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Beating up a dead horse with a Rasberry pi as a streamer

Allo USBSig/Digi1Sig/Shanti: wired via cheapo Cat5e Ethernet, pulling flac files from a Synology NAS/

Then via Naim DC1 BNC cable to nDAC/XPS, thence to NAC82 etc through to active SBLs.

Software in the Allo is Moode Audio ver 8.0.2

Sounds good to me. No inkling to change.

Same here. The top end stuff from Allo is stunning. Those that go expensively beyond this often admit the gains are small. But they fund the progress so good on them. I’m happy to forgo that last few percent and be a parasite:)
 
Let me check my box of bits. I’ve almost certainly got a Pi3b you could have for a small donation to TonyL. Possibly even a 2b….

Thanks for the kind offer. I think the enclosure I bought needs a Pi4. I have a nice audio server so this was just a bit of tinkering on the side that I would maybe use in a second system.
 
After reading many positive reviews about using a Rasberry pi as a streamer, I subscribed to Tidal via Volumio. A couple of months ago, I connected the RPi to a Gustard U12, and the sound wasn't so good when connected to a Mark Levinson 360s DAC, so I gave up trying. I then bought an Audiophilleo for a different purpose, but I thought I would try the RPi again. The sound is slightly better but still nowhere near an ML 37 cd transport.
I presume this is as good as it gets for the RPi, or am I missing something? If the sound is near good transport quality, I might try to use a better PSU, but it is so far off that I might be wasting my time and money.
Does anyone else with the same experience connecting the Pi to a high-end Dac?

How much does one have to pay to get a streamer on par with a high-quality CD transport?

You need to get out there an listen for yourself. You may have seen my postings about the Grimm Audio MU1 which is an excellent digital transport. The Grimm was miles better than my Auralic Mini setup (Mini with upgraded LPSU, Matrix Audio X-SPDIF 2) - which I then then 'assume' would mean better than any RPi setup - thus concluding you may in fact be beating a dead horse which is what I am effectively doing with an Auralic Mini.

You could then argue that some RPi implementations are excellent when designers such as Bryston in their BDA 3.14 encase and optimise them. Also know that the Grimm is using an Intel NUC as their chosen platform.
 
The hifiberry blog says that it is:
‘Note that this affects only the Digi+ Pro and Digi2 Pro.’

if you source a used pi it is almost certain to work with Digi+Pro as the 4b rev 1.5 was introduced at the end of 2021.

Digi+pro works on this older rpi

Code:
tc@pCP:~$ cat /proc/device-tree/model;echo
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.1
tc@pCP:~$
 
You need to get out there an listen for yourself. You may have seen my postings about the Grimm Audio MU1 which is an excellent digital transport. The Grimm was miles better than my Auralic Mini setup (Mini with upgraded LPSU, Matrix Audio X-SPDIF 2) - which I then then 'assume' would mean better than any RPi setup - thus concluding you may in fact be beating a dead horse which is what I am effectively doing with an Auralic Mini.

You could then argue that some RPi implementations are excellent when designers such as Bryston in their BDA 3.14 encase and optimise them. Also know that the Grimm is using an Intel NUC as their chosen platform.

It just surprises me that the Rpi is so well received in general here and elsewhere. I can't get it to sound anywhere near a decent transport. Obviously, designers know how to do this (and you pay for their knowledge) but I thought by adding a decent SPDIF converter that the sound quality would be close enough to warrant further investigations. Sadly not.
 
The more I look into Rasberry Pi the more I realise it is a minefield of software and hardware compatibility issues.
Looks like more of a hobby for a computer science specialist rather than a hifi tinkerer.

Articles like this don’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling that messing with these things is going to be easy.
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news/raspberry-pi-releases-legacy-os

That specific story is poorly reported. Basically, some users cannot readily upgrade to the latest and greatest OS version, e.g. businesses with custom software. At the same time it is a lot of work for the RPi Foundation to maintain old versions of the OS. So they have formalised a long-term support legacy version and they detail the compromises that this entails.

For the hobbyist this ranges from irrelevant to useful.
 
I have been surprised how good my RPi sounds with it's its Hifiberry DAC 2 HD HAT. Very pleased with the overall sound and streaming experience using LMS.

Okay I had little computer knowledge which helps when setting up and configuring LMS. There are other options such as Volumio or Moode which more plug and play once you have them on the SD card.

LMS is well supported by the user community and has just about every plugin you might need. Of course there is one thing that the RPi can't do and that is Tidal MQA .
 
It just surprises me that the Rpi is so well received in general here and elsewhere. I can't get it to sound anywhere near a decent transport. Obviously, designers know how to do this (and you pay for their knowledge) but I thought by adding a decent SPDIF converter that the sound quality would be close enough to warrant further investigations. Sadly not.

It sounds like you are in a similar position to me - take along your raced tuned RPi and associated band aids (Audiophilleo etc) - then pit it against a Grimm Audio MU1 - walk away with new found knowledge and information. Don't forget to take 'your' interconnecting cables too. Let the dealer choose the amps and speakers - it will be his/her responsibility to highlight the changes using the right equipment.

Put together a playlist on Qobuz.

This is the only way you will know for sure. No more fighting against the bits are bits brigade or the ASR religion - your answers will be hanging in the air in front of you. Good luck with this quest - I think I have led you down the right path.

I'm sure there are other great digital transports to pit your RPi against - I'm just using my most recent experience where I think for sure you will get your answer.
 
... please don't get me started on the Roon subscription fees. I just bought MS Office 2021 for £19.99. The software subscription model is a big rip-off! I am sure Roon is good but I really don't want to pay c. £100 yearly forever to use it.
 
... please don't get me started on the Roon subscription fees. I just bought MS Office 2021 for £19.99. The software subscription model is a big rip-off! I am sure Roon is good but I really don't want to pay c. £100 yearly forever to use it.

Well I don't subscribe to Roon - and I do know that Roon is in the belly of the Grimm - however the point of the exercise is to go find out if you can get a streamer that can sound as good as your CD transport (or in fact 'better').

Once you know that - you can go down the Yellow Brick Road.
 


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