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

[r100]

Re PSU. I am using a 5v USB power pack to run the Pi the DAC and the wifi dongle without any issues. keep it simple.

[Soulman]

How to assemble a decent Pi streamer setup using PiDac.....

1. You will need: Raspberry Pi2, IqAudio PiDac+, PSU (one of these and a 12v 1.5A toroidal transormer, case big enough for all of the above, fast 8gb SD card, some free software (SD Formatter, Windisk32 Imager and Volumio).

2. Format SD card using SD Formatter.

3. Write Volumio onto the card using Windisk32 Imager, this is the card fully prepared for use in the Pi.

4. Attach PiDac+ to the Pi2, no soldering required.

5. Connect transformer to psu board, plenty of internet instructions but on the transformer I bought it was a case of wiring the two central wires together and terminating with heatshrink or tape and then positive lead to AC+ on the board and negative to AC-

6. Use an phone charger cable to connect from psu board to Pi2 (cut the unused end and connect to DC out on the psu board), from memory this is a mini usb connector which ground is the outer part of the connctor.

7. Put SD card into Pi2.

8. Power up and allow to boot.

9. Connect to router either directly using Ethernet cable or if in a different room to router/modem use powerline 200mpbs ethernet plugs (about £20 a pair and provide connection to router using your mains wiring). To mu mind ths is much simpler and more robust a solution than messing with setting wifi up on a headless Pi.

10. Connect to Volumio - type volumio.local into a browser (phone, tablet, laptop)

11. Connect to your storage and update library, this will take some time as th Pi2 isn't the quckest PC but i only needs doing when you add more music. Storage can be a USB drive attached directly to the Pi, a pc whch has the correct folders set to "Share" or a NAS drive. This last point will need more explanatin and I'm not the best person for this.

I'm not a computer expert, or big diyer but managed all of the above quite easily with a little reading. Hope this helps, Belloire hopefully will be along to comment sometime....

[Marco]

Hi John,

Welcome to a brave new world Marco so glad you embraced the dark side
One of the best things about this approach is the ablity to stream sites like Spotify with CD like quality I am listening to more music than ever using a similar approach

Cheers, mate - it's great! I've not done the Spotify thing yet, but will do. At the moment I'm simply using the Pi to stream music from a NAS box and ripping my CDs to the Recent folder.

Have you gone the Pi route now, too? Btw, tell Martin that he *must* try the IQ-Audio DAC (instead of the HiFi Berry), and use the Pi straight into his Chord, using Volumio only, bypassing his preamp - it sounds AWESOME that way!

Marco.

[Marco]

What's the Volumio software like to use, Marco?...

Great, Jo, dead easy and intuitive to use. I couldn't be happier with it.

I've not got a music server as yet, need to look in to that. Is using a HD too slow?.. or just not as instant.

Also, does it do gapless playback?.... (please say yes... please say yes)... heheh!

In answer to your first question, I don't know, as I've no experience with an HD. What do you mean by gapless playback?

Marco.

[Marco]

Hi Marco,

Doesn't have to be that expensive a psu, I built one for £25 using a pre built board from ebay and toroidal transformer. It made a significant difference to the Pi/Pidac combo. Add a cheap £25 case to fit psu and Pi in and, as you said, it makes a stunning streamer for £120 (inc card and software)...

Nice one, Des. I know Duncan has built one for his Pi, and he reckons there was an improvement, so I'm just waiting for him to build one for Ian and me. I don't know how he's designed it, but if he joins in the thread, I'm sure he'll explain

I've yet to hear a switch-mode PSU, in any application, not be outperformed by a high-quality linear unit.

Marco.

[jandl100]

Interesting! - a decent sounding streamer system. Well, I never, that's a turnup for the books.

Any views of its utility for a classical music listener, Marco?

Give me an off the shelf solution and I might even be arsed to try it out!

[The Black Adder]

Great, Jo, dead easy and intuitive to use. I couldn't be happier with it.



In answer to your first question, I don't know, as I've no experience with an HD. What do you mean by gapless playback?

Marco.

Cheers... Gapless meaning that their is no gap between tracks... So, for example, Pink Floyd DSOTM plays through flawlessly just as it does on CD.

[Marco]

Interesting! - a decent sounding streamer system. Well, I never, that's a turnup for the books.

Any views of its utility for a classical music listener, Marco?

Give me an off the shelf solution and I might even be arsed to try it out!

I've got 100s of 24-bit hi-res classical music files on hard-drives, Jerry, and they sound stunning, with the latest technology on the IQ-Audio DAC able to make the most of their resolution - you'd love it. Think SACD-style sound quality, only probably better!

I Intend to rip all of my (circa 800) classical vinyl records onto a separate hard-drive, so I can enjoy them seamlessly and uninterrupted, when I'm not using the turntable. The idea, not just with classical music, will be to sit in the garden, when the weather's nice, connect up the Celestion 15XRs, and listen to various kinds music (near-limitless choice), all controlled wirelessly from my laptop!

I might even pull the 66s outside, if I'm feeling really keen and want to 'broadcast' music to the pub next door!

Marco.

[Soulman]

Nice one, Des. I know Duncan has built one for his Pi, and he reckons there was an improvement, so I'm just waiting for him to build one for Ian and me. I don't know how he's designed it, but if he joins in the thread, I'm sure he'll explain

I've yet to hear a switch-mode PSU, in any application, not be outperformed by a high-quality linear unit.

Marco.

It wasn't only myself that heard it, I loaned th Pi and Psu to Belloire, he tried it, along with Setting Son and they both ordered one of the boards. For people who don't have someone to do it for them it is a really easy diy option and cheap for a good SQ upgrade....

[Soulman]

Interesting! - a decent sounding streamer system. Well, I never, that's a turnup for the books.

Any views of its utility for a classical music listener, Marco?

Give me an off the shelf solution and I might even be arsed to try it out!

Jerry you can pay people to archive your music collection for you, they'll even come and set the streamer up for you! Might be a bit pricey though