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Help choosing rpi4 digital HAT (transport only)

mkarikom

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My primary DAC for this transport will be an RME ADI-2 DAC FS, which needs to link to a network server several rooms away (currently experimenting with Roon).

I will connect to the transport using coax (a media PC currently occupies the USB input on the ADI-2).

Please note the ADI-2 does not have bnc, so the presence of that feature is of no consequence to me.

I would greatly appreciate any advice on comparison between the following modules (trying to update this with the products kindly suggested in the replies):
  1. PiFi Digi+ ($15 really excited about this one from aliexpress!)
  2. HiFiBerry Digi+ ($25)
  3. HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro ($50)
  4. JustBoom Digi HAT ($28)
  5. PI2AES ($149)
  6. Allo DigiOne ($100.... but from the picture, it does appear to contain large amounts of gold, an inflation-resistant holding)

I guess from a practical standpoint, I'm wondering why Allo recommends a $150 psu for the DigiOne (it's connected to the rpi4, which is connected to an ethernet cable, which is connected to a network switch down the hall that is very non-audiophile)? Case in point, @amirm uses the $15 switching psu when he measures stuff from Allo.

For the OS for the rpi4/HAT, I am considering the following:
  1. RoPieee
  2. Volumio
  3. VitOS
 
Last edited:
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mkarikom

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ahofer

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My primary DAC for this transport will be an RME ADI-2 DAC FS, which needs to link to a network server several rooms away (currently experimenting with Roon).

I will connect to the transport using coax (a media PC currently occupies the USB input on the ADI-2).

Please note the ADI-2 does not have bnc, so the presence of that feature is of no consequence to me.

I would greatly appreciate any advice on comparison between the following modules (afaik they all implement the same/similar transciever that costs like $8 on Digikey):
  1. PiFi Digi+ ($15 really excited about this one from aliexpress!)
  2. HiFiBerry Digi+ ($25)
  3. HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro ($50)
  4. Allo DigiOne ($100.... but from the picture, it does appear to contain large amounts of gold, an inflation-resistant holding)

I guess from a practical standpoint, I'm wondering why Allo recommends a $150 psu for the DigiOne (it's connected to the rpi4, which is connected to an ethernet cable, which is connected to a network switch down the hall that is very non-audiophile)? Case in point, @amirm uses the $15 switching psu when he measures stuff from Allo.

Also I'd appreciate anyone's comments on the following statements from the page for the DigiOne on Allo's website:
  1. "We recommend Shanti Ultra low noise dual linear PSU for your DigiOne, and above you get it at a discount"
  2. "PSU: Not needed (power is taken from RPI, then we use a isolated DC/DC [typo?] convertor with filters and LDO)"

Try the Pi2 - https://www.pi2design.com/
 

TomekNet

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I believe LPS is a placebo. I have a DigiOne on RPi3B+ and I've tried it both with Nirvana and generic SMPS - no audible differences. I've tested RCA vs BNC out - again no audible differences. I've also done a blind test of this RPi streamer to a different streamer with SPDIF out - I couldn't tell the difference at all.
 

Ralph_Cramden

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BTW, I use the Justboom Zero into the coax input of my RME DAC. Tried other devices, none of which would switch off the carrier signal, so the RME wouldn’t auto-switch away.

The Justboom Digi Zero shuts off the carrier within seconds of music stopping, so auto-switching between USB (my PC), Optical (a Google CCA) and the Justboom (Squeezelite on a Pi Zero) works perfectly, and is awesome
 

tgray

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I’ve used a Hifiberry Digi+ for years with various DACs and have no issues. If I were to do it over, I’d probably pick up the newer Digi2 and play around with the add in DSP board.
 
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mkarikom

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The Justboom Digi Zero shuts off the carrier within seconds of music stopping, so auto-switching between USB (my PC), Optical (a Google CCA) and the Justboom (Squeezelite on a Pi Zero) works perfectly, and is awesome
Thanks, @Ralph_Cramden. This is definitely a concern for me since my ADI-2 is hosting multiple devices.
Would you mind stating which OS's (I am considering Volumio) you've tried (I'm assuming this issue persisted regardless of OS)?
 

Ralph_Cramden

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piCorePlayer. It works beautifully on the limited resources of the Zero. I also run LMS on it on my Pi 4 server. The Zeros are great endpoints.
 
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