NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control

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Armaegis

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #60 on: 21 Jul 2016, 05:20 am »
Thinking, thinking  :scratch:.
I see the case has a headphone (6.5mm) out. Is there room left for a decent HP amp?

How "decent" are you talking about? If they've got the uDSD board in there, that has a built-in amp which will power most cans until you start getting into the heavies like planars or the higher end Senneiser/Beyerdynamic/AKG etc.

lousyreeds1

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #61 on: 21 Jul 2016, 10:31 am »
DAC-9 owner here.  There are lots of cool ideas floating around.  However, I think this has to be streamlined and simple for it to be viable and compelling to a broad audience.  I really don't think NuPrime's customer base is made up of DIY tinkerers, but rather of "mainstream" audiophiles who want great value equipment.

Here's where I am:

I love my DAC-9, but wish it had streaming capability built in.  I would LOVE to be able to add a simple wifi streamer in an STA-9 chassis with USB output that could sit right on top of my DAC-9.  It should have either an internal linear power supply or an external power supply, allowing customers to use their own LPS via DC input.  It has to be able to stream Tidal, and needs either AirPlay or RoonReady so that my wife and I can use streaming software that isn't clunky and buggy.  And it has to sound GREAT, up to NuPrime's standard for the rest of the line. 

In other words, I'm looking for a Sonore MicroRendu in an STA-9 chassis with wifi.  If it had an option for me to add my own SSD, like in the Auralic Aries Mini, even better.  For something like that I'd pay $700-$900 - as I think a lot of customers would.  Just my two cents!

mfwalker1

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #62 on: 21 Jul 2016, 02:07 pm »
I'm not sure. Would the uDSD and my crusty HD450II get me through the night?
How many MW is the amp in the uDSD?
Matt

How "decent" are you talking about? If they've got the uDSD board in there, that has a built-in amp which will power most cans until you start getting into the heavies like planars or the higher end Senneiser/Beyerdynamic/AKG etc.

rustydoglim

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #63 on: 22 Jul 2016, 04:34 am »
I love my DAC-9, but wish it had streaming capability built in.  I would LOVE to be able to add a simple wifi streamer in an STA-9 chassis with USB output that could sit right on top of my DAC-9.  It should have either an internal linear power supply or an external power supply, allowing customers to use their own LPS via DC input.  It has to be able to stream Tidal, and needs either AirPlay or RoonReady so that my wife and I can use streaming software that isn't clunky and buggy.  And it has to sound GREAT, up to NuPrime's standard for the rest of the line. 

In other words, I'm looking for a Sonore MicroRendu in an STA-9 chassis with wifi.  If it had an option for me to add my own SSD, like in the Auralic Aries Mini, even better.  For something like that I'd pay $700-$900 - as I think a lot of customers would.  Just my two cents!

Have wireless built in is a very bad idea because it becomes obsolete quickly. If you have followed our discussion (too bad, I removed the Omnia topic), you can guess where the future looks like.  When we were plotting our product road map, a year ago, I tell the team:
Don't think about what you want to do next year.  Lets think about how our audio world will look like 3 to 5 years from now. Then we work backward from this vision.

Anyway, I wonder if you have noticed the NuPrime WR-100. 
DAC-9 has a special port with [5V, S/PDIF, GND] pins.  It is designed to power and communicate with any wireless dongle or device that we make. There's what we have today:
Bluetooth dongle - convert bluetooth (aptX supported) to S/PDIF for better result than typical bluetooth to analog receiver.
WR-100 - supports Qualcomm AllPlay and a growing number of streaming services. With the NuPrime app, you can stream music from DLNA server to WR-100. Or you can stream analog input of WR-100 to other WR-100s.
Higher end version WE-200 will support AirPlay, AllPlay and Bluetooth streaming up to 10 zones. You can mix and match WR-100 and WR-200.

So the vision is to have Omnia as the portable and all in one server + player, Raspberry Pi or other media servers for entry level system, and various receivers and speakers around the home as end points or renderers.

rustydoglim

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #64 on: 22 Jul 2016, 04:40 am »
We are making a small production of 20 units with the following spec.  For internal wiring and layout, see the first few post.
After receiving several feedback, we have added Optical connector (with internal cable).
The front panel has two versions depending on whether you have uDSD inside or not.

Notable features:
1. External high quality switching power supply (engineer said linear doesn't offer advantage since we have power filter board inside) with filter board inside the case to ensure clean 5V power to Raspberry Pi and hard disk. There are two 2A 5V power supply.
2. Optical, Coaxial, RCA, HDMI outputs.
3. WiFi antenna.
4. Internal space for Raspberry Pi 3, hard disk, NuPrime uDSD DAC board, and power filter board.


We are also considering adding power amp inside (instead of internal hard drive).  We have developed a low cost and very small version of STA-9 amp module. We can turn this into a all-in-one entry level system. It is not the high end sound like STA-9, but I bet it will be better than anything out there for this price and configuration.


lousyreeds1

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #65 on: 22 Jul 2016, 05:11 am »
Anyway, I wonder if you have noticed the NuPrime WR-100. 
DAC-9 has a special port with [5V, S/PDIF, GND] pins.  It is designed to power and communicate with any wireless dongle or device that we make. There's what we have today:
Bluetooth dongle - convert bluetooth (aptX supported) to S/PDIF for better result than typical bluetooth to analog receiver.
WR-100 - supports Qualcomm AllPlay and a growing number of streaming services. With the NuPrime app, you can stream music from DLNA server to WR-100. Or you can stream analog input of WR-100 to other WR-100s.
Higher end version WE-200 will support AirPlay, AllPlay and Bluetooth streaming up to 10 zones. You can mix and match WR-100 and WR-200.

I'm excited to hear about the WR-200 with Airplay functionality.  I've avoided the WR-100 - and will likely avoid the Omnia - because it forces me to use AllPlay or other software that's buggy and just not up to a minimum standard of usability.  That's why AirPlay is so important, and it's why I'd love to see NuPrime become Roon Ready.  I know it's irritating to have to adjust based on some other company's strategy, but their software is miles ahead of anything else out there, and the only one of the bunch that anyone other than die-hard audiophiles are willing to tolerate.

lousyreeds1

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #66 on: 22 Jul 2016, 06:20 am »
Also - and I say this as a huge fan of NuPrime - I think you need to be careful about not cheapening the brand with products that don't meet your generally high standard of sound quality.  NuPrime has been billed as the high-end answer to NuForce, but the website advertises the WR-100 as an alternative to the awful-sounding Google Chromecast with more features.  Before I would think about buying a WR-200, I would need to be sure that its sound quality is on the same level as what NuPrime is offering with the DAC-9/STA-9.  I have similar concerns about this new all-in-one-streamer, which you say will include a stripped down STA-9 that doesn't sound as good. 

G Georgopoulos

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #67 on: 22 Jul 2016, 06:43 am »

Notable features:
1. External high quality switching power supply (engineer said linear doesn't offer advantage since we have power filter board inside) with filter board inside the case to ensure clean 5V power to Raspberry Pi and hard disk.

Read any engineering book,smps ripple is greater than linear's,ahhh you got a good filter,well then you are the best... :thumb:

Davezp25

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #68 on: 22 Jul 2016, 03:11 pm »
An amp module would be awesome. Would make a nice all in one for a secondary system.

rif

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #69 on: 22 Jul 2016, 03:49 pm »
We are also considering adding power amp inside (instead of internal hard drive).  We have developed a low cost and very small version of STA-9 amp module. We can turn this into a all-in-one entry level system. It is not the high end sound like STA-9, but I bet it will be better than anything out there for this price and configuration.



I think you would need to expand the preamp functionality.   As it stands, there are no inputs, digital or analog.  And even if its a power amp, you'd need to sacrifice something on the rear panel to accomodate binding posts, right?

Personally, i think trying to do everything is an ambitious  (and nobel) goal, but i can see you ending up with many different configurations which will be confusing and ultimately drive the costs up.

I would like to see it remove the hard drive and add the preamp functions. As long as it can play off of a usb stick or external usb drive, and has a digital input for my cd player, thats fine. And at least one analog input.  You could even make your own external hard drive case using off the shelf sata to usb converters.

Just my 2 cents.







rustydoglim

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #70 on: 22 Jul 2016, 04:46 pm »
Also - and I say this as a huge fan of NuPrime - I think you need to be careful about not cheapening the brand with products that don't meet your generally high standard of sound quality.  NuPrime has been billed as the high-end answer to NuForce, but the website advertises the WR-100 as an alternative to the awful-sounding Google Chromecast with more features.  Before I would think about buying a WR-200, I would need to be sure that its sound quality is on the same level as what NuPrime is offering with the DAC-9/STA-9.  I have similar concerns about this new all-in-one-streamer, which you say will include a stripped down STA-9 that doesn't sound as good.

What we are trying to do is to offer best-in-class products. At $99, WR-100 is not consider a high-end WiFi receiver, but compared to other sub $100 receiver, it has unique features and good sound quality. A lot of high-end brands avoided entry level products for several reasons:
1. worry about cheapening the brand
2. dealers refuse to sell them since there is no money to be made
We prefer to make products from $99 to > $5000. There is no particular lower or upper limit.

I think with the new low cost STA-6 (I use STA-9 for comparison due to similarity in design but it is a new amp) would make a complete system (amp+DAC+speaker) possible for under $1000. Most of you probably don't care about such a product, but we think it is an important entry level set for people who want something better than the mass market all-in-one system from the big brands, but either unable or unwilling to pay more.

mijkie

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #71 on: 2 Oct 2016, 03:09 pm »
I was just talking with someone about something like this.

There are people who DIY cheaply on their own, and people who like ready made, with a few who DIY for top quality regardless of price.  If you can especially appeal to those who DIY with your quality/price ratio -- and that seems to be one of your specialties -- then I think you'll have an enthusiastic base for encouraging those who've never done anything beyond plugging in a cable.  Raspberry Pi has made it possible to do this without much too much more effort on the customer's part than that.

I would definitely be interested.

+1

zwizardofoz

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #72 on: 4 Oct 2016, 02:13 am »
If roon was onboard that would be a winner...Bryston has also come out with a RPi unit

zwizardofoz

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #73 on: 4 Oct 2016, 03:56 am »

I think with the new low cost STA-6 (I use STA-9 for comparison due to similarity in design but it is a new amp) would make a complete system (amp+DAC+speaker) possible for under $1000. Most of you probably don't care about such a product, but we think it is an important entry level set for people who want something better than the mass market all-in-one system from the big brands, but either unable or unwilling to pay more.

STA-6 do tell us more Jason...a new thread maybe for this.

rustydoglim

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #74 on: 10 Oct 2016, 08:24 pm »
Space issue and noise. There is a power filter board inside so not the entire PSU is outside.
But the AC adapter is outside, keep the noisy transformer away.
AC --> DC outside, then more clean up internally for the DC power.

We are making this for real, some communication problem with production so it wasn't started until two weeks ago.

mijkie

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #75 on: 11 Oct 2016, 06:59 pm »
can't wait !!

muellec3

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #76 on: 28 Oct 2016, 09:42 pm »
rustydoglim

Will there be a IR sensor in the case connected to the pi? In my use it would be essential to at least on/off and play/stop/skip with a remote.

rustydoglim

Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #77 on: 28 Oct 2016, 10:51 pm »
Good question. I will follow up with R&D. Sine this chassis is also used by IDA-8 and DAC-9, there is a place for IR receiver on the front panel.

christopher-h

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #78 on: 11 Nov 2016, 02:58 am »
Hi Jason

I would take a chassis and power supply but hopefully in silver.  I am taking delivery of a Dac-9 and STA-9 next week in silver.  Would you be making any in silver?  A foursome of 2 Sta-9's, Dac-9 and RPi server would look great together especially if all the same finish.
Thanks, Chris

Starboard

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Re: NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server and DAC with volume control
« Reply #79 on: 11 Nov 2016, 12:50 pm »
Hi to all!

I am also interested on NuPrime Raspberry Pi Server, but without internal DAC because I have DAC-10H already. So, my question is, is it going to be better version of network player then WR-100 Wi-Fi Audio Adapter or will Raspberry Pi Server be in serial production and possible to order without internal DAC module and hard disc?

BR