Pi 2 Design Mercury Streamer

[stefano_mbp]

6 minutes ago, sch8mid said:

With Coax and USB there are no DSD  problems

This is fine

8 minutes ago, sch8mid said:

Its all about I2S . No DSD at all

On I2S :

hdmi pins mapping could be incompatible with your dac

You’re topped anyway to DSD64/DoP due to the technical constraint of the connection between rpi4 and hat (max 24/192 or DoP64)

[sch8mid]

Ciao Stefan

rpi4 and hat (max 24/192 or DoP64)

 

Holo audio DAcs have configurable I2S pins. Tested.

Its on Alt 2  and this is PS Audiostandard .

My former Audio streamer based on a Raspi4 with ViTOS even did 128 DSD with I2S out of the box..

I sold it because I was told by betatesters that Mercury wouldnt have this annoying locking problems wirh Holo Audio DACs PLL . (Long locking times when changing resolution because of a strict PLL)

Wasnt correct -Mercury has the same problem. And now the I2S , that doesnt work .

Feel like a complete idiot now.

 

 

[Superdad]

1 hour ago, sch8mid said:

Not with Picore, not with Volumio not with Ropieee

Aside from Volumio (which has its own player app), what music player s/w are you willing to use?  Roon or Squeezlite perhaps?  Ropieee is primarily about Roon, and both it and Sqeezelite for certain are playing DSD over I2S via Mercury here.

[Superdad]

38 minutes ago, sch8mid said:

annoying locking problems wirh Holo Audio DACs PLL . (Long locking times when changing resolution because of a strict PLL)

I’m pretty sure that it has been explained to you that PLL lock time issue is a function of that feature of your Holo Spring 3.  Really can not blame the Mercury for that.

[stefano_mbp]

43 minutes ago, sch8mid said:

My former Audio streamer based on a Raspi4 with ViTOS even did 128 DSD with I2S out of the box

Likely the Munich M1T is using custom drivers/overlays … but the Mercury uses HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro which is topped to 24/192 and DoP/DSD64 … the regret is that the specifications of the Mercury are not so clear ...

[sch8mid]

Hi Stefano

 

Munich M1T is using custom drivers/overlays 

Correct. (seems VitOs is partly based on LMS ) VitOS  doesnt work on Mercury either.

 

Wonder why there is no Mercury - driver Overlay. And we have to use HIFiBerry Digi , which is based not on Compute 4  but on Raspi4 systems with hat.

 

My DAC is able to do DSD 1024X with I2S native

In the meantime I would be happy if Mercury and Volumio really would work with DSD 64 (I2S) .

And I am still waiting for a working configuration with Volumio and an I2S capable DAC.

 

 

[WynnHiFi]

I have no sound output while playing DSD files through I2S on my KTE May DAC.  All FLAC files work perfectly.  I’ve tried Volumio, GentooPlayer, and Ropieee.  I tried both I2S inputs, and all I2S pinout configurations.  USB works fine but doesn’t have the desired SQ. 

 

[stefano_mbp]

Googling a little bit it seems that:

Mercury hdmi pinout conforms to PS Audio “standard”

Holo May KTE hdmi pinout setting for PS Audio is Alt2

 

[WynnHiFi]

Tried Alt2 again, still no sound.

[zackthedog]

1 hour ago, WynnHiFi said:

I have no sound output while playing DSD files through I2S on my KTE May DAC.  All FLAC files work perfectly.  I’ve tried Volumio, GentooPlayer, and Ropieee.  I tried both I2S inputs, and all I2S pinout configurations.  USB works fine but doesn’t have the desired SQ. 

 

 

Same here with my Doge 7, but with coax.  By setting MPD to "Direct" instead of DoP in Gentooplayer, they do play, but the DAC shows 192kHz.  I don't know what that means, but they did play.  I don't know if that helps or not.

[Riccitone]

So as long as it’s PCM your dacs will play via I2s (hdmi cable)? Maxing out at 192kHz

[sch8mid]

So , it turns out , that there

15 hours ago, WynnHiFi said:

I have no sound output while playing DSD files through I2S on my KTE May DAC.  All FLAC files work perfectly.  I’ve tried Volumio, GentooPlayer, and Ropieee.  I tried both I2S inputs, and all I2S pinout configurations.  USB works fine but doesn’t have the desired SQ. 

 

 

 

Thanks Wynn

So just the same , as  I told it here on and on .  No DSD at all with I2S .

I tried Volumio , Picoreplayer, RopieeeXXL , VitOS

Dop shows 176,4 and No Sound

DSD direct and you get sound , but all is converted to PCM .

Tired of flashing cards . They get easily corrupted .

What a mess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

[sch8mid]

One thing  to remember. Not all Images have the modified config.txt  for Mercury  and Compute 4 based Raspis .This enables USB .So if all of a sudden you run into a problem without functional USB outputs you have to edit config.txt and add an additional string.

 I am testing a linear PSU  (handmade in Germany by Sunny) .Quite expensive ,but a step up. Sounds good now.  Lets hope, we get a working solution for the I2S problem. Seems we have some qualified betatesters at the moment. :-) . 
In my rig I2S is clearly superiour . Even with one of the best USB implementations , you can buy today ( Holo Audio DACs).
B.t.w. It is Not True, that Streamers based on Raspi 4 Or Compute 4 are restricted to Dsd64 (I2S).

There are working solutions right now.

Best

as

[stefano_mbp]

41 minutes ago, sch8mid said:

There are working solutions right now.

Of course … but it depends on which overlay is used according to the installed hw components, in this case (Mercury) the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro is used and it has this constraint … and, please, share with us which are the over DSD64 working solutions on I2S and which is the overlay used

[antonellocaroli]

21 minutes ago, stefano_mbp said:

and, please, share with us which are the over DSD64 working solutions on I2S and which is the overlay used

i-sabre-q2m  for example....384PCM - 128dsd(dop)

[sch8mid]

Ciao Stefano /Carol .  Forza Italia

You are right.

I dont know , if its adequate here , but you know who  ....

Its a mess , that the underlying big company "Thunder Data" is not interested much in streaming devices and in

developement of their own Raspi OS.

Specs streamer :

 

AES/EBU; I2S; Coxial :

- Supports up to PCM 384KHz and DSD 5.6M (DSD128)

USB :

- Supports up to PCM 768KHz and DSD 11.2M (DSD256)

 

So its an urban legend that Raspis are restricted to no DSD or DSD64.

 

 

[stefano_mbp]

15 minutes ago, sch8mid said:

Thunder Data

it seems you made a wrong choice by switching from Munich M1T to Mercury ... were you having problems with Munich?

[sch8mid]

 

 

Yes  .  I feel like an idiot now .

And yes .  I had problems with my Munich and a brand new Holo Audio Spring DAC.

The spring DAC has a sophisticated , high class PLL inside. Combined with the SA streamer I had locking times with I2S stuff in the 15 sec. range .

When asking a Mercury  betatester here (though at that moment you could read everywhere other complaints about these crazy locking times) 

if they experience similar problems with Mercury  .... " Oh no , no such locking times."

Now you can read it everywhere that Holos PLL is too tough.

So I switched to Mercury .

Fail.

If PLL enabled Mercury behaves exactly  the same . You have to disable PLL completely with Holo DACs .

Its on the Holo side. 

 

I like the Mercury and Mike Kelly  , and I hope there is a solution.

 

Thrown in the water and in the 70s .... After working a little bit on the materia  my experience with testers  , influencers and so called cracks  and their thouroughness is severely limited.

 

But last :   I have to admit i can not here the overwhelming sound refinement and improvement  of a modified ethernet switch and a new Linux kernel.

 

Best

as    (on holidays next weeks)

_____

 

Mercury - Sunny linear PSU > Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE > Neumann KH- 310 - 2 x KH 750 sub Mono array > Sommer /Lapp cables  > MA 1 - Fraunhofer / room corrected.

 

 

 

 

 

[drmike]

mailing address for pi2 design?

thanks

[stefano_mbp]

https://www.pi2design.com/contact.html

[drmike]

gives no physical address.

[stefano_mbp]

It’s their site … ask them …

[Riccitone]

Has anyone here tried Archimago’s optimizations for rpi with the Mercury? Quiets things down in the processing (I think). Worked really well with my digione. Code copied into the OS via SSH.
 

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/volumio-streamer-configuration-tips.11017/

 

I imagine it would still function being that Mercury is rpi4 based. But might not be worth it, considering how MUCH better Mercury sounds already. 

[PoMarantz]

I am really lost with this stuff.... I am trying to partition and mount my internal nvme ssd. 

My commands are below... how do I update fstab?
Any basic help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

(I am a mac user and know nothing about Linux. NOTHING. LOL!)

 

volumio@bobs-volumio:~$ sudo parted -a opt /dev/nvme0n1 mkpart primary ext4 0% 100%
sudo: unable to resolve host bobs-volumio: System error
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
 

[sch8mid]

Sorry , asking for a friend .

1. Is it too much to beg Michael Kelly , before announcing , building and selling a new Pi2aes and Mercury II to write a MANUAL for Mercury I  first?

I think , a lot of buyers  had a finished product in mind , and not a playground for experienced Linuxcracks only , who write their own code for installing a simple NVME.

 I miss as well a statement why there is no DSD at all with I2S and no custom overlay and drivers for Mercury.

I like my Mercury , and given  the price I would pay without hesitating some $ more for a finished product with a good manual ,  tested by proven betatesters instead of well known storytellers.

Besides:

Here in Europe it is strictly impossible to sell a device without a manual in the native language of the buyer.

Best

as