Raspberry Pi rools OK!
No one seems to have noticed a change in my signature.
I've ditched my Mac mini/Audirvana+ front end in favour of a Raspberry Pi.
I won't say the RPi makes mincemeat of the Mac, but it's bloody good. Bloody good enough for SWMBO to say she'd heard things on a JJ Cale album she'd never heard before. She has only ever been so positive about a piece of kit when the first SECA hit the system.
So, the RPi is more detailed, more nuanced, more focused and clearer/blacker in its soundstaging.
Software-wise, I'm using Volumio, which seems to be the most actively developed of the audiophile Linux distributions for the RPi. I'm connecting to the Young DAC using a HiFi Berry Digi+ card, which gives me an SPDIF connection, so I don't need the M2Tech USB driver.
I'm still tweaking, but at around £80 all-told, I can't see myself going back.
I know one or two of you have had problems setting up an RPi, so I've started writing a how-to guide to get any non-Linux nerds (like myself) up and running.
Comments
I'll try the Squeezebox on Synology approach when I have a spare card.
It took me a while to set up the library on the Syno. Two tips - remember to include the volume and number in the path, and reboot each time you have a failure.
The spacing problem is a red herring.
I noticed your signature.
Mmmmmmmmmm PI tastes pretty good here.
So first some history.
I bought a PI2 a little while ago and had it set up in my spare room system with Volumio and an IQ DAC which worked well and sounded OK. So just out of interest I thought that I’d transfer it over to my main system just to hear what it could do.
It replaced a highly optimised 2 PC Jplay streamer set up and TBH I was not expecting very much in terms of sound but I’m always interested to hear for myself before making much comment
So hooked in and expecting the smug saticefaction moment of the expensive 2 PC set up to be loads better to come soon. We it felt pretty bad to hear That the PI hooked up with my IFI IDAC2 sounded errrrr better. I must try some of my other USB DACs to get a better feel for this.
Rats
That hook up was with the web based GUI and USB HDD.
I’ve been having a play since with pretty spectacular results.
Switched to MoOde audio software which gives some useful set up peramiters and has a nicer GUI which is only used for setting up the PI and not for playback.
I’m now using a headless windows music server with Minimserver as my server software.
http://minimserver.com/
good set up instructions can be found here.
http://jplay.eu/manual/
I’m using the following ffmpeg.exe which sounds a little better to my ears.
http://ffmpeg.zeranoe.com/builds/
Post 12 gives good advice on how to set it up.
http://jplay.eu/forum/index.php?/topic/1960-minimserver-transcoding-to-wav24-improves-sq/
As a control point I’m using Bubble DS NEXT
https://lh6.ggpht.com/rvC8t9bDYr1ARdbDtLFX6xzVPPDkh98RSSsIrYCTyku5KIIrnh4p73MCdyKG40Ih3ao=w300
It’s so cool and easy to set up and use.
Following a conversation over on AOS I purchased an IFI PSU which seems to bring more clarity to the sound but it’s early days on that.
http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk/power-supplies/1175-ifi-audio-ipower.html
I think that MCRU must be providing the mini USB adaptor because the PI PSU is not listed on IFI’s web site.
IMHO the PI must be the audio bargain of the century for digital playback.
To my ears?
I have compared it to Jriver MC DLMA and to my ears it’s looooads better having a much more full sound (with the ffmpeg file that I pointed to). The Jriver DNLA in my set up sounds a little dry and sterile to my ears and Minimserver kills it by comparison. Compared to Volumio it’s not so clear cut but I like the Bubble interface very much.
I’m not keen on the ‘’analogue sounding’’ type descriptions but its smooth and silky in its presentation in my system. It’s digital Jim but not as we know it.
But it’s all open-source so not much to lose except a little time playing.
You could try the MAC with Linux (I’ve not tried so can’t vouch for its goodness).
Bubble just sniffs around your local network and finds any UPNP/DNLA devices running. Then you just select the server and renderer you want to use. You could use one of the pen drive distro’s for a really neat solution allowing plug and play if you need that option.
The really nice thing about Volumio/MoOde is configurability. They really do turn the PI into the Swiss Army Knife of digital playback. Plenty of options set up wise and my god it’s free which is sooo generous of the creators.
Those guys are Hero’s IMHO.
I have XMOS and amanero type I2S converters which work without issue but I thought that Linux require no drivers so the Young should just be recognised as a USB device by Volumio or whatever PI software used (I’m using MoOde which is pretty much the same). What’s in the Young?
The functionality thing does not really worry me so much as I still need to use the MoOde web GUI to make changes to the renderer but I do like the idea of not being reliant on web connection to play music. I live in the sticks so web connection can be a little weather reliant (wind blows cables down) so the self-contained approach wins out for me.
The music server/renderer/control point option is just a little more in house which suit my OCD well.
The server is tucked away in a convenient location with no unsightly USB Drive and hub hanging off the back of the PI.
Mostly I like the open-source way which to my thinking gets much closer to how I see DIY audio.
We share and every one wins.
Hope that my ramble has shed a little more light on my modus operandi.
Time for another home bake.
The server renderer thing got me thinking a little about pressing my second PI into use.
I now have MoOde on 2 PI’s one as DNLA server and the other as UPNP renderer.
All controlled by Bubble DS Next.
It’s very compact and way cool.
It’s also controllable without net connection which is a must this end.
All good fun
The old mk 1 requires drivers for up to 32/384khz async' USB, using sommat called 'bulk transfer' if I recall. It's a slight variation on the usual asynchronous protocol, you can read about it here (towards the bottom of the first paragraph), Oddly, the last sentence on that particular page states that M2Tech drivers are available for Linux!
That article was written before M2Tech released their second generation kit, which (I think) uses XMOS receivers and doesn't use proprietary drivers. Which is just as well as M2Tech have had appalling issues with drivers over the last few years.
A couple of internal pics here, you might find something illuminating?
(Photos from 6Moons review)
Some more impartial info on Bulk mode here: Well Tempered Computer.
None of it matters AFAIAC, I listen mostly to ripped 16/44.1 and it sounds lovely. I understand Sondale's Pi is a giant killer without an external USB DAC. I want to find out more about that.
Hi Alan
Yes I seem to remember reading something along the not so good with drivers line and also I remember some reports of them errr ''borrowing'' someone's work for the Xmos based unit. But I can't say for sure that is what happened.
I think that the main problem with the Thyscom drivers is that they supply a ''raw'' product and then each manufacturer is left to tailor it to their own needs.
That can lead to problems and driver theft. I know of at least two products using the WAVEIO drivers without even having the decency to change the name. shame on those guys.
Lucian developed that work over years.
I've not actually heard the MK1 or 2 but I do rate the Xmos chip as used in my WAVEIO.
BTW new PI Out.
Giantkiller may be an over-statement, but I have in the past used cMP2 on Windows XP, Audirvana+, Pure Music on Mac Mini, HQPlayer on Mac/Windows/Linux, JPlay, XXHE etc etc. To my ears XXHE is probably the best of them and the one I would return to if I ever get fed up with the RPi.
And the final configuration tried is as follows.
DNLA QnapTS119 from my old Squeezebox set up, with minimserver installed.
Ha forgot I had minimserver set up on the NAS but remembered when finding it in network settings.
UPNP MoOde
This is the best sounding set up so far.
It’s interesting because the changes I’ve made should not have made any difference to the sound ‘’theoretically’’.
But to my ears each set up I’ve tried so far does sound a little different.
Sounding pretty impressive especially given the modest cost of the set up