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Audiophonics RASPDAC MINI LCD KIT Review (Streamer)

renesenses

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Hello,
Is the device Ropieee compatible (instead of using Volumio) ?
Regards,
Bertrand.
 

Nango

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Might buy a solar Power Bank or one with Qi charging :p
You still have the loop area between the to RCA cables...
Especially problematic if you want to power to Active monitor speaks with it.
Your right most ground loop problems go way.

But "Horses for courses".
LG G7 Thinq dedicated dap + Solar Panel and you are done for less.
 

don'ttrustauthority

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If keep testing cheap as f streamers I'll stop bugging you about testing more tube stuff!
 

Martinvb

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Hello,
Is the device Ropieee compatible (instead of using Volumio) ?
Regards,
Bertrand.
Not out-of-the-box: customised Volumio and MoOde distributions are available on the Audiophonics website, which include drivers for the LCD display and IR sensor for the remote control. I suppose Ropieee will work, but without support for display and r.c.
 

beefkabob

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What is the value of this versus some prebuilt options?
 

SDX-LV

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Audiophonics has quite cost efficient Hypex amps. Probably the best option in Europe for Hypex power (anyone knows better option including shipping and taxes to EU?). Would be great to see a review on the cheaper versions of those, for example this one:
 

Gremlins

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Is it possible to plug a hard disc with flacs and drive the content folders from volumio? Will volumio permit to scroll folders in the same order they are on the hard disc?

I start to be fedup using an old laptop running daphile that sometime bug

Looking for a new way to play my music stored on hard disc
 

Martinvb

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Is it possible to plug a hard disc with flacs and drive the content folders from volumio? Will volumio permit to scroll folders in the same order they are on the hard disc?

I start to be fedup using an old laptop running daphile that sometime bug

Looking for a new way to play my music stored on hard disc
Absolutely. Music in folders is presented in alphabetical order and is easily searchable. If the total power drawn by peripherals exceeds a critical value, a RPi/HAT system may become unstable an become unresponsive (or even may crash). In that case, separate power supply to drives or a more powerful p.s. may solve this. I.m.o., this kind of tweaking is part of the fun using DIY stuff
 

001

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Hi there Gremlins. Short answer: yes. Longer answer: ensure you have sufficient power for your external hdd, as mentioned previously. Secondly, ensure you don't have any 'corrupt' file names. Easiest way is to use mp3 tag and search for missing tags. Then fix any you find. You may even have to delete some files where you can't fix tags because that usually indicates a corrupted file.
I have used volumio which worked fine, then chose Moode Audio which works fine also. From memory, it took a little time to build the library from external storage, under 30 minutes for me.
Lastly, I always used the latest version of Volumio or Moode Audio: bugs get fixed [and sometimes new ones introduced...] and the forum support on either is good.
The bulk of my library is on network storage however [my preference].
 

garbz

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How far have the RPis evolved in terms of processing power? Would it be possible to have an all-in-one DAC/Streamer/DSP?
This has been possible for a long time. I used to do this on a Raspberry Pi 2 with the BruteFIR plugin. The current RPi 4 is about 5-10x faster depending on benchmarks and both the beta 3 of Volumio as MoOde include native CamillaDSP support.

What is the value of this versus some prebuilt options?
Open source Volumio / MoOde installation that is constantly being developed and improved. That said it does have a premium price over rolling all your own with a RPi + DAC Hat + Case + LCD.
 

Renato

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Is it possible to plug a hard disc with flacs and drive the content folders from volumio? Will volumio permit to scroll folders in the same order they are on the hard disc?

I start to be fedup using an old laptop running daphile that sometime bug

Looking for a new way to play my music stored on hard disc

I used Daphile for a long time and I always liked it, I never had any problems... but I built a streamer looking for new features and facilities and opted for piCoreplayer which is nothing more than the LMS for the PI platform. With all the features and facilities you already know in Daphile. I have a 1TB hard drive with music in every possible format.

piCoplayer

My Streamer
 

dsnyder0cnn

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I'm glad to see that there are more devices out there like this. The Allo BOSS2 Player is a bit less expensive as a complete package and performs a bit better:


Looking forward to seeing more of these.
 

PeteL

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What is the value of this versus some prebuilt options?
This looks gaudy but it’s prebuilt. If you mean versus non raspberry Pi options, we are talking about at least 3 times less pricy. and the DAC itself looks to perform better than most.
Edit, ah not sure anymore, a post seams to suggest otherwise, I didn't see clearly on the review it didn't come with the Pi and PS.
 
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audio_tony

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Between both of the RCA cables?

The outer conductor from the RCA is "GND". Right?!
You have normally 2 cables (for stereo) cables have GND. so there are tow part's for ground currents the left or the right cable.
And you also have a Loop, between the left and the right cable.
Ground_Loop-2.gif

source:https://www.angelfire.com/electronic/funwithtubes/Eliminating_Ground_Loops.html
if you use zip cord Like RCA stereo cabls the loop Area is small but if you use individual RCA cables for left and right the loop area is bigger.


If you have Powered Monitor speaker the loop goes trough the Power cables.

@amirm
Thanks for the test! that's the kind of content i like. Relatively cheap devices from relatively small manufactures.

Ground loops only occur when there are differing potentials between grounds.

In the illustration above, the cables will all be terminated at the same ground on each device - therefore no ground loop will exist, at audio frequencies.

If this was RF - then it would be a different situation - but at audio frequencies this is of no consequence.

As for the power supply..

The power supply provided with this product is of the two pin variety - and hence there is no path to ground (unless in some countries where neutral is connected to ground - in which case there could be a ground path under certain circumstances).

The issue with these power supplies, is that generally there is a small value capacitor (typically a few hundred picofarads) from mains live to the (-) of the secondary - this results in a small amount of mains leakage, and can often be felt as a light tingle when touching the output of the power supply and ground (or even just the chassis of other non earthed equipment) at the same time.

It is this capacitor that causes noise (it is *not* a ground loop) - it is mains noise injected into the device it is powering - which also creates a small potential between the device it's powering and other equipment.

These are leakage currents - which although akin to earth loops, are not quite the same thing, as mains earth is not directly involved.
 
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