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Thread: 'Analog Dinosaur' succumbs to the joys of FBA : enter Raspberry Pi 2/IQ-Audio DAC+!!

  1. #11
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Black Adder View Post
    I don't quite see what input interface board fits on top of the dac board... or is it really that simple? I take it that the input board has SD/USB/COAX input?
    The Pi has various USB inputs, see here: http://www.rapidonline.com/electroni...FYgKwwodQgIA9w

    You simply connect your router and NAS box, containing your hard-drives (which works much better and quicker than any USB drive) to the Pi, via some cat5e cable. The Pi is fitted internally with the (separate) IQ-Audio Dac, itself having two phono outputs, which you can either connect to a preamp, or in my case, directly to my power amp (thus keeping the signal path as short and as pure as possible). The SD card fits into the Pi.

    If you want coaxial or optical connections, and wish be able to connect an off-board DAC, then you need the HiFi Berry+ https://www.hifiberry.com/dacplus

    However, for me, that isn't as good a solution. The IQ-Audio DAC is also reputed to sound better, although I haven't done the comparison. It would certainly take something rather special to beat it!

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  2. #12
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    its easy when someo!e knows what their doing thought you might have liked my pun?
    Oh don't worry, I didn't miss that one!

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  3. #13
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
    sounds interesting but as an even bigger dinosaur than you all I can say is 'first dibs on yer Sony'
    Lol - that's going nowhere, as I've got about 2500 CDs I still want to play.

    No-way am I ripping all of those, as a) I can't be arsed, plus I've got the space to keep them in a dedicated room, b) I like using and collecting physical music media, and c) I wish to retain the option of directly comparing playback of a CD, versus streaming of the same music.

    There is also the fact that the Sony still has a certain way of presenting music all of its own

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  4. #14
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

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    Be looking into this myself Grant, need some way to stream my files in the wee bedroom setup without spending a lot of moolah.
    This seems a good way to do it.
    Need it to do video as well...so some research is needed.

    Help you out once I'm up to speed.

    Quote Originally Posted by struth View Post
    I looked at these and although fancied it felt it was beyond me to set it up being a dunce. shame as they get good rep and are cheap. think it was our pink friend that gave me some info but think its past me building it and worse setting it up

    great your converted even if its just a bit
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

  5. #15
    Join Date: Feb 2011

    Location: South Wales

    Posts: 7,487
    I'm the'greatunwashed'.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Tim will giggle at this . . .
    Ha ha, yup but I'm not going to gloat and say 'told yer so' as like anything it has to be done right to satisfy those with a refined musical palette, but when you do get it right, it can and often does astonish the doubters. If you go right back to some of my first posts on AoS, I was a doubter too, but I like discovery and thought that all the folk who keep saying its good can't all be wrong - so I went out and tried it myself, then spent ages testing and learning. It's a lot easier these days and the performance keeps on marching forward, whilst the relative costs keep going down.

    The big thing though as you have discovered and what the Pi is now allowing even amateurs to achieve, is quite staggering musical performance compared to the very modest financial outlay, which for me was a significant factor as I like to spend my money on music, not gear.

    Its a shame more people aren't open minded enough to give file based audio a go (and properly, not just loading foobar2000 or JRiver onto a laptop and hooking it up to an amplifier ) and it really isn't that hard these days and there are plenty of people around to help out now.

    . . . welcome to the dark side.
    "People will hear what you tell them to hear" - Thomas Edison

  6. #16
    Join Date: Sep 2009

    Location: Derbyshire

    Posts: 9,228
    I'm Josie.

    Default

    Yup.. your Sony is a monster and a beautiful bit of kit. Rare as hens knackers and.... better IMO than current top..TOP end DAC's. I can imagine the Sony does some things better than the PI.
    Ultrafide U500DC power amplifier - Croft Vitale )highly modified) - TRIO L-07D Turntable - Denon DL103C1 - Funk Firm Houdini - Lentek MC head amp - 15" Tannoy Monitor Gold Loudspeakers in Lockwood Major cabinets (From Trident Studios) - Tannoyista SPEC 3 Custom Crossovers - VanDamme Black Speaker Cable


    Tannoyista.com

    Facebook

  7. #17
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Hi Tim,

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim View Post
    Ha ha, yup but I'm not going to gloat and say 'told yer so' as like anything it has to be done right to satisfy those with a refined musical palette, but when you do get it right, it can and often does astonish the doubters.
    For sure, although I've always rated the sonic potential of FBA (File-Based Audio, for those who aren't familiar with the term), but up until now have never heard it so convincingly delivered, and at stupidly low cost!

    If you go right back to some of my first posts on AoS, I was a doubter too, but I like discovery and thought that all the folk who keep saying its good can't all be wrong - so I went out and tried it myself, then spent ages testing and learning. It's a lot easier these days and the performance keeps on marching forward, whilst the relative costs keep going down.
    That's true. However, I was never really a doubter, always being pretty convinced by its potential advantages.

    I just had no real motivation to look into FBA very deeply. Vinyl is still very much my primary music source, and always will be (as my T/T is still my best sounding piece of kit), plus I have a very capable CDP and DAC, so I've never needed to bother with FBA, from the point of view of achieving a sonic upgrade. Convenience was also never a factor, or indeed a desire to be up-to-date or 'trendy'.

    Furthermore, for all the technical sonic benefits of streaming digital music, via a computer and DAC, rather than accessing it via the physical interface of a CD and CD player, on paper, in my experience those benefits never materialised into real-world listening conditions. The Sony, playing CDs, always did it better. Plus, up until now it's always been a bit of a ball-ache getting into FBA, especially for someone like me with ZERO interest in computers!

    One of the benefits of the Pi, once it's all set-up, is that there is next to no 'techy' stuff to worry about or any intrusive computer presence. I already had a router and a laptop, so the only 'computer addition' in my listening room is the tiny little Pi unit itself, which sits unobtrusively on top of my Sony DAC.

    I find the Volumio control interface intuitive and a doddle to use, especially as I don't use 'fancy' mobile phones, with tiny screens and buttons, and instead have a lovely, super-fast MacBook Pro and 15" Retina screen with which to access and control it, as I lie back and chill out on the sofa - bliss!

    The big thing though as you have discovered and what the Pi is now allowing even amateurs to achieve, is quite staggering musical performance compared to the very modest financial outlay, which for me was a significant factor as I like to spend my money on music, not gear.
    Same here - at least these days it is. I now spend much more money on music than hi-fi, and that's the way it will stay. The SPPV of the Pi/IQ-Audio DAC combo is indeed staggering, and so I intend to promote it as vigorously and successfully as I have the modded Technics T/T or vintage Tannoy DCs, as more enthusiasts *need* to know just how good this thing is for beer-token money...

    Its a shame more people aren't open minded enough to give file based audio a go (and properly, not just loading foobar2000 or JRiver onto a laptop and hooking it up to an amplifier ) and it really isn't that hard these days and there are plenty of people around to help out now.
    Indeed, and the latter sounds pants in comparison to what I've got going on here now.

    The problem is going to be convincing the 'key-jangler brigade', who judge how good something is by its price tag and/or 'exclusivity', or looks. I doubt we'll ever convince folk like that not to drop £1000s on something 'posh', from the likes of Linn or some other company with a 'high-end profile', thinking that they'll be guaranteed the best sound.

    However, for those on AoS who seek maximum SPPV from their systems, and love music more than collecting shiny boxes, the Pi/IQ-Audio combo will be a Godsend and very easy and cost-effective way of achieving high-quality music streaming.



    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  8. #18
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by The Black Adder View Post
    Yup.. your Sony is a monster and a beautiful bit of kit. Rare as hens knackers and.... better IMO than current top..TOP end DAC's. I can imagine the Sony does some things better than the PI.
    It does, but it's also the case the other way round, which is why it's nice to have both!

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  9. #19
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Aughton, Ormskirk

    Posts: 2,848
    I'm Jerry.

    Default

    Marco, it's nice to see that you have an open mind about streaming. As a vinyl addict it would be easy for you to ignore digital developments. How does the Pi compare to that NVA statement thingy you had a while back?
    Jerry
    Hifi: IPL transmission line floorstanding speakers, Squeezebox Touch, Denafrips Ares 11 DAC, DCB1 Pre-amplifier, Croft Series 7 power amp.
    Custom Hifi cables HA10SE headphone amplifier and Hifiman HE-400 headphones.
    AV system: LG 55B7, Denon AVR -x2300w receiver, Quad 12L (front) 11c Centre and 11L rear . Velodyne DD15 subwoofer.

  10. #20
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Hi Jerry,

    As a music lover, first and foremost, it would not only be rather remiss of me, but completely ridiculous to ignore the benefits of using a device that both sounds superb and gives me access to near-limitless amounts of music, not to mention is as cheap-as-chips!

    Much as I rate the sound of some NVA equipment, and have reported such on AoS, the Pi/IQ-Audio combo is in a different league, sonically, from the TFS - and I suspect will become even better with the addition of a high-quality linear PSU.

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


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