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

[The Black Adder]

Guys, which is the best size screen to go for? - generally for ease of control really.

[Aligauld]

Hi there,
I find it really easy to control and use on my iPad Mini which is 7.9"

Hope this helps

Cheers,
Alistair

[PaulStewart]

Sorry to say this but...... Did an extended listening test with a RPI and IQ DAC and a MacMini running Audirvana 2.0 via my up-sampling 24/192 DAC. The sound was to my ears and to those of the others present, quite a bit better in terms of smoothness, detail and dynamics from the Mac. There was a slight grnuality from the RPI based system that was not there on the Apple based system. We used the same source files and streams for both systems. The thing that aced it for the Mac was the ease of use and set up, the whole thing is plug and play and can be controlled from the iPad or iPhone with ease. The RPI took about three hours to set up, is awkward to shut down and get to work with NAS. All this takes time in which I could be listening to tunes.

[Marco]

Hi Paul,

Each to his or her own sonic tastes (I've not heard a MacMini or your DAC), however, this:

The RPI took about three hours to set up, is awkward to shut down and get to work with NAS. All this takes time in which I could be listening to tunes.

...isn't representative of the norm. Three hours?? Were you following instructions in Swahili?

Also, what do you mean by "awkward to shut down"? In Volumio, you simply go to Menu > Turn Off, and bob's yer aunty, the RPi shuts down in seconds!

Marco.

P.S Out of interest, how much was the DAC you used?

[PaulStewart]

P.S Out of interest, how much was the DAC you used?

The DAC is a prototype that I specified for a US based manufacturer, with the addition of a Class A output stage which was done with the assistance of Nigel Pearson. It was aimed at a sales price point of around £650.00. Now I'm the first to admit that is way in excess of the price of the whole RPI kit put together. Next week, I will try the Pi through the DAC and report back.

[Marco]

Indeed, so hardly a fair comparison....

Also, if you follow the set-up instructions posted here on this thread (or the very excellent ones on TAS, produced by Martin T), it should not take three hours to set up an RPi - far from it. Realistically, no more than 15-20 mins.

Still don't know what you mean by awkward to shut down?

Marco.

[PaulStewart]

I was under the impression that if you shut it down in Volumio, it's just going into standby mode, not a true shut down, is this not the case. I'm not used to the interface and find the Mac based system easier to control. I'm the first to admit it's all personal preference however. To be honest, for CD type AIFF files, I think playing them off CD through a Red Book DAC sounds better than any file based system.

[struth]

You should shut down in volumio. then when it restarts it will keep all info like ip and files etc. once it shuts down you can then unplug. when you then power on again it just starts up with everything there. I made the error of unplugging by error once and I lost all files and it selected a new ip...I am still using Dynamic ip's but it keeps the same one, or has for me

[Marco]

I was under the impression that if you shaut it down in Volumio, it's just going into standby mode, not a true shut down, is this not the case.

Nope, selecting 'Power Off', turns it off, in the sense of the system no longer being operational. The red light will still remain lit until you unplug the unit from the mains supply, but it's not a standby mode, as such.

To be honest, for CD type AIFF files, I think playing them off CD through a Red Book DAC sounds better than any file based system.

That's far from the case here, although my (circa £5.5k) modified Sony CDP and DAC is better in some areas, but definitely not £5.4k better!!

I get the feeling (although I could be wrong) that you haven't got the RPi/IQ-Audio DAC sonically optimised, and so aren't hearing it at its absolute best. For example, have you boosted the Playback level in alsamixer, so that the DAC outputs the full 2V? Also, have you adjusted all the controls in Volumio for optimal sonic results (by switching off all unnecessary commands)?

Also bear in mind that a high-quality linear PSU raises the sonic performance of the RPi *significantly*, and at reasonable cost too, still scoring the whole shebang very highly in the 'SPPV stakes'...

Marco.

[PaulStewart]

I get the feeling (although I could be wrong) that you haven't got the RPi/IQ-Audio DAC sonically optimised, and so aren't hearing it at its absolute best. For example, have you boosted the Playback level in alsamixer, so that the DAC outputs the full 2V? Also, have you adjusted all the controls in Volumio for optimal sonic results (by switching off all unnecessary commands)?

Marco.

Yes I have done all this, that's what took the time