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Battle of the Pis....

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Posted on December 16, 2020 at 12:28:08
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 41721
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001
 Pi3/DigiOne/S/PDIF vs. Pi4/No Hat/USB, both running Volumio in DLNA mode.









OK, not apples to apples as S/PDIF and USB can be different and DAC dependent, but USB sounds pretty good with the MicroRendu and the S/PDIF input on the same DAC did well with the dCS Network Bridge when it was in the Casa, so....

Only have one really good 5V supply and that's the LPS-1 UltraCap so we gotta re-boot Pi's between A and B just to be fair.

More later.





 

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I'd like to read about this, posted on December 16, 2020 at 15:42:51
raingerz
Audiophile

Posts: 319
Location: Long Island, NY
Joined: July 20, 2013
 I'm a little confused though: is the USB coming out of an RPi4 or a MicroRendu?

 

Micro Rendu is just the reference..., posted on December 16, 2020 at 17:09:45
Ivan303
Audiophile

Posts: 41721
Location: Cadiere d'azur FRANCE - Santa Fe, NM
Joined: February 26, 2001
 I am using for the USB input to this DAC (best I got for USB input) while the dCS Network Bridge is the reference for BNC/S/PDIF input.

Otherwise this test is between to Pi's.

One a Pi3 with ALLO DigiOne S/PDIF the other is a P4 (new to me) using its USB output albeit with an IsoRegen on the USB port to clean it up a bit.

Both powered by the LPS-1 UltraCap.

With via Ethernet.





 

This should be good, posted on December 16, 2020 at 21:02:18
raingerz
Audiophile

Posts: 319
Location: Long Island, NY
Joined: July 20, 2013
 Soon I will unveil my comparison of my modified Sonos Connect with the RPi4 that I use, in all its permutations.

 

RE: Battle of the Pis...., posted on December 17, 2020 at 00:03:06
soundchekk
Audiophile

Posts: 2187
Joined: July 11, 2007
 I'd suggest following.

Running a test that makes sense!

Microrendu is a highly specialized and tweaked audio bridge.


Your at best mediocre PI4 USB setup will loose that game. You're wasting your time.


To give the RPI a slightest chance you should at least try to properly set it up.

First of all I'd suggest you at least should install Moode. Volumio has always been on the lower end of perceived soundquality.
Or you could give DietPi (the 64bit Beta) a try. DietPi and Moode use the same base - a RaspberryPi OS (Debian). Moode IMO comes with a better optimization.

As a 2nd tweak I'd add a USB filter (iPurifier/iSilencer) or alike.
With active filtering and regeneration.

Your power supply is OK - IMO much too expensive though. I'd suggest an Allo Nirvana instead.

You could even play around with SD cards on the PI. Even these can make a difference. (I'd never believed it until a friend of me supplied me his favorite )

Such a PI setup IMO gets into the arena of highly specialized USB audio bridges still at a much lower ptag and with much higher flexibility.

You could even squeeze a bit more out of the PI USB setup with a bit more sophisticated setup (OS setup and tuning).

Enjoy.





 

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