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

[Halfway Tree]

Just discovered this thread and I'm just about to purchase JRiver wondered how Volumio manages volume control? It looks like it's 24 bit? in software, but it appears that there could be hardware volume control on the IQ Dac on the Rpi. Can anyone shed any light on this?

many thanks

Gordon

[Marco]

Hi Jim,

1. Ripped CD via FBA is certainly better than standard CD no matter how good/expensive the player. It can embarass very high end CD players for a fraction of the cost.

Not *always* in my experience. It certainly wasn't the case in my system until I discovered the Pi/IQ-Audio DAC combo, and like you, I've heard some expensive 'state-of-the-art' streaming set-ups. Even now, as superb as the Pi is, my modified Sony CDP/DAC, playing the best recorded discs, still does some stuff a little better (and vice-versa the Pi), which is patently obvious when doing back-to-back comparisons.

The problem is that very few people these days have access to 'cost-no-object', battleship-build 'statement' CDPs, designed in the 'heyday of CD' era, by huge multi-national companies, such as Sony, who knew exactly how to get the most from Red Book CD, and had the wherewithal to achieve it.

Therefore, it comes down to benchmarks. If you've never heard CD truly 'done right', as I've just outlined, then any decent FBA set-up will wipe the floor with most players made these days. It's all in the quality of the transport mechanism and associated 'infrastructure', and its ability not only to read the musical information on discs as accurately as possible (reducing the limitations of that physical interface), but also to reduce noise to minimal levels with CD playback.

3. 24 Bit and DSD can sound superb and sometimes better than ripped RED Book CD BUT it does depend on a number of factors and in my opinion is not all its cracked up to be. True DSD done well is the ultimate but rarely do you come across really good stuff and 24 bit often sounds no better or even worse than ripped CD. Often its all in the engineering! Bit like analog

That's also what I suspect, and indeed experience so far suggests. For me, it requires just as much know-how and expertise to get truly top-notch sound from an FBA set-up, as it does from an analogue one. Folk are brainwashed by the 'digital is perfect' nonsense, and so don't try as hard as they should to max-out what's achievable with it, simply because they consider the effort unnecessary.

In that respect, they're wrong. Also, 24-bit, as you correctly say, is no automatic 'magic bullet!

4. As in analog set ups everything matters so NAS units, cables, HDD, DACs and streamers all add there own bit of 'colouration'...

I'm also beginning to suspect that, and some further experimentation in this area, now that I have access to FBA, should act as a learning curve, whereupon I'll be able to form a proper opinion on the matter.

However no matter which way it is done for me it still sound digital. I still prefer the distortion and colouration of valves and analog, not the squeaky clean precision of 011010101 and transistors...

To an extent I agree, as digital will always be digital, and analogue, analogue: both have their sonic advantages and disadvantages.

However, what I can tell you (and you know how good my T/T sounds), is that when the Pi/IQ-Audio DAC are 'on it', and fed a top-notch 24-bit high-res recording, the result gets 98% of the way to what the Techy achieves, playing mint, audiophile vinyl pressings - and look at the cost difference!!

Marco.

[r100]

hey Marco, pass this guide on to Duncan, see post by DanStephens. He gives a quick "tutorial" on how to edit the spopd file with nano (the text editor) .. if you are on a PC get the "putty" console to access your pi (ssh root@volumio.local or ssh root@ip-number-here-of-rpi, then enter "volumio" as password. Then sudo nano /etc/spopd.conf which basically invoques the text editor to open the spopd.conf file in the /etc folder.) . ... If you are on Mac search the program "Terminal" and do the same.

https://github.com/volumio/Volumio-WebUI/issues/58

qRdrQUeMxhWIZMyZ-gq2AIM9i0cfm9IYHq4gjmTC8Hc.jpg

[Marco]

Cheers, Roops!

Marco.

[Marco]

I'm glad you've embraced streaming Marco, good on you for trying it, my 'epiphany' moment was back in 2005 with the SqueezeBox MK1 when it was indistinguishable in SQ from my CD5/FlatCapII with just the addition of a linear PSU.

Cheers, Neal. It had to be done sometime, and I'm really enjoying it

however, streaming still has a bit of a way to go to be truly plug-n-play IMHO. If you are not at all computer literate the simplest of issues like your Spotify one above means you have to be reliant on others to get it working….current solutions are close but there's no cigar available yet.

I completely agree. The Pi/Volumio set-up is about the simplest yet, but as you say, it still requires some computer knowledge to set it up right in the first place and/or make any significant adjustments to how it operates.

The whole FBA process, and operation of the associated hardware, still needs 'dumbing down' and simplifying for those who aren't computer literate. After all, the latter shouldn't have to be a skill learned by a music enthusiast, simply to enjoy her or her tunes.

Marco.

[r100]

The whole FBA process, and operation of the associated hardware, still needs 'dumbing down' and simplifying for those who aren't computer literate. After all, the latter shouldn't have to be a skill learned by a music enthusiast, simply to enjoy her or her tunes.

Marco.

don't forget that the software (Volumio) is free and evolving permanently, supported by a small army of volunteers ... the open source approach has many advantages and some drawbacks unfortunately. But I think the positives far outweigh the negatives... Once you get your little Pi running you won't need to change anything for a while

ps: using a "terminal" to type some Linux commands is no big deal. It's just quite a primitive way to tell Linux what you want

[Marco]

don't forget that the software (Volumio) is free and evolving permanently, supported by a small army of volunteers ... the open source approach has many advantages and some drawbacks unfortunately. But I think the positives far outweigh the negatives... Once you get your little Pi running you won't need to change anything for a while

All undoubtedly true, especially the latter

It's just getting Spotify up and running. As a (hard-drive) music steamer, however, it's perfect!

Marco.

[User211]

Re not owning - I wasn't suggesting ditch your physical media - I have quite a few LPs and CDs too and won't get rid of them. CDs have all been ripped though, pretty much.

What I am saying is once you are paying £20/month for CD quality streaming, you lose your incentive to buy physical media. Having said that, I still do, just not anywhere near as much. Sometimes there are incentives to buy physical formats e.g. the latest Steven Wilson on Blu-Ray.

It is very dependant on getting streaming working well. I have just bought a Wi-Fi extender that has improved my listening room feed. A starved data stream will sound naff - rather like there's some vague mistracking going on, or even break up/stop entirely.

Good luck and welcome to the future - now, LOL.

[Marco]

Ethernet cables can change the sound, for better or worse thats up to you, your ears and your system...there I said it!
I have these throughout my network, imo improves things audio wise between the router, the Transporter and my server.

Decided on these after taking a punt on one and sitting down to listen. Much cheapness, fit n forget.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...ilpage_o00_s00

Now ordered, but through ebay, with free postage:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Duronic-Bl...item27fbd71c5a

This stuff appears to have a good 'pedigree', you've recommended it, and it's cheap enough to 'write-off' if it's no better than the Maplin's Cat5e I'm using now. Due to arrive tomorrow, so I shall report the results!

Marco.

[Marco]

What I am saying is once you are paying £20/month for CD quality streaming, you lose your incentive to buy physical media.

I doubt it, because I love mooching around charity shops for second-hand CDs and vinyl, as well as supporting my local record shop in Wrexham, who sells second-hand vinyl and CDs. It's one of my favourite pastimes, so that's not gonna change!

I'd rather just use Spotify (if I can get it working), for alerting me to new music, and spend the tenner saved a month on 10 x £1 second-hand CDs from my local shop. Then I can rip the ones I want to my hard-drive and stream them. I'm afraid that we just have a different mentality on this matter, muchacho.

It is very dependant on getting streaming working well. I have just bought a Wi-Fi extender that has improved my listening room feed. A starved data stream will sound naff - rather like there's some vague mistracking going on, or even break up/stop entirely.

Indeed - and here it works flawlessly and sounds fab, so I have no issues on that score.

Good luck and welcome to the future - now, LOL.

Cheers - I just do my own thing, mate (what suits me at any given time), and worry not about anything else!

Marco.