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 Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    That does not seem to be documented on their web site though. At least not in the change logs they show. How did you discover this?
     
  2. leafy

    leafy Facebook Friend

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  3. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    That’s just Ropieee though. RopieeeXL is still a separate image and I think the last version of XL is 04.2017. See: https://ropieee.org/changelog/
     
  4. lordearl

    lordearl New

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    Has anyone had a good experience ripping cds using Volumio? What would be a good USB CDR/RW to buy to connect to the Mercury?
     
  5. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    I suppose the remedy is to keep running the old version.
    RoPieeeXL has been converted to the new code and doesn't have SSH. The current RoPieeeXL version is 2022.04 (0181).
    https://community.roonlabs.com/t/release-ropieee-2022-04-xl-is-back/198197
     
  6. Yethal

    Yethal Facebook Friend

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    SSH is disabled in release version, nighlty and beta should still have them
     
  7. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    Thanks yethal, maybe I'll try to run the nightly! I didn't know that was available
    edit: nightly not available. at least not as an image :(

    I'm back in business! I was able to install tidal connect service under moode audio using this script
    https://github.com/shawaj/HiTide
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2022
  8. Yethal

    Yethal Facebook Friend

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    It's not a separate image, in settings you need to switch update channel from stable
     
  9. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    Can confirm the mercury i2s out works with Rockna Wavelight for pcm. Having an issue with dsd. It plays but there's a loud hiss. I set the wavelight to i2s setting #2 for ps audio pinout.

    Moode audio mpd settings are set to native dsd instead of dsd over pcm.

    Anyone have an idea? I confirmed dsd plays well over usb from my Intel nuc in jriver
     

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  10. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    The PI (and the CM4) do not support DSD on the internal I2S interface, only PCM. DSD over PCM (DoP) is possible if your DAC supports it. In that case the Mercury only sees PCM.
     
  11. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    Thanks, I’ll work on trying to get moode to send dsd over pcm to the Wavelight
     
  12. svampebob

    svampebob New

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    Anybody tried Mercury with a 12v battery?
     
  13. CongoFather

    CongoFather Acquaintance

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  14. CongoFather

    CongoFather Acquaintance

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    Generally, batteries have slower response times than the linear power supplies if it is not a specially built battery power supply for audio purposes. Standard powerbanks used for mobile phones may not give response quickly for changes in current requirements. Therefore, unless it is a specially built battery-based power supply, do not use it and prefer linear power supplies which will high likely to sound better.

    Just an example for an ultra exceptional :) battery-based power supply which may be used in high-end stereo systems --> https://stromtank.com/s4000/
     
  15. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    it should work fine. PCI express will downthrottle both width and speed to accommodate the host. So the compute module four runs at 5 Gb and one lane. You won’t get blazing performance, but it should work just fine
     
  16. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    The linear regulator chain feeding the clocks in the critical section runs at 5V and 3.3V. A 12V battery would have to sag very badly to have any impact. Plus the power draw does not change with the signal like an analog amp would. I see no issues with using a battery.

    Just be aware that the onboard circuitry will stop working when the input voltage gets below -7V.
     
  17. svampebob

    svampebob New

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    I would imagine a 4s (4 in series) lifepo4 for 4 * 3.2V = 12.8V would be good. And without regulation of the output voltage. I would not use something made for a phone or similar with a noisy voltage converter. Afaik a lifepo4 battery also has low internal resistance, much less than a car battery.

    I also think an Ian Canada lifepo4 power supply can be used at 13.2v. But its pretty expensive.

    An uptone ultracap would also be interesting.

    Since Mercury works down to 7v a quick (and short) test would be possible with a 9v battery?

     
  18. Superdad

    Superdad MOT: UpTone Audio LLC

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    Hi everyone:
    I am Alex Crespi, owner of UpTone Audio LLC (USB/ISO REGEN, UltraCap, EtherREGEN, JS-2 LPS, etc.).
    Am also a lifelong audiophile/tinkerer (about to turn 60; built my first hifi when I was 12; still have in pristine condition all the original import LPs I started collecting in my teens).

    Am friends with @bobfa, @clipper, and probably know a bunch of the rest of you here (if only I knew the real names behind the screen names). A couple of months ago I became very intrigued about the Mercury (studied the design at the board level and have lots of respect for what @Michael Kelly has put into it--though for the life of me can't fathom how he is going to make a profit and support it at just $599! ;-))

    Full disclosure: As most of you probably know, my engineering partner, John Swenson, does all the hardware design for Sonore's Rendu series--based on SolidRun iMX6 modules onto John's custom baseboards. A lot of similarity in ethos of design, but none of the Rendus have I2S output. Which is what I want from an Ethernet-attached renderer (fed from my EtherREGEN) into the I2S input of my Holo Spring L3 DAC. Hence my being keen on trying out the Mercury.

    So Bob F. kindly loaned me his beta test unit, and I have been playing with it for a couple of weeks. Powering with 12V from an LT3045 based LPS prototype.

    I am not a Linux jockey in the least, but guidance from Bob, John, and others, plus reading the forums--has gotten me to a tweaked PiCorePlayer/LMS/Squeezelite setup of the Mercury. Sounding terrific.
    Still to try is GentooPlayer--and maybe a Roon to RoonBridge set up.

    Two questions I have:
    1) My Holo Spring supports "native" DSD through both its USB and I2S inputs. But with Mercury running PiCorePlayer/LMS/Squeezelite via I2S, only DoP works (after entering "dop" in the Squeezelite settings page). Trying to run straight DSD as opposed to DSD over PCM results in the typical hiss on top of the music.
    I know that technically there is/should be no SQ difference between straight DSD versus DoP, but I am still curious to understand if the limitation is with the hardware or the OS.

    2) Although I understand that all the magic of the Mercury is to be had from its fine I2S, AES, S/PDIF outputs, I would still like to try some experiments (for comparison to my prior tweaked AudioLinux NUC>Singxer SU-1>I2S setup) via USB. How does one turn on the USB ports of the Mercury? Settings, s/w configuration considerations?

    Many thanks in advance.
    Hope you all have a lovely weekend,
    --Alex C.
     
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  19. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Welcome to SBAF @Superdad. Cool to see you trying out the Mercury. Regarding your question about DSD, Michael actually covered this just a few posts up:
     
  20. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Answers below. And thanks for the kind words!

    1) The PI I2S port built into the CPU chip only supports PCM. DSD over PCM (DoP) simply puts the DSD information into a PCM frame. The downstream DAC recovers the data and ships it to the various D/A section as if it were DSD. Unlkess the DAC messes the data up, there is no difference between DSD and DoP.

    2) By default the USB host ports on the Compute Module 4 (CM4) are disabled upon boot. This is because the built in firmware uses the port for programming the eMMC (even though the CM4 we used has no eMMC). It has to be enabled in the config.txt file in the OS as follows:

    https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2...rking-on-compute-module-4-check-your-overlays

    I think eventually all the OS drops will have this by default.
     

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