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Pi 2 Design Mercury Streamer


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17 hours ago, chipvn said:

I'm afraid that I could not agree on this assumption.

The CM4 running on USBridge Sig is obviously much more powerful than the original CM3+.

I didn't know the CM4 board could replace the CM3+ in the USBridge. To me they look so different with different connectors. I don't know much, I just relayed what Allo said when asked about when they are upgrading the USBridge from CM3+ to CM4. I didn't know there was a "CM4 modified solution". How complicated is this? Can a newbie like me do it (I have the USBridge). 

 

These are the CM4 and CM3+ boards I know of. Are there others? 

Buy a Compute Module 4 – Raspberry Pi

Buy a Compute Module 3+ – Raspberry Pi

 

The Pi2Design boxes are perfect for anyone who wants/needs I2S / AES. For everyone else there are products like the Arylic S50 Pro+, iFi Zen Stream, or Yamaha WXC or the upcoming WiiM Pro or Andover Songbird HR.

 

 

24 minutes ago, RichardSF said:

If you only need USB output, you only need a Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 4, and you have many choices for kits. The Mercury was created to provide high quality i2S/SPDIF outputs. It is the only reason for the Mercury to exist.

 

At $150 the WiiM Pro would be hard to beat when it comes to value for money. It has SPDIF (Coax / Toslink) too. For that matter so do the Arylic S50 Pro+, iFi Zen Stream, Yamaha WXC and Andover Songbird HR all offer SPDIF (Coax and Toslink). 

 

 

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4 hours ago, RichardSF said:

If you only need USB output, you only need a Raspberry Pi 3 or Pi 4, and you have many choices for kits. The Mercury was created to provide high quality i2S/SPDIF outputs. It is the only reason for the Mercury to exist.

The main reason why Pi3B+ or Pi4 might not be an ideal solution for a number of user is there are DC to DC switch power conversion components on board that could create sufficient noise (either audible or electronical). My standard Pi3B+ create significant audible noise in rather quiet room.

That's why there is product like the USBridge Sig (with just USB output) which has zero DC to DC switching power conversion on board.

There are still some limitation on the USBridge Sig there for I'm still looking for something like a simplified version of the Mecury or Holo Red. Might be the StackAudio Link II is one of them but the price is a bit steep.

RoonROCK: NUC8i5 Akasa case > HQPlayer OS in HDPlex: H3V3 case - i7-12700K > Oratek TOFU Raspberry Pi CM4  - Jussi's NAA OS > Holo Spring 3 L2 DAC with Preamp > DIY EL84PP amp > Snell Type E/III speakers

Ubiquiti EdgerouterX SFP / Sonore Optical Module / Linear Power Supply for all

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5 hours ago, Navin said:

I didn't know the CM4 board could replace the CM3+ in the USBridge. To me they look so different with different connectors. I don't know much, I just relayed what Allo said when asked about when they are upgrading the USBridge from CM3+ to CM4. I didn't know there was a "CM4 modified solution". How complicated is this? Can a newbie like me do it (I have the USBridge). 

I shared mine here, you need to have an adaptor and a bit of customization.

 

 

51513118107_22e6886224_c.jpg

 

 

There is dedicated topic for it so you can have more reference information there as well.

 

Sorry to all for the off-topic discussion.

 

RoonROCK: NUC8i5 Akasa case > HQPlayer OS in HDPlex: H3V3 case - i7-12700K > Oratek TOFU Raspberry Pi CM4  - Jussi's NAA OS > Holo Spring 3 L2 DAC with Preamp > DIY EL84PP amp > Snell Type E/III speakers

Ubiquiti EdgerouterX SFP / Sonore Optical Module / Linear Power Supply for all

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1 hour ago, chipvn said:

That's why there is product like the USBridge Sig (with just USB output) which has zero DC to DC switching power conversion on board.

What if we use a Pi2AES transport board with a USBridge Signature? Is there any advantage of using a USBridge over an RPi board? Thanks. 

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I just received my Holo May L3 and I am also waiting for my Mercury v2 to arrive. I am currently using just a RPi with a generic I2S HAT. I am unable to get DSD from I2S (using RoPieeeXL) and found out that the Holo DACs do not support DoP over I2S so I am puzzled how anyone could get this to work.

 

image.thumb.png.63f84bf1c9bd365e8abd69f19671b9d2.png

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7 hours ago, stefano_mbp said:


I am using Roon. I read in earlier posts that someone manage to get DSD over I2S to work so I am just curious how that is possible as it would have to be native DSD. I believe that is not possible with a Pi. Does anyone know for a fact if the Mercury supports DSD over I2S?

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12 hours ago, Superdad said:

 

Yes.  I own a Mercury (1st generation) and a Holo Spring L3 (original Spring, not Spring 3).  I use I2S output of Mercury and can play DSD over DoP to the Spring with Roon or Squeezlite.  Have done so with Ropieee, piCorePlayer, and GentooPlayer, the last one being by far my favorite as I tweak with real-time kernel and everything loaded into RAM.

 

I seem to recall that someone here with Holo May or Spring 3 found that the only way to get DSD working was to turn off the DAC’s PLL feature.  That is as much as I know. You may find more info upthread—where the other fellow became quite rude with me about it all, despite my attempts to politely assist him. (He never believed me even though I posted screenshots. :S)


Thank you for your reply. Maybe the original Spring supports DoP over I2S. Unfortunately, the May L3 does not (not according to the manual at least as above). So if want to play DSD over I2S, it would have to be native DSD and not DoP but there seems to be no way to output native DSD with a Pi over I2S. It is unclear if the Mercury supports native DSD over I2S. There is no documentation on it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello everyone,

 

I'd be interested to know how the Mercury Streamer fares against a NUC with a decent DDC.

I noticed that some people now using Mercury Streamers or Pi2AES used to have NUCs with Audiolinux or Euphony. But I couldn't find any head to head comparison.

 

I have a NUC7i7DNHE with a heavily modified Singxer SU-1 as DDC in one of my HiFi chains. I am on the lookout for a good Streamer for my second chain and the Mercury seems interesting because of its simplicity (no separate DDC required for SPDIF).

 

Thanks!

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So looking at other ways to get cleanest front end, it was suggested to try Wi-Fi instead of wired to see if it's better and to use an extender. I just sort of assume wired is best... Is there any particular reason Wi-Fi would be worse than wired? I have broadband going straight to mercury. I don't have weak signal or drops or noise for anything. I think I have had both enabled for a while, but it has always used wired.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/10/2022 at 3:19 PM, Ghettocowboy23 said:

Heard so many good things about gentooplayer and real time kernel. Can someone please pin the walkthrough for Mercury + Gentoo + Real Time Kernal. So we can dive straight into it without bothering with Volumio and other players

 

Ditto.  Running the Mercury V2 with Volumio and it is stable.  Would like to see what GT has to offer. 

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28 minutes ago, the_bat said:

Has anyone who’s received their V2 have any feedback yet?

 

Yes.  I received the 8GB version of the Mercury V2 in early January.  Using a Plixir Elite BDC linear power supply with it.  Really liking how it sounds (clean, quiet, and lively come to mind).  I will try a few different DACs and setups before reaching a final conclusion.  Glad that the I2S pinouts are adjustable on the V2 and that the NVME SSD works well.  Just need to figure out what to do with all the extra RAM.  😀

 

 

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13 hours ago, edwyun said:

Ditto.  Running the Mercury V2 with Volumio and it is stable.  Would like to see what GT has to offer. 

I would like to suggest that you try something on Volumio.  Go into “Sources” and turn off all the “functions” you are not using.  I only leave UPNP on because I am testing that.  I turn off everything else. (I do not have a MV2 as of now). Just observing Volumio.

 

Then listen to the system.  

 

Flip the switches back on and listen again…

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8 minutes ago, bobfa said:

I would like to suggest that you try something on Volumio.  Go into “Sources” and turn off all the “functions” you are not using.  I only leave UPNP on because I am testing that.  I turn off everything else. (I do not have a MV2 as of now). Just observing Volumio.

 

Then listen to the system.  

 

Flip the switches back on and listen again…

 

I believe that is how I have Volumio set up now.  But will check both ways when I get home.

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On 12/27/2022 at 10:10 PM, Powerman said:

So looking at other ways to get cleanest front end, it was suggested to try Wi-Fi instead of wired to see if it's better and to use an extender. I just sort of assume wired is best... Is there any particular reason Wi-Fi would be worse than wired? I have broadband going straight to mercury. I don't have weak signal or drops or noise for anything. I think I have had both enabled for a while, but it has always used wired.

Generally speaking, ethernet runs experience less interference. Wifi is subject to greater network instability. And, activating wifi on the Mercury will mean more EMI right against the box. For these reasons I try to avoid wifi near audio devices or for streaming audio. 

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On 1/21/2023 at 6:39 AM, chrisd552 said:

Generally speaking, ethernet runs experience less interference. Wifi is subject to greater network instability. And, activating wifi on the Mercury will mean more EMI right against the box. For these reasons I try to avoid wifi near audio devices or for streaming audio. 

So I am using an extender for giggles, not that I really need it. I have a NVME drive... But now can't for the life of me figure out how to access it with WiFi. The drive was set up wired, with a static static IP. I have looked through volumio manual... What am I missing? That the drive isn't accessible over WiFi?

 

Good grief... That was easy. NM. I've yet to hear a difference between wired and wifi... I mean to have my modem close, there was plenty of wifi "interference" if I look at it like that. Moving my modem upstairs allowed me to get rid of it, my land line, cable, power cords, ect... My extender isn't close. So it cleaned up my stack in other ways, can't say I notice a difference either way.

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