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Pre Raspberry Pi delivery question please.

imarks said:
It seems the Allo Boss DAC doesn't work with piCorePlayer at the moment due to lack of drivers (See here). Don't know about other products and not tried any of the Allo offerings.
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Ah, thanks for that info. Ian, appreciated. Glad I asked. I'll hang fire with that option for a while then.

Just trying to find something else to have a go at, I'm ordering another pi and hoping to try on improving the quality I'm getting with the IQAUDIO, a hard task I reckon.
 
kennyh said:
Just trying to find something else to have a go at, I'm ordering another pi and hoping to try on improving the quality I'm getting with the IQAUDIO, a hard task I reckon.
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They're addictive...I'm on my 5th ;)

1 * pi3/piCorePlayer/LMS ('to be' replacement for LMS on my QNAP)
2 * pi2/piCorePlayer/IQaudioDAC+ (one for mate)
1 * pi2/piCorePlayer/Audiphonics V2
1 * pi2/piCorePlayer/HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro

Whilst I agree that the IQ is brilliant, and with the case it's a lovely package, I'd suggest the Audiophonics is slightly better in terms of absolute SQ, if you want an on board DAC.

http://www.audiophonics.fr/en/diy-d...-v2-tcxo-raspberry-pi-20-a-b-i2s-p-10176.html

I'd also highly recommend the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro if you have a DAC that takes COAX. It has full galvanic isolation over the COAX connection, and powered by an iFi PSU sounds great in conjunction with my MDAC...

https://www.hifiberry.com/products/digiplus/

They also offer a very neat metal case...

https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/cases/steel-case-for-hifiberry-digi-black/
 
Cheers Wad for that summary, nice one.

Yes I fancy a go at the Audiophonics dac, Ronnie recommends it too.

I guess I was put off a little by a few reports with blokes saying they couldn't get it to work. I see you've managed it....any problems?

I like you also have an MDAC. Side by side the IQ beats it but the MDAC comes back in to the reckoning when hooked to the RPI.

I have not tried a digi board yet, or coax. Maybe a couple of things to try now.

Many thanks.
 
I'm on my third, all in use, with an IQAudio DAC+, an IQAudio Digi+ and a vanilla one connected to my mdac via USB.

Through the mdac I found the Digi+ to be very good indeed and I have to work hard to convince myself that the USB direct connection is much better. The DAC+ is used in a second system and is better than it has any right to be for £30. I also have a couple of O2 Jogglers attached to £30-50 mini DACs that can hold their heads up in decent company.

If I could only sell my squeezeboxes I'd be experimenting a bit more!
 
kennyh said:
Cheers Wad for that summary, nice one.

Yes I fancy a go at the Audiophonics dac, Ronnie recommends it too.

I guess I was put off a little by a few reports with blokes saying they couldn't get it to work. I see you've managed it....any problems?

I like you also have an MDAC. Side by side the IQ beats it but the MDAC comes back in to the reckoning when hooked to the RPI.

I have not tried a digi board yet, or coax. Maybe a couple of things to try now.

Many thanks.
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R.E the audiophonics I had no trouble at all with piCorePlayer...(if I recall correctly one just has to use the HiFiBerry DAC driver)

My MDAC has been upgraded to L2 'Toy' level by JW, with a LDA Linear PSU and my normal source for it is...

SBTouch(EDO)/BOBW PSU>Kimber 0.5m USB cable>iFi Purifier 2>iFi USB Power>iFi Gemini USB cable

...that whole link has evolved over time, and each step has provided an improvement in SQ...but at a cost!!!

I tried the pi2/piCorePlayer/HiFiBerry with a standard pi PSU up against the USB source, and A/B'd the COAX and USB sources...the USB was noticeably better.

Yesterday the iFi pi PSU arrived, with that in situ I can't tell the difference between the 2 sources...I've given it quite a bit of A/Bing on various different recordings, and it's superb on both...:)

The MDAC most certainly benefits from galvanic isolation, regardless of communication method...

At about £150 all in the pi/iFi PSU/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro represents fantastic value as an HQ digital source for the MDAC

Edit; One word of warning, I like to synchronise my living room (main system as above), and kitchen system (pi2/picoreplayer/audiphonics), the Digi+ pro suffers from occasional pops when synchronised, whereas the SBTouch/USB source works perfectly.

Cheers,

Will
 
I am using the iFi power supply on a Pi3 and noticed an improvement over the standard supply. I have an Olimex galvanic isolator between the Pi3 and the USB input of my MDAC. I'm not sure how going coax with BA HifiBerry would improve this. Currently the USB from the Pi sounds quite a bit better than the optical out of my Pioneer Blu-ray player.
 
Iqaudio Dac should be arriving tomorrow.Looking forward to seeing how it compares to my current configuration. If it made Kenny's MDac redundant for now it should be very interesting.
 
Del monaco said:
Iqaudio Dac should be arriving tomorrow.Looking forward to seeing how it compares to my current configuration. If it made Kenny's MDac redundant for now it should be very interesting.
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Looking forward to your report Del. I run the PI via battery now and PI + DAC+ is superb.
 
Teddy Pardo recommended the Anker battery pack on one of these threads so I ordered one, 5v 3a. Brilliant thing and has improved all round performance over the pi supply.
 
Ok guys. Need some help. I've received my Iqaudio Pi Dac+. I would really like to attach it to my Pi'd 7 inch screen but I'm a little hesitant. I have my screen attached to the Pi 3 via a ribbon and two wires( one to the 5v pin, one to the ground).I'm wondering how to connect the Dac board as the connected wires take up space on the Gpio ridge so I can't drop it on. There is an 8 pin header on the Dac board. I'm presuming I may have to transfer these connections to the 8 pin header somehow but this is where I am stuck as I can't find documentation identifying the functions of the pins on this header. Does it parallel the Pi ridge? Help!
 
It's OK guys. I worked out the pin profile and have made the right connections. Just had a quick try(my wife is watching The Voice.I know.)Will have a good listen when she's retired( she has retired). Doesn't seem to need more power as yet but too early to tell.Just happy to have got it going.
 
One way to bend the gpio pins (careful!), second is to use 2 power supplies, third is to get a power cable splitter. I use a splitter cable from pimoroni which works very well.

I might have a spare here you could try out for the cost of postage. I'll check in the morning
 
hc25036 said:
One way to bend the gpio pins (careful!), second is to use 2 power supplies, third is to get a power cable splitter. I use a splitter cable from pimoroni which works very well.

I might have a spare here you could try out for the cost of postage. I'll check in the morning
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Thank you. That is very kind of you. If things don't go well I may have to take you up on that. Just need to take it for an extended spin and check the power is OK.
 
OK. A short, first impressions review of the Iqaudio Pi Dac+. Firstly, once I'd figured out the power issues, set up was a breeze. The drivers are included in the PiCoreplayer OS so it was just a question of finding the Dac in the pull down menu.

Sound quality wise, there are differences between the Iqaudio and the Dacmagic 100. The USB connected Dacmagic sound is detailed and clinical, some attributes that I like. In electronica and string quartets theses attributes are helpful. The Dacmagic does tight bass which suits the spec of my speakers well.

The Iqaudio sound is warmer with some bloom. There is detail and you can pick up the skin of drums and the splash of symbol well. It reminds me of a Rega type sound. The soundstage is wider than with my Dacmagic with more depth.

I feel the mids or vocals are more recessed but I've not really listened enough to be totally confident about this yet. Will add more when I've found out more.For now, I'm impressed!
 
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