BDP pi

BrysTony · « **Reply #20 on:** 21 Feb 2016, 01:35 pm »

The Raspberry Pi computer board sells for about $35. I also question its use in a high end sound system.

Tony

James Tanner · « **Reply #21 on:** 21 Feb 2016, 02:01 pm »

Quote from: BrysTony on 21 Feb 2016, 01:35 pm

The Raspberry Pi computer board sells for about $35. I also question its use in a high end sound system.

Tony

Hi Tony

One of the reasons we are experimenting with the Raspberry Pi is we want to get the younger customer into a better audio system and higher end prices simply preclude those customers from even getting started.

james

unincognito · « **Reply #22 on:** 21 Feb 2016, 02:25 pm »

Quote from: plurn on 21 Feb 2016, 05:56 am

I would suggest you consider avoiding the Raspberry Pi and Pi 2 as the basis for a moderately high end music player as the usb and ethernet set up is not great. All the usb and the ethernet goes over a single usb controller (might even be a single usb channel?) so bandwidth, and I expect hardware interrupts, are limited. So if you are using say a USB drive and a USB sound device, they will be competing for the single USB controllers capacity. Same if you use a network share and a USB sound device, they will be competing for the single USB controllers capacity. I am not a hardware engineer though so I could be wrong about this being an issue. Just seems like a potential issue that could be avoided by using alternate hardware.

I am sure there are many happy users of Raspberry Pi as music players, just that I would think this might not be suitable in a moderately high end commercial music player. On the other hand - it might be fine.

There are other devices similar to Raspberry Pi that do not have this limitation.

If you are creating your own hardware and you add in suitable USB and ethernet controllers then you would of course avoid this potential issue.

Looking forward to seeing what you produce.

Hasn't been a problem with our prototypes, also I don't think this has been an issue for well over a decade with any hardware now that USB 2, 3 and 3.1 exists. I'd also like to point out we have released virtually nothing regarding details of what features this product will contain. Finally how much bandwidth do you think highres requires? Very little, 2MB/s or 16Mb/s for a two channel 192khz wav file. On paper it requires less, but we have found this to be the minimum for uninterrupted play back from a NAS or USB Drive. Your concerns are noted, but unfounded in the relation to our product.

Cheer,
Chris

unincognito · « **Reply #23 on:** 21 Feb 2016, 02:28 pm »

Quote from: BrysTony on 21 Feb 2016, 01:35 pm

The Raspberry Pi computer board sells for about $35. I also question its use in a high end sound system.

Tony

Sure does and thats nice

plurn · « **Reply #24 on:** 21 Feb 2016, 03:07 pm »

Quote from: unincognito on 21 Feb 2016, 02:25 pm

Hasn't been a problem with our prototypes, also I don't think this has been an issue for well over a decade with any hardware now that USB 2, 3 and 3.1 exists. I'd also like to point out we have released virtually nothing regarding details of what features this product will contain. Finally how much bandwidth do you think highres requires? Very little, 2MB/s or 16Mb/s for a two channel 192khz wav file. On paper it requires less, but we have found this to be the minimum for uninterrupted play back from a NAS or USB Drive. Your concerns are noted, but unfounded in the relation to our product.

Cheer,
Chris

It was not just bandwidth I was concerned about, but also timing, since people keep saying clocks and timing and low jitter are important for digital audio. So for example with a Raspberry Pi when you use the built in USB hub with for example a USB sound device, and a USB drive and/or an ethernet device accessing a shared drive, they are all competing for resources (including timing, hardware interrupts) of the one USB controller. Your prototypes may not even work this way, and even if they do it seems it is not a problem.

As you state my concerns have not been a problem with your prototypes, then I agree my concerns are unfounded. I appreciate your response and I look forward to the release of your product.

BrysTony · « **Reply #25 on:** 21 Feb 2016, 05:30 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 21 Feb 2016, 02:01 pm

Hi Tony

One of the reasons we are experimenting with the Raspberry Pi is we want to get the younger customer into a better audio system and higher end prices simply preclude those customers from even getting started.

james

James,

That is certainly a worthy objective.

Tony

JRace · « **Reply #26 on:** 23 Feb 2016, 07:13 pm »

Quote from: BrysTony on 21 Feb 2016, 01:35 pm

The Raspberry Pi computer board sells for about $35. I also question its use in a high end sound system.

Tony

Keep in mind that the RaspPI was designed to be affordable and accessible by everyone, and is being sold as such.
Unlike some of the HIFI industry this product was specifically made to hit a very low price.

It is also one part in a greater system. I would be surprised if the part in the BDP it replaces (motherboard) costs significantly more than $35.
It will still need a OS drive (sd card) and a power supply. And in the BPD my research has shown the PSU is what sets it apart from others.

After using the PI (rune), BPD, Moon Mind and various other streamers I can say with experience that the PI is more than capable.

doveman · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 Feb 2016, 10:32 pm »

Quote from: unincognito on 21 Feb 2016, 02:25 pm

I'd also like to point out we have released virtually nothing regarding details of what features this product will contain.
Cheer,
Chris

Chris I'm pretty sure you already mentioned its main feature... yumminess.

Quote from: unincognito on 19 Feb 2016, 04:35 pm

I'm pretty keen to see how it goes. A smaller cheaper unit would be nice. I'm still very happy with the performance of my BDP-1.

unincognito · « **Reply #28 on:** 24 Feb 2016, 01:12 am »

Just to clarify there are two hidden messages in that post

R. Daneel · « **Reply #29 on:** 24 Feb 2016, 02:09 pm »

If BDP-1 used Raspberry Pi from the beginning, I wouldn't have had the need to upgrade to BDP-2. No need for skepticism.

But now that BDP will be in a 1/3rd chassis, you could make an equal size DAC and a headphone amplifier. I mean, if younger public is your targeted client, then this would seem to be logical. Miniature versions of BDA and BHA with less connectivity and 50% the cost would be great.

Cheers!
Antun

James Tanner · « **Reply #30 on:** 24 Feb 2016, 02:13 pm »

Quote from: R. Daneel on 24 Feb 2016, 02:09 pm

If BDP-1 used Raspberry Pi from the beginning, I wouldn't have had the need to upgrade to BDP-2. No need for skepticism.

But now that BDP will be in a 1/3rd chassis, you could make an equal size DAC and a headphone amplifier. I mean, if younger public is your targeted client, then this would seem to be logical. Miniature versions of BDA and BHA with less connectivity and 50% the cost would be great.

Cheers!
Antun

Agreed

James

R. Daneel · « **Reply #31 on:** 24 Feb 2016, 02:44 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner on 24 Feb 2016, 02:13 pm

Agreed

James

I'll order the miniature headphone amplifier as soon as it's available!

Cheers!
Antun

doveman · « **Reply #32 on:** 24 Feb 2016, 10:42 pm »

Quote from: unincognito on 24 Feb 2016, 01:12 am

Just to clarify there are two hidden messages in that post

I'm afraid they're lost on me.

I think the smaller 1/3rd size components are a good idea.

I'm not sure how viable it is, but have you ever considered doing a full size modular piece. I mean like your 9b amplifier with "modules" that slide in and out, how about a full size chassis that can take three of the 1/3 size modules, so you could buy the chassis and populate it with a headphone module, dac, and bdp, or just one or two as requirements change.

alexone · « **Reply #33 on:** 25 Feb 2016, 08:39 am »

...very good input, doveman! i'd say that Bryston could reach more people if for example an integrated is made of modules. not everybody wants a single chassis for this purpose and a single chassis for that purpose just to listen to music.

al.

sfraser · « **Reply #34 on:** 26 Feb 2016, 04:42 pm »

Looking forward in seeing the final product James.

I currently am using a pi as my Squeezebox server (my 70k FLAC files are located on another NAS). It is working fine, as I mentioned the music is on a external NAS , but the pi is running the server S/W, and I even installed the squeezebox player software. It is currently is supporting 9 different squeezebox's throughout the house.

I built a 2nd pi for my hunt camp, It too is running both the squeezebox server & squeezebox player S/W, it also has 25k MP3's on a thumbdrive. While I don't have Internet access at the camp, I installed wifi access point S/W on the pi too, so that I can use a old iPAD as a wifi remote control. I have been playing with a HiFIberry amplifier/DAC daughter card , so I can connect speakers directly to the pi. It has turned out to be pretty neat little integrated system that is twice the height as a deck of playing cards and will run off of the 12V DC power we currently have at the camp. I am not sure how robust the amplifier will be when the "hooligans" show up and want to party however........

JRace · « **Reply #35 on:** 29 Feb 2016, 05:44 pm »

new PI
https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/raspberry-pi-3-on-sale/

Quote

In celebration of our fourth birthday, we thought it would be fun to release something new. Accordingly, Raspberry Pi 3 is now on sale for $35 (the same price as the existing Raspberry Pi 2), featuring:

A 1.2GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU (~10x the performance of Raspberry Pi 1)
Integrated 802.11n wireless LAN and Bluetooth 4.1

I love my PI, it can be a video playback machine, music playback machine and a retro gaming emulator, simply by swapping the SD card.

Marius · « **Reply #36 on:** 2 Mar 2016, 09:13 pm »

looking quite the stunner

Hope it takes big libraries...?

Cheers,
Marius

unincognito · « **Reply #37 on:** 3 Mar 2016, 01:37 am »

I've only tested it with my testing library of 35,000 songs (roughly), it'll handle much more then the BDP-1 but not as much as the 2. We are recommending it to those that have libraries smaller then 60,000 songs and don't need things like gigabit Ethernet. The BDP-2 still outperforms it in most (if not all) aspects of usage. Once we et closer to shipping we will likley release some kind of document comparing the the BDP-1, BDP-2 and BDP-Pi to give customers an idea of which product is most suited for there needs.

James Tanner · « **Reply #38 on:** 3 Mar 2016, 01:09 pm »

Little Box Big Sound
Built upon the Raspberry Pi and HifiBerry platform, thenew BDP-Pi is faster and more capable than our classic BDP-1 yet fits in a chassis 1/3rd as wide as our full size gear and costs less than half of a flagship BDP-2.

Connect
Virtually any DAC can be connected via the on-boardS/PDIF and Toslink connectors. Also, get ultra high resolution by connecting a USB DAC. You can even connect audio through HDMI.

Your Music
Connect an external USB drive containing your music library, stream your favorite internet radio stations, and enjoy lossless TIDAL streaming all on the BDP-Pi

Marius · « **Reply #39 on:** 3 Mar 2016, 01:46 pm »

Thanks Chris, seems you've come up with something very special. Hope the price will attract the younger public you're aiming at. Should be possible considering the Pi is available for 35$.

For now i think i'll wait for the BDP-3 with the nice Pi-display to arrive.

Cheers,
Marius

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Quote from: unincognito on 3 Mar 2016, 01:37 am

I've only tested it with my testing library of 35,000 songs (roughly), it'll handle much more then the BDP-1 but not as much as the 2. We are recommending it to those that have libraries smaller then 60,000 songs and don't need things like gigabit Ethernet. The BDP-2 still outperforms it in most (if not all) aspects of usage. Once we et closer to shipping we will likley release some kind of document comparing the the BDP-1, BDP-2 and BDP-Pi to give customers an idea of which product is most suited for there needs.