Mini-PC setup?

[acs236]

Any advantage to getting the board for the coaxial output or is that just if your dac doesn't support usb?

 

[474194]

Any advantage to getting the board for the coaxial output or is that just if your dac doesn't support usb?

Yes, a pretty major advantage. It completely bypasses the internals of the RPi. For me, I want to bypass USB anything. With a HAT optical board, the PCM data is CPU processed then travels via the i2S bus directly to the WM8804 optical converter then via glass optical. No USB involved or any internals. It's complete noise-free sound purity.

I'm using a Chord Hugo2 which supports USB, coax and optical inputs. The only input that is 100% complete free of noise is the optical input. It also adds depth as I am a depth freak.

I want the shortest cleanest path possible. For example, I was able to bypass the battery pack -> RPi USB pwr input and have direct battery power on the rails. I don't like listening to regulators so bypassing regulators with direct power (equivalent to a car battery power) makes it a joy.

For general use, USB audio is fine; but for my reference rig I want clean sound purity as much as possible.

On another note, I tried full album FLACs. They work fine. As long as they split in XLD, they will split in the LMS ecosystem. All that needs to be done is a "Clear and Rescan". After it rescans, you should see splits as well a a full album option. I believe 1TB scans only take 5 minutes.

 

[acs236]

Interesring. I've only used the Pi with my Topping D90 and haven't noticed any noise. But I may try that board. I'm a bit concerned that using the board will require disconnecting the fan, though I'm not sure heat is an issue.

Yes, a pretty major advantage. It completely bypasses the internals of the RPi. For me, I want to bypass USB anything. With a HAT optical board, the PCM data is CPU processed then travels via the i2S bus directly to the WM8804 optical converter then via glass optical. No USB involved or any internals. It's complete noise-free sound purity.

I'm using a Chord Hugo2 which supports USB, coax and optical inputs. The only input that is 100% complete free of noise is the optical input. It also adds depth as I am a depth freak.

I want the shortest cleanest path possible. For example, I was able to bypass the battery pack -> RPi USB pwr input and have direct battery power on the rails. I don't like listening to regulators so bypassing regulators with direct power (equivalent to a car battery power) makes it a joy.

For general use, USB audio is fine; but for my reference rig I want clean sound purity as much as possible.

On another note, I tried full album FLACs. They work fine. As long as they split in XLD, they will split in the LMS ecosystem. All that needs to be done is a "Clear and Rescan". After it rescans, you should see splits as well a a full album option. I believe 1TB scans only take 5 minutes.

 

[bluecar]

Microcenter. I had thought I could use space on the boot microsd in another partition to store files since the operating system is so small. Not a big deal though. This way I just put everything on a separate device.

I had a couple of whole album flac/cue combos. It wasn't reading those so I just split them into separate flac files.

I may experiment a bit with different android squeeze controllers. But it's so much more convenient than my other setup.

I also need to figure out the best way to shut it down when I'm done listening.

No reason not to use the boot volume for music, although it flies against usual practice - just keep a send SD card with a snapshot of your OS volume in case of emergency!

just stick a little physical switch in the case to disconnect the battery when you need to shutdown.

 

[acs236]

Thanks. I think the separate storage makes sense. That way I don't have to take a microsd out to add new music. I have a switch and it works great. But one time I got a message that it shut down properly. It was only once, and now seems fine.

No reason not to use the boot volume for music, although it flies against usual practice - just keep a send SD card with a snapshot of your OS volume in case of emergency!

just stick a little physical switch in the case to disconnect the battery when you need to shutdown.

 

[474194]

Interesring. I've only used the Pi with my Topping D90 and haven't noticed any noise. But I may try that board. I'm a bit concerned that using the board will require disconnecting the fan, though I'm not sure heat is an issue.

I think it was more an issue with the RPi3, you should have nothing to worry about with RPI4. Plus, for Chord optical is reference. I was determined to go optical because why leave noise to chance when you can objectively have zero noise at all. I also enjoy the neutral, natural life-like crisp signature of glass optical. When you USB cable-roll, every USB cable adds their own flavor and color. I want to listen to the neutral flavor of the DAC, not what the USB cable determines to be the best signature.

I also have physical constraints as I need everything to fit within a Flipbelt for transportable use so my options are limited:

https://flipbelt.com/flipbelt-zipper

For you, you should try out HDMI audio to see if that works with your Topping. I have zero clue about other equipment other than Chord, but I would consider HDMI first priority. You can easily change from USB Audio to HDMI Audio in the Squeezelite settings.

Fallback on USB if it doesn't work.

There's other RPi HAT solutions like Pi2AES you may want to explore. Maybe AES works better as an input for your case? For I, there's a new 24v requirement which rules out battery power.

http://www.pi2design.com/pi2aes.html

There's also another solution which I'll reply to your PM after researching the above solutions. I think they used your DAC, but can't remember right now.

 

[474194]

I haven't determined which storage route I will pursue yet. I don't really have a great need since it's mainly for listening while going on a walkabout. If I need additional storage I can add a microSD card reader which is high performing pro model:

But I might just get a USB2SATA adapter and use old SSDs lying around as that's more practical until 1TB microSD cards prices lower to more commodity level pricing.

If RPi is for desktop use, you have unlimited options. NAS, dedicated WIFI drives, etc.

If you get tired of removing microSD card off the RPi, I think you can share that volume and just copy your files over the network from PC to RPi boot w/ music files.

 

[474194]

You should have limited lag for the UI over the network, but in my guide I'll show you how to convert from WiFi client to Wifi host making it like a hotspot w/ an SSID.

Once you connect to this new RPi SSID, you are connected directly to the RPi so should have close to zero UI lag. That's how I remotely control when away from any networks on a walkabout. It's very close to an integrated device in terms of UI lag.

LMS was developed over 2 decades by a multi-billion dollar giant. iPeng UI was developed since first gen iPhone.

So very stable, robust software with high SQ. It's not surprising it's the backbone of $100k+ 2-channel systems.

So I feel very fortunate to have all this SQ/remote UI power in transportable form w/ optical and LiFePo4 battery power at this stage in this hobby.

If anything ever goes wrong, it takes me ten minutes from nuking out microSD with SD formatter to having a complete clean and fresh LMS system up and running minus music files.

 

[Dawnrazor]

Does anyone have a setup where they use a mini PC or other computer essentially as a transport to an extermal dac, and then use either an iPad/iPhone or Android phone to control the PC (select songs, etc.)? Is such a thing possible?

of course. Use hysold and the hysolid ap.

 

[474194]

If I'm going to finish my guide, I have to refrain from posting anywhere. So I'll check back on this thread end of month.

For some reason, I just can't focus on guide and post on any threads since my energy levels are low in this hobby (I'm actually on a multi-year hiatus from this site, but back to work on guide). So when I do have energy, I want to direct it towards the guide.

This is a fun thread tho.

I think this sets a good learning curve foundation at a very low price point. It will help scale if needed for future products if needed.

For example, the HiFiBerry's are usually rebadged into other brands like Bryston, Naim, etc. It's pretty much the same internals except for some re-wiring, beautiful cases and upgraded power supplies. Your just not paying for the markup, but close to barebones.

https://www.moon-audio.com/bryston-bdp-pi-digital-player.html

Then you have commercial streamers you can hack:

So the HiFiBerry's are competitive in the under $3,000 music streamer range. Sometimes, they are the exact same internals.

Over the summer, I'm hoping to build a second generation music streamer that will compete with the $5000-$10000 music streamers. I think I know their secret sauce, so I'm going to experiment over the summer and see if I can improve on the first generation.

Anyways, it's a great learning experience if you don't want to initial splurge. Then you can plug and play add-ons (HATs) as needed. Excuse my absence, going to try to finish and polish up guide.

 

[bluecar]

If I'm going to finish my guide, I have to refrain from posting anywhere. So I'll check back on this thread end of month......

Great stuff - I'll look forward to the final review when its done I suppose I ought to go get hold of a Bryston Pi and do some testing - I've been conducting a fairly unscientific experiment for a few years, namely getting hold of a streamer, plugging it up and then deciding that it still doesn't deliver compared to my ageing microRendu. To date, I've had to hit up into the £2500+ mark to find a unit that outguns the Sonore product. Nearest so far was a Sotm, but even that gets maximally expensive with a PSU and clock. None of the Pi based offerings (or shameless clones!) do the job for me (although its fun to build/hack them!). I do have a Lumin U1 Mini on the way for a tryout, so that will be interesting - not Pi, but I like the idea of a £6500 transport hacked down into a £1700 package......

Good luck with the experiment!

 

[acs236]

I installed th Hifiberry + pro today, and it sounds great. I'd have to do some back and forth comparison to make tell if I like it better than USB. But I'm really liking this setup. So much better than using my surface as a transport.

 

[474194]

Great stuff - I'll look forward to the final review when its done I suppose I ought to go get hold of a Bryston Pi and do some testing - I've been conducting a fairly unscientific experiment for a few years, namely getting hold of a streamer, plugging it up and then deciding that it still doesn't deliver compared to my ageing microRendu. To date, I've had to hit up into the £2500+ mark to find a unit that outguns the Sonore product. Nearest so far was a Sotm, but even that gets maximally expensive with a PSU and clock. None of the Pi based offerings (or shameless clones!) do the job for me (although its fun to build/hack them!). I do have a Lumin U1 Mini on the way for a tryout, so that will be interesting - not Pi, but I like the idea of a £6500 transport hacked down into a £1700 package......

Good luck with the experiment!

No, no, no, please don't go out of your way for the Bryston. It's not a recommendation. I was just using it as an example of brand names that markup their streamers, but basically the internals are just a Raspberry Pi + HAT. There are $3000 streamers out there which is basically just an RPi + HAT. The casing and power supply are upgraded + a huge markup, otherwise foundational-wise it's just an RPi.

So, please don't try out the Bryston. It's high-risk, low to zero-reward. I like low-risk, high-rewards scenarios because technology is always evolving. You buy a £5000-£10000 server today, in one-year it's starts trending down to obsolete status quickly. You may get 5 minutes of fame for buying a brand name, but over time it's better to rotate the low-risk, high-reward systems in the long-term. If Tech stayed stagnate for a decade, then yeah maybe high-end streamer maybe a good justification but things change so quickly.

I believe in sound sound fundamentals. The high-end streamers don't fit that criteria, as I'm pro-battery and pro-i2S. I evolved to more like a Tesla philosophy of how things should work instead of the traditional gas-guzzling way and apply it to audio.

Anyways, please don't purchase the Bryston. It was just an example.

Part of my digital streamer 2.0 summer project has similar internal parts as the microrendu and Uptone products, so we will see how it goes.

Hopefully, it surpasses or competes with the high-end servers so it's available to everyman and those that don't like stationary listening such as myself making it transportable.

There's already an article from an European audiophile website that states just this, that is competes with the £10000 streamers. It was vague, not direct but I believe that's what they were inferring. But it's tech in it's infancy and I'll be happy to just get the sound qualities of the high-end stuff. Don't care about price points and brands, just transportability and simplicity built on sound sound fundamentals.

 

[474194]

I installed th Hifiberry + pro today, and it sounds great. I'd have to do some back and forth comparison to make tell if I like it better than USB. But I'm really liking this setup. So much better than using my surface as a transport.

Released a week ago. Ignore the pops and clicks comment as you are on RPi4. My RPi3 has no Ethernet + using a HAT not USB, so pops and clicks not an issue for I anyways. Resolved in RPi4.



Hopefully, Darko realizes the potential of robust batteries and if my digital streamer 2.0 project goes well, may relay him the info so he can do a write-up if he has interest.

I believe Darko is on LMS7 because in LMS8 Online services are integrated locally.

 

[474194]

microsd raid is a thing, so you can raid 0 or JBOD multiple microsd cards.

I'm not in the market for transportable storage at this time, but I do plan on testing USB -> SATA adapters.

I don't trust the controllers, but maybe when we upgrade our 5 Nintendo Switch 128GB microSD's in the future, can use those to try on this project.

I'm guessing 10x1TB = 10TB portable max storage ATM.