I'm deep into auditioning every Pi combination I can lay my hands on: IQAudio, Allo, Audiophonics, et al - optimising software differently for each. All in all, though: they're an impressive bunch. It almost makes you wonder why you'd buy anything else.

The big benefit seems to come from the lightweight nature of the SBC (good for power, bad for jitter), combined with the unquestionable superiority of the short, hard-wired I2S connection and tidy (if unspectacular) D-A conversion. They all benefit from a bit of extra oomph in the preamp department (Burson's Cable+ is shockingly good at this), but (especially when upsampled) the digital volume controls tend not to be as lossy as many dedicated preamps. Direct to power offers real benefits.

One thing I've really noticed is how important the player/kernel is . . . is it just me, or is MoOde currently the most transparent-sounding in its low-latency V3.1 incarnation?