Geek Speak: Raspberry Pi HiFi Is Here

Many thanks for the information, I'm going to build one in the UK and see how it works, looks like an interesting project to build and compare to my Mac Mini and Aries.

Quick question is a special case required for the add on boards?

Within the UK i'm looking at this case??

http://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi-cases/products/flirc-raspberry-pi-b-case

Many Thanks Phil

I have used Device Configuration 2 with output into my Twisted Pear Opus DAC very successfully. PiCorePlayer and MoOde (same family as Volumio, so to speak) both work very well. I'm eager to hear how folks using Configuration 3 find the USB output works sending DSD, and if that combination will handle 128 FS.

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Many thanks for the information, I'm going to build one in the UK and see how it works, looks like an interesting project to build and compare to my Mac Mini and Aries.

 

Quick question is a special case required for the add on boards?

Within the UK i'm looking at this case??

FLIRC Raspberry Pi Case | The Pi Hut

 

Many Thanks Phil

Yes, a special case is needed if you use an add-on board.

Chris -- looks like fun to try and I've ordered up five of these for the house (so much for the Beagleboards I just implemented two weeks ago). The Pi2 board is on backorder from your and most suppliers, but only for about 2 weeks. Your supplier has a lot of case choices that are very inexpensive.

Questions: can this work to integrate streaming of TIDAL as well? I assume that because these are streamers, they should show up as additional zones in JRiver and thus are controlled by the JRemote app? Thanks. JCR

Chris -- looks like fun to try and I've ordered up five of these for the house (so much for the Beagleboards I just implemented two weeks ago). The Pi2 board is on backorder from your and most suppliers, but only for about 2 weeks. Your supplier has a lot of case choices that are very inexpensive.

 

Questions: can this work to integrate streaming of TIDAL as well? I assume that because these are streamers, they should show up as additional zones in JRiver and thus are controlled by the JRemote app? Thanks. JCR

Hi JCR - No Tidal support yet. Yes, they will appear as additional zones in JRMC.

Chris -

I spoke to you Sunday morning at AXPONA about my project using a compute stick:

http://www.amazon.com/Vensmile-TM-iPC002-Quad-core-Bluetooth/dp/B00REGG6QU/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

and would like to get your opinion on how it would compare with this Rasberry Pi build. So far I have had great success with the Vensmile running win 8.1 and Jriver/Jremote as well as JPLAYStreamer/Minimserver/Kazoo. I know it is more than twice as expensive, but still a viable alternative for those more familiar with Windows. PM if interested in trying it out (I am local)

Hi Chris, this is great, thanks.

Very important for folks like me who are less technical and for whom linux have a usability issue.

I have heard about volumio before and it's great to see it's working well.

Any one of these devices are good candidates for a NAA??

I just built one two weeks ago. It is quite amazing that I have three different way of sending my music to it.

1. Airplay

2. Volumio web interface (music accessed from a samba mount on a NAS)

3. Having my music residing on a NAS with Minim server pushed to it with this little gem: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/musiclife/id963139521?mt=8

4. Musiclife(publisher is Arcam by the way) will let you play music from Minim on the device itself, and then you can airplay it again

Incredible how many variation on the same theme. I use them all depending on the situation and they all work. My preferred are 1st and 3rd. I also enable last.fm scrobbling, but it is a bit more involved, anyway it works too.

Isn't Airplay limited to 16/44.1?

And thanks. This is another awesome application for Computer Audiophile. Exactly the type of info and project I come here for.

Thanks for this. I'm loving the beagle bone but am intrigued by this. Is it safe to assume sound quality is comparable via usb?

Two questions:

-i've read that the rasberries have an issue with usb because the ethernet connection passes through the hub. Is that the case here?

-Ramplay - does it work well?

Thanks

Chris,

Thank you for doing this. Quick question: why Volumio and not Rune Audio? I haven't done either and was torn between them. Curious as to what helped you make your decision.

Just a note for those who are considering purchasing multiple Raspberry Pis/DACs in order to create a synchronized multi-room system: neither Volumio nor JRiver offers good support for synchronization of multiple players. Though I have heard that it is possible to get multiple player synchronization working with Volumio if you are using an Android device to control your system. And JRiver appears to be looking into doing more development in the area of "zone" synchronization.

Having wrestled with this for some time, the only option I've found that works is to use Slimserver (open source software) with PicorePlayer installed on the Raspberry Pis. I have 3 of them running right now, each with a HiFiBerry DAC, with an old Synology NAS running Slimserver (and storing all of my music files). I use the iPeng app for iOS to control everything. It's extremely simple to set up, it allows for perfect synchronization between all the Raspberry Pis, and it's very inexpensive. Streaming to these 3 Pis, the Synology never uses more than 15% CPU, you can dynamic link/unlink players, and volume can be info ally controlled (or manipulated for the entire group). For me, this is a

Sonos killer (especially given that out can pair each Pi up with a small Class D amp, like a TPA3116).

Sorry for going a bit off topic - I was (and still am) a big fan of Volumio, but for me the killer app for these tiny little audio renderers is muti-room audio and in my experience only Slimserver supports that well (at least at present).

I'll second the NAA question. These would be a good candidate to run as an NAA for HQPlayer?

Cheers again to Chris for another of his thoughtfully put together articles on this fun hobby!! Nice work Chris!

Best Regards,

Blu99Zoomer

Any thoughts on how the hifiberry sounds compared to say a usb stick dac like audioquest / meridian?

Hi JCR - No Tidal support yet. Yes, they will appear as additional zones in JRMC.

With a little effort you can get Tidal working with the Raspberry Pi and Volumio. If you're using a NAS and install minimserver and bubbleupnp, you can use the Linn Kazoo app to access the Raspberry Pi and use your Tidal account.

I'm currently using this setup to feed a Devialet from the Raspberry Pi. It sounds good, and I haven't put my Auraliti back into the system since I got it setup.

Just a note for those who are considering purchasing multiple Raspberry Pis/DACs in order to create a synchronized multi-room system: neither Volumio nor JRiver offers good support for synchronization of multiple players. Though I have heard that it is possible to get multiple player synchronization working with Volumio if you are using an Android device to control your system. And JRiver appears to be looking into doing more development in the area of "zone" synchronization.

 

Having wrestled with this for some time, the only option I've found that works is to use Slimserver (open source software) with PicorePlayer installed on the Raspberry Pis. I have 3 of them running right now, each with a HiFiBerry DAC, with an old Synology NAS running Slimserver (and storing all of my music files). I use the iPeng app for iOS to control everything. It's extremely simple to set up, it allows for perfect synchronization between all the Raspberry Pis, and it's very inexpensive. Streaming to these 3 Pis, the Synology never uses more than 15% CPU, you can dynamic link/unlink players, and volume can be info ally controlled (or manipulated for the entire group). For me, this is a

Sonos killer (especially given that out can pair each Pi up with a small Class D amp, like a TPA3116).

 

Sorry for going a bit off topic - I was (and still am) a big fan of Volumio, but for me the killer app for these tiny little audio renderers is muti-room audio and in my experience only Slimserver supports that well (at least at present).

Thanks for going off-topic, I use Zones in JRiver as I have three Volumio installs in the house... Linking Zones works somewhat well but they always start running 10-100ms behind each other ... Not a problem depending on how far away you are but the dining room and kitchen are close so the delay gets grating ... Am going to try this out now, so thanks again!

Chris -- looks like fun to try and I've ordered up five of these for the house (so much for the Beagleboards I just implemented two weeks ago). JCR

JCR have you tried Volumio on your Beaglebones ?

Or Chris how about you? Any comments?

I have been using PiCoreplayer with an original Pi, and taking the i2s directly off the Pi- skipping usb. It is rock solid and sounds amazing for under $100.

Just a note for those who are considering purchasing multiple Raspberry Pis/DACs in order to create a synchronized multi-room system: neither Volumio nor JRiver offers good support for synchronization of multiple players. Though I have heard that it is possible to get multiple player synchronization working with Volumio if you are using an Android device to control your system. And JRiver appears to be looking into doing more development in the area of "zone" synchronization.

 

Having wrestled with this for some time, the only option I've found that works is to use Slimserver (open source software) with PicorePlayer installed on the Raspberry Pis. I have 3 of them running right now, each with a HiFiBerry DAC, with an old Synology NAS running Slimserver (and storing all of my music files). I use the iPeng app for iOS to control everything. It's extremely simple to set up, it allows for perfect synchronization between all the Raspberry Pis, and it's very inexpensive. Streaming to these 3 Pis, the Synology never uses more than 15% CPU, you can dynamic link/unlink players, and volume can be info ally controlled (or manipulated for the entire group). For me, this is a

Sonos killer (especially given that out can pair each Pi up with a small Class D amp, like a TPA3116).

 

Sorry for going a bit off topic - I was (and still am) a big fan of Volumio, but for me the killer app for these tiny little audio renderers is muti-room audio and in my experience only Slimserver supports that well (at least at present).

Great article. I've been running Volumio on a Raspberry Pi B+ for several months now. The Pi is driving my HRT MusicStreamer II+ DAC, connected to a Bryston Preamp/Amp. Sound is amazing! Volumio also has a very vibrant and friendly user community. The quality of the software distro and UI is amazing.

I'd like see board with an isolated USB output for a dedicated connection to a DAC.

Hello, I am brand new to computer audio. What exactly is Raspberry pi?

Since this is renderer only, I presume that Kazoo can be used as player to push Tidal through this device? Or do I have something wrong? This is what I'd like to do......

Chris,

Thanks so much for this intriguing build. I've been waiting for the folks over at J River to complete their Raspberry Pi Id devices, but the last time I checked they were still not ready to ship. Which leads me to my question: How would the device you designed work in a (currently) Windows-based JRMC environment? Also, do you (or anyone else in the community) have any idea whether I could mount a Linux-based version of JRMC on the Pi using J River's Id stick? As always, I truly appreciate the insight.

Best regards,

Tim

Got mine on order already. Going with option 3 and will use my old Dragonfly DAC which isn't getting my love recently. Intrigued by the other options which I can always move to at some point if I want to but didn't see any cases available. There are lots of cases available for the plain Raspberry Pi but not for the Raspberry Pi with the add-on boards. Anyone know of any cases that will accommodate these?