Pi 2 Design Mercury Streamer

[sch8mid]

Hi Ricci

If it does I will buy it handsdown . Over in another forum @ "Super Best Audio Friends there was a longer dicussion about the Reclocking  problem with Rasb. units  :
 

Quote

The HiFi Berry Digi+ Pro AND DAC+ Pro do have audio-optimized clocks, and I2S output (again, requiring soldering to access) which would improve I2S jitter performance over a raw Raspberry Pi connection. This is probably the best approach.

 

So we have to wait for an answer from Michael or one of the "influencers" ...

[PoMarantz]

45 minutes ago, Riccitone said:

Hoping the Mercury will connect well with a Topping d70s via I2s. I’ve read the Pi2AES does fine with Topping. Only assuming the Mercury is a similar topology on that end. 

Yeah…I am going I2S into a Pontus II from The Mercury... My Pontus has the ability to configure the HDMI cable for variations in the I2S  input depending on the sources protocols…

Hope that I have no clocking issues…I am a total novice at this….🤷🏻‍♂️

[sch8mid]

Knock on wood.  I2S connection was no problem with the Holo . It supports the PSaudio standard and the very first config. (out of 4) worked. Holo support told me ,that the Holo spring has a sophisticated PPL that cannot lock with the noisy signals coming from the Pi based systems .

I have a Silent Angel Munich HT with linear PSU.  This is modern Rasb.  Networkplayer  based on the new P4 B / with 4 GB RAM .

Holo needs 15 sec. to lock to the Raspi

and again 15 sec if you change bitrate. Barely tolerable. Please keep us informed , and it would be nice if Michael could chime in.

best

as

[Superdad]

15 hours ago, sch8mid said:

If you work with Holo Audio spring or May please try the I2S connection.

I had no success with  Raspi 4  based streamers  (Silent audio Munich M1t)

https://www.silent-angel-audio.com/munich-m1t

The Holo audio Dacs (Spring and May) need 15 seconds to lock to the I2S input

and need 15 to relock , if you pause and change resolution.  Barely tolerable .

Even without change in the samplerate  the first seconds of every file dissapear in the locking Nirvana.

 

I have been running I2S from the Mercury to my Holo Spring L3 and do not experience the problem you report.  This with PiCorePlayer/LMS/SqueezeLite or Volumio.

[dericchan1]

8 hours ago, sch8mid said:

Knock on wood.  I2S connection was no problem with the Holo . It supports the PSaudio standard and the very first config. (out of 4) worked. Holo support told me ,that the Holo spring has a sophisticated PPL that cannot lock with the noisy signals coming from the Pi based systems .

I have a Silent Angel Munich HT with linear PSU.  This is modern Rasb.  Networkplayer  based on the new P4 B / with 4 GB RAM .

Holo needs 15 sec. to lock to the Raspi

and again 15 sec if you change bitrate. Barely tolerable. Please keep us informed , and it would be nice if Michael could chime in.

best

as

Not sure why Michael should chime in on your I2S connection issue with the Silent Angel MIT? Superdad had confirmed it works fine with the Mercury Streamer

[sch8mid]

5 hours ago, dericchan1 said:

Not sure why Michael should chime in on your I2S connection issue with the Silent Angel MIT? Superdad had confirmed it works fine with the Mercury Streamer

 

 

Thanxs @superdad for this info .

And dericchan1  . You allow me to be curious why some systems based on Raspi 4 show this problems ? Thank you.

[dericchan1]

21 minutes ago, sch8mid said:

 

 

Thanxs @superdad for this info .

And dericchan1  . You allow me to be curious why some systems based on Raspi 4 show this problems ? Thank you.

I didn’t mean that, but did you reach out to Silent Angel to seek a response from their i2s connection issue when devices like pi2aes/mercury have no issues ?

[sch8mid]

Yes , I did . waiting for a qualified respond.  K.y.i. 

As I told , over in another forum people suspect that the signal coming out of the Ra 4  I2S outputs is to noisy and the sophisticated PLL of the Holo DAC has a hard time to lock.

Dont know if this is correct.

best

as

 

[dericchan1]

7 hours ago, sch8mid said:

Yes , I did . waiting for a qualified respond.  K.y.i. 

As I told , over in another forum people suspect that the signal coming out of the Ra 4  I2S outputs is to noisy and the sophisticated PLL of the Holo DAC has a hard time to lock.

Dont know if this is correct.

best

as

 

That sounds like a load of crap that the RPI4 i2s output is noisy. If it works on Pi2aes and Mercury but not the silent angel, that’s probably due to compatibility of the i2s config from the silent angel with the Holo dac

 

[sch8mid]

I really dont know , so I  hope Silent Angel has the answer .

I have been told that the other streamer based on the RP 4 platform

called Mercury doesnt have the same locking problems .

Some argue the problem is to keep the signalpath > I2S >always alive

But as I am not an expert ....

 

 

 

 

[PoMarantz]

1 hour ago, dericchan1 said:

That sounds like a load of crap that the RPI4 i2s output is noisy. If it works on Pi2aes and Mercury but not the silent angel, that’s probably due to compatibility of the i2s config from the silent angel with the Holo dac

 

👍🏼

[bobfa]

There is no magic here.  Someone has to test.  Remember that the Mercury is a CUSTOM CM4 carrier board designed for audio!    @Superdad has it working fine with the Spring 3 over i2s. I do not understand the problem you perceive. 

 

At some point, I may get a chance to test with my friends May DAC, but my Mercury is with @Superdad right now.  

 

Let's keep this thread  on course.  Reporting on actual testing, listening, etc. Speculation does us no good.

 

 

[Superdad]

2 minutes ago, bobfa said:

At some point, I may get a chance to test with my friends May DAC, but my Mercury is with @Superdad right now.

Hi Bob:

I owe you a phone call (been busy with family matters and travel). Am going to make another round of tests with the Mercury today in my system. It’s warming up as I write this. 

—Alex C.

[dericchan1]

2 hours ago, sch8mid said:

I really dont know , so I  hope Silent Angel has the answer .

I have been told that the other streamer based on the RP 4 platform

called Mercury doesnt have the same locking problems .

Some argue the problem is to keep the signalpath > I2S >always alive

But as I am not an expert ....

 

 

 

 

Hopefully the Silent Angel won't go silent on you!! For the record, my buddy have tested a Pi2AES I2S connection with the Gustard X16 and it works like a charm. 

[dericchan1]

16 minutes ago, bobfa said:

There is no magic here.  Someone has to test.  Remember that the Mercury is a CUSTOM CM4 carrier board designed for audio!    @Superdad has it working fine with the Spring 3 over i2s. I do not understand the problem you perceive. 

 

At some point, I may get a chance to test with my friends May DAC, but my Mercury is with @Superdad right now.  

 

Let's keep this thread  on course.  Reporting on actual testing, listening, etc. Speculation does us no good.

 

 

I am looking forward to your detailed review/comparison of the Mercury VS Pi2AES, whether it makes a worthy upgrade!!!  

 

Cheers

 

Deric

[Riccitone]

Thanks @bobfa…

Totally agree! That it is a more dedicated design is part of why I ordered the Mercury. Good to know it works well over I2s and will report my findings upon receiving mine 👍🏼🙏🏼

[Ghettocowboy23]

HDMI connection is not standardized. Some companies use different pins so check before you plug in otherwise you will fry your gears

[PoMarantz]

20 minutes ago, Ghettocowboy23 said:

HDMI connection is not standardized. Some companies use different pins so check before you plug in otherwise you will fry your gears

I may need help with my connection:

Mercury Streamer => I2S => Denafrips Pontus II DAC. 

The Pontus can be configured to change the HDMI pins.

My understanding is that the Mercury Streamer and my Pontus are both set-up in "PS Audio Standard" and should be compatible in factory settings.

Can anyone confirm this for me. I am a noob! 😬

[Ghettocowboy23]

Another user already posted a successful pairing of the 2 so you are good to go. Congrats on the new Mercury and enjoy 

[PoMarantz]

1 hour ago, Ghettocowboy23 said:

Another user already posted a successful pairing of the 2 so you are good to go. Congrats on the new Mercury and enjoy 

Thanks so much….It hasn't shipped yet…maybe this week…Am looking forward to it.

[bobfa]

5 hours ago, Superdad said:

Hi Bob:

I owe you a phone call (been busy with family matters and travel). Am going to make another round of tests with the Mercury today in my system. It’s warming up as I write this. 

—Alex C.

No Rush, I am  working on other stuff right now.  I still think we need to investigate adding the NVMe SSD drive and making a single box solution.  I lean towards LMS for that.   

[sch8mid]

18 hours ago, Superdad said:

Hi Bob:

I owe you a phone call (been busy with family matters and travel). Am going to make another round of tests with the Mercury today in my system. It’s warming up as I write this. 

—Alex C.

Hi

By chance , if you have a holo audio spring or may please would you be so nice to test I2S with the Mercury . I tested it with 2 devices based on the Raspberry Pi CM4 modul and not me alone , we got this annoying lock and unlock problem with the Holo Dacs (PLL on ! ) with  I2S. I will buy Michaels Mercury hands down  if his  stuff doesn´t have this problem.

And yes , sorry , as a former reviewer and writer (for 30 years) I do not believe in Influencers nor most reviewers .  :-)

[bobfa]

On 5/28/2022 at 4:44 PM, Superdad said:

 

I have been running I2S from the Mercury to my Holo Spring L3 and do not experience the problem you report.  This with PiCorePlayer/LMS/SqueezeLite or Volumio.

 

2 hours ago, sch8mid said:

Hi

By chance , if you have a holo audio spring or may please would you be so nice to test I2S with the Mercury . I tested it with 2 devices based on the Raspberry Pi CM4 modul and not me alone , we got this annoying lock and unlock problem with the Holo Dacs (PLL on ! ) with  I2S. I will buy Michaels Mercury hands down  if his  stuff doesn´t have this problem.

And yes , sorry , as a former reviewer and writer (for 30 years) I do not believe in Influencers nor most reviewers .  :-)

You must have missed the above note from @Superdad. You can ask him about his settings.  

[sch8mid]

Ah - thanx - didn´t see it. Problem is :

With PLL disabled  I2S works with the Holo and without the 15 sec. locking problem .

With PLL enabled  ... the horror begins.

best

as

 

[Superdad]

1 minute ago, sch8mid said:

Ah - thanx - didn´t see it. Problem is :

With PLL disabled  I2S works with the Holo and without the 15 sec. locking problem .

PLL enabled the horror begins.

 

Sorry, I guess I don’t understand my Holo DAC.  What is the PLL mode you are referring to?  Are you talking about the OS (oversampling) mode?  I never use that mode as the built-in chip filter of the Spring does not sound good.  I use NOS mode only.

 

I am happy to test for you but need to understand what settings and just what you mean about “locking” problem.  Something about changing from sending PCM to then DSD and then back?