Pi2 Design Idiot-Proof Ready-To-Go RPi/AES Streamer

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Michael Kelly, Jan 16, 2021.

  1. michael stevener

    michael stevener New

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    trying to set up the mercury with a w4s dac, using picore player. what should i set the audio output to?
    thanks,
    drmike
     
  2. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Please see the mercury product page and look for the volumio getting started. You should not change the settings for the dac. You only need to set the WiFi off using that.
    All outputs are enabled and require no configuration.
     
  3. lordearl

    lordearl New

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    All good - got it working perfectly with those settings using a coaxial cable to a simple SMSL DAC.

    Are any of the USB ports on the Mercury active as digital outputs for use with a USB DAC?
     
  4. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    they are available if you change the output setting to USB. Please note however, they are not optimized in anyway for either low noise or isolation. The intent is standard USB peripheral use, not audio streaming.

    Having said that, depending upon the DAC attached, you may find the results to be quite satisfactory.
     
  5. lordearl

    lordearl New

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    Thanks mate - I was going to test it against the coaxial setting as after testing for a few hours I have now noticed on the odd occasion there's a dropout. The music disappears for up to a minute before starting again. I've tested with two independent DACs and had similar issues (noting it's fairly infrequent).

    Do you think this could be related to high resolution files over coaxial or something like buffer length?

    Sadly I don't have an I2S or AES DAC to test it with - has anyone had similar dropout issues at all?
     
  6. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Update on Mercury V2 8/30/2022
    In order to acquire enough parts to do a full build of at least 100 units, we have decide to start pre-ordering now. Lead times on key components require this approach. Please be aware that this is a pre-order and units will ship as soon as possible. We still feel late October/Early November, especially if we start ordering the key components now. But it is still just an estimate.
     
  7. Zachik

    Zachik MOT XMEMS

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    Just received the following lame response from Volumio:

    Dear Zachi,

    thanks for reaching out,

    here Davide from tech support

    The PI2AES unit you are using is not officially supported by us
    Just to be more clear, they should use Volumio as compatible open source OS, but they cannot configure Volumio on their setup.

    Anyway their support service should take care of the issues due to their hardware.
    These are devices 3rd parties, not passed through our QA tests.

    So, my only hint could be to keep in contact with PI2AES and report your problem.

    I'm so sorry but I have no matter for troubleshootings.

    Hoping you can understand our position

    My best regards
    Davide

    So... I have no idea whether they expect Michael to pay them for adding PI2AES (and Mercury) to the output device list, or maybe send a free unit for them to keep and run QA on?
    Either way, they seem to have no intent to add "official" support for PI2AES / Mercury. Oh well. At least it works very well ;)
     
  8. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    ^this
     
  9. mkozlows

    mkozlows Friend

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    Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems to make a lot of sense for Volumio-the-company to only do commercially-relevant things.

    Volumio-the-open-source-project should be willing to take in a PR adding the Pi2AES, but given that the Pi2AES is already getting a lot of benefit from using this free software, it does seem reasonable for the Pi2 folks (or an interested owner) to create the PR. (Looks like some of the relevant code is here: https://github.com/volumio/volumio3...ns/audio_interface/alsa_controller/cards.json -- I don't know if that's the only change needed, and don't use Volumio or have a Pi2 device, so am not in a position where I could make and test the change myself, but surely someone is.)

    If the concern is that they would reject the PR, then that would be pretty dodgy on their end.
     
  10. HotRatSalad

    HotRatSalad Friend

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    Wonder if Moode would play ball, thats what I run on mine. Does it really have any benefit/advantage over choosing hifi berry pro whatever we use now ?
     
  11. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Volumio is built on Linux MPD. 100% open source. Volumio has built an interface on top and it definitely has value. But refusing to add a simple text entry for a card that uses an existing open source driver seems petty.

    And every mercury we ship with Volumio increases their chances of selling a subscription.

    But that’s just my opinion.
     
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  12. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    The benefit/advantage is that @Michael Kelly doesn't have to deal with the ridiculously regular questions on how to set up the device.

    I commend @Michael Kelly for maintaining his professionalism while being faced with continual questions that could be answered if the purchaser simply RTFM, or searched the multiple threads on this website that are littered with responses to the same question, or even went to @purr1n's wonderful step by step guide on how to setup of Pi2AES type devices (using Volumio)
     
  13. lordearl

    lordearl New

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    Any I2S DACs which fellow members here would recommend for use with the Mercury?

    Experiencing some drop outs when streaming high rez via qobuz using coaxial (16/44.1 is fine) so though it might be best to try a proper I2S DAC for comparison.

    Thanks in advance for any product recommendations
     
  14. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    They’re selling their own box though so making things harder on you and your users makes their gear look better in comparison.

    The chad move would be to fork volumio and make it more pi2design friendly but that might be more work than you want to commit to.
     
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  15. earnmyturns

    earnmyturns Smartest friend

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    I've streamed via coax from Pi2AES (not the same as Mercury but I don't think it's any better) to several different DACs, including Schiit, Soekris, and Holo DACs, never any issues up to 192/24. Your problem is most likely your current DAC, network into the Mercury, or software.
     
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  16. Ksaurav402

    Ksaurav402 Friend

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    Check the network and if you are using the Wi-Fi then check the Wi-Fi coverage. Sometime 5Ghz doesn’t work fine if you are far from router and 2.4Ghz are more stable or get some extenders for better Wi-Fi coverage. Wired is still the most stable way to stream.
     
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  17. lordearl

    lordearl New

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    Thanks for this - I'm only using a wired connection & tested high res files via another streaming source today with the same DAC without any issues. Any other suggestions to troubleshoot?
     
  18. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    This would indicate the problem lies not with the Mercury or any other part of your in house LAN/gears, but with your ISP and its route to Qobuz. Try streaming hi res from Qobuz at various times through the day/night. If it works some times and not other times, then it points the blame to your ISP and/or Qobuz service. Run various ISP "speed tests" (Google it) at various times, noticing the raw network bandwidth AND latency/dropouts...
     
  19. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    @lordearl,
    Do you get any dropouts if you play hi-res on the computer Qobuz app, connected by USB to your DAC? If you haven't tried it, this would help to narrow down the issue.
     
  20. Aklegal

    Aklegal Friend

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    @Michael Kelly, This is a fairly long thread and I didn't quite see the answer to the question I have on the Mercury page on your website.

    I have had some SD card corruption issues using the Raspberry PI (power outages etc). If I wanted to, could I make the M.2 drive the bootable drive so I can avoid dealing with an SD card? I am currently running Jriver's IdPi from an SD card with Pi2AES, but I would like to install Raspbian on the M.2 drive and run the full-service Jriver for linux version.

    Thanks. I convinced a friend to preorder a Mercury so I will be configuring two of them. :)
     

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