Raspberry Pi I2S to SPDIF Hat

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Michael Kelly, Apr 30, 2016.

  1. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    I cut a black case and will take some pictures tonight. Make the room dim so we can see how bright the lights are. Although again you could very easily tape over the openings now and no one would see them.

    As for the cost, I was thinking $35 plus shipping so we could keep cutting them individually as needed. Obviously if it becomes popular we can bring the price down to $25 once we have someone else cutting them, even if it's not huge volume.
     
  2. NationOfLaws

    NationOfLaws Friend

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    C‘mon Michael wang
     
  3. NationOfLaws

    NationOfLaws Friend

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    My dude, if you can make that price point for any color acrylic, I’d love a solid orange one. I’ll eventually get one for a touch display once I get a second dac for the main floor of the house so I could use a black one of those too
     
  4. Tom Lee

    Tom Lee New

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    Hmm... I feel guilty for bringing up the topic to spray paint black... but then all these replies mean there is a demand for a colour case. I'm simple, I like everything black when the black is available. If there was a choice when I order, I would pick the black case for sure.

    Now let me bring up more trouble... I don't mind to have a metal base for the case to add some weight. The problem I have is with a thick Taralabs RSC Air cable which is difficult to bend and it's lifting the Pi2AES in the air a little bit. I think I will look for a local company to laser cut one eventually.

    Anyways, finally hooked up my system. Pi2AES to Meridian 566.20 (my antique) then to my Unison Research Simply 4 (another antique)... the sound is so sweet! Many thanks to Michael!

    Lastly, a few questions. I am currently using Volumio which sometimes give me problems when I switch to certain web radio and it would stop playing any sound. Does anyone else has this issue? I also read MoOde has a better SQ than Volumio, can that be true? In theory, it all digital signal, the software should not affect the SQ. Am I wrong on that? Anyone here compare Volumio and MoOde? Also, do you leave the Pi2AES and Pi running all the time?
     
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2020
  5. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    I think this gets into nervosa territory but I find Volumio a little dryer than MoOde. The difference is slight but I found it noticeable if I pay attention.

    I leave mine running all the time.
     
  6. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Thank you! $35 is very reasonable from my perspective. I know tape works but I do want to see the lights. I have dimming stickers that I use for my Schiit gear and with an opaque, colored case those would be useful for the Pi as well.
     
  7. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Update on PS-Audio adapter for the PI2AES. This took a bit to sort out. Even though I had the boards in hand beginning of last week, I realized had no way to test! I ordered and have a Sabaj D5 since it support both the Gustard and PS-Audio pinouts. It came in yesterday.

    Good news, it works! Bad news I have to re-spin to fix an issue. This could be worked around by making a change to the PI2AES itself (which I did to my in-house unit), but that's a non-starter. So, another 4 weeks to spin and build them again. :(
     
  8. Clemmaster

    Clemmaster Friend

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  9. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Agreed. Btw, I have your unit that I can send back tomorrow, I only held it because I was hoping to ship it with the PS audio. Send me an email to let me know what you want to do.
     
  10. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    Thanks for the update on the PS Audio i2S adapter, @Michael Kelly . Sorry you need another spin!
     
  11. Michael Wang

    Michael Wang New

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    I apologize but I am not trying to threadjack. I am trying to start my own thread but am new to this forum.
     
  12. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Don't start a new thread. If you have a question relevant to this one, ask it here; otherwise, follow the good advice you've already been given:

    Edit: Too late...
     
  13. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    There are general advice threads for various subjects, there’s a good chance your questions/thoughts belong there. Hard to give more specific pointers without knowing what you want to post.

    Edit: I forgot you had already posted here, my suggestion still applies broadly. :)
     
  14. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    @Michael Kelly , not sure if this has been asked before, but do you think the Pi2AES could be improved upon even further from a sound quality perspective (given an assumed increase in cost/price)?
     
  15. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    I will be honest with you, I don't think I could justify the effort. The physical size of the board precludes doing anything different with the power supplies. Unless I took the approach of allo and forced an external linear supply to be used.

    I feel really good that we found a niche in the market where we are not necessarily the absolute best, but very very good at a good value for the money.
     
  16. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Production update:

    The 300 unit PI2AES build is due back here the week of Nov. 15th. We have cases, hardware and PSU's all ready to go so we can crank out all the back orders within a week of receiving the units. I even made sure we have enough bubble wrap and boxes! This means if you've held off ordering you can do so now with confidence that you'll get it well in advance of the holidays!

    502DAC production is underway in house with the units to start shipping next week.

    We still need your understanding and patience and are very grateful for the business from all of you!

    Many thanks from the Pi 2 Design team, and stay safe!
     
  17. HumanFly

    HumanFly Acquaintance

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    Hi Michael! I`m still very happy with my trusty, old 502DAC! I didn`t feel it was the weakest link. The raspberry (I was using the 3b with the shared bus)itself worried me more so I stuck the 502 on top of an allo USBridge signature. And guess what...more detail in the lows and a little more space overall. So I already left the pi formfactor and I`m running an sbooster to power it and I do think it was well worth it. Still havn`t found anything else under a 1000 that will output AES to my Yggdrasil with the same SQ. But I`m a fanboy, so there is that :)

    edit: I have been running this since before the pi4 was released, so I have no idea how much better the pi4 would be. I do like the attention allo paid to the ethernet and powerhandling of the board. I don`t think the pi4 matches that.
     
  18. Dr J

    Dr J Friend

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    Interesting. So how does that work, can you run standard Moode/Volumio/... or do you need some special versions of these? Seemed that the LAN drivers at least were not included in the standard veresion?

    Does the allo case work with 502 or did you find another case for your setup?

    Wondering how crazy one could go with USBrigde, Pi2AES (if it also works as Allo states "any HAT") and some linear powersupplies... (I know the Pi2AES has a clean switcher embedded).
     
  19. HumanFly

    HumanFly Acquaintance

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    I ran a couple of the linuxbased distros before settling on Ropiee. Some take a little more effort than others to get up and running, I used dietPi to try out some stuff but really like the totally effortless RopieeXL. Offers Roon for me and Spotify for the family. At it`s core the USBridge sig is a Raspberry Pi 3+ compute module, so it will actually work as a regular PI (most software for the pi3 will just work) but with less distortion and lower power requirements. I did "mod" the 502 slightly by taking off the rca-connectors(sorry Micheal I don`t want to hurt your feelings but I never connected them to anything anyway), making it only just fit the usbridge case, the AES-adapter then ruins it all and sticks out a little. I made a plexiglass dustcover with some leftovers, been thinking about making it look better but it works so well that I didn`t bother yet. Antman for size[​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  20. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    I am wondering what the interest would be in taking our PI2AES design and adapting it for the PI 400. Functionality would be pretty much the same (likely no parallel I2S), but the connector orientation would be different to accommodate the PI 400. Also need to figure out a simple, low cost case for it. I have started a new thread for this:

    https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...pberry-pi-400-pi2aes-board.10165/#post-326120
     

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