Beginner Question, manufactured streamer vs Raspberry Pi for my purpose.

[djk1000]

Hi all, I hope you don't mind me asking a beginner question!

I'm starting on this journey and I'm about to purchase headphones (HD560S) and a DAC/headphone amp (Zen DAC V2). I'd like to use Tidal and send a lossless digital signal to the DAC from a streamer.

The question is, for this simple single purpose will there be a difference between using a Raspberry Pi or other mini PC running something like Volumio with Tidal Connect (for under $100) vs buying a streamer (much more expensive)?

Thanks,

D

 

[Joachim Herbert]

Probably not, soundwise. A PI will be an opportunity to learn and to move on from there. Or stay with the PI, depending on learnings.

 

[muslhead]

Audible difference? No
Feature or asthetics? Yes, absolutely

 

[djk1000]

Thanks for the answers, I'll go with the Pi! I'm only concerned about a reliable lossless signal so I don't have to think about that part of the setup for now, I can always upgrade in the future.

 

[Triliza]

A Pi would do the job nicely, I'm using one myself. FIY something like a Wiim Mini/ Pro / Plus may be something to consider if it meets your needs.

 

[Jimbob54]

Hi all, I hope you don't mind me asking a beginner question!

I'm starting on this journey and I'm about to purchase headphones (HD560S) and a DAC/headphone amp (Zen DAC V2). I'd like to use Tidal and send a lossless digital signal to the DAC from a streamer.

The question is, for this simple single purpose will there be a difference between using a Raspberry Pi or other mini PC running something like Volumio with Tidal Connect (for under $100) vs buying a streamer (much more expensive)?

Thanks,

D

Buy a wiim mini or pro (can use Connect). Far less faff than a pi and far less cost than what you were thinking of for a streamer.

If you wanted the device to do PEQ the pi may still be the best option.

 

[glorious_iguana]

I use Raspberry Pi4 myself running Moode Audio. My streaming provider is Spotify so this works perfectly with Spotify Connect. As there is no open source Tidal implementation I would recommend to go for Wiim Pro/Plus. You don't want to spend even more for Volumio just to get Tidal working.

 

[anome]

LMS(squeezelite) has a TIDAL plugin, never used it myself.

 

[Berwhale]

Hi all, I hope you don't mind me asking a beginner question!

I'm starting on this journey and I'm about to purchase headphones (HD560S) and a DAC/headphone amp (Zen DAC V2). I'd like to use Tidal and send a lossless digital signal to the DAC from a streamer.

The question is, for this simple single purpose will there be a difference between using a Raspberry Pi or other mini PC running something like Volumio with Tidal Connect (for under $100) vs buying a streamer (much more expensive)?

Thanks,

D

There's a thread about building Pi based touch streamers, my effort is here (but you should read from the 1st post): https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...coreplayer-streamer.42228/page-2#post-1495871

I actually use this in my garage where it's connected to old, but reasonable sounding, Logitech soundbar via a Hidiz S3 USB 'dongle' DAC/Amp.

 

[ahofer]

There's no getting around the small investment in time it takes to build a Pi streamer, but after that you can basically forget it, and it sounds the same, and you have some extra money in your pocket.

(edited: I wrote "better" instead of "the same". Yikes)

 

[JeremyFife]

Depends on how hands on/ techie you are. I'm not... so I have a WiiM mini and I'm very happy
(Edit - approx £90 GBP)

 

[Snoopy]

A raspberry pi 4 streamer could always be reused for something else. So its a nice option as streamer and if you are not happy with it you could just use it for something else.

There is nice stuff you can do with a raspberry pi.

I use one for RoopieXL as roon and Airplay endpoint. And it works exactly the same as a way more professional solution

 

[anome]

Specifically on the SBC choice, I would suggest there are better choices than a PI, Odroid C4 for example.

 

[walter-]

I am thinking about a similar setup, Tidal and either an external or HAT DAC. In my case streaming to active monitors, instead. Additionally I want to use DRC (digital room correction):

RPi4 + CamillaDSP Tutorial

Hi. Many thanks to @HenrikEnquist and @mdsimon2 for your work! I'm trying to run CamillaDSP in Ubuntu 23.04 with RME AES32 sound card. I get 'snd_pcm_hw_params_set_access' error: Could you help me with this issue? My config is: (I don't need all 16 channels, it's made for testing.) My...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Since I do not have a Pi (yet?), I just tried to install a part of the software on a Linux PC to be able to control Tidal streaming remotely. It worked with these instructions:
Plex Server for Ubuntu: https://linux.how2shout.com/install-and-setup-plex-media-server-on-ubuntu-22-04-lts/
Tidal for Plex: https://support.tidal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002069037-Plex
Plex HTPC for Ubuntu (to be able to remote control Plex from Android tablet): https://snapcraft.io/plex-htpc
Installed the Plexamp app on a tablet to remote control Plex HTPC.

If they get the PEQ working for DRC (filters per channel, enough filters, ...) a WiiM could be a Pi alternative for me. Or the mentioned Linux PC.

 

[djk1000]

I've gone down a rabbit hole on this, with thanks to those who advised me here!

I'm going with WiiM Pro, the mini would do me but the Pro keeps more options open for the future and I believe it has parametric EQ built in which is helpful for me as I have slight hearing damage in one ear.

I'm also going to change the stack to Topping E50 and L50 which I believe is good value and again gives me additional options in the future (I might add a Topping PA5 when I start to look at some speakers for my desk and the PA5 looks good with the E50 & L50, the IFI DAC V2 was also USB only).

Finally, I'm sticking with the 560s but might upgrade the earpads and cable.

 

[JeremyFife]

Just a caveat on that PA5 thought. I have one, and it's great but there is a known and well understood design flaw ... these break.
Read this before you decide https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...oll-for-topping-pa5-owners-only-please.33293/

make your own mind up, but personally I wouldn't touch something that is known to have a significant design flaw

 

[somebodyelse]

At this point it would probably be a PA5 II or II Plus - probably too early to tell whether the redesign has fixed the reliability issue.

 

[Joe Smith]

Yeah, sounds like you can at least wait on the PA5 II and see if they have significantly improved its reliability. The fail rate on that among members here was pretty amazing per the poll results in that thread...