[Lol999]

After reading about how good the Raspberry Pi makes music sound I decided to take the plunge and get one. My theory being it was a cheaper option than spending megabucks on usb cables, this that and the other.
I got a beginners kit from amazon for £55, comes with a psu, hdmi cable, case, pre-loaded sd card with NOOBS (New Out Of The Box Software).

What struck me was the real lack of detailed instructions available out there on how to achieve music. After a hour or so of swearing, mainly due to Win32DiskImager NOT flashing the sd card with the Rune OS properly I achieved some music, and with my dac connected it sounded pretty good. However, I made the error of searching for tweaks, and sure enough they exist, mainly in the form of altering the Linux code in the OS.

Undeterred I ran at it, failed miserably, and posted on the Rune forum asking for help. Non came. By chance I happened across a Youtube video which explained the need for using PuTTY software to communicate with the Pi.
I collated the suggested tweaks from the runeaudio forum, applied them via PuTTY and all is good!

Even with flu-bunged ears I can hear a good difference between this and Fbar 2000 through the laptop. Happy days.

If you can, give it a try, it may just be what you want.

Cheers, Lol

[randytsuch]

Nice 

By coincidence, I just resurrected an old Pi2, and its now hooked up to my bedroom system.

I loaded Moodeaudio into it.  Just got it running, seems to work well, but moode was not that simple to get going.  I wouldn't recommend to a pi newbie.
Not really that hard once I figured it out (like lots of things lol), but not what I would call trivial. 
There is supposed to be a simpler process that just came out after I got it working, haven't tried it yet.

Another sw package is volumio, but I haven't tried that.

I plan to upgrade to a better power supply at some point, right now its a generic 5 port usb charger.  I expect improvement with a linear PS or lifepo4 batteries, but obviously adds some cost.

[HAL]

You might try installing VLC as a player with Raspbian OS.  Works well here.

[dB Cooper]

Another sw package is volumio, but I haven't tried that.

Supposed to be very easy to set up and use. Pi as music server is pretty well represented on Computer Audiophile forums, hifiberry and others.

[Lol999]

If Volumio is anything like Rune, and I believe they are fairly close, then a basic set up is fairly straightforward. The fun comes when you want to start tweaking, unless you know how to couple to the Pi and use something like PuTTY then it's damn near impossible.

[Yatsushiro]

You may wish to try PiCorePlayer https://sites.google.com/site/picoreplayer/home. Very configurable/adjustable, all via a web interface. I've tried Rune, Moode & Volumio, but PCP remains my favourite.

One of the advantages of playing with a Pi is that you can easily change OS with a different SD card.

[renaudrenaud]

I am using PiCorePlayer since years. I use it headless or with screen (with JiveLite).

PiCorePlayer is client of LMS (Logitech Media Server) and is able to install LMS on the Raspberry.

LMS is an open source project since many many years and it runs in Mac, Windows or Linux. I am using a server on Orange Pi One at 12€ and write some code to play with LCD etc...

There is plenty of cards to go with the Raspberry, for example Hifiberry. The best results I got is with a Chinese DAC with PCM5102 at 10€ using I2S. Results are more than correct in term of audio quality and a player cost nothing. Also, Amanero is reconized if you want to go this way.

[Yatsushiro]

I am using PiCorePlayer...

Hi Renaud

It would appear that you and I seem to be on the same forums...!

Joyeux Noel!

[Wayne1]

JohnR sent out a Pi stack for some members to review and compare.

That thread is here.

It had a Pi2 with Allo Kali reclocker and a Piano DAC with a linear power supply.

You can read what other members thought of the system but I was very impressed.

It easily outperformed an analog modded SqueezeBox Touch.

It was very easy to use with PiCoreplayer.

Demoing that little stack was enough to push me off of the Touch and fully into SBC.

I am now using an Odroid C2 with a custom linear power supply into a DIY DAC using ROON and upsampling to 256 DSD.

My music has never sounded better. Enjoy the Pi and the fun of upgrading, if you want to.

[Lol999]

Hi Wayne and thanks for the reply. I have only just recently bought a Sabaj Da2 dac, tiny thing which feeds from the USB and sounds very good. One thing that struck me though was has anyone measured the noise on the usb output on a Pi3, is there any and is it significant? As I understand it my dac does a good job of sorting jitter etc (Note: I read Archimango's blog about how he measured noise from the Pi3 usb socket and found it to benice and clean so that question is answered!)
My dac supports native dsd upto 512 but I don't believe it upscales, and upsacling seemsto be a contentious issue on every forum.
I do like tinkering but have a limited budget, although I have considered building a linear psu for it and if anyone has any suggestions I'm always ready to consider them.

Cheers, Lol

[Lol999]

I thought about putting this in a case with the Pi 3 and feeding it with a generic psu off ebay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Low-Noise-LT3042-Linear-Regulator-Power-Supply-Board-For-Amanero-XMOS-DAC-Power/263214365618?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49138%26meid%3D22708d364ca946c2840c7012906862ec%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D263374806928&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

It comes with 5v and 1A as default which is useful as I only use the Pi as a music server. I also thought about going in through the gpio pins as I HATE micro usb with a passion.

Cheers, Lol

[HAL]

Have built many of these for projects and one now for the RPi3 for trials:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LT1083-Adjustable-Regulated-Power-Supply-Module-Parts-and-Components-DIY-Kit/182350089372?epid=1348495119&hash=item2a74e98c9c:g:WRUAAOSwB4BaCnEO

You just need a 6.3VAC @ 3A secondary power transformer for 5.0VDC.   Just adjust the output voltage to 5.0VDC with a DMM before connecting to the RPi3.  I just cut a micro USB cable off a dead recharger to wire up for power. 

Good luck.

[Yatsushiro]

It comes with 5v and 1A as default which is useful as I only use the Pi as a music server. I also thought about going in through the gpio pins as I HATE micro usb with a passion.

Cheers, Lol

1A to a Pi3 will not be enough. You need 2A minimum, preferably 3.

Using the GPIO pins for power works well, but you may wish to add your own fuse, as you will be bypassing the RPis polyfuse...

[Lol999]

Ignore this post, Yatsushiro made a salient point about current output and so what I had written here is now redundant.

I would like to though use a pre-built board from ebay UK or similar as I don't have a soldering iron and zero soldering skills!

[Lol999]

1A to a Pi3 will not be enough. You need 2A minimum, preferably 3.

Using the GPIO pins for power works well, but you may wish to add your own fuse, as you will be bypassing the RPis polyfuse...

Ah, I'm currently running Rune with the de-clocking mods in place so I perhaps misunderstood it to mean it required less current. However, I might also want to run say a retro games system at some point so I see the point at having a good amount of current.

Perhaps this item might do the trick fed from a suitable AC power supply

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LT1083-Adjustable-HIFI-Linear-Regulated-Power-Supply-Module-Board-Single-Output/262977889108?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49138%26meid%3D790e0137c4ee49ed965e4c81c797872e%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D262531341710&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

[HAL]

Hi Hal, thanks for the reply. I was going for the completed board I linked to because:
1) I have zero soldering skills and no soldering iron
2) I'm in the UK and it was what I found on ebay UK.

For the board I was considering would I still need a psu with 6.3v 3A supply? I thought I would buy a readymade psu instead of a transformer but would that be re-introducing more crap into the system such as noise, ripple etc?

cheers, Lol

The board you selected still needs an AC power transformer to work, just like the one I posted.   Look at the comments below in the listing for what is needed.

You can also get the one I posted assembled in the UK.  Can handle a lot more current:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LT1083-Adjustable-Regulated-Power-Supply-Module-Parts-and-Components-DIY-Kit-MO/152256624498?hash=item237333b772:g:gpoAAOSwTM5Y7dn7

[Wayne1]

The power supply sent along by JohnR is this one here.It is only 1.5 A but it worked out just fine for the Pi and two HATs

[Lol999]

@Wayne - that's £50 sterling, add a potential 20% import duty and £8 handling for the Post Office and I'm looking at ~£70! Scandalous!

@Hal - the listing for the board you recommend says this: "inlet and outlet pressure differential minimum: 2.5 volts"

Does that mean to get 5v out I need to supply AT LEAST 7.5v?

Also, do I NEED a discrete transformer or would a wall wart do the trick?

Thanks, Lol

[Wayne1]

You may want to consider the iFi iPower Quite a lot of folks really like them for powering the Pi.

While you are looking an inexpensive power supply boards, you should also consider the cost of a case and connectors and fusing to make it safe. The iFi and the PS I linked to earlier all have that installed.

[HAL]

@Wayne - that's £50 sterling, add a potential 20% import duty and £8 handling for the Post Office and I'm looking at ~£70! Scandalous!

@Hal - the listing for the board you recommend says this: "inlet and outlet pressure differential minimum: 2.5 volts"

Does that mean to get 5v out I need to supply AT LEAST 7.5v?

Also, do I NEED a discrete transformer or would a wall wart do the trick?

Thanks, Lol

The LT1083 needs 1.3VDC from input to output at 7A of current to regulate correctly.  The bridge rectifiers provided need 2VDC drop at 7A.  Lower voltage drop for less current.  I used a 6.3VAC = 8.9VDC with the bridge rectifier on the board and works.  If you want less voltage drop, substitute low Vf Schottky diodes for the rectifiers supplied.   

The transformer can be either style, but needs to be at least 6.3VAC, 3Amp secondary.  That is a big wall wart!  An E-I core transformer will filter more HF line noise out.