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

[audiobomber]

I own and use a Pi 3B+ and sMS-200 (with LPS). My internet research prior to purchasing the sMS suggested a hierachy like this, worst to best:

RPi

Allo USBridge

Sonore microRendu

SOtM sMS-200

 

The sMS functions as a Roon end-point, comes with a switching power supply, meets your price, upgradeable.

https://www.sotm-audio.com/sotmwp/english/portfolio-item/sms-200/

 

You can do the Neo upgrade yourself for $2.00 if you can solder at all. Linear power supplies improve the performance. Future-proof; you can go hard and add the tX-USB, after which it will beat the sMS-200Ultra (according to SOtM), and even an external clock.

[audiobomber]

The future is USB for sure, due to technical superiority over S/PDIF, specifically separate clocking, higher resolution capability. All DAC's had S/PDIF a decade ago, only a rare few had USB. Now all have USB and many have only USB. Even Schiit, who were an S/PDIF holdout, have agreed that USB done right sounds better.

[audiobomber]

14 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

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. 

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.

[audiobomber]

5 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

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

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.

[audiobomber]

56 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

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.

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

[audiobomber]

1 hour ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

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

Unfortunately I can't test, because the Pi is hooked up to a Schiit Modius, which does not decode DSD. The system does play 192/24 FLAC,  which has higher processing requirements than DSD. My recollection is that DSD and 2X DSD played just fine when I had the iFi iOne in that system.

 

CD-quality audio encodes using a bit depth of 16 and a sample rate of 44.1kHz (16/44.1kHz), whereas a standard DSD file, also known as DSD64, is roughly equivalent to a bit depth of 24 and a sample rate of 88.2kHz (24/88.2kHz).

https://www.off-the-beat.com/what-is-dsd/

[audiobomber]

On 6/25/2021 at 10:26 PM, AudioDoctor said:

 

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

I had a chance to test the RP1 3B+ with the DSD-capable iOne. My memory may have been faulty. I played one 2X DSD song with no problem, using Volumio in DSD Direct mode. Subsequent DSD and 2X DSD files stuttered. Changing to DoP wouldn't play DSD files at all. 

[audiobomber]

The iOne is currently connected via USB to an sMS-200 with linear power supply. It scaled very well, sound quality is better than I ever thought it could be, and plays 2X DSD, clean as a whistle.

 

The RPi 3B+ is in another system, connected by dual head USB cable to an iPurifier2 and Schiit Eitr, coax out to a Modius. The Modius doesn't play DSD, but I don't much care because I only have a few demonstration files.

 

I disagree that coax is superior. They can both be very good, but USB has technical advantages.

https://thewelltemperedcomputer.com/Intro/SQ/USB_SPDIF.htm

[audiobomber]

6 hours ago, Woland said:

No doubt there are situations where USB is equal or superior.

 

However the thread is asking about a specific DAC which has a bad USB implementation and a very good SPDIF (coax,BNC) implementation.

I see what happened now. I assumed you were responding to my post. You might try quoting the post you are replying to in future.