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

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

  1. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    My super ultra Pi2AES extreme stack. Everything gets doubled. Double the dynamics, double the resolution, double the air, soundstage and even the blackground. Sounds amazing.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Erroneous

    Erroneous Friend

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    Looks like you splashed out on the Ultra Mega Hifi Extreme Rack 4000V4 as well. Nice! I've been eyeing them but $4k is a bit over budget for me.
     
  3. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    not for me. It reduces residual vibration ten fold. Well worth the money!
     
  4. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    You may have to use the BNC output with an RCA adapter. The Chord dacs require a higher voltage on their RCA input than the specification calls for. They will not work with the standard 0.6 volts output on the RCA.

    I have had another customer that had this issue, but it is the way that the dac was designed.
     
  5. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    If you get a BNC > RCA adapter make sure it says 75 ohm. Most are not. I recommend these

    https://www.markertek.com/product/b-pf/b-pf-rca-female-to-75-ohm-bnc-male-adapter-bnc-rca
     
  6. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    I would recommend no adapters at all,
    Either buy the cable or or have Blue Jeans make it and you can spec different connector on each end:
    https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm

    Canare and Neutrik make RCA crimping connectors , example here, designed to 75Ohm spec:
    http://www.canare.com/ProductItemDisplay.aspx?productItemID=40
    But DIY of cables with crimping connectors is a pain in the ass. Almost every type of connector requires different tool, and, ,except some Amazon deals, they are not cheap.
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2021
  7. albert cheung

    albert cheung New

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    Thanks for all the responses. I have a bnc to rca digital cable which i have tried with no success. I previous used an digi + hat with the hugo and it worked . I also have the problem where the pi2aes unit would not read my hard-drive now - it had worked with my main system. I put a few songs on a usb stick and it dectected and played the songs but of course with no signal to the hugo. I am going to try to re-flash the micro sd card with volumio and if that doesn't work try another program.
     
  8. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    It is possible the unit is defective somehow. We could send you another unit to try. Send an email to [email protected] and we can begin that process.
     
  9. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    Realize that the hat should have nothing to do with reading your hard-drive. The hard-drive is read from the Pi, not the hat
     
  10. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    Op also might want to check the volume settings, if it defaults to software controlled and is at 0% then you won’t hear anything.
     
  11. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Hey guys I'm having an issue with my Rpi setup and its probably an easy fix yet I cant figure it out. Maybe someone can tell me where I screwed up.

    I have a Rpi 3b with a PI2AES and I've been happily running Moode on it for about a year to stream Qobuz. A month or so ago i'd have connection issues and the Moode renderer wouldn't come up consistently as an option in BubbleUPnP. The fix was that I'd pull the power on the Rpi and fire it up again and it'd usually work. - That may or may not be related to my latest issue.

    So I remember there's a later version of Moode available and think maybe some bug fixes take care of this or whatever. I etch the image etc. and connect to Ethernet to set up. Use Fing to get the IP and go through setup. Everything here seems to work as I expect. I select Allo DigiOne on DAC list, I put in my wifi info and then disconnect from ethernet and try to find the wireless IP via Fing. Nothing...I repeat this process a few times and same. The IP for wireless doesn't show up in Fing and obviously not in BubbleUpnP either. I haven't changed anything in BubbleUPnP since I originally installed it a year ago.

    Anyone have any ideas as to what I should check next?
     
  12. M3NTAL

    M3NTAL Friend

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    When you run the new image, are you turning on WiFi again? It reverts to original settings when you flash. I know that is at the very basic level, so that is where I thought to start.

    I was having problems with moode too. It wouldn't let me SSH into it. Whenever I got to the password portion, it just wouldn't accept any key inputs, but it would take the user name just fine.

    I switched to piCorePlayer last night and it operates more like how I am used to at this point.
     
  13. AukePauke

    AukePauke Acquaintance

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    Try to reset your rooter.
     
  14. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    Password characters aren’t echoed back on an ssh terminal session so it might seem it’s not taking input but that’s just how it works.

    For the WiFi issue from the other poster I would suggest reconnecting Ethernet and re-entering the password (the saved password is a hash). I don’t really see the point of obscuring password entry for something like that as the chance of you entering it in a place you need to worry about someone looking over your shoulder is basically 0% but you can hit the eye icon to see the plain text to verify you entered it correctly. Don’t forget to hit the Save button at the top of the page after making changes.
     
  15. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    Got it. I hadn’t turned on the UPnP/DLNA stuff in Moode, as well as re enter all my Qobuz details. I guess if this stuff was plug and play it’d either sound shitty or cost $3k. Thanks guys.
     
  16. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    I got Pi2AES yesterday and here how it went:
    What went very well, and that's because the product just works, disclaimer that I am just interested in Roon endpoint
    1. Ropieee is a natural choice for Roon Endpoint. Other than Etcher refusing to write to the USB drive attached through a hub (1 hour wasted), everything goes nice and smooth.
    2. The latest Ropieee download has both Pi2AES Design boards on the list, just select your flavor
    3. I made USB inactive and reserved the IP address for the device in wired network.
    4. Plug in AES/EBU to the RME ADI-2 Pro breakout cable and select AES as a source for SPIDIF
    5. Done
    What not todo:
    1. Trying to cut some corners: in theory Pi2AES board should work with any Roon endpoint that was setup with Digi+Pro.. I was using very old, one of the first for Pi, Hifiberry Roon endpoint with Digi+ Pro. And tried just to swap Pi2AES for Digi. Well it did not work
    2. The symptoms were of the weirdest kind. It took a lot of RME ADI-2 tweaking to get a sound, and the clock was totally screwed. Everything was coming out as 32/24! No matter if 96/24 or 44.1/16.
    3. I would love to spend time trying to fix it with some ALSA tweaking but was more interested in making it work so I switched right to Ropieee.
    What is left is a fun part: ssh to Ropieee and apply the Archimago tweaks that I used with Digi+.
    It may be tricky because Ropieee says "do not do it, do not play with config". Well SD cards are cheap

    in /boot/config.txt

    boot_delay=1

    arm_freq=800
    sdram_freq=400
    core_freq=400
    gpu_freq=300
    over_voltage=-4
    sdram_over_voltage=-4
    gpu_mem=16
     
  17. Tom R

    Tom R Acquaintance

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    I just got a RPi 4 Ropieee stock config running. Did some listening and compared to my SurfacePro3 running RAAT into my Yggdrasil. Both running WiFi. The decays on plucked strings were not as long as the SP3 running RAAT. Some very minor edge to female vocals. Need to do more listening to be sure.

    I’m getting a lot of supply noise on the USB power line. 50mV to 100 mV random negative going noise spikes. I will work on some de-crapification power supply mods. I’ll share with the group when I get them done. Hope they improve the sound.

    Fun project. I’m not a SW guy so would like to know how to underclock the RPi 4 / Ropieee combo.

    Tom
     
  18. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    If you're using a "naked" rPi, then you'll have a crapshoot as to whether it will ever sound better than the USB out of the computer. USB on the pi isn't exactly going to be an improvement over most PC's. If the pi is naked, then save your money on decrapifying and put it towards a decent hat (or put it towards a great hat like the the pi2aes).

    If you already have a pi2aes hat on the Pi, then why are you running USB? The whole point of the hat is to eliminate the USB and use SPDIF or AES to the DAC.
     
  19. Tom R

    Tom R Acquaintance

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    I am using a naked rPi 4. I've got all the stuff laying around to de-crappify so that's phase 1. Audiophile nervosa types say never use a PC because the USB is dirty. I want to compare the noise coming out of the Surface Pro 3 with the rPi to see the difference. I'll do that tomorrow.

    Phase 2 will be to add the pi2aes hat and compare AES/EBU with USB.
     
  20. rhythmdevils

    rhythmdevils MOT: rhythmdevils audio

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    Is it normal for the Pi2AES to cut out when it gets flicked with one finger gently? Or tapped? Anytime I move something on the same rack that my Pi2AES is on it cuts out. Brief half second cut outs.
     

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