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

[The Black Adder]

lol... BOSH! - You guys crack me up... lol

ok, I'll give that a go first.

[Krisbee]

ah, righto...thanks

Must admit though, it seems a bit odd that the bypass can't be controlled via Volumio.

Volumio web interface > Playback > Mixer TYpe - set this to hardware. Then logon to your RPi via SSH as root with password volumio and use "alsamixer" to set the device sound levels . See pages 18-20 http://www.iqaudio.com/downloads/IQaudIO.pdf for details.

[drpetar]

Volumio web interface > Playback > Mixer TYpe - set this to hardware. Then logon to your RPi via SSH as root with password volumio and use "alsamixer" to set the device sound levels . See pages 18-20 http://www.iqaudio.com/downloads/IQaudIO.pdf for details.

And after setting the sound levels can we change the mixer type to "Disabled" or it is better to leave it on "Hardware"?

[Krisbee]

And after setting the sound levels can we change the mixer type to "Disabled" or it is better to leave it on "Hardware"?

I don't think you'll find one better than the other SQ wise for a given set PCM level. I suggested using a mixer type of "hardware" as it leaves you with the convenience of volume control via the Volumio webui if you need it. By all means use mixer type "disabled" once you have worked out the best alsamixer levels for your own hifi amp setup. Not everyone has remote volume control on their amps, and if you feed the iqaudio DAC ouptut straight to a power amp you need volume control somewhere.

[Marco]

Hi Alex,

Success is the bane of small businesses, in the short term at least. The lead times for batch manufacture arent short, especially as a manufacturer will schedule a small run around any larger commitments for obvious reasons. Customers are disinclined to wait and so inital interest often evaporates just as you are gearing up to satisfy it... examples are legion.

1000 pieces is still a snall order - probably two or three hours on a single pick and place line, so you eill always suffer from scheduling issues with contract manufscturers.

It takes a significant amount of courage to commit your own money to a project like this.. if it doesnt take off you end up with a lot of unsalable stock. Given the very low unit prices I think gordons approsch is logical and justified. Yes, many will want to buy from stock but i bet they wouldnt like it the price of building and holding a large stock was built into the price.

All fair points, which are accepted. All I would ask is for Gordon to take more of an active role here in terms of communicating with AoS members, keeping them updated on developments, as a significant number of them now have bought his product, and it's only really the tip of the iceberg!

Marco.

[Marco]

In other news, I've (at long last) solved my issues with Spotify, which is now working perfectly!!

The problem was that instead of using the proper Spotify website to set up a starred playlist, I was accessing Spotify, via the webpage/player, and it wasn't 'talking' to Volumio. Therefore, when I was setting up a playlist there, it wasn't going anywhere other than the webpage/player.

Setting up playlists on the proper Spotify website, however, has solved the issue, and now all the playlists I've set up there appear for selection (and playback) on Volumio. Job done!

Tomorrow I shall pop my other SD card into the RPi, loaded with Rune Audio (and my library of music), and see how that compares with Volumio. I certainly like how, with the latter, you can see the album art and search music via genre, not just artist. Some also say that Rune sounds better than Volumio, so we shall see!

Marco.

[drpetar]

I don't think you'll find one better than the other SQ wise for a given set PCM level. I suggested using a mixer type of "hardware" as it leaves you with the convenience of volume control via the Volumio webui if you need it. By all means use mixer type "disabled" once you have worked out the best alsamixer levels for your own hifi amp setup. Not everyone has remote volume control on their amps, and if you feed the iqaudio DAC ouptut straight to a power amp you need volume control somewhere.

Ah, I see now, thanks for that explanation, made things more clear for me now. Cheers

[Gordon@IQ]

Hey guys I'm here. I can also be found on the volumio / rune audio and raspberry pi forums :-) I also reply to direct emails too.

We're ploughing through the orders and they should all go this week as planned - I hope you all enjoy the experience and do consider that we're not talking mega bucks here.

Life before Marcos was nice and controlled, we put in an order for 1000 Pi-DAC+ blanks and for 500 to be populated initially with the remaining 500 at a later date. The headphone amp was on 8 week lead time. The headphone sockets were a 14k MOQ (minimum order quantity) - so there was a period of time we looked at alternatives too which we've found.

The plan was to provide
1) A German hifi manufacturer the promised allocation
2) Tindie (which has been a great portal for us) customers majority of product
3) 2x UK distributors first batches

Then comes Marcos and friends :-)

Tindie INTEREST goes through the roof - the issue here is that these are not orders it's just interest and 1:1 conversion rate is not guaranteed. However, all those Pi-DAC+ I allocated to tindie got sold out in record time.

Later this week 50 boards are going to Pimoroni and 50 to ModMyPi. That should make ordering them a little cheaper for UK customers.

For ROW (rest of World) customers, we'll continue to use tindie.com but there is a large Chinese distie who want a large batch too and I'm already talking to a US distie.

I have already asked for the remaining 500 Pi-DAC blank PCBs to be populated (that's where the real costs lie) and these should be with me soon too (assuming no massive lead times for parts).

I hope that explains where we are and our plans. I want to provide every potential customer access to the product but availability is based on cash flow at the start of this. I do not have deep pockets to bankroll huge board / stock orders, so will build up as we go.

Any questions I am happy to take. I'm getting lots already - mostly about when order xyz will ship. I'm answering those too :-)

Right, back to packing and posting.....

Gordon@iqaudio.com

[The Black Adder]

Hey Gordon.

Thanks for the update.

Glad that AOS has been doing the business for you. Hopefully I'll have mine either today or tomorrow as it was shipped yesterday (with thanks).

So far it sounds very healthy for you which is superb. I guess that there is no time to stop once you have a full order book.

Personally I can't wait to get it running.

Thanks again
Jo

[Marco]

Hi Gordon,

Good to hear that things are going well - and long may it continue! You have a truly wonderful product there

Just don't be so much of a stranger in future, my friend

Marco.