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

I have 2 of them for balanced and unbalanced but my impression is they pretty drastically reduce dynamics and resolution resulting in a much more dull sound. Unfortunate because it would be cool if they worked. The FR change is desperately needed for all CA IEMs. But I just use a Loki.

Oh cool! That saves a huge “new component” headache!!!!

is this one of those situations where best SQ is with the source at full volume though?

 

That is my understanding but I haven't really tested to see if I can hear a difference.

 

I've used the Harris attenuators in the past. I didn't notice anything negative with the sound, but I was using them on a fairly cheap office setup with HD569s. At least they wouldn't mess with the output impedance of the amp if that's a key concern with the CA IEMs.

 

If you want to keep the output to the Pi at max, why not a Schitt Sys between DAC and amp? $49 and reportedly very transparent.

 

I have a good passive pre I was considering this. But I already have a switcher and a Loki in the chain, this would mean a third component in the chain and another set of interconnects which is expensive.

If the software volume doesn’t degrade SQ that’s the simplest solution. I guess I’ll have to listen myself but there’s the “audio nervosa” factor. I’m not great at evaluating subtle downstream changes I just don’t listen critically enough.

 

OMFG!!! I have a pi502DAC hooked up to my SW51+ with 7" touchscreen as shown earlier and a pi2AES to my 851N feeding my 2ch system... I can control the pi2AES moOde player with my 7" touchscreen SW51+ moOde player!!! So RAD!!!

I just go to the menu in the upper right hand corner and choose players, then my 2ch option pops up , select it and now I'm in control of it too!!!

 

^ One of the great things about the Pi-based ecosystem - different HATs, even different player software, you can run them all from the same controller - just remember to check which player or you could frighten somebody with the system in the other room.
But really why I wanted to make this post: Whitesnake, excellent

 

Something cool I discovered about the Pi2AES system (among many) is that the source player ie iPhone/iPod/smartphone/tablet/etc, doesn’t use a lot of battery power. Streaming tidal on my iPod touch 7 runs the battery down pretty quick. So quickly that I just kept it plugged in all the time when I was using the tidal app and usb. But volumio uses hardly any battery power for whatever reason. I guess most of the work is being done by the Pi2AES. I think I could listen to music using my iPod touch all day on a single charge.

this makes the Pi2AES ecosystem really nice. Using the small light iPod touch untethered to control music playback is a great experience. Makes it almost feel like I’m wearing wireless headphones.

 

The biggest downside is the software. Volumio is pretty horrible at least for streaming Tidal. It’s very slow to load each level ( you click artists and it takes a whiiie to load, you then click the sort order you prefer because it doesn’t just remember it and it takes a while to load this. Then you tsp an artist and it takes a while to load, etc). And it often looses connection or something and looses where you were and puts you back to the homepage and you have to do it all again plus you get displaced from where you were browsing in your library. Which is super frustrating.

So the software needs to catch up to the hardware which I think it will. Either through Tidal connect or some other app.

is moOde better in this respect? (Using iOS and mconnect). I couldn’t get it configured but would try again if it is.

 

Some older versions of moOde had streaming options. Tidal option was taken away due to one reason or another, leaving Spotify the only option since they added the local player option.

AFAIK, the only way to get Tidal and Volumio is through uPnP through Bubble uPnP, but this always drained the crap out of my smart phone battery. I could almost watch the battery % go down. There might be other alternatives.

 

Yes, all of the work is done on the Pi system (Volumio in your case). On phone or tablet, you're only using a web browser to display the web page hosted on the Pi.

"some other app" would be Roon. I started using Roon (Black Friday trial deal) and it has been a game changer. Well designed, full featured interface and functionality makes any of the Pi systems seem primitive in comparison. However, it costs as much as a streaming subscription. Without Roon, Tidal Connect would be a big enhancement. However, in the past Tidal hasn't been cooperative with Pi developers and we'll have to see what happens.

Volumio has native support for Tidal and Qobuz but requires a paid MyVolumio subscription, which is €29 (about $35) per year. The MyVolumio subscription enables plug-ins for Tidal and Qobuz. I have MyVolumio and it works although the interface is very basic. Roon is another way to get Tidal on Volumio and it is a huge leap ahead but also additional cost.

 

@rhythmdevils If you're using an ipod touch, you can use airplay to stream ALAC from your iPod touch to moOde over WiFi. Airplay should work with any music app you have on your iPod.

 

I forgot about Airplay. You can play from Tidal app to Volumio over Airplay as well.

 

I meant to say "Tidal and moOde." Oops. But you are correct.

And yes, I forget about Airplay since I am all Android now.

 

Sounds like you are paying for the Volumio that works with Tidal? Good to know I should not try that.
Not sure if you can do computer to Pi, RD? I know this is not as convenient for you...

1. My Pi is ethernet-wired into my network as is my Mac. (This is more stable than using WiFi + Airplay.)
2. I first connect my computer as guest (not sure about phone/tablet) to the Volumio Pi Server (whatever you named yours) through Mac Finder Window side panel by selecting it in "Network".
3. Then I change the system's Audio Output to the Pi Server and route all audio to the Pi, including Tidal (without using the paid Volumio subscription).

Negatives:

• Disconnects when no signal is playing so my DAC relay is switching/clicking on/off a lot (and sometimes kicks back to internal computer speakers by itself).
• Using web browser hijacks audio momentarily for lots of web stuff and it switches software sources temporarily at times.
• Digital volume control is lossy but I have not done any listening tests. Trying to understand workflows first.

 

Isn’t AirPlay lossy though?

 

As far as I can find, airplay is lossless.

Found this on an apple forum:

 

I wonder if using the tidal app with airplay to moOde would use battery life equal to simply streaming tidal.

I have another memory card with moOde loaded but I couldn’t figure out how to get moode connected to my phone. I’m not tech savvy at all especially internet stuff.

 

You can't use the http://moode:local url on a mobile device. You just have to go to the specific IP address of the Pi in your browser.

 

I did this with the browser (safari) on my phone and it connected and the mconnect app worked but when I unplugged Ethernet it no longer saw the Pi2AES. Tried multiple times. Then switched to volumio app and the app did it all automatically.