Dummies Guide to Pi2AES! Throw away your PC or laptop.

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by purr1n, Jan 29, 2020.

  1. HotRatSalad

    HotRatSalad Friend

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    Nice I figured there was a easy way. I might get one soon. Need something for my step dad also, his spinner died and he's not tech savvy. This might work. I'm just curious if I'll like it compared to unison. I did not like eitr sounded colder and harder. I guess I like the tubiness.
     
  2. Gazny

    Gazny MOT: ETA Audio

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    You can stream to a PI2AES from Jriver via the DLNA setttings. I recomened Roopie XL. You will have to have the PI2AES connected to Ethernet for initial setup than you can enable wifi after the initial setup
     
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2020
  3. Aklegal

    Aklegal Friend

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    I just tried out RooPieee XL - really easy to setup. I was running IdPi from JRiver on my Pi but I think I am going to stay with RooPieeXL and stream to it from my PC (JRiver). IdPi suffers from slowdowns and lockups around 5%-10% of the time. I think it needs more horsepower to run at its best.

    @HotRatSalad I believe JRiver is set by default to stream only MP3 quality to clients. To change this go to "Tools --> Options --> Media Network". From there click "Client Options" then click "Audio Conversion". Under here you want to change two things. Change "Conversion" to "Don't convert audio". Then change "Encoder" to "PCM 24 bit.". My apologies if I am telling you something you already know.
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2020
  4. tommytakis

    tommytakis MOT: E.T.A Headphones

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    Goodbye ugly acrylic, and hello sexy white marble pi2AESex

    C79C7B0D-7019-4CCD-A40C-E78E56E079AB.jpeg 27295CCB-A373-4159-8A17-B18E847DAD29.jpeg
     
  5. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    For those who are using the i2s output of this product, has anyone noticed a significant difference in sound vs the aes output that can be attributed to the streamer?

    Also this may be in the wrong section but if I use i2s, has anyone noticed a significant difference with different hdmi cables? (similar to how on some devices the usb cable used makes no difference whereas on other devices it may make a minute difference).

    lastly, can I use 2 outputs simultaneously to 2 different DACs w/o loss of sound quality, etc.

    Apologies if already posted (skimmed thread and didn’t see anything).
     
  6. farbinator

    farbinator Facebook Friend

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    All outputs on the Pi2AES are active at the same time as I recall.

    As far as I2S, as long as the HDMI cable you are using meets specification, I'd say it's very unlikely you'll see a noticeable difference between one cable versus another, but that's a discussion for a whole 'nother thread!
     
  7. dubharmonic

    dubharmonic Friend

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    I love the transparent case, but cable hygiene is important too!

    D073F44E-BAF5-4BCA-B74D-72E725551225.jpeg
     
  8. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Nice! What is that? Some sort of organizer?
     
  9. dubharmonic

    dubharmonic Friend

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  10. loadexfa

    loadexfa MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Awesome, thanks!
     
  11. Jonathan Morris

    Jonathan Morris New

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    First post. Glad to be here!

    @Michael Kelly What a brilliant piece of kit! Thank you for being a maker of things!

    I, of course, have a question. Given a set of active studio monitors, with AES digital in (such as a Dynaudio Core 59), could I run an XLR splitter to a pair of them from the Pi2AES?


    Thanks again.
     
  12. penguins

    penguins Friend, formerly known as fp627

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    Off topic but do you ever get transformer hum with this setup? i.e. Starlett picks up transformer noise from Yggdrasil?
     
  13. dubharmonic

    dubharmonic Friend

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    It’s silent!
     
  14. lagadu

    lagadu Facebook Friend

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    I use with i2s. The first question is hard, I can tell a difference (besides the channel reversal because of the psaudio spec) between i2s and aes with my holo spring 2 but I don't really have enough other equipment to be able to rule out the DAC as being the reason for the difference. That said the difference was very small so I doubt there's differences on the streamer side.

    Regarding cables: none I could find. I tried a long supposedly "good quality" hdmi cable I have hanging around and I couldn't tell the difference between that and a 30cm amazon basics cable I bought for it.

    Yes, outputs are live simultaneously, I used this to my advantage for comparing dacs.
     
  15. Jonathan Morris

    Jonathan Morris New

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    The speakers themselves have a h/w switch to indicate L/R channel from the digital AES signal stream. That’s why I am thinking a splitter would be appropriate. Will review the manual in more detail and report back.

    Edit: you are correct! Per the connection section of the manual, they should be daisy chained.
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2020
  16. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    The outputs are buffered through a fairly strong RS485 differential driver, so I suspect that you could drive both. Obviously the impedance is a bit screwed up so I would recommend making the split close to the speakers. that way you'll get less reflections. personally I think the impedance is a little bit less important because the key is data recovery at the far end, and that will happen even if the impedance is quite a bit off.
     
  17. 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!
     
  18. farbinator

    farbinator Facebook Friend

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    I received my Pi2AES today and it is a welcome addition to my main headphone setup. Chained with a Bifrost, Loki, EC ZDT Jr., and HD6XX is a very entertaining and engaging combination to listen to music. My EC ZDT Jr. In particular is practically dead quiet with this setup which was not always the case with other combinations although it never was that terrible.

    One lesson I learned with Volumio in particular is be patient if you are adding a large music library via a cifs share. I was too impatient initially and then wondered why half my music was missing.

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    Last edited: Nov 10, 2020
  19. A Child of the Jago

    A Child of the Jago Facebook Friend

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    Bit worried about hyperbole here but for those readers who are on the fence about getting one of these little boxes (and I was with all that LAN tomfuckery), and especially those using only USB, my experience is that this piece of kit has been nothing less than transformational.

    Where my USB system (Tidal-> Bifrost 2 w.Unison-> ECP-DSHA-3F-> Verite) was (what I thought was) wonderful Michael Kelly’s creation has lifted the sum product of these parts to unknown pleasures – imaging, resolution, separation, bass (especially), decay, blackground, the 3F’s wonderful holographic quality… Christ, I don’t even know what I’m talking about, but what I do know is that the difference from USB is big*.

    And it’s not just the quality of the sound – the little box has made palpable physical differences too – actual stuff I know I’m not imagining – e.g., such is the uptick in whatever is being sent to the 3F, the drivers in the Verite now bounce around so much more that there is a tangible air flow against my ears in the earpad – The Future Sound of London’s ‘Still Motion’ even produces what feels like a tiny hairdryer on cold setting.

    Outstanding work @Michael Kelly – really - and what a bargain too.

    PS the somewhat luminescent Bifrost2 is quite a lovely match for the dry’ish Pi2AES
    PPS my only previous experience has been USB so for those moving from SPDIF, AES, I2S, etc. reduce hyperbole
    PPPS anyone who has ordered the 3F on Doug’s latest batch should strongly consider this
    PPPPS Volumio’s Tidal source is a bit buggy
    PPPPPS PI2AES chain is as above but w. coaxial SPDIF in place of Unison

    * Where sheer involvement is the measuring variable, big > 15%.
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2020
  20. A Child of the Jago

    A Child of the Jago Facebook Friend

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    Apologies if this is common knowledge but I went looking for it and I couldn't find it but I discovered that for Mac owners who would like to stream their system's sound direct to PI2AES via Volumio - i.e., YouTube, bandcamp, SoundCloud, anything from a browser including Spotify (without a premium account), Apple Music or a local file - do the following:

    Have the PI2AES (powered on) and your Mac connected to the same SSID (WiFi address)
    Go to: System Preferences -> Sound -> Output: here you should see Volumio listed as type 'AirPlay' - select this option and that's it - your system now plays audio direct to the PI2AES. Note that there is a one-second lag between hitting play on anything and the audio hitting your PI2AES.

    This poses a number of questions: is the quality via AirPlay diminished somehow? And if it's not does this make e.g., the Tidal source in Volumio redundant because it's now possible to play Tidal direct from my system rather than via the source in Volumio..?
     

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