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Best raspberry pi dac

Thanks for all the info here. I have read a lot and still a bit puzzled as to what DAC to buy for my RPI4.
I am building a stereo system, best I can on a budget. I just bought a Rotel RA-04 amplifier for £120, and I have setup a RPI4 with Moode OS which works great. I will be streaming Spotify and Tidal to it.

Now I need a DAC - I see the Allo Boss v1.2 as a possible solution. What's the consensus now on the best cost/value option around £50 for the DAC?
 
safetyp1 said:
Thanks for all the info here. I have read a lot and still a bit puzzled as to what DAC to buy for my RPI4.
I am building a stereo system, best I can on a budget. I just bought a Rotel RE-04 amplifier for £120, and I have setup a RPI4 with Moode OS which works great. I will be streaming Spotify and Tidal to it.

Now I need a DAC - I see the Allo Boss v1.2 as a possible solution. What's the consensus now on the best cost/value option around £50 for the DAC?
Click to expand...
Welcome Aboard @safetyp1.
 
safetyp1 said:
Thanks for all the info here. I have read a lot and still a bit puzzled as to what DAC to buy for my RPI4.
I am building a stereo system, best I can on a budget. I just bought a Rotel RA-04 amplifier for £120, and I have setup a RPI4 with Moode OS which works great. I will be streaming Spotify and Tidal to it.

Now I need a DAC - I see the Allo Boss v1.2 as a possible solution. What's the consensus now on the best cost/value option around £50 for the DAC?
Click to expand...
The apple usb-c dongle is hard to beat as value for money, but you'll also need an A to C adapter. There's some question over whether the European model performs as well as the US one too. We haven't seen many DACs tested around the £50 mark, and the hats haven't seen the same sort of performance competition we've seen in the USB ones around £100, so the Boss is still a solid choice if you don't want a dongle.
 
safetyp1 said:
Thanks for all the info here. I have read a lot and still a bit puzzled as to what DAC to buy for my RPI4.
I am building a stereo system, best I can on a budget. I just bought a Rotel RA-04 amplifier for £120, and I have setup a RPI4 with Moode OS which works great. I will be streaming Spotify and Tidal to it.

Now I need a DAC - I see the Allo Boss v1.2 as a possible solution. What's the consensus now on the best cost/value option around £50 for the DAC?
Click to expand...

As i2s DAC consider Hifiberry DAC+ Pro. If you want USB, my vote goes for SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKII.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. The dongle approach seems cheap, but results seem to vary.
I did consider Hifiberry DAC2 Pro, but I didn't see many reviews of this one, and appears that the newer DAC2 HD is worse than the predecessor, so I am not sure on the DAC2 Pro. DAC2 Pro and Boss 1.2 were my main contenders.
I am not really too bothered about i2s vs USB.
 
I'm using Pi Zero WH's as LMS clients via USB to Topping D10S, Topping E30, and via Coax to RME ADI-2 DAC FS. LMS runs on a Pi4. All work very nicely. Have also experimented with several dongles, including the Apple USB-C, using a Micro USB to USB-C adapter, which also works nicely. I've settled on piCorePlayer as the best OS for the Zero.

P1290065.jpg



P1290020.jpg
 
You need a hat to connect the RPI with a coax. The hat is plugged on the black GPIO connector and provides an additional coax out.
 
** warning subjective text incoming **
I bought the SMSL m100 mkii, I am using my Yamaha RX A1010 AVR till the Rotel RA-04 Amp arrives.
I compared RPI directly into my Yamaha via HDMI input and then via the new SMSL DAC to the Yamaha Phono input. Sounds the same, which is good :)
Speakers are Monitor Audio Silver 2, I picked them up today for £245.
 
is topping D10 compatible with pi 4b with android 10 installed ? please help
 
looking for a PI hat DAC that decodes MQ -- the closest I get so far is with the Khadas Tone Board v2, but that is not really a hat.
 
Last edited:
safetyp1 said:
Thanks for all the info here. I have read a lot and still a bit puzzled as to what DAC to buy for my RPI4.
I am building a stereo system, best I can on a budget. I just bought a Rotel RA-04 amplifier for £120, and I have setup a RPI4 with Moode OS which works great. I will be streaming Spotify and Tidal to it.

Now I need a DAC - I see the Allo Boss v1.2 as a possible solution. What's the consensus now on the best cost/value option around £50 for the DAC?
Click to expand...
If it was for me I'd be looking at a USB DAC in the 100 - 120 quid range, e.g. a topping D10 or D10B.

However since you starting out and are on a budget why don't you check the IQaudIO DAC+. By current standards it's at the bottom end of the performance range but it would be a good match for the Rotel and perform better than most ears. Raspberry Pi recently bought IQaudIO so there should not be any compatibility issues.

Start small, see if you like the world of digital audio and streaming. If you really get the bug you can say "Goodbye" to your savings.
 
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