# Guide to using Raspberry Pis for Audiophile Projects



## CAPT Deadpool

This thread is to discuss and demonstrate Audiophile Projects that can be built with the Raspberry Pi.  I will attempt to model some of this after Jason's engineering guide on designing the Schiit Coaster Amp, thank you for inspiring me to do this thread.

Topics will include:

How to select hardware and software for a build.   To include compatibility, tradeoffs, power constraints, etc.

Example builds with pictures.

Step by step guides.

Discussions/Comparisons of RPi audio HATs.

Links to useful sites.

Why this thread?  I recently built a MoOde RPi 3B with 7" touchscreen and many friends on the Schiit Happened thread expressed interest in the build.

Please post what you would like to see built. 

I'll start with my build and follow with an example of things to consider when selecting a build.


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## CAPT Deadpool

Disclaimer: I don't think the Pi can be used to build a DAC or AMP to the caliber of Schiit quality. If top Schiit quality is your goal stick to Schiit products built by professionals. The RPi is great for learning about hardware and software and can provide flexibility to create your own devices, but as Jason said above any hobby can get expensive. You could build RPi DAP/DAC with the outputs of the Gungnir or Yggy but I seriously doubt it would come even close to the real thing and you might spend enough to buy the real thing in the process (it definitely wouldn't be multi-bit and wouldn't have the SuperComboBurrito, see my profile pic). I'm neither Mike nor Jason, I'm definitely a DIY amateur.


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## dgindlespergerd

I really love my Amp/DAC. Works great and the Rune audio player is cool.


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## JamminVMI

My current Pi is a 3 using a HiFiBerry Digi + Pro HAT, running as a squeezebox using piCorePlayer. 

I have a large-ish music library, and have been using Squeezebox Server for a long time, tagging with MP3Tag. Server runs on an Intel Stick Computer with a 4TB drive attached, serving ALAC and FLAC files. I really like the database and indexing that the Squeezebox Server does, so at the moment, kinda married to that. But times change... Interested in learning more!


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## CAPT Deadpool

My first Audio RPi Build

Goal: Use existing RPi and computer parts I had at home to build a Touchscreen DAP that can play upto 192/24 ALAC or FLAC files, and connect to Tidal. 

Software: I selected MoOde as it worked with my equipment to include a Touchscreen, played 192/24 ALAC, could be controlled via a and could connect to Tidal and a NAS.  MoOde is free, supported a wide variety of audio HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) boards, a dedicated forum, and had frequent and current updates.   Note: I haven't gotten the Tidal and NAS features to work yet.  But I'll post when/if I get this working.

Hardware: 

1. I used a RPi 3B I had at home.  You can get a Raspberry Pi 3B+ $35 online (MSRP don't pay more) or for $30 plus tax locally at Microcenter (if you are geographically blessed). http://www.microcenter.com/product/505661/raspberry-pi-3-model-b  The 3B+ is slightly faster than the RPi 3B I used. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi

2. Micro SD card: I used 2 Samsung micro SD cards. http://www.microcenter.com/product/...ass-10---uhs-1-flash-memory-card-with-adapter This one is 10.99. Why two? Because at least with moOde you need a second microSD card inside an adapter attached via a USB port to update the software. Why Samsung (or Sandisk which is now owned by Western Digital), because a lot of other brands don't hold up and are much slower.  32Gb should be more than enough for the operating system and software (I'll check my install size tonight and post the minimum size required).  Buyer beware there are a lot of counterfeit Samsung microSD cards out there especially in the large capacities.  Don't buy a 128Gb microSD card and expect it to work in a RPi microSD card slot; odds are it will not.  Only 64Gb and below are supposed to work, I found out the hard way two years ago.  Learn from my mistake (and keep this in mind with any other projects because many devices other than RPis have a maximum supported SD card capacity).

3. Power supplies and cables I used microUSB cables and AC/DC transformers I had laying around.  The pi 3 board needs 2.5 amps at 5V alone and the display and usb drive need dedicated cables at least 1amp 5V each. I’m still working out some kinks with power with mine, but for now I'm using an iPad AC/DC brick to power the RPi itself, and two 2.4amp USB power ports on a TrippLite power strip.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MCVOMFY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1  You can go Cadillac power supply with the ifi iPower  https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Noise...&qid=1533232027&sr=1-1&keywords=ifi+ipower+5v  You could just use what you have laying around, but you are likely to get "undervolt" warnings or have your Pi suddenly shut off.  If you see a yellow lightning bolt on your Pi screen you're "undervolting."  This can destroy/damage the RPi or the SDcard so don't do it long term.  A good choice for power supply is the CanaKit powersupply or the Vilros powersupply: https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Rasp...&keywords=5v+power+supply&smid=A30ZYR2W3VAJ0A.  A Vilros kit can be found at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BQFX4S...olid=148YFAYI8VM48&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

NOTE: Vilros, Canakit, and companies offer package kits like the one above with or without a RPi and many other parts.  They can be cheaper than buying the parts separately just make sure your are getting things you actually need.  Sometimes the power supplies are too cheap for audiophile use (noisey and underpowered) and the SD cards are generic and unreliable.  The Vilros linked above has a good power adapter with an on off switch (based on specs, I don't own it), the newest RPi, and heat sinks (can't hurt to use but not absolutely necessary).  I haven't found that particular power supply separately at a major retailer yet.  

4. USB storage for music, I used a 4Tb Western Digital USB Hard Disk Drive I had. I haven't gotten the NAS ( I have a Synology) to work yet and local storage is easier regardless. I recommend Western Digital drives (its all I use).  How much music do you want to store on the device?  I recommend using a USB connected traditional portable HDD because they are relatively cheap, fast enough for this purpose (hosting ALAC/FLAC files), and last a long time.  Alternately you could use a USB thumb stick type drive, but they can have a shorter life time.

5. Display: I used an official RPi 7" touch screen display I had.  It or a like one runs $60 at microcenter (70 or more elsewhere) http://www.microcenter.com/product/454804/7-pi-touchscreen-lcd-display

6. Case for display and pi. I used this which is 27.99 at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Case-Officia...33223001&sr=8-6&keywords=raspberry+pi+display 

7. I used a USB splitter for the hard drive to allows the usb drive to draw power externally and push data to pi without drawing power from the pi. A similar on costs $7 at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L1K1OIA/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_2?smid=A1AMUYYA3CT6HJ&psc=1 

8. Optional (but really advisable to have): External Keyboard and Mouse. I use this which is 25.99: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wir...rd_wg=iG98A&psc=1&refRID=B22KXXC2DDMJS3VDHVF6 Why, so you can type commands or enter fields in GUI. The alternative is to SSH in from a laptop or phone. SSHing is required to change some settings or to make updates. You can supply your own keyboard and mouse and I'll just use mine to build it if you like.  I'll post more later on SSHing.

9. Optional: HATs too many to list here.  Will do multiple posts later.  For example a DAC HAT with RCA and/or XLR out. I haven't used one, but unless you want to go all out with an ApplePi ($199) i'd recommend picking one of the Hifiberries. at hifiberry.com For $40 you can get this: https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hifiberry-dac-pro
Other HATs are available to amp speakers or perform just about any audio task you can think of.  The only Hifi type hat I have is an old Cirrus Logic audio board that I haven't installed yet, the USB built in to my Mimby is working fine to my ear so far.  I plan on building a RPi system similar to what I have here with the hifiberry linked above.

DIY Pros: 

Get to learn about how audio and computers actually work.
Many options to pick from can customize to your particular needs.
Unlikely to need to do any soldering.
If a part breaks or is obsolete you can just replace the one part.
Storage is much much much cheaper, expandable, and is a non-limiting factor. No Apple phenomenon of outrageous prices for storage or the typical DAP issue of only having 4-64Gb internal storage, no expanding storage (looking at you Apple iPhone/pad and about half of daps), or only excepting about 64Gb of expanded storage. Since the pi and say MoOde is not storage speed sensitive you can use less expensive spinning disk hard disk drives. 192/24 FLAC or ALAC only needs about 20Mbps of speed. 

DIY Cons:
Need knowledge of coding or at least the wiliness/aptitude to learn.
Time spent finding, assembling, installing OS, and configuring. (but hey your learning).

@Jason Stoddard will likely have some more comments on DIY soon.  See his recent post on his Thread.

I'll try to post later tonight on the steps of the assembly and installing/configuring Moode.


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## CAPT Deadpool

Scott Kramer said:


> Small batch (40) avail now (502DAC), just fyi. Honestly think this is the best. A 4 layer board-- Michael knows digital ground layout. DigiOne is serious also, and isolation done more in the digital domain.
> 
> --oops preorder, end of aug to ship



I'm going to repost this on the other thread.   Also How do you think it compares (at least on specs) to the ApplePi and the Hifiberry DAC + Pro XLR (or RCA)?


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## golfbravobravo

CAPT Deadpool said:


> My first Audio RPi Build
> 
> Goal: Use existing RPi and computer parts I had at home to build a Touchscreen DAP that can play upto 192/24 ALAC or FLAC files, and connect to Tidal.
> 
> ...





CAPT Deadpool said:


> I'm going to repost this on the other thread.   Also How do you think it compares (at least on specs) to the ApplePi and the Hifiberry DAC + Pro XLR (or RCA)?



I'm a Roon user, so consider most of my inputs in that context!

I have a system with a number of Roon RPi based 'endpoints' running DietPi (mainly) and Rasbpian and Ropiee.  I have (again, mainly) HATs (Hardware Attached on Top) from IQaudio (http://iqaudio.co.uk/) they have some excellent DACs (http://iqaudio.co.uk/hats/47-pi-dac-pro.html and variants) and DAC/AMPs (http://iqaudio.co.uk/3-hats).  Support via email is excellent and my only gripe (as with HiFIBerry) is that they ship only from Europe and in the case of IQ need a signature which, for me, invariably meant a trip to the PO.

You WILL need command line skills (nothing too daunting and most all HATs have good intructions. I downloaded the IQaudio manuals to start learning long before I played or bought) and need to create the SD Card. Etcher.io is your friend and is freely available.  I prefer Terminal in MacOS for most ssh work and you will need to be aware of the trap that ssh is NOT enabled by default nowadays, so you DO need a screen and keyboard.  The recommendations above are good ones.  Keep spare receivers around, they walk away at night.... 

From a security standpoint, run the minimim service(s) necessary, and I like to setup public/private keys and disable ssh.  CHANGE THE DEAULT PASSWORD.

The Roon forums - for those of you that go that route - are helpful and have plenty of hacking threads.

Cheers

Graham


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## audio philestine

I've done a number of Raspberry Pi buildups, and I'm on my third audio related one.

I've done one each around a hifiberry digi+ pro (to various DAC's including a mimby), and a hifiberry dac+.

My current build is for a car "hifi" FLAC jukebox using an Allo boss dac and a Waveshare 7" touchscreen, plus a usb num pad keyboard for auxiliary controls (track next/prev, vol up/down, power down). Allo makes a nice metal case that can handle the mechanically harsh environment of my car. I've been pleasantly pleased with the sound of this DAC, (not as good as a mimby, but sufficiently good for a car system). I initially had an issue with some mid-range distortion on loud/busy passages, but by knocking the volume on the DAC down a bit, I learned how to not overload the aux in on my car radio. I've had some issues with power distribution to the Pi which I don't think I've totally solved yet, but I've got it working good enough now to stop messing with it 

I initially used Volumio, but I think there was an issue with the wifi support at the time (probably now fixed), so I switched to RuneAudio. RuneAudio did everything I needed it to, and looked pretty in a minimalistic way, so I stopped looking. I've been curious about moOde, but never tried it.

I'm planning on another Pi build using the allo digi-one RCA/SPDIF out "Real Soon Now" for a home system.

These were all based on Rapsberry Pi 3B. The 3B+ has a new power management chip, which is supported in the new Pi linux kernels, but AFAIK is NOT supported in the latest RuneAudio images, although that may change soon.

I spent some time chasing different mechanical mounts for the car, settling on a flexible stalk bolted to a seat rail, and finally found the right 90degree HDMI and usb cabling to tame the wiring. 

I'm happy to share pictures/details/tips on the above if anyone is interested.


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## golfbravobravo

audio philestine said:


> I've done a number of Raspberry Pi buildups, and I'm on my third audio related one.
> 
> I've done one each around a hifiberry digi+ pro (to various DAC's including a mimby), and a hifiberry dac+.
> 
> ...




That would be very cool!  Looking forward to your experiences and pics.


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## Stillhart

Do you think it's possible to use a RPi to make a DSP processor with digital in and out.  This would be something you can put inline with any source and DAC you want to tweak sound settings.  Settings can be tweaked via touchscreen or whatever.


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## CAPT Deadpool

Yes I believe that I have seen a DSP HAT.  I'd have to look into it further.


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## CAPT Deadpool

Stillhart said:


> Do you think it's possible to use a RPi to make a DSP processor with digital in and out.  This would be something you can put inline with any source and DAC you want to tweak sound settings.  Settings can be tweaked via touchscreen or whatever.



Try this Its new and should ship in a month:

https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hifiberry-dac-dsp/

https://www.hifiberry.com/blog/announcing-the-dac-dsp/


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## Stillhart

CAPT Deadpool said:


> Try this Its new and should ship in a month:
> 
> https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hifiberry-dac-dsp/
> 
> https://www.hifiberry.com/blog/announcing-the-dac-dsp/


Holy crap, that's awesome!  Now I just need to figure out how to program a DSP  >.>


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## CAPT Deadpool

I see a lot of you are interested in rca spdif out.

I have a cheap Cirrus Logic Audio card with RCA spdif out (bought years ago, was one of the first if not first audio HAT, i don't think its audiophile quality).  I might install it soon, so far no issues with the usb out to Mimby IMO so we'll see.

If you want a HAT for RCA digital out check out this hifiberry product: https://www.hifiberry.com/shop/boards/hifiberry-digi-pro/

or this 502 DAC mentioned on the Schiit Happened forum.  It is pretty full featured.

http://www.pi2design.com/502dac.html  Check out the comparison chart at : http://www.pi2design.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/48531975/502_dac_feature_comparison_table.pdf  For what its worth.  It is from a manufacture so take with a grain of salt.


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## jmarcusg

CAPT Deadpool said:


> I see a lot of you are interested in rca spdif out.
> 
> I have a cheap Cirrus Logic Audio card with RCA spdif out (bought years ago, was one of the first if not first audio HAT, i don't think its audiophile quality).  I might install it soon, so far no issues with the usb out to Mimby IMO so we'll see.
> 
> ...



I've had great success using the HiFiBerry S/PDIF Boards. Both the original Digi+ and Digi+ Pro have worked flawlessly for me on Raspberry Pi 2B, 3B & 3B+. They've been stable running Rune, Volumio and my current choice MoOde.


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## mbritt

I’ve been very happy using the Allo DigiOne with Roon for music in my home theater set up.  I started out using an old MacBook Pro to an Eitr to Marantz 6005 that doesn’t have USB inputs for computer audio.  The laptop gave up the ghost shortly after I got everything working so I moved my music to an iMac in the office streaming to the Raspberry Pi/Allo DigiOne.  This setup sounds great.  Next addition will be a Gumby.  I bought a Mimby but it’s in the office with the Eitr and I can’t bear to lose it from that system.


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## audio philestine

CAPT Deadpool said:


> I see a lot of you are interested in rca spdif out.
> 
> I have a cheap Cirrus Logic Audio card with RCA spdif out (bought years ago, was one of the first if not first audio HAT, i don't think its audiophile quality).  I might install it soon, so far no issues with the usb out to Mimby IMO so we'll see.
> 
> ...



I'll also add the Allo Digi-One:

https://www.allo.com/sparky/digione.html

I've only used their Boss DAC, but I'm impressed enough with it to try the Digi-One as an upgrade to the Hifiberry Digi-Pro


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## audio philestine

golfbravobravo said:


> That would be very cool!  Looking forward to your experiences and pics.



I'll try to take some pics, but I probably won't get a chance to post them until next week.


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## CAPT Deadpool

So I'm going to Micro-Center tomorrow.  They have the best prices on some gear to include RPi's 3+s for $30.  If anyone wants a hifi RPi built for them or help designing or building your own Pi let me know (PM me or post here) what your goals and budget is and I'll try to assist you with the process of selecting parts and software.    

I'm already helping one person with a RPi build in addition to the one I detailed above.  I think I'll document that build here for you all to show the software part (tune in Monday or Tuesday for that).  So far I've only built a hifi Pi using moOde because it met my needs and it's open-source/free.  I've probably built 6 or so RPi devices for various purposes other than Audio.  I also have experience working in various 'Nix software (Linux, Unix, O-BSD, CentOs, DVL, Kali, etc.), SSHing, DOS, and other command line and scripting.

Disclaimer: I'll be camping after I go to MicroCenter tomorrow (its on the way and saves me tolls) until Monday.  If I get an overwhelming response, I might have to take more time.  So 1st Come 1st Served I guess.  I enjoy working on these RPi's and I'm happy to help anyone with the skills I have.


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## KoshNaranek

CAPT Deadpool said:


> So I'm going to Micro-Center tomorrow.  They have the best prices on some gear to include RPi's 3+s for $30.  If anyone wants a hifi RPi built for them or help designing or building your own Pi let me know (PM me or post here) what your goals and budget is and I'll try to assist you with the process of selecting parts and software.
> 
> I'm already helping one person with a RPi build in addition to the one I detailed above.  I think I'll document that build here for you all to show the software part (tune in Monday or Tuesday for that).  So far I've only built a hifi Pi using moOde because it met my needs and it's open-source/free.  I've probably built 6 or so RPi devices for various purposes other than Audio.  I also have experience working in various 'Nix software (Linux, Unix, O-BSD, CentOs, DVL, Kali, etc.), SSHing, DOS, and other command line and scripting.
> 
> Disclaimer: I'll be camping after I go to MicroCenter tomorrow (its on the way and saves me tolls) until Monday.  If I get an overwhelming response, I might have to take more time.  So 1st Come 1st Served I guess.  I enjoy working on these RPi's and I'm happy to help anyone with the skills I have.


I thought there was a bug with B+ support. Audio playback just randomly stops. The next update should take care of this. I suggest just using the 3B for now.


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## audio philestine

KoshNaranek said:


> I thought there was a bug with B+ support. Audio playback just randomly stops. The next update should take care of this. I suggest just using the 3B for now.



I'm not familiar with the playback bug, i don't doubt it's real, I just haven't put any time in on a 3B+ to experience it.  I do know first hand that 3B+ won't boot on some recent 3B kernels. As I understand it, there is a new power supply management chip that moved some registers, and the older kernels can't find them and assume a power failure and blink the red LED and refuse to boot. I believe there  are kernel updates now to fix this, but I ended up switching to a 3B before they were out.

In the meantime, you can save a few bucks and get up and running easier with a 3B.


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## Relaxasaurus

Nice review of the ApplePi. 
https://blog.hackster.io/review-of-the-applepi-audiophile-dac-from-orchard-audio-1c4a942d6741

Didn't know this was a thing until it popped up on my news feed. Fully balanced Burr Brown DAC for $200? Great time to be an audio geek. Anyone use this yet?


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## CAPT Deadpool

I picked up a couple 3b+s this weekend I’ll let you know if I can replicate the issue.    I HAve about 5 extra 3b (no plus) if anyone can’t find one.  I think those are still widely available but I could be wrong.


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## KoshNaranek

CAPT Deadpool said:


> I picked up a couple 3b+s this weekend I’ll let you know if I can replicate the issue.    I HAve about 5 extra 3b (no plus) if anyone can’t find one.  I think those are still widely available but I could be wrong.


I came across it the hard way. Setup was a 3+ with Hifiberry amp2 running picoreplayer 3.5.0. I googled it and found that the issue also occurred with volumio and Hifiberry DAC.


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## audio philestine

I had promised some pictures, here they are, and I'll try to wrap this into a mini-howto as well.

Here's my current car setup:




 

That's a waveshare 7" touchscreen running RuneAudio with the updated UI. A lot of the buttons are hidden until you swipe or touch various portions of the screen. It takes some getting used to, but makes for a nice clean interface. This is mounted on one of those flexible/rigid stalks that bolts into the seat rail on the floor.

  The RaspberryPi is a linux computer, and wants to be shut down properly before the car is shut off. There are many projects to wire in an arcade style pushbutton to a GPIO. I found it far easier to use an off the shelf keypad. That's what shown on the seat. It was the cheapest mechanical keypad I could find on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076FTSY6J

It has "blue" micro-switches (tactile/click). At that price point, I think they are gaterons, or no-name, and not cherry. The keypad has a blue backlight. I added some audio keycaps from WASD - "Media F-key Shortcuts" and "Red Power" symbol. They are the lighter blue keys you see. I forgot to take a close up pic, but it's vol up/down in the top right, play/pause in the middle, next track/prev track below and to either side of that, and the power on the bottom row for shutdown. I have the power key requiring a "num lock" modifier to work, and when num lock is active on this pad there is a bright blue LED on the top left.  When the LED goes out, I know the Pi has powered off and it is safe to turn off the car. Perhaps this isn't necessary, but it's a good practice and it can't hurt.

  All the controls are available through the UI, but I sometimes find that difficult to do, especially in the car, and the mechanical keypad makes it easier/safer to do my most common keypresses while focusing on the road. 

  The software glue for the keypad is in /root/.xbindkeysrc where I added the following:

"mpc volume +1"
  m:0x0 + c:21
"mpc volume -1"
  m:0x0 + c:22
"mpc toggle"
   m:0x0 + c:104
"mpc toggle"
   m:0x0 + c:80
"mpc prev"
   m:0x0 + c:83
"mpc next"
   m:0x0 + c:85
### Shutdown
"sh /var/www/command/rune_shutdown poweroff ; shutdown -h now"
   m:0x10 + c:91

  The mpc commands are direct mpd client commands.  The shutdown command is the preferred way to shut down rune audio. I used xev on a linux PC to figure out the keycodes on the keypad.

I tweaked /root/.config/midori/config to zoom the screen to a reasonable level on this display. I ended up with:
zoom-level=1.4

  This is the Pi itself:



 

That is an allo boss dac with the aluminum case. It is available as a package as a "boss player" I ordered mine with a 3B, got got a free upgrade to a 3b+ which wouldn't boot under the old kernel in the runeaudio image I was using. I ended swapping the 3b+ out for a 3b and it worked. The case is very solid metal, and it has an internal plate that connects to the processor through a thermal pad to make the whole case a heat sink. This is great for keeping the Pi cool, unless you leave it in a hot car 

  The whole assembly could be mounting in a trunk or glove box, but as I often tweak with it, I just toss it under the passenger seat. That also makes it easy to add an extra usb drive with media.

  The connections starting in the lower left and going clockwise are: 1) the USB for the keypad, 2) an open USB for additional media, 3) the usb for the "mouse" events from and power to the touch screen 4) a mini USB drive with my FLAC collection 5) HDMI with right angle adapter to the touchscreen display 6) RCA out to my car's aux input 7) (hidden) micro usb to power the PI 8) (right side) USB-C to power the boss dac.

  The boss dac has a a usb-c power input and can power the pi, or can take power from the Pi's micro USB (but not both at the same time!). There is a jumper on the boss dac that can be removed to allow both supplies to be used at once. I had some issues getting enough power to everything. I'm still not sure this is the best solution, but it's working for me, so I stopped tweaking it. The two power cords run to a dual USB output cigarette lighter  plug power supply that I chose because it could supply enough current to safely fast charge a modern smartphone through usb-C.  I make no claims to it being audiophile grade, but it seems to work for me. I can dig up a part number if anyone is interested, but you'll all probably fine cleaner supplies.

  The only other tweaks I can remember doing were disabling the on-board audio, blue tooth, and wifi in /boot/config as follows:
dtoverlay=pi3-disable-wifi
dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt
dtparam=audio=off

and enabling the boss-dac

dtoverlay=allo-boss-dac-pcm512x-audio

  Other than that, RuneAudio seemed to work out of the box for me. I can provide a link to the image I used if anyone is interested. I also enabled the newer update UI for RuneAudio.

  I wanted to run the DAC at 100% / no volume control assuming that would be "bit-perfect". That appears to overload my aux in during some busier passages as mid-range distortion, especially on male vocals. Bumping the runeaudio volume down to 94-96% seems to eliminate this and sounds fine to my ear. I even got it to play Radiohead's "The Gloaming" properly, which is one of my favorite audio test/system punishment tracks.

 Feel free to ask me any questions.


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## JamminVMI

That rig falls into the “I never thought of that” category! I have always wondered why auto companies are ok with touchscreens in the dar, you comment reinforces that, and the keypad is a brilliant solution. Well done!


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## CAPT Deadpool

Ok I'm working on the build I mentioned for a friend. 

So what I've assembled is a Pi 3B+ (I have spare 3Bs in case I run into an issue), a Smart Pi Touch case, a HifiBerry Dac+ Pro RCA Hat, two Samsung 32Gb EVO micro SD cards (one for OS, one for updates and swap with primary), an official Raspberry Pi 7" touch screen display.  I'm using my own cables, power supplies and and music on a USB drive for setup. 

I recommend taking antistatic precautions before beginning any work with electronics.

Steps:

0. Complete an inventory of parts to ensure you have what you need and gather tools.  In this case to start I needed a small phillips head screwdriver.

1. Unpack and assemble Touch Case.  Setup Instructions for this case are at smarticases.com/touchsetup  FYI: This case now offers small and large back HAT covers that if drilled holes are drilled out could provide additional protection for any HATs installed.  I just ordered one for this project.  I will use the provided door to attach the pi to the case.  

2. Prepare the SD card.  I'm using a Mac so if you are using another OS search for the correct instructions.  I use the instructions at https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/installation/installing-images/mac.md   First format the micro SD card as FAT32.  In my case I used the disk utiliity program to erase and format the SD card using MS-DOS (FAT).  Next I opened terminal (Mac cmd prompt) and used diskutil as laid out at the link above to install the proper version of Raspian (in this case Raspian Stretch Lite 6-27-2018 downloaded from the MoOde website: http://moodeaudio.org to match MoOde 4.2).  Be very careful and double check all commands before you execute them.  In my case I double clicked the image file to mount it becoming (dev/disk3).  so the dd copy command I entered was:  sudo dd bs=1m if=/dev/disk3 of=/dev/rdisk2 conv=sync  once complete I ejected the disk (micro sd card) and installed in the pi.

3.  I installed the micro sd card into the pi and secured the pi in the Touch case.  I used two separate usb cables to power the monitor and the pi.  The case comes with a micro usb splitter but I've not had much luck with not undervolting with the splitter.  Plug the pi in las which will boot the pi.  To be continued....


----------



## CAPT Deadpool (Aug 10, 2018)

Few quick tips here: if you don't see anything on the screen.  1 make sure you've provided power to the screen first then the pi (in that order, if the pi doesn't see the display with power as it boots it will assume there is no display, or at least thats what I think happens).  2. make sure the display cable is correctly and firmly connected to both the pi and the display board.  3.  Make sure the display board cable to the display ribbon is firmly attached (i've had this come loose before on my first touch display pi).

Bottom line for IT if something isn't working most likely it involves a cable loose aka Layer 1 of the OSI model: Physical.  Please do not throw sausage pizza away = Physical, Datalink, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, Application.  And that my friends is how the internet works   Ok just a small part of how it works.

4.  First login and configuration of network access:  On boot after about 3-5 minutes you should see at the bottom of the screen: raspberry login:    Enter "pi" hit enter, then enter "raspberry" hit enter for the password at the next prompt.

Ok for this next part (or even prior to this) the following web page(s) will be useful:  https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/  in particular https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/raspi-config.md  and  https://www.raspberrypi.org/documentation/configuration/wireless/wireless-cli.md

Enter the command raspi-config to begin configuration

Select option 2 Network Options if you plan to use Wifi.  Then option 2 again for Wifi

Set your country (this is necessary because different countries require different frequencies for Wifi).

Type in your Wifi Router/Access Point's SSID aka name

Type in your Wifi Router's Network Password/Passphrase.  For example: TheBestWayToProtectYourComputerIsToNotConnectAtAll!

Once you enter this you should be back to the main Raspi-config menu. 

Select option 5 interfacing Options

Select P2 SSH

Select Yes then hit enter until you are back to the main Raspi-config menu.

Select Finish, and yes then Reboot.  If it doesn't prompt you to reboot and just gives you the command prompt again type "shutdown now".  Then disconnect power to the pi and reconnect it to start up again.

Once you reboot, login again, then type "ifconfig wlan0" to confirm that you are connected to wifi.  If you don't see an IP address and other associated information you are not connected to the network.  Either review the forums, google for answers, or post here for help.

Write down your ip address you'll need it for the next step.

Ok next post I will cover Secure Shelling (SSH)ing into your pi to install moode.


----------



## CAPT Deadpool (Aug 11, 2018)

5.  SSHing into your pi:

What we are doing here is connecting to your pi via a network connection to give it the commands to install MoOde.  I use the built in mac SSH tool in terminal.  Typing in "ssh pi@192.168.2.28" for example.  This tells your mac that you want to establish a secure shell connection as user "pi" at a computer at IP 192.168.2.28.

You will get a message that the authenticity of the host (your pi) can't be confirmed.  This is ok.  enter "yes"

It will ask you for a password.  Type in "raspberry".

you should now see a prompt on your Mac terminal screen that says pi@raspberrypi   

6.  Installing MoOde

//Ok for these steps the following pages are useful. 

//Instructions specific to this step  https://github.com/moode-player/mosbuild/blob/master/README.md

//Help with Moode and any questions you might have: http://moodeaudio.org/forum/

//Moode Homepage.  http://moodeaudio.org

//First you are going download the MoOde OS (MOS) builder script to your pi

Enter the following command into your SSH prompt in terminal which should still say pi@raspberrypi: cd /home/pi     

//This changes your directory to /home/pi or root then home folder then pi folder.

Next enter: sudo wget -q http://moodeaudio.org/downloads/mos/mosbuilder.sh -O /home/pi/mosbuilder.sh

//This command uses "sudo" which executes the command with root or administrator privileges.  "wget" is a command that goes out on a network or the internet and can copy/download a file.  In this case "-q" indicates the next web address is the source file to get.  "-O is the modifier that tells "wget" to output the file it grabs at "-q" to the /home/pi/ folder as a file called mosbuilder.sh (the same name).

Next enter: sudo chmod +x /home/pi/mosbuilder.sh

// This command makes the mosbuilder.sh file executable so in the next step we can run the file.


----------



## golfbravobravo

CAPT Deadpool said:


> 5.  SSHing into your pi:
> 
> What we are doing here is connecting to your pi via a network connection to give it the commands to install MoOde.  I use the built in mac SSH tool in terminal.  Typing in "ssh pi@192.168.2.28" for example.  This tells your mac that you want to establish a secure shell connection as user "pi" at a computer at IP 192.168.2.28.
> 
> ...



For those of you who may be a little apprehensive about all the ssh and terminal commands in the above (you WILL need a screen and keyboard connected to your Pi), then DietPi (https://dietpi.com/) copes with setupo and install of sound board HAT and Moode by slecting the options form a simple menu.

I use dietpi with IQaudio and HiFi boards and redid all of my Roon endpoints (lesson - don't forget your root password  ) this week.

Cheers


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

golfbravobravo said:


> For those of you who may be a little apprehensive about all the ssh and terminal commands in the above (you WILL need a screen and keyboard connected to your Pi), then DietPi (https://dietpi.com/) copes with setupo and install of sound board HAT and Moode by slecting the options form a simple menu.
> 
> I use dietpi with IQaudio and HiFi boards and redid all of my Roon endpoints (lesson - don't forget your root password  ) this week.
> 
> Cheers


So friends ive run into a bit of a snag with the install.  When the pi restarted after step 6 above the RPi 3B+ totally lost the ability to use wifi for some reason and did not properly run the mosbuilder process.  This did not happen with the 3b (no +) I made two weeks ago.  Now moOde strongly recommends using ethernet for this step, so guess what, I plugged it into my router (RT-AC88U) and rebooted and things are installing great now.


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

Ok that worked.  The install is complete.  Tomorrow I'll do some MoOde configuration and Sunday I should have a couple of parts I need to finish with.  I'm waiting on a new USB micro SD card reader, I had a cheap one and I think it is Kaput.  Once I have that I can update the MoOde to the latest updates with the second micro SD card.  Also I'm waiting on the back cover to drill out and cover the HAT.


----------



## golfbravobravo

CAPT Deadpool said:


> So friends ive run into a bit of a snag with the install.  When the pi restarted after step 6 above the RPi 3B+ totally lost the ability to use wifi for some reason and did not properly run the mosbuilder process.  This did not happen with the 3b (no +) I made two weeks ago.  Now moOde strongly recommends using ethernet for this step, so guess what, I plugged it into my router (RT-AC88U) and rebooted and things are installing great now.



The internal wireless is noted for being "weak".  I ALWAYS add a dongle for music (and most other applications).

Cheers


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

golfbravobravo said:


> The internal wireless is noted for being "weak".  I ALWAYS add a dongle for music (and most other applications).
> 
> Cheers



I have one of those dongles, but I think in this case it was a problem with ifconfig type settings or launching the wifi drivers.  At least the case I’m using is plastic.  Ive seen metal rpi cases like the one for the hifiberry dac + pro xlr and that makes me wonder how they expect the Wifi to work.


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

Using ethernet did install significantly faster.  Of course some of that should have been the difference between 3b and 3b+


----------



## golfbravobravo

CAPT Deadpool said:


> I have one of those dongles, but I think in this case it was a problem with ifconfig type settings or launching the wifi drivers.  At least the case I’m using is plastic.  Ive seen metal rpi cases like the one for the hifiberry dac + pro xlr and that makes me wonder how they expect the Wifi to work.



Yup!  I just "upgraded" the big stereo to the HifI Pro XLR - which REQUIRES the metal case - and it works well.  NB ifconfig is deprecated on some implementations  - was that a 'stretch' change?

Incidentally, I couldn't hear a difference switching between the IQAudio HAT based Pi and the HFB XLR Pro into the Freya.

Cheers


----------



## audio philestine

CAPT Deadpool said:


> Please do not throw sausage pizza away = Physical, Datalink, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, Application.  And that my friends is how the internet works   Ok just a small part of how it works.



  Nice! I've never heard that one before, now'll I'll never forget it [unless I order a different pizza!].


----------



## audio philestine

CAPT Deadpool said:


> 5.  SSHing into your pi:
> 
> What we are doing here is connecting to your pi via a network connection to give it the commands to install MoOde.  I use the built in mac SSH tool in terminal.



For Windows, "putty" is a simple, lightweight ssh client that does everything:

https://www.putty.org/

And for Linux, ssh is likely installed by default, but if you need to install it, it looks like the Debian package is openssh-client , so something like this command should work:

sudo apt-get install openssh-client


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

audio philestine said:


> For Windows, "putty" is a simple, lightweight ssh client that does everything:
> 
> https://www.putty.org/
> 
> ...



Yeah, my initial though when I had to SSH into the RPis for this was to use Putty, but like Linux it's already built into Apple's OSX terminal.  I've used putty extensively and it was my introduction to SSH.  Highly recommend it if you are operating on Windows.


----------



## golfbravobravo (Aug 13, 2018)

audio philestine said:


> Nice! I've never heard that one before, now'll I'll never forget it [unless I order a different pizza!].




That would be the ISO pizza?  Same idea as NATO standard tea?


----------



## jimmers (Aug 13, 2018)

CAPT Deadpool said:


> ...I've used putty extensively and it was my introduction to SSH.  Highly recommend it if you are operating on Windows.


Using PuTTY on Windows?
Haven't you heard of silicone caulk?


Not just trolling, I'm waiting for your streamer setup to be finalised before I start on my Pi, S/Pdif hat, MoOde system.
Are there options for the touch display, I was thinking of a 3.5" one?
Final thing, if my TV, AVR, PVR, Blu-ray player all stream is there any major advantage in having a Pi streamer in the same location other than supplying a completely separate system?

Thanks


----------



## johnnyb

Great thread!  I ran into the idea of Raspberry Pi for an audio streamer a little over a year ago when watching Hans Beekhuyzen's YouTube channel. I ordered a HifiBerry Digi+ Pro and put it together with a Raspberry Pi 3B. Quickly found out that it was a better source than my Android USB player, and just as convenient.  Added an iFi 5V iPower supply. Then actually soldered the board to supply power directly to the HifiBerry Digi+ Pro as described in 



Why use a Raspberry Pi when other equipment will stream?  Well, for me, I have an XBOX in the living room hooked up to a DAC, but the XBOX won't play FLAC (and probably not with the quality I desire).  So that was one of the drivers for me. Now I have a RPi hooked up in parallel with the XBOX to the same DAC. Much nicer way to listen to music. I've played with a couple different distros, but finally settled on Moode.  It's working really well right now and getting frequent updates.  If you decide to use the software seriously, please consider donating to the guy who maintains it -- it's a real service that he's providing to hi-rez audio enthusiasts.


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

jimmers said:


> Using PuTTY on Windows?
> Haven't you heard of silicone caulk?
> 
> 
> ...



So It is actually complete, but I need to do some more posting to finish the guide.  There are multiple options for the touch display for a Pi to include 3.5".  However if your using MoOde on a 3.5" touch screen be forewarned; I found at times my fingers were too big and would not hit the item on the screen I intended.  I think at 3.5" you might be very frustrated.  Unless of course you have tiny hands.  

I'm using mine where I don't have an alternative source other than my phone.  But using your smartphone while multiple cables dangle from it sucks.  So by using a dedicated system with a dedicated 4Gb drive (in my personal case) I can turn on one switch (isobar) that turns on my RPi, JOtunhiem, Mimby and listen to high res ALAC files.  In my case I've ripped or downloaded my entire collection in ALAC so my options are somewhat limited for what I can play them on.

What kind of "streaming" do you have in mind?


----------



## jimmers

CAPT Deadpool said:


> ... What kind of "streaming" do you have in mind?


Thanks for your reply,
 I will be streaming from NAS and probably have a parallel system to my lounge room TV AVR bookshelf stereo speakers set-up feeding a stereo DAC, Amp and the floorstanders I'm still building.


----------



## KoshNaranek

jimmers said:


> Final thing, if my TV, AVR, PVR, Blu-ray player all stream is there any major advantage in having a Pi streamer in the same location other than supplying a completely separate system?
> 
> Thanks



The reasons I use it are:
1. (Most Important) My wife likes having one in every room with a music system(all of them). There is a single sever in the basement and centralizes the Music library/Favorites/Playlists, etc. There is a single app that controls all of it(Squeezer or iPeng). You can synchronize the players to play the exact same thing at the same time(Laundry Room, Office, Bedroom, etc.). So, when you are moving from room to room, the music goes with you. With outdoor WiFi antennas, someone like @Paladin79 could run it in his firepit without fiddling with USB flash drives.
2. It sounds better as a source than an Esoteric K03 SACD player when using HiFiBerry Digi


----------



## golfbravobravo

jimmers said:


> Final thing, if my TV, AVR, PVR, Blu-ray player all stream is there any major advantage in having a Pi streamer in the same location other than supplying a completely separate system?
> 
> Thanks


One point to ponder is that is grouping outputs is important to you, some software (Roon for example) will NOt group different types of transport.  For example you can't group casting with airplay, with native dac output.  That's been the biggest restriction I've found across multiple bits of gear.

Cheers


----------



## jimmers

KoshNaranek said:


> The reasons I use it are:
> 1. (Most Important) My wife likes having one in every room with a music system(all of them). There is a single sever in the basement and centralizes the Music library/Favorites/Playlists, etc. There is a single app that controls all of it(Squeezer or iPeng). You can synchronize the players to play the exact same thing at the same time(Laundry Room, Office, Bedroom, etc.). So, when you are moving from room to room, the music goes with you. With outdoor WiFi antennas, someone like @Paladin79 could run it in his firepit without fiddling with USB flash drives.
> 2. It sounds better as a source than an Esoteric K03 SACD player when using HiFiBerry Digi


Yours sounds like an excellent use case.


----------



## Paladin79

I have pretty well got long term portable power figured out, a battery pack that will give 5 v and 3 amp out to power both PI and display.  I also have some small rechargeable battery's coming from China that are made for the PI.


----------



## KoshNaranek

Paladin79 said:


> I have pretty well got long term portable power figured out, a battery pack that will give 5 v and 3 amp out to power both PI and display.  I also have some small rechargeable battery's coming from China that are made for the PI.


You may want to consider the HiFiBerry AMP2. It takes anything from 12 to 20V and regulates power for the Pi itself. It is rated for 50+ WPC but personally it sounds like about 20 to me. I have one in my kitchen and it drives the Wharfedale speakers that you also see.


----------



## Paladin79 (Aug 26, 2018)

I will consider that. I have a Martin Logan powered sound bar (100 watts built in DAC) that I use outdoors when I have large groups, the sound is incredible and while I can run it off of a DAP, I like the storage and quality of the PI. I also have powered blue tooth speakers but they are nothing special.


----------



## JamminVMI

Finally back from the cross-country drive with my daughter to UConn, assemblage of a flat full of Ikea-ness (yeah, I packed a power screwdriver with variable torque settings). Drive was spectacularly pretty (albeit warm), and I let the 20-year old have her head with spotify. Thank gosh she also likes music from the 60’s onward!

Thanks to Capt Deadpool for asking a while back if I shared his alma mater and subsequently resurrecting my interest in Pi. Here’s the creation, 3B+ running piCorePlayer, with the HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro HAT installed in a modded plexi case sourced from Amazon. Setup and config simpl, recognized my LMS server immediately, Easy as pi (sry!). Not using (or planning to use) the fan, but decided that cosmetically, the case looked stupid without having the fan bolted on... Case uses M2.5 standoffs, not the bog-standard M3s, doggone it, but that’s a small thing... 

Also thanks to whomever recommended Etcher for burning the image to the card, works a treat on Win10. Now to pick up the B-stock Mimby at the Schittr later this week, and we’ll have somehing for the pi to feed!

Hats off (no pun this time) to all of you for sharing your creations, methods and tools. Appreciated!


----------



## audio philestine

Allo boss DAC on massdrop: [no referral link]

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/allo-boss-dac-v1-2

You might need to be a massdrop member to see the offer. $54.99 with option for black or clear acryllic case for $13. Ships Oct. 8th. Drop ends in 5 days (Sept 9/10?)

Looks like a decent discount ($65 on the allo site, $59.99    + $3.10 shipping   on Amazon), but shipping is a month out.

This is the DAC I run in my car rig, and I'm very happy with it.


----------



## Paladin79

KoshNaranek said:


> The reasons I use it are:
> 1. (Most Important) My wife likes having one in every room with a music system(all of them). There is a single sever in the basement and centralizes the Music library/Favorites/Playlists, etc. There is a single app that controls all of it(Squeezer or iPeng). You can synchronize the players to play the exact same thing at the same time(Laundry Room, Office, Bedroom, etc.). So, when you are moving from room to room, the music goes with you. With outdoor WiFi antennas, someone like @Paladin79 could run it in his firepit without fiddling with USB flash drives.
> 2. It sounds better as a source than an Esoteric K03 SACD player when using HiFiBerry Digi



I may certainly look into that, at this point I am maybe fifty yards from my wifi to my firepit. Now the question is does the wifi give equal sound conveyance of copper wire to the back of my various outdoor speakers?  I use wifi indoors of course. I was goofing around and mentioned bluetooth but that is for audio books. I do not have AC run to my firepit area so when I say a system needs to be portable, I mean just that.


----------



## KoshNaranek

Paladin79 said:


> I may certainly look into that, at this point I am maybe fifty yards from my wifi to my firepit. Now the question is does the wifi give equal sound conveyance of copper wire to the back of my various outdoor speakers?  I use wifi indoors of course. I was goofing around and mentioned bluetooth but that is for audio books. I do not have AC run to my firepit area so when I say a system needs to be portable, I mean just that.


Sound quality for 16/44 is fine. It burps when running above 24/96.

The Built in WiFi in the pi is notoriously weak. I suspect that you will need and outdoor WiFi antenna such as this one 

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-outdoor/

I also strongly recommend that you upgrade to 802.11ac mesh throughout your house. Get all your antennas from the same vendor.


----------



## Paladin79

KoshNaranek said:


> Sound quality for 16/44 is fine. It burps when running above 24/96.
> 
> The Built in WiFi in the pi is notoriously weak. I suspect that you will need and outdoor WiFi antenna such as this one
> 
> ...


The majority of my music is 24/96 up and  I have a dual zone home system that is quite good. Thanks for the advice though.


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

Paladin79 said:


> The majority of my music is 24/96 up and  I have a dual zone home system that is quite good. Thanks for the advice though.



I would not buy a new router right now.  Wait until the new year.  I have a great router Asus RT-AC88U or something like that.  The replacement RT-AX88U should be released very soon.  The difference is support for 802.11AC vs the addition of 802.11AX which will be another generational leap ahead in speed.  You can get relatively cheap usb 802.11AC wireless dongles that can be added to the Pi.  Also Paladin's RPi is the newest model 3+ B which I believe has dual band Wifi (2.4 and 5 GHz) which significantly increases its wifi speed over the 3 which only had 2.4G


----------



## KoshNaranek

CAPT Deadpool said:


> I would not buy a new router right now.  Wait until the new year.  I have a great router Asus RT-AC88U or something like that.  The replacement RT-AX88U should be released very soon.  The difference is support for 802.11AC vs the addition of 802.11AX which will be another generational leap ahead in speed.  You can get relatively cheap usb 802.11AC wireless dongles that can be added to the Pi.  Also Paladin's RPi is the newest model 3+ B which I believe has dual band Wifi (2.4 and 5 GHz) which significantly increases its wifi speed over the 3 which only had 2.4G


Do you have a specific dongle that you recommend?


----------



## KoshNaranek

CAPT Deadpool said:


> I would not buy a new router right now.  Wait until the new year.  I have a great router Asus RT-AC88U or something like that.  The replacement RT-AX88U should be released very soon.  The difference is support for 802.11AC vs the addition of 802.11AX which will be another generational leap ahead in speed.  You can get relatively cheap usb 802.11AC wireless dongles that can be added to the Pi.  Also Paladin's RPi is the newest model 3+ B which I believe has dual band Wifi (2.4 and 5 GHz) which significantly increases its wifi speed over the 3 which only had 2.4G


I am having more problems with the 3+ than the 3. I suspect that it is trying to lock on to the 5GHz band, loses lock, then doesn't switch to 2.4 fast enough.

The problem with music playback that I mentioned earlier on this thread appears to be due to this issue.


----------



## CAPT Deadpool (Sep 11, 2018)

KoshNaranek said:


> Do you have a specific dongle that you recommend?



I have a ASUS USB-AC53 for use with non-wifi pis such as the RPi 2.  This is good enough if your not looking for extreme range.  Mind your phone probably has the same size wifi antenna and the RPi too. If you need more range look for something like USB-AC68 it has a good external antenna with stand and a cable to attach to the pi so you don't block your other usb ports on the pi (which is a common problem with a lot of dongles, of course you could use your own cable with those but they would just be flopping around).  Also be aware you are only going to get about 280Mbits or 35MBytes (to my math that should be sufficient for 192/24 FLAC/ALAC but I could be wrong if I am please show me the math so I can learn where I went wrong) per second through the USB 2.0 on any RPi so there is no need to get too extreme if your only going to use the wifi dongle for your Pi.  I'm partial to ASUS routers personally.  They are a strong consumer brand for wifi routers and have in my opinion at least with the RT-AC88U pretty good security baked in.  A LOT of consumer wifi routers are hacks waiting to happen!


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

KoshNaranek said:


> I am having more problems with the 3+ than the 3. I suspect that it is trying to lock on to the 5GHz band, loses lock, then doesn't switch to 2.4 fast enough.
> 
> The problem with music playback that I mentioned earlier on this thread appears to be due to this issue.



What OS is installed on your Pi?  You should be able to tell it NOT to connect to 5G.  My ASUS and (previous Fios Router) both had two separate SSIDs for the 5G and 2.4G bands.  2.4 is slower but has longer range than 5G and is probably fast enough for your purposes.  Try deleting the 5G SSID/password pair from your Rpi, and using the 2.4G wifi only.


----------



## Paladin79

My son is a big fan of Asus routers so that is what I have at home. I tend to specialize in other things but when he is in town he tends to upgrade any computer based electronics for me but it has been a couple years since he changed out my router.

This weekend I may get to try out my outside system, finally it will not be 90 degrees or raining. As of yesterday I have the capability of 440 watts or five watts through more efficient speakers. For right now my best option is a selection of 64 gig thumb drives with lossless music going through the PI. I have a battery pack that will run both the PI and display, and another with AC out.


----------



## KoshNaranek

CAPT Deadpool said:


> What OS is installed on your Pi?  You should be able to tell it NOT to connect to 5G.  My ASUS and (previous Fios Router) both had two separate SSIDs for the 5G and 2.4G bands.  2.4 is slower but has longer range than 5G and is probably fast enough for your purposes.  Try deleting the 5G SSID/password pair from your Rpi, and using the 2.4G wifi only.


Running picoreplayer. I am just coming to grip with the issue and have not yet have a chance to come up with a solution. Thanks for the advice, I will include it in my attempt at fixing the issue and will report my findings here.


----------



## KoshNaranek

Managed to get the Pi2Design working with picoreplayer. A big Thank You to @earnmyturns  for letting me know that the output settings of the 502DAC are the same as the HiFiBerry DAC+. I could not find that reference anywhere and I consider myself to be pretty good at Google-fu. Initial impressions are that it is at least as good as the HiFiberry and via AES, may be slightly better via Yiggy2. I will post final impressions in Currewog's Yggdrasil thread unless people would prefer Baldr's thread.

Be well


----------



## drewfus420

I have recently built my first audio only Pi (I have a dozen other Pi projects under my belt) and I am VERY pleased with the sound.

My set up is on my night table, for bedtime music and is as follows:
Raspberry Pi 3b
Hifiberry Dac+ Pro
iFi 5v psu (currently feeding the Pi, but I plan on modding it to feed the hat, and the hat feeding the Pi)
Hifiberry steel enclosure
1ft audioquest carbon RCA interconnect with ferrite chokes at amp input
Little Dot MKII with some diy upgrades and Telefunken and Mullard tubes
Pangea mains cable fed from Furrman power conditioner (also feeds iFi PSU)
Ultrasone Pro 900 with Sigma Acoustics silver cable

I am currently running Volumio, but I am interested in exploring different software because I want to build a few more of these for throughout the house, and Volumio paid subscription is needed to run more than one.
I am currently using 2 128gb SD cards in USB adapters to store my FLAC collection, but I am considering a USB hard drive, though I am concerned about the power draw of a USB HD. I do not have a NAS at home and have not yet been able to get the Pi/Volumio to connect to the shared drives on my main PC. Any thoughts on the possible power issues if I add a USB hard drive that doesn't have its own power?


----------



## CAPT Deadpool

drewfus420 said:


> I have recently built my first audio only Pi (I have a dozen other Pi projects under my belt) and I am VERY pleased with the sound.
> 
> My set up is on my night table, for bedtime music and is as follows:
> Raspberry Pi 3b
> ...



Yes I have found that it complicates things; requiring a USB y-splitter adaptor to supply power to the drive and data to the pi.  I recommend using a compact high capacity thumb drive like the https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07857Y17V/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1   It doesn't block the other USB ports.   Or a small portable SSD drive from Samsung, WD, or SanDisk which you can connect with a short 4" usb cable and ziptie to the back of the pi.  Both of these options should be capabile of running off power supplied from the Pi USB ports alone.


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## drewfus420

I got myself 2 256gb usb flash drives for my music collection which is now an acceptable amount of music storage because this is my "bedtime rig" and I only want a fraction of my music and ebook collection on it. I don't really need most of my hip hop and heavy metal music because id never fall asleep to it


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## m8o (Jan 31, 2019)

Relaxasaurus said:


> Nice review of the ApplePi.
> https://blog.hackster.io/review-of-the-applepi-audiophile-dac-from-orchard-audio-1c4a942d6741
> 
> Didn't know this was a thing until it popped up on my news feed. Fully balanced Burr Brown DAC for $200? Great time to be an audio geek. Anyone use this yet?



Just got mine.  Here is the review I wrote...





Man, what a detail moster this DAC is!  I highly recommend it.

I received this Monday.  But wanting to get a feel for this DAC first using balanced, I held off hooking it up right away. I recieved the mini to full size xlr cables today.  So I went ahead and swapped out the Boss dac I was using on a RoPieee plus screen for this.  Swapped in some taller standoffs, did some more trimming of the 7" case to accommodate this dac's connectors, and I was ready to go.

A few minutes into listening, the snow squall that accompanied the onset of the polar vortex knocked out power to me and 902 of my closest neighbors... lol  Was worried the linemen couldn't go up in their buckets in the cold and wind.  Just when I was sure I'd need to go out to buy gasoline to run my generator to power my furnace and circulators to prevent freeze of the pipes at the periphery of my house, I got the power back (note to self: buy gasoline).  Feed the dogs.  Feed myself.  Then let the auditioning [re-]commence.

The signal path is Roon playing my playlist of favorite songs I know extremely well (a mix of ripped Redbook and purchases from HDTracks all in FLAC) > RoPieee + screen with this ApplePi HAT > Balanced out > Mjolnir balanced in > 4-pin XLR out > HiFiMan HE-1000 (gen 1).  A fully balanced signal path from source to output.  Love it!

As far as balanced headphone amp is concerned, I only have a Mjolnir gen 1 here.  My Woo WA-22 and McIntosh MHA-100 (the latter has balanced in, but is a single ended amp) is at another address. And ideally what I'd mate to this very competent DAC.

The Mjolnir is no slouch tho. With this dac's balanced level out, the volume dial only needs to go to 12 o'clock instead of 4 or 5 o'clock (when I use unbalanced in, so that I can use an analog tone control) for very very loud musical reproduction. But I'll be totally honest.  Its dry analytic, almost 'bass-lite' nature isnt the best match for this detail monster of a dac.  So after a few hours tweaking the DSP in Roon, I settled on this extremely subtle tonal rebalance you see below.  I highly recommend this simple form of single band tonal shaping either cutting highs or lows as necessary for your dac-amp-transducer pairing; play with the center frequency and Q, but keeping Q (well?) under 0.25 is recommended. If gain level goes much over 1 you may find the transients and attack getting cut by an excessive degree.



Edit: I stand by the above.  But wanting more presence 'bite', and to account for a range where the frequency response of the he1k dips more than I prefer, I've since adopted using this, still simple and subtle, parametric curve..

 
In any case, dont take this as a criticism of the Mjolnir or the ApplePi.  This 1db reduction of the highs is a subjective preference.  And I doubt I'd want this with the other two premium amps I own that I named.  Tbd at a later time when I move all my Roon & Bridge devices to where those amps live.

I will say this... with the Mjolnir's accuracy, precision, and well damped nature that is free of all embellishments and colorations, fed by the ApplePi doing an exceptional job recreating the analog signal of the original recording free from any auditory masking with it's super low noise floor and low low distortion dominated by even harmonics many orders out (what little there is, balanced out), jitter immunity, and excellent transient response, this is up there for the most revealing yet still musical combo I have.  The things so often lost/masked, subtle modulations of instruments, the subtle backing tone of a synth in a mix, is as discernible as the primary melodies & percussion of the music. It gives my NAD M51 driving either my MHA-100 or WA-22 a run for its money at a mere fraction of the cost.  Nirvana on a budget.

It's been three hours since I settled on this dsp curve (Edit: I actually powered down at 4am unable to pull myself away, spending about 7 hours evaluating this combo) .... I've listened to downtempo, pop, pop-dance, various jazz styles, electronica, you name it.  And I haven't had a single complaint of what was coming out of the HE-1000s.  Haven't had the slightest desire to alter the level of the treble, mid, or bass.  For me, a habitual tone control tweeker (Perreaux TC2 is my favorite), that's huge!  This happens only when so many things line up perfectly so that something close to (subjective) perfection is coming thru the transducer.

I highly recommend the ApplePi!  On sale, it's a no-brainer!


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## golfbravobravo

m8o said:


> Just got mine.  Here is the review I wrote...
> 
> Man, what a detail moster this DAC is!  I highly recommend it.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the review and for the pics!  I have some questions, one for you, one for general inputs. The specific is what screen (standard RpI 7"?) case are you using - the general a link would be appreciated.  To the general, what power supplies are folks using: particularly with a powered amp style HAT?  I'm struggling with card corruption on one, and the finger is being pointed at the power supply.

Any inputs appreciated!

Cheers


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## CAPT Deadpool

m8o said:


> Just got mine.  Here is the review I wrote...
> 
> 
> 
> ...



You say it is on sale.  Is it still 199?


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## m8o

CAPT Deadpool said:


> You say it is on sale.  Is it still 199?


$139.99.  And the volume-clocker is on sale too.


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## m8o

golfbravobravo said:


> Thanks for the review and for the pics!  I have some questions, one for you, one for general inputs. The specific is what screen (standard RpI 7"?) case are you using - the general a link would be appreciated.  To the general, what power supplies are folks using: particularly with a powered amp style HAT?  I'm struggling with card corruption on one, and the finger is being pointed at the power supply.
> 
> Any inputs appreciated!
> 
> Cheers



I do all my builds of Roon RoPieee Bridge devices with supplamental screen using the official 7" screen (the only screen that a RoPieee image supports) with this case (also available in black) :

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0793FNCXM

Use of a DAC or DigiOne requires cutting (super easy with large nippers) to accommodate the output connections, and of course can't use the back cover.  I will figure something out tho to provide protection.

I always power the screen separate from board + audio HAT.  I use the 5V 2.5 amp usually shipped with a RPi to power only the screen.  I then power the RPi and audio board with one of these (bought a few of them; time for me to buy more)

https://www.allo.com/sparky/5v-power-supply.html

Allo has great power supplies if you want to use an Amp HAT too.

Or this, which puts out 5.25v and was recommended when using an ApplePi. I bought it from Orchard Audio along with the ApplePi (if buying make sure you get the hat stacking adapter).  But his site doesn't show it for sale separately.


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## m8o

P.s. good set of links thru this thread pertaining to the ApplePi ...

https://community.roonlabs.com/t/applepi-dac-highest-performance-raspberry-pi-dac/41505/45

(pardon if you are forced to login to read it; hoping not)


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## ktm

I've been running runeaudio and have it tied USB to an audiogd dac. I started with a pi2, went to a pi3.
Big usb stick for my music and control it with my tablett. I use headphones and have a speaker rig.
Been pretty happy with it. Had it for about 5 years now. Thought about a hat based dac, but I worry
About losing sound quality. Maybe someone will be able to compare hats vs USB dacs.
So far, not a lot of people seem to go USB for audio output.


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## KoshNaranek (Mar 3, 2019)

A friend of mine completed a pi project that I wanted to do myself but did not pass WAF.

We took a nonfunctional 1936 Philco floorstanding AM radio from Craigslist:




We put a Hifiberry Amp with an old Dell laptop power supply




And replaced the crumbling single 10 inch speaker with four 5.25 inch car stereo speakers 



The resulting player connects via WiFi and is controlled by a phone.

Music is stored on a central server using Vortexbox


Edit: The plywood used to mount the speakers is Marine Grade Birch. It has no gaps in the ply.


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## wabe

Has anyone else used the Pi 502 DAC HAT in their project?  I have a couple of questions.

1.  I received 4 standoffs, 4 small screws, and 4 larger thumb screws with the DAC.  I do the following, correct?

Attach the standoffs to the RPi with the small screws.
Once I attach the HAT, I lock it down with the thumb screws.
2.  The HAT has separate connections for a power source (barrel connector and discrete wires).  Do I need a separate power source, or will it get powered via the RPi power supply?


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## golfbravobravo

wabe said:


> Has anyone else used the Pi 502 DAC HAT in their project?  I have a couple of questions.
> 
> 1.  I received 4 standoffs, 4 small screws, and 4 larger thumb screws with the DAC.  I do the following, correct?
> 
> ...




All your answers are here: http://www.pi2design.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/48531975/502dac_pro_hw_ref_manual_p1_0.pdf


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## wabe

golfbravobravo said:


> All your answers are here: http://www.pi2design.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/48531975/502dac_pro_hw_ref_manual_p1_0.pdf


Thank you - I was wondering how I missed that.  There doesn't seem to be a link to it on the product page (or a separate link to all manuals), so thank you for providing.

The first question still stands, though, although it's likely a more generic question about attaching HATs. Which screws go where?


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## AlfaBeO

Nice thread, got some ideas here that I'll try out on my own setup.

I've been running an RPi 3B with an Allo Boss DAC for a year and a half now, been using Volumio the whole time. Usually I use it for headphone listening, but sometimes I also use it for my regular stereo amplifier. When using headphones (Shure SRH840) I connect through an iFi micro iCAN that I bought used.

The only problem I've had is my tablet losing connection to the RPi/Volumio from time to time. Will try a USB NIC as suggested earlier in this thread, see if that will cure the problem. I might also connect it to a touch screen that I really don't use for anything else right now, the setup with the touch screen earlier in this thread looked really nice. I haven't tinkered with it for a long time now, will be fun getting into that again


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## golfbravobravo

wabe said:


> Thank you - I was wondering how I missed that.  There doesn't seem to be a link to it on the product page (or a separate link to all manuals), so thank you for providing.
> 
> The first question still stands, though, although it's likely a more generic question about attaching HATs. Which screws go where?



You can put the spacer between the Pi and the HAT, or use multiples if you are placing the combination in a case of some sort.  Normally, the case will have a threaded standoff of some sort.  Usually one places screws through the Pit to secure it.  When adding a hat, remove the regular screws and use the HAT standoffs, thread at the bottom, tapped at the top.   

Cheers


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## ItsAllInMyHead (Mar 7, 2019)

wabe said:


> Has anyone else used the Pi 502 DAC HAT in their project?  I have a couple of questions.
> 
> 1.  I received 4 standoffs, 4 small screws, and 4 larger thumb screws with the DAC.  I do the following, correct?
> 
> ...



1) The "Thumb screws" are most likely the "feet" (if you got the same kit I got).  They look like short standoffs with screws ('cause that's what they are).  They go on the bottom with the screw through the hole in the Pi.  The standoffs screw on top of those.  DAC on top of Pi.  Screws go through the holes in the DAC board into the standoffs.

tl;dr  It will work any way you want as long as the standoffs are in the middle. 

2) No, you don't need a separate power supply.

Enjoy!

EDIT - Looks like a lot of replies came up before I saw them... sorry for duplicate info!


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## Hummer25

I think if someone of the top manufacturers heard what an RPi3 with Allo Boss 1.2 DAC using an LPS can sound like they may be concerned. For a fraction of the price of much of the competition this renderer DAC combination can produce some stunning results. I have done the comparison and have been shocked how good it is.


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## Chouarch

Great thread ! Very interesting ! I'm an huge fan of DIY stuff.
A few years ago, I made an RPI1 based DAC, with Max2Play. Did the job at the begining...

But I want to make a new one, more WAF compatible...
I'm also interested in the Pi 502 DAC HAT. I understood it is not mandatory to use a different power supply, but did anyone tried it? With which one?


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## KoshNaranek (Oct 17, 2019)

Chouarch said:


> Great thread ! Very interesting ! I'm an huge fan of DIY stuff.
> A few years ago, I made an RPI1 based DAC, with Max2Play. Did the job at the begining...
> 
> But I want to make a new one, more WAF compatible...
> I'm also interested in the Pi 502 DAC HAT. I understood it is not mandatory to use a different power supply, but did anyone tried it? With which one?


This one. Works and sounds great


https://www.jameco.com/z/GS60A12-P1...able-Top-Power-Supply-2-1mm-Plug_1952370.html


Welcome to Head Fi. This PSU operates from 100-250 volts


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## Chouarch

KoshNaranek said:


> Welcome to Head Fi.


Thanks !


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## Chouarch

KoshNaranek said:


> This one. Works and sounds great
> 
> https://www.jameco.com/z/GS60A12-P1...able-Top-Power-Supply-2-1mm-Plug_1952370.html


https://www.jameco.com/z/GS60A12-P1...able-Top-Power-Supply-2-1mm-Plug_1952370.html
Thanks for this answer.
It seems like a "normal" PSU. When you say that it sounds great, do you hear a huge difference with or without ?


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## KoshNaranek

Chouarch said:


> Thanks for this answer.
> It seems like a "normal" PSU. When you say that it sounds great, do you hear a huge difference with or without ?


Only on one system. I have Adcom GFA 555 II amp that picks up noise from the power line. Cheap switching PSUs change the background noise level on that system. This PSU has a medical grade rating, meaning that it is not going to interfere with ECG and EEG machines. I don't hear any changes in the background 'blackness' with it.

I have not found a linear PSU at a price point that I am willing to pay and with a medical grade PSU, I think that I have reached the point of diminishing returns. After all, the PSU on the Pi board itself is switching.


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## Chouarch

KoshNaranek said:


> Only on one system. I have Adcom GFA 555 II amp that picks up noise from the power line. Cheap switching PSUs change the background noise level on that system. This PSU has a medical grade rating, meaning that it is not going to interfere with ECG and EEG machines. I don't hear any changes in the background 'blackness' with it.



Such a great idea ! So DIY ! 
Many thanks !


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## Ike1985 (Nov 6, 2019)

1. Is it possible to stream bandcamp to a raspberry pi and then have the pi wired send that data to my Hugo2?

2. If I wanted to play FLAC albums (Rpi --> Hugo2) that I have actual possession of (they are either on my phone hard drive or my MacBook pro harddrive), what would be the best way to go about this?  Could it be done wirelessly without any loss in the integrity of the file? I can't imagine some of these massive FLAC files (HD vinyl rips) being transferred wirelessly.  I currently use UAPP and Jriver on my Macbookpro but am open to using ROON if it will do what I need.

3. Is it possible to have someone build this for me for money or is there some place I could buy one that could do the above?


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## golfbravobravo

Ike1985 said:


> 1. Is it possible to stream bandcamp to a raspberry pi and then have the pi wired send that data to my Hugo2?
> 
> 2. If I wanted to play FLAC albums (Rpi --> Hugo2) that I have actual possession of (they are either on my phone hard drive or my MacBook pro harddrive), what would be the best way to go about this?  Could it be done wirelessly without any loss in the integrity of the file? I can't imagine some of these massive FLAC files (HD vinyl rips) being transferred wirelessly.  I currently use UAPP and Jriver on my Macbookpro but am open to using ROON if it will do what I need.
> 
> 3. Is it possible to have someone build this for me for money or is there some place I could buy one that could do the above?




I don't stream Bandcamp (only download Flac) so I can't help you with that.  But in general streaming is perfect ly viable (I use Qobuz mostly).

On 2, YES!  I'm a Roon user.  Flac via wireless is fine for me, I do have a reasonable fast network using an Eero mesh network.

3 Aaalo sell a complete endpoint IIRC.


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## kostas6a3

Hi 
I recently acquired a Pi4 and the sound was much better with it. The bass was deeper, the sound cleared, and the instruments became clearer.
The chain of course of the musical signal is :
NAS Synology / Supra CAT 8 2m / Uboquiti EdgeRouter X switch / IdeonAudio 3R USB Renaissance / Wireworld Starlight 8 USB 2.0 0.6m / *Pi4 */ Furutech GT2 USB 1m / DAC
The Pi4 is connected to the same router as a Supra CAT 8 0.8m.
The 3R USB is powered by a linear power supply from https://www.diyinhk.com/shop/audio-...e-dac-power-supply-regulator-3357v-14ax2.html

The next move is to search for a linear power supply for the Pi4, if the 1A of the second rail of the above power supply is not sufficient.

Is there a proposal for such a power supply?
Link:
https://www.ui.com/edgemax/edgerouter-x/
https://ideonaudio.com/product/3r-usb-renaissance-mk2/


----------

