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. xtiva2000

    xtiva2000 New

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    Yeah i have made sure that phase is reversed... which should match Mercury's I2S output... :(
     
  2. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Topping D70S has a mute pin on the I2S interface. We do not drive that pin, but maybe it is floating in the wrong way? Not sure how to test this, since we use a DX7 Pro (which also has that pin) in house and it plays just fine. In fact we use it to test the units I2S interface during production test.

    If you are willing to send me the D70S and your Mercury I can figure the issue and make any change to your Mercury needed.
     
  3. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Update on Mercury 6/20/2022

    The first 100 units of Mercury are sold. The next build is delayed due the metal supplier falling down on the job, So we may need to re-spin the PCB to accommodate a different case. We had looked at other extrusions, but they were more money and even plainer. Given that we only have 75 CM4's left we decided to hold off building more until later this Summer when we can create a new board. Also, price will go up quite a bit to cover all this nonsense!

    Back orders are still shipping slowly at about 20 per week. There are 63 left so 3-4 weeks max to wrap it all up.

    On another note, we offered Volumio or Ropiee, but our ordering software system does not pass that info to the shipping fulfillment software. I'm not sure if I set it up wrong or if it's a limitation in the export from the ordering software. So we are having to ship just Volumio since that is what the production shop is doing now. We apologize for the hassle, but obviously making a new SD Card is not too painful.
     
  4. Egill23

    Egill23 New

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    Did you try and restart the system after changing output? I saw this on a forum: I’m using a Topping D10 balanced and it worked ok at 192/24. I have payed with a couple of usb DACs and a Nanosound One DAC using I2S. When switching from one device to another I found I needed to restart the PI. The configuration screen would show the correct settings but there would be silence. A restart would fix it.
     
  5. mikeb2

    mikeb2 New

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    Hi Michael K ~ evidently, I am one of those idiots who just wants the world-class Pi2 Design Mercury Streamer in my system ... but ... not sure how to get the Mercury working for Bluetooth?!? I have downloaded the Volumio - 3 Software onto a USB Drive ... not sure what steps to take @ this point to just listen to Qobuz or Spotify! I definitely need an assist here to get onward w/ my audiophile journey! thanks ~ mikeb2
     
  6. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Mercury already has volumio installed on the SD card. Go to our website under the Mercury page and follow the volumio start guide. If you have a wired ethernet you should only just have to plug it in and then go to volumio.local on your browser. If it’s wireless you have to access the access point first, but that is covered in the start guide.
     
  7. xtiva2000

    xtiva2000 New

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    Oh, thanks so much for the offer. let me do some more testing over the weekend and guess you would be flat out shipping the remaining Mercury. I can wait until you finish shipping of those.

    2 issue;

    AES only at 48kHz (is this max on AES output?) - what is the maximum sampling rate for AES output?
    I2S no sound at any bit rate

    Thanks.
     
  8. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    All outputs should go to 192khz.

    EDIT - TOSLINK (OPTO) is only rated to 96Khz per the spec. Some DAC's can handle 192Khz, but 96Khz is the official limit.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2022
  9. mikeb2

    mikeb2 New

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    Michael K. ~ thank you for your always quick replies ... ur just awesome ... ok, trying this again ((())) this is all very cool! & exciting!
     
  10. xtiva2000

    xtiva2000 New

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    Oh thanks so much for the quick reply...
     
  11. xtiva2000

    xtiva2000 New

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    Man, this streamer sounds so good I am using Coax RCA and the sound it produces is marvelous. I am hearing more detail with this compared much more expensive streamer, also based on CM. I will do more AB tests but so far I am astonished by Mercury's performance :)

    So for I2S, ordered parts to make new HDMI cable and have pin 16 opened and see how that goes. Looks like Pin13 is Mute so maybe by having it opened, I might have a better chance?

    For AES, will get another cable, tried 2 different ones that were used connect another streamer to DAC, but these are DIY cables so to rule out this could be the cable issue, will get a new cable and test it.

    Hopefully, this fixes the issue...

    PS just read the manual and it seem like for pin 16, it says Pulled low unless W1 Pin 2-3 Jumper In, but not able to find this W1 jumper? Should i try to connect
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2022
  12. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    AES ISSUE - 6/21/2022
    We have reports from two customers that the AES interface is not behaving. Either erratic output, or no output above 96Khz. Please contact us if you have seen this issue. [email protected]
     
  13. xtiva2000

    xtiva2000 New

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    Oh thanks for the information
    Have sent email to above address.
     
  14. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    At this point it looks like the issue was bad parts from an overseas supplier. I don’t believe all of them are bad, but we are replacing them on all the boards we have here and will replace them for customers if and when they want us to. All units shipped going forward will have the new part.

    Obviously not everybody uses the AES interface since coax and RCA are actually slightly lower jitter. AES of course has the benefit of longer drive capability and more noise immunity in a studio setting.
     
  15. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    Someday the global supply chain woes will end. Probably.

    Once things settle down I wonder if there would be a market for a Mercury+ that offered > 192kbps output. This would be for people who use external upsampling like sox or hqplayer. Or maybe i2s out scratches that itch?
     
  16. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    The limit of 192Khz is from the pi cpu chip. Designed for cable TV (remember that kids?) so no real need for anything over 48Khz really.

    As for the shortage this is my fourth one so I know we will survive it.
     
  17. Zachik

    Zachik MOT XMEMS

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    Anyone who got their Mercury and interested in selling - I need another unit. Please contact me!
     
  18. xtiva2000

    xtiva2000 New

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    Agree that anything above 48kHz, I do not believe anyone can tell the difference anyway.

    The reason I picked up the issue was most of my purchased FLAC files are 192kHz and hence found out the issue. If I was testing with CD rip, wouldn't haven't known as it is ripped at 48kHz... :(

    I do not like up/down sampling, just want what is being fed to come out as is...
     
  19. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    Almost all dacs are oversampling so it’ll likely be happening whether you want it to or not. The belief is that you can get better results than the simple built-in routines by using more computationally expensive algorithms. To get best results with this practice you’d want to output at a rate the dac won’t try to upsample any more, this is often 384kbps (8x) but can be higher.

    Ymmv whether it does a better job or not but it’s something a not insignificant number of people believe in. If future Pi hardware allows this might broaden its appeal.
     
  20. xtiva2000

    xtiva2000 New

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    Unfortunately below is what I got from Topping support for my Topping D70s

    Asking more but hopefully, he is misinformed...

    ======================
    Hi,

    Thank you for your info. The IIS interface of this streamer is not compatible with that of the D70S. [​IMG]

    Best Regards

    --------------------

    TOPPING SERVICE
     

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