Best way to feed a Gungnir Multibit Gen V, for $450 or less

[AudioDoctor]

What are you using to send the data to the Pi?

 

edit: I switched my Pi from Ropiee to an NAA image from miska and there was a definite sound quality increase.

[AudioDoctor]

The NAA only works with HQPlayer. I don't think you're going to get any better sound quality using Roon software at both ends. I tried Ropieee XL and while convenient and with NAA functionality, the plain and basic NAA image from Miska sounds far better than the same image integrated into Ropieee. But it comes with the requirement of also having HQPlayer as it only works with that software.

 

I am not a fan of Roon's sound quality by itself, I find it acceptable when used with HQPlayer, and even better when not using Roon at all.

 

edit: try a trial of HQPlayer and the NAA image on your Pi3 and see if you like the sound quality increase. A license for HQPlayer is less than your budgeted amount.

[AudioDoctor]

4 hours ago, p-cubed said:

Thanks for these thoughts. To clarify, I'm looking for a Roon compatible solution as I'm happy with Roon as a server. I will test drive HQPlayer and NAA on the Pi3!

 

Appreciate any additional thoughts on hardware.... How does Bluesound node compare with the Allo devices, Microrendu, and Pi2AES?

 

You can still use Roon with HQPlayer. Roon does what it does best, and HQPlayer does the playback. Perhaps I didn't make that clear.

 

[AudioDoctor]

1 minute ago, davide256 said:

Agree with what you are saying about Roon and HQPlayer as output. But HQPlayer license is $250-ish… wouldn’t the OP also need at least an i3 server?

 

I did assume that whatever he is running Roon on could also run HQP, but I didn't see what device that is in the OP. Did I miss it?

[AudioDoctor]

2 minutes ago, davide256 said:

Not named so a question mark…

 

Yes. Good catch though. If he's running a Gungnir he's not going to upsample beyond 24/192 which doesn't take much HP at all. I have two Roon/HQPservers and the lower powered one is a 2011 Mini with an i5, now running Linux and it runs Roon and HQP just fine into the Yggy.

[AudioDoctor]

Another option would be to sell your Gungnir and use the proceeds to get a new Gungnir Multibit with the Unison USB input. Couple that with a Pi4 and HQP/Roon and I bet you would be pretty happy.

 

Why the Pi4? Because the USB and Ethernet are not using the same bus and therefore bandwidth. 

 

That can also be done in stages.

[AudioDoctor]

14 hours ago, p-cubed said:

Is Unison a meaningful upgrade over the  Gen V USB?

 

I don't have experience with a direct comparison, but the signal coming out of my Yggy appears to be much cleaner than the signal coming out of my Modi Multibit, as much as I think the Modi is a great device. I have never seen anyone say a bad word about the upgrade from a Yggy before Unison to after Unison either.

 

1 hour ago, audiobomber said:

Have you compared an earlier Pi with the Pi 4? I ask because Hans B claims the 4B doesn't sound as good as the 3B+. Some say the opposite. What that says to me is that they are probably pretty similar. 

 

I never use the USB 5V power from my 3B+, it is awful. I power the DAC separately, either through its own power supply (e.g. Modi and Modius), or an iFi Defender/iPower, or a dual head USB cable with separate power supply. Using ethernet instead of wi-fi also helps provide a cleaner output.

 

I have not, and I have not seen that opinion before.

[AudioDoctor]

5 hours ago, audiobomber said:

The opinion is not unique. One of the comments below the Hans B video found the same thing. HiFiBerry says no advantage to go to the Pi4:

 

Q: Should I upgrade my Pi2 or Pi3?
A: If you’re using the Pi for music playback, there is no need to upgrade. We still know people using the first Raspberry Pi board that has been released 7 years ago. Music playback doesn’t require a lot of CPU power and/or bandwidth. Therefore, the music playback experience won’t be better with a newer Pi. Even older systems are powerful enough! If you still have a Pi1 or 2, use them. One advantage these systems have is the lower power consumption.

https://www.hifiberry.com/blog/the-raspberry-pi-4/

 

This blogger and computer engineer prefers the Pi3B:

We listened using the RPi3, then shut it down and booted up the RPi4, listening to the same material.

Much to our surprise, we actually preferred the sound of the RPi3!

The RPi4’s presentation had something of a “fatiguing” effect. The sound was a bit more “coarse” that that of the RPi3.

We are not talking about big differences here, but they were there. Note that my system is pretty resolving, every change to any component is audible, so YMMV.

http://www.dimdim.gr/2019/07/the-raspberry-pi-4-model-b-game-changer-for-audio/

 

My opinion remains, the 4 and the earlier versions are different but similar. They're all Raspberries, best used in less revealing systems.

 

On a side note, most everyone here with an sMS-200 uses the 100BASE-T, not 1000BASE-T. Faster processing speed is not necessarily consonant with better SQ.

 

I swear I read someplace that at high rates the older Pis can stutter due to the shared bandwidth between the ethernet and USB, and the Pi4 solves that by separating those two out into two independent circuits. If I read it anywhere it was probably here on this site in one of the HQPlayer threads.

 

That said, if that's not a problem now then I see no reason to upgrade if its not also accompanied by a higher rate capable DAC than the Gungnir. It wouldn't be the first time I found something that shouldn't be, but is.

[AudioDoctor]

26 minutes ago, audiobomber said:

I can believe that. My Pi 3B+ does not stutter, but it is configured to reproduce the original bits, no oversampling.

 

Don't quote me on it, but I bet it happens at DSD rates.

[AudioDoctor]

Interesting...