045 regulators for the 5V, 3.3 and 1.8V ... I will probably remove the onboard DC/DC converter. Of note I'm running Raspbian Stretch armhf. Kernel 4.14: https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian_lite_latest to which I installed NAA 3.5.4 armhf

[jabbr]

So the F*** new iFi firmware which adds MQA also limits the Micro to DSD256 -- downgraded to 5.2 and its merrily streaming DSD512 without a hiccup.

[Ralf11]

Never Upgrade

[davide256]

3 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

Never Upgrade

ahh the bleeding edge... a good reason to wait until software has been out long enough to hear if it has defects.

[davide256]

hmm, had lost enthusiasm about buying a Digione because I really wasn't getting much joy out of the Pi 3b+ with  Hifiberry Digi+ run off HDPlex/iFi 5v PS. Decided to play around with it today using the recently acquired Uptone Audio LPS 1.2 to power it... makes it a very different beast. The highs and massed voices still have short comings but one of mys complaints about the Allo USBridge has been remedied... decay time of notes is now natural. WIth the LPS 1.2 powering the Pi you get a more relaxed sound where low volume detail in bass /midrange comes through cleanly against louder signals. Also finding that wifi is better than wired, assuming you use no special router... the clarity immediately went down hill with a wired connection.

Have ordered a Digione+ case;  will see how that stacks up in about 10 days against USBridge-ISO Regen-Eitr chain.

[davide256]

received the Digione, initial impressions are that its harmonically purer/ easier on the ear than USBridge but it struggles for coherency with loud passages and lacks clarity on low level transients. Will let it break in,  see if it improves and if there are any tweaks possible

[davide256]

49 minutes ago, davide256 said:

received the Digione, initial impressions are that its harmonically purer/ easier on the ear than USBridge but it struggles for coherency with loud passages and lacks clarity on low level transients. Will let it break in,  see if it improves and if there are any tweaks possible

Ok, (1) SPS500 was still set at 7 volts for ISO Regen vs 12 required for powering Microzotl, (2) as with the Hifiberry Digi+  Wifi sounds clearer than wired Ethernet. Sigh of relief,

will keep going with these corrections.

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

What is your system? 

[matthias]

On 7/8/2018 at 12:54 AM, davide256 said:

Also finding that wifi is better than wired, assuming you use no special router... the clarity immediately went down hill with a wired connection.

 

Thanks for reporting.

Have plans to stream from MBP/Audirvana to the upcoming Allo Katana via WiFi only.

 

Regards

 

Matt

[davide256]

On 7/13/2018 at 2:09 AM, hopkins said:

What is your system? 

As in signature, using Microzotl  2 for headphone amplifier with Hifiman HE-400, Audeze Sine for headphones. HE400 is good for judging high frequency air, but has some distortion in its harmonic signature. The Sine are harmonically pure, decent bass but a tad laid back in the high frequencies. I've found this setup allows me to hear more critically than main system due to low level dynamic contrast limitations of the Prima Luna amp section with Magnepan 1.7/KEF LS50

[davide256]

8 minutes ago, davide256 said:

As in signature, using Microzotl  2 for headphone amplifier with Hifiman HE-400, Audeze Sine for headphones. HE400 is good for judging high frequency air, but has some distortion in its harmonic signature. The Sine are harmonically pure, decent bass but a tad laid back in the high frequencies. I've found this setup allows me to hear more critically than main system due to low level dynamic contrast limitations of the Prima Luna amp section with Magnepan 1.7/KEF LS50

For comparing, I'm trying to keep things as equal as possible

 

Digione    powered by LPS 1.2, connected by coax AQ Eagle eye to Metrum Octave

USBridge powered by LPS 1.2, USPCB to Schitt Eitr, connected by coax AQ Eagle Eye to Metrum Octave

 

which does require me to swap back and forth for comparison. I like to test with "bad" recordings, recordings that can sound bad. My experience is that most bad recordings

are exciting bad behavior in the source solution which better source solution resolves as was heard/intended by the recording engineer.

[zacho]

On 7/16/2018 at 11:54 PM, davide256 said:

For comparing, I'm trying to keep things as equal as possible

 

Digione    powered by LPS 1.2, connected by coax AQ Eagle eye to Metrum Octave

USBridge powered by LPS 1.2, USPCB to Schitt Eitr, connected by coax AQ Eagle Eye to Metrum Octave

 

which does require me to swap back and forth for comparison. I like to test with "bad" recordings, recordings that can sound bad. My experience is that most bad recordings

are exciting bad behavior in the source solution which better source solution resolves as was heard/intended by the recording engineer.

 

 

Doesn't the Digione require 1.8A power supply? Are you powering the Digione board separately from the RPI? or does the LPS 1.2 actually provide enough juice for the Digione Player?

[davide256]

48 minutes ago, zacho said:

 

 

Doesn't the Digione require 1.8A power supply? Are you powering the Digione board separately from the RPI? or does the LPS 1.2 actually provide enough juice for the Digione Player?

Its possible that if I were using DSP's and/or upsampling that the Pi3B+ compute activity would exceed the current supply of an  LPS 1.2 (1.2A)  but  for straight PCM operation I have seen/heard no issues. The Pi3B bare board consumption of 400 ma  is well within spec, allowing plenty of reserve for DD converter boards and Wifi. The processor board of the RPI is where most of the current draw originates.

I can find nothing that speaks to power supply requirements for the Digione board but doubt its much more than that for the USBridge which is quoted at 0.1 A in discussions of powering Sparky/USBridge separately.

https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/faqs/#powerReqs

 

Have not seen a practical way to independently power the Digione without voided warranty issues, am tempted to buy a Hifiberry Digi+ Pro which can have an independent power connection added as a mod

[jabbr]

On 7/19/2018 at 3:35 PM, davide256 said:

Its possible that if I were using DSP's and/or upsampling that the Pi3B+ compute activity would exceed the current supply of an  LPS 1.2 (1.2A)  but  for straight PCM operation I have seen/heard no issues. The Pi3B bare board consumption of 400 ma  is well within spec, allowing plenty of reserve for DD converter boards and Wifi.

 

I'm having trouble powering the RPi3B+ with the LPS1.2 -- the RPi log complains of undervoltages ... note that the RPi wants 5.1V and I set the LPS1.2 to output 5V...

[davide256]

15 hours ago, jabbr said:

 

I'm having trouble powering the RPi3B+ with the LPS1.2 -- the RPi log complains of undervoltages ... note that the RPi wants 5.1V and I set the LPS1.2 to output 5V...

hmm where would I find the log? I will plug the Eitr back into the RPI and check if the poorer SQ I heard with USB was actually undervoltages.

[jabbr]

19 minutes ago, davide256 said:

hmm where would I find the log? I will plug the Eitr back into the RPI and check if the poorer SQ I heard with USB was actually undervoltages.

typically dmesg

$ dmesg

will give you kernel messages

 

This issue has been discussed. 

https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/2512

http://wiki.loverpi.com/sbc:raspberry-pi-power-design-issue

 

The "official" raspberry pi power supply does not cause undervoltages:https://thepihut.com/products/official-raspberry-pi-universal-power-supply?variant=3748998148&gclid=CjwKCAjwzoDXBRBbEiwAGZRIeDjfzBFtPSdIqnFcSIPni3OfNsHTSsFilbLGUtDpyj1KhJFFQMTBfBoCbSAQAvD_B wE#fo_c=1889&fo_k=589b7ed415c9bd6e1e77a4ff6f5daae8&fo_s=gplauk

 

At 8 GBP

nor does the CanaKit: https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Supply-Adapter-Listed/dp/B00MARDJZ4

 

Note that the Uptone LPS1.2 was not designed to supply the Pi, but I believe the voltage has to drop <4.65 before the sensor on the Pi triggers the message ?