[simoon]

So, I've been reading forums all over the interwebs, and trying to gather all the info I need, and all the opinions I can find, and I'm still a bit confused.

Not confused technically, but confused sonically.

So, I have a brand new Gustard DAC-20U dual Sabre DAC, and so far I am really impressed. It is currently only doing red book duty (Opera Consonance 2.2) and it sounds substantially better than the Opera's built in tube DAC (which is no slouch).

My question is, can a Raspberry PI actually be a high quality (dare I say, 'audiophile level', whatever that is) music server?

I've read some articles on forums that claim the answer is 'yes', but most of those claiming so are strictly computer audiophiles feeding a desktop system, with rather unimpressive DACs. Not trying to denigrate them, but most of them do not have hi-end amps, speakers, preamps, etc.

Of course, they are so cheap, it's hardly a monetary gamble. But my time is more valuable and I have other projects I'm working on.

What is the consensus opinion of the Audiocircle discless members?

[unincognito]

I think you might be getting into a question that could be conceived as opinionated. Personally I have a hard time distinguishing between USB vs balanced vs single ended from the same source (a Bryston digital player).  The Bryston digital player also runs Linux, but using a different processor architecture (shouldn't make a difference).  I guess what I'm trying to say is if you do it right the raspberry pi should sound really good, is my opinion.

There are a number of existing projects that already do much of the software configuration for you like

https://volumio.org

Or

http://www.runeaudio.com

On the hardware side you could invest in linear supply rather then a switch supply.  You could invest in USB accessories like the jitterbug.

Hope this helps

Cheers,
Chris

[simoon]

Thanks.

That's the kind of reply I was hoping for. I just need enough impetus to order the stuff needed and get started.

Looks like, from all the positive reviews, the UpTone Regen might be a real nice addition between the Raspberry and DAC.

More opinions would be great.

[Odal3]

I don't have anything fancy to compare with but the premade images makes it easy to set up. In addition to the ones mentioned below also check out moode, which has a nicer interface imo (but they are all pretty much the same). Not sure if they are in the same league as the dedicated and expensive streamer boxes, but to me it sounds really nice

[rxetera]

I just finished setting up a RP2 with SqueezePlug/Max2Play streaming from a USB WD MyPassport drive to a USB Audio-GD 11.32 Sabre based DAC/HP amp (PCM only), which I currently listen to with my Denon AH-D600 headphones.  The quality IMO is excellent!  I also configured the player to convert with Sox my DSD files to 32/96000 PCM and it barely hits 50% CPU load.

If you can survive some of the setup woes the reward is well worth it.  If you're interested I will post my setup steps to ease your pain.

Again IMO would be hard pressed to tell a difference between this setup and a dedicated Bryston like Linux system.

-Ed

[rikhav]

I am also using RPI2 as a music server and am thoroughly impressed by the sound. the most important thing is that its so clean and resolving comparing a laptop i used to play audio files by foobar. Mind you, foobar sounded satisfying to my ears until I heard the RPI2

I found Runeaudio sound a little bit lean in the midrange. Moode audio sounds just perfect to me.

I am powering the RPI by a 10000 mah power bank and music files are stored in ADATA passport HDD.

My DAC is a burson conductor

I have also ordered a add on board by Hifiberry which will let RPI output audio via coax. I have ordered one with galvanic isolation. As per what I have read it should sound much better then USB as the add on board connect the RPI via I2s

I dont use upsampling feature on Moode and nor play DSD files as my dac does not support it. Playing 16 bit 44khz files, CPU load is merely 3 to 4 percent even when I have downclocked my RPI2 to 450 mhz

With hi-res files load is between 7 to 8 percent which still is very less.

I maybe wrong but I think with so less cpu load there would be very less jitter produced helping it to sound so good

[rikhav]

Thanks.

That's the kind of reply I was hoping for. I just need enough impetus to order the stuff needed and get started.

Looks like, from all the positive reviews, the UpTone Regen might be a real nice addition between the Raspberry and DAC.

More opinions would be great.

Don't order the Uptone regen before hearing the RPI. The uptone may or may not make a difference for you
If you  ask my opinion, irrespective of being very cheap the RPI is a very good music server.
Yes, it does take a while to configure everything but once done the end result is pretty good

Avoid using wired ethernet  if using USB to connect to your DAC

[franz159]

I am also using RPI2 as a music server and am thoroughly impressed by the sound. the most important thing is that its so clean and resolving comparing a laptop i used to play audio files by foobar. Mind you, foobar sounded satisfying to my ears until I heard the RPI2

I found Runeaudio sound a little bit lean in the midrange. Moode audio sounds just perfect to me.

I am powering the RPI by a 10000 mah power bank and music files are stored in ADATA passport HDD.

My DAC is a burson conductor

I have also ordered a add on board by Hifiberry which will let RPI output audio via coax. I have ordered one with galvanic isolation. As per what I have read it should sound much better then USB as the add on board connect the RPI via I2s

I dont use upsampling feature on Moode and nor play DSD files as my dac does not support it. Playing 16 bit 44khz files, CPU load is merely 3 to 4 percent even when I have downclocked my RPI2 to 450 mhz

With hi-res files load is between 7 to 8 percent which still is very less.

I maybe wrong but I think with so less cpu load there would be very less jitter produced helping it to sound so good

I'm a great fan of raspberry pi based solutions, and I have been playing with them for a couple of years now, starting with a Raspberry B, than B+ and now Pi 2.

I'm also currently using the HiFiBerry digi+ transport, to output to my Dac via coax cable and so far this has proven superior to the other methods I tried (eg IQaudIO PiDac+).
It's worth noting however that also the "low cost" DACs (such as the mentioned IQaudIO in my case) do offer an incredible value for the money imho.
I'm also using an external linear power supply (Keces DC-116) , dual output: 5V for the raspberry and 12V for the Dac.

Out of curiosity I have now ordered an Uptone USB regen to make a direct comparison with the HiFiBerry with coax.

On the sw side I started with Volumio, then RuneAudio and now using MoodeAudio.
Please note they are all similar in that they "derive" somehow from the same roots and are all based around mpd (music player daemon).

The only drawback is that, at least in my experience,  the raspberry is not probably the best solution if DSD is crucial for you:
- using Coax I was not able to have DOP working (even if this might well be a problem of my Dac)
- using USB all is good up to DSD64, but I have unacceptable dropouts with DSD128.
   Again, maybe I'm asking too much since in this attempt I had my 2Tb HDD on one USB port and the DAC connected on another USB port

On the other hand I have only very few DSD, which I bought just to try them out.

[Odal3]

For me it works much better having the music files on a separate NAS.

Have anyone tried the Odroid C1+ boards? I'm very curious since it has gigabit ethernet connection, which is a much faster connection than on the raspberry.

[franz159]

For me it works much better having the music files on a separate NAS.

Have anyone tried the Odroid C1+ boards? I'm very curious since it has gigabit ethernet connection, which is a much faster connection than on the raspberry.

Given that streaming processes do buffering, I don't think gigabit ethernet would really make a difference when streaming audio files.
As far as I understand, the limitation in the raspberry comes from the fact that the same bus is shared for ethernet and usb.
In my case, as I said in my previous post, the only real limitation I have found so far is I cannot play DSD28 without dropout which is not a big deal for me.

[rikhav]

Hi Franz159
Agree with you that there are issues with DSD on coax and USB, but as my DAC cant do DSD I am OK.

I am really eager to know the result of your comparison between digi plus and uptone
Please update the thread once you compare both of them

Thanks

[simoon]

Thanks for the input by all!

I will update the thread with my impressions as soon as I have it up and running.

Spent a bit of time this weekend on it, but could not get it to see my shared drive on a Win7 box. Getting an error when I tried to connect Volumio.

Also tried RuneAudio, which would not connect to network. No lights on the Ethernet.

Downloaded Moode last night, but did not try booting with it yet.

[gychang]

I just listened to my RP2 + turtle beach micro advantage USB card (several years old) running musicbox (plan to try moode soon) from android tablet.  I connected to my t-amp and it sound very good.

This is an economical solution and the sound was surprising...   I put up a video on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NilxUYWOodI

[ccklone]

Hey Now,

I have been using the RPi2 for a while now with Volumio with good results. I just recently started using the RPi2 as a NAA (Network Audio Adapter) for HQPlayer and the results are very promising. I am not able to stream DSD256, but DSD128 is fine. I have a 5K iMac with an i5 core which can do DSD256 in the main listening room, but when using the RPi2, I can only do DSD128 upsampling. I get stuttering at DSD256. I wonder if it is because the ethernet and USB are on the same buss in the RPi2? I am using a powerline ethernet solution to the RPi2, could it be that?

At any rate, it sounds very good to my ears and is quite stable, no dropouts or stuttering at DSD128 upsampling. Here is my chain iMac/Roon/HQPlayer > Airport Extreme > powerline ethernet connection > RPi2 as NAA > solid connector > Regen > solid connector > iFi Nano DSD DAC > BH Quickie > Dynaco ST-70 > Meadowlark Kestrels.

--
Finest kind,
Chris

[sfox7076]

Macs cannot do DSD over 128.  It also depends on whether your DAC has been included by Linix as native a native DSD in Linux.

[richidoo]

According to the EBay ad for the DAC, it has 2 different master clock schemes which (maybe) reclocks the incoming USB at least, because the clocks are on the USB receiver daughter board. If that's true that it reclocks, not just some form of "reduce jitter" then it should not matter how bad the USB source is, the master clock will fix it, down to the jitter spec of the master clock, which should be pretty low compared to the Pi.

SabreDAC technology does remove a lot of jitter itself, but not all, and it benefits from low jitter I2S source like internal master clock provides. Whether those master clocks affects your SPDIF inputs I can't tell since they are on the USB card. Maybe there are other "master clocks" on the motherboard? Seems like a waste to do it twice. Maybe one scheme reclocks (USB) while the other scheme "reduces jitter" for spdif sources.

It does show another set of clocks on the other board, delivering clock to the DAC via the braided coax cable. Looks pretty darn good! I think the Pi would be OK.

Clocks say "accusilicon"

[JohnR]

According to the EBay ad for the DAC

Which DAC is that (in the picture)?

[JohnR]

when using the RPi2, I can only do DSD128 upsampling. I get stuttering at DSD256. I wonder if it is because the ethernet and USB are on the same buss in the RPi2?

There are other boards you could try if your distro supports them, like the Odroid C2.