# Has anybody used a HiFiBerry as a high -end DAC?



## qafro

I've seen this site for building a modular dac for Raspberry Pi and I was wondering if its a good idea to buy one for my sony A15 dap?
 http://www.hifiberry.com/dac#versions


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## randytsuch

I've not used either, but read good things about this one
http://iqaudio.com/?page_id=28
  
 If I was going to buy a Raspberry dac (almost did), its' the one I would try.
  
 Long thread about it here
http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?104958-IQaudIO-Pi-DAC-24-192-DAC-for-Raspberry-Pi
  
 Randy


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## qafro

Thanks


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## netsky3

anyone else??


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## Marzie

I know the last post is a couple months old, and the original thread is over a year old, but I have used the Raspberry Pi with the HiFi Berry boards. I used 4 of them in my house for a simulated Sonos system, for around the price of one of the Sonos speakers, with a lot more features. I used the Dac+ model for RCA output for three of them, Digi+ optical/coax out for one. I won't say that I did high quality listening tests with those, as my system was designed for things listening to music while cleaning, cooking, or performing other activities around the house. It performed fine, better than the 3.5 mm jack out, and better than HDMI out (when the Pi rebooted nightly, per my setup, it would power on the TV it was connected to, which is why I switched to the Digi+ board.) I will say that I recently converted one of these 4 Pi's into a dedicated audio player at work. This one has the HiFi Berry Digi+ board, with optical and coax out. I installed Volumio and I'm running it into a DIYEDEN DAC via optical, then into a CKIII amp and finally into my HD600s. A couple things I tested, originally I had the Pi outputting via the headphone jack through a 3.5 mm to RCA cable. and into the CKIII. There was moderate noise while tracks were playing, distortion and static at complex/loud portions as well. Also, at first the 3.5 mm plug was not fully seated, although it appeared to be. There was a lot of background hum. Now, I know that is not the boards fault per se, however it appeared to be fully seated and was only a hair out. I pushed it in that last mm and the hum disappeared. Then I switched over to the HiFi berry board optical out. I played a silent mp3 file and cranked the volume. I couldn't hear anything, the headphones made no noise. I turned down the volume and switched over to some music , Foo Fighters, HEM, Alice In Chains unplugged, Tool (live) and some others. It sounds very good, clear reproductions, full sound. With HEM, I could crank it up and still not be overwhelmed with the sound, not fatiguing at all. Same with some portions of the Tool album. A little warm at times, but it has only been running for a day, so I need to give it more time with different material. I have been out of the hifi game for a couple years, so I am just starting to re-tune my listening skills, and reacquaint myself with my source material. Granted, the DIYEDEN is not the best DAC, so I am looking at building a different solution. I plan to build a tube amp, DAC, Pi combo in one box. I'm just starting to research the models of each available right now, so you may see a new thread starting soon. If you have any other questions, let me know.
  
 Mike


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## FallenAngel

Specs seem to be missing here. No chips, no architecture mentioned, nothing at all is mentioned.
  
 Please provide the schematics please.


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## Marzie

I didn't build the thing, I just bought one. I agree though, that I would feel better knowing the components that went into it. I might be able to pull one out of service and open my case back up this weekend and take some pictures, along with looking at some info on the chips.


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## Marzie

Curiosity got the best of me.
  
 U1 PCM5122 / 45TG4 / CEF9
 U2 LEJ#NY
 U3 M6OP
  
 R1 J10 or OIC, or something else, can't tell
 R2 221
 R4 221
 R5 221
 R8 221
  
 R3 471
 R6 471
  
 R7 392
 R9 392
 R10 392
  
 R20 empty
 R21 D or 0, can't tell
 R22 D or 0, can't tell
 R23 empty
  
 Can't tell any of the caps.
  
  
 .


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## FallenAngel

http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pcm5122.pdf
  
 PCM5122 is basically an all-in-one CMOS chip, DAC with line driver (aka preamp / output stage).


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## Marzie

In my other thread, I mention my plans to incorporate a Pi with a tube amp in a single enclosure, probably a Millet Mofset. Is this DAC chip good enough, or would I be better off building a grubDac into my Millet build, and using the USB out of the Pi? Using this seems much simpler.


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