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A Raspberry Pi as a music server

Matty1

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are you using the official power supply for the pi? if not, what are you using?
i had problems with a different pi+dac hat and turned out it was underpowered
In picoreplayer re diagnostics I get the following

Output devices:
null - Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
default
plugequal
equal

the digi2pro is firmly plugged in, flashed properly etc etc.


it’s either the Digi or Pi?
 

shoto

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unfortunately i left beaten track slightly with volumio and problems have shown up.

Until now I used small usb stick for playback but I want to use internal SD storage , I bought large 250gb card for this to have lots of room, I thought it would be very simple to connect card reader to my computer and copy music to sd card.

First, the volumio partition only used small amount of space on card, I had to force it to use all with an obscure trick of putting empty file called “resize-volumio-datapart” in the directory.
Then there was no 'dyn/data/INTERNAL' folder that should be there to store the files, I tried making it manually as one post suggested but volumio just ignores it.

The intended way is copy over network, or so I read. I added SMB drive on a computer for the INTERNAL folder ( \\volumio.local\Internal Storage ), it connected succesfully and first appeared I could copy things over and they show up in volumio but they are all empty 0kb files, only the file name is intact.
Next I tried again to locally copy files to the SD with card reader into the INTERNAL folder that volumio created itself when I connected SMB drive.
It worked this time somehow and the files were visible and playable in volumio, I did not like this long and tedious process for a hodge podge solution.

But this solution is still no good, Only loose files can be added, folders do not show up, some of my music files have no meta data or VA albums metadata splits up the tracks up in 'artist' view so I just like to browse music folders as they are stored... it worked for USB drive, can I really not do this with the INTERNAL storage folder?

If instead I create a seperate partition from unallocated space on the sd instead of expanding the volumio partition will I be able to detect and use it like a normal USB drive?
Volumio shows options for USB, NAS and INTERNAL in the music library, a seperate SD partition does not fall under any of these so I already feel like it will not work... very frustrating
 
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Matty1

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This may have been talked about elsewhere, but if using a raspberry pi with Digi hat (eg Digione) vs airplay express using optical, if the dac is good enough to suppress the jitter and both are bitbperfect is there going to be any difference in sound quality. if I’m feeding the dac a better digital signal, is it going to sound better?

thoughts would be useful.
 

somebodyelse

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If the DAC has a decent digital input and both sources are bit perfect there's no reason they should sound any different. If you're using a coax output from the hat then pick one with an output transformer to remove any risk of ground related noise - the Digi2 Pro has the transformer while the Digi+ Standard doesn't.
 

Matty1

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If the DAC has a decent digital input and both sources are bit perfect there's no reason they should sound any different. If you're using a coax output from the hat then pick one with an output transformer to remove any risk of ground related noise - the Digi2 Pro has the transformer while the Digi+ Standard doesn't.
So all these Digi hats, and expensive digi streamers you can buy, what is the advantage? Am I missing something here? I guess if you put crap into the dac, it does it’s best and you get a mediocre result. If you put pure in, you should get just as pure out. There is no way to tell how good my dac can suppress jitter but it does reclock The signal. Main main set up is redbook audio. Although at some point that may change
 

somebodyelse

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So all these Digi hats, and expensive digi streamers you can buy, what is the advantage? Am I missing something here? I guess if you put crap into the dac, it does it’s best and you get a mediocre result. If you put pure in, you should get just as pure out. There is no way to tell how good my dac can suppress jitter but it does reclock The signal. Main main set up is redbook audio. Although at some point that may change
With expensive streamers you're partly paying up front for long term software support, and licensing to stream from some of the streaming services. The expensive hats are catering to the part of the audiophile market that still believes that it matters despite the measurements showing that for well engineered modern DACs it doesn't. If you go back 10 or 20 years it may have made more difference - the reviews of vintage DACs tend to show worse jitter sensitivity than we typically see now, at least with properly engineered DACs.

If you've got an audio interface with a decent analog input you could try testing your DAC's jitter sensitivity using a J-test signal - DON't play it into speakers of headphones! http://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/siggen.html#jtest
 

Matty1

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With expensive streamers you're partly paying up front for long term software support, and licensing to stream from some of the streaming services. The expensive hats are catering to the part of the audiophile market that still believes that it matters despite the measurements showing that for well engineered modern DACs it doesn't. If you go back 10 or 20 years it may have made more difference - the reviews of vintage DACs tend to show worse jitter sensitivity than we typically see now, at least with properly engineered DACs.

If you've got an audio interface with a decent analog input you could try testing your DAC's jitter sensitivity using a J-test signal - DON't play it into speakers of headphones! http://www.roomeqwizard.com/help/help_en-GB/html/siggen.html#jtest
Noted.
at least with the pi I get the usb functionality to have all my music locally connected rather than having my Mac on. Plus I can share the drive and add the music easily. I’m looking for a good replacement to the airport so I immediately thought of a pi. I don’t need built in dac etc and seems cheapest for what I want.

the AE is 10 years old now and if it goes I’m screwed.
 

citysoundman

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I'm considering a Pi4 as a music server for hi res FLAC and DSD. I want to use a USB SSD for files. I'll also use a USB DAC/headphone amp like Topping EX5. But since the Pi has one USB controller I'm concerned about performance problems, having both devices on USB. I'd appreciate any feedback.
 

0bs3rv3r

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I'm considering a Pi4 as a music server for hi res FLAC and DSD. I want to use a USB SSD for files. I'll also use a USB DAC/headphone amp like Topping EX5. But since the Pi has one USB controller I'm concerned about performance problems, having both devices on USB. I'd appreciate any feedback.

No problems at all. I have a USB hard drive and a Topping D10 DAC hooked up to a Pi4 running moOde and it all runs very smoothly.
 

citysoundman

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No problems at all. I have a USB hard drive and a Topping D10 DAC hooked up to a Pi4 running moOde and it all runs very smoothly.
thanks @0bs3rv3r
also I'm curious to know if you're all good when playing hi res like 192K or DSD 256 (that's the max I would have, not what I typically play)
 

kchap

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I use a RPi 4 with a Topping 10B. All my files a 192K; no problem at all. It is true that the Pi is under powered so if you had a DAC, an SSD and small LCD connect to the Pi might want to consider runing the DAC or SSD off external power. It might be ok but say, using a DAC with external power will give you peace of mind.
 

0bs3rv3r

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I use a RPi 4 with a Topping 10B. All my files a 192K; no problem at all. It is true that the Pi is under powered so if you had a DAC, an SSD and small LCD connect to the Pi might want to consider runing the DAC or SSD off external power. It might be ok but say, using a DAC with external power will give you peace of mind.

I don't find it to be underpowered. Using the original rPi power supply, I power it, and my D10 DAC and a 1TB external hard drive (not even an SSD, the older spinning type) and it never misses a beat.
 
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Deleted member 23982

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my ssd stops working if i try to connect too much
the things i had attached are not that much either, M2 SDD (with a adapter to usb), bluetooth stick + wlan stick (connected through a usb hub) and the DAC
once i tried to power the DAC too the ssd stops working because of power issues, i think i read that the max power for all usb devices is 1400mA i could be wrong tho (but its not that much either way)

probably the best (and only thing you can do) would be to use an powered usb hub in such case, i just dont like how messy it gets :D
kinda time to design a own larger case to put everything in (including the powered hub) with outside access to everything important but could be tricky...
 

kchap

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I don't find it to be underpowered. Using the original rPi power supply, I power it, and my D10 DAC and a 1TB external hard drive (not even an SSD, the older spinning type) and it never misses a beat.
I agree it seems to be a "lucky dip". Some people have problems with power, others do not.
 
D

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but bluetooth and wifi are already built into the Pi ??
in moode you can disable the internal wlan/bluetooth which has a nice effect on the sound, beside having very poor range with the internal ones if the PI has a metal case
 
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kchap

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Any measurements to back that up? There's no obvious correlation between what you use for wifi or bluetooth and the sound the DAC makes.
I wont get involved in the "sound" of BT or WiFi but the Rpi4 WiFi was susceptible to interference from one of the HDMI ports. This was made worse because the Rpi4 does not support external antenna; you are in trouble if you use a metal case.
 
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