AlfaNovember
Member
I'd like some help brainstorming on my lone analog hold-out. Asking here in DIY because this project departed the realm of commercial products long ago.
Having converted the house over to multi-room streaming via Roon, I set out some years ago to keep the turntable available. My solution was to tuck a Hagerman Bugle phono unit inside the plinth, connect the line-level analog to a Hifiberry ADC on a Raspberry PI 3, and run ethernet out the back. The Pi runs icecast to capture the ADC, and Roon picks up the data as a streaming radio station. I am not fully satisfied with this arrangement for several reasons:
1) I'm chasing a hum problem (and doing so upside down in a closed box.) There's probably a relative ground problem between the devices. The Hagerman runs on 12V and the Pi takes 5.1V; right now they each have separate power supplies. The Hagerman has a small linear, the PI is a cheap USB charging switcher. My original plan was to buck the 12V down to 5V with a dc-dc converter, but the Hag didn't seem to have the current for both. There's 120VAC under the plinth, and I suppose I could engineer up a dual-output supply, but.. I'm not feeling inspired. Not keen to add an external powersupply brick, due to living room aesthetics, but I do have a multi-output laptop-style brick available in the junque box.
2) Setting input levels on the HiFiBerry is done with alsamixer, and I'm just guessing. Seems like it needs a lot of gain, and the needle-drop sounds are pronounced. The Bugle has adjustable gain, maybe I crank that up?
3) I haven't listened to it in some time, but I feel like the sound was mostly just okay. Granted, I can't expect vast S/N from my collection of battered old vinyl, but wondering if maybe the Phono into the ADC is a poor impedance match or lousy ADC chip or.. something.
The turntable is a late 60's Pioneer PL-41 with a Denon DL-103 cart. The TT and the speakers are the living room, while the rest of the streaming rig is one floor straight down in the garage. Speakers are driven from a JBL CSA-120 amp in the garage, a nifty little Crown design for small commercial fixed installations.
I have half a mind to abandon digital streaming, build a meters-long analog interconnect, and run the line level signal out of the Hagerman down through the floor to a remotely-triggered analog input switcher before the power amp (if such a product exists.)
Any thoughts on hum, levels, longish runs of analog signal or novel left-field solutions warmly appreciated.
Having converted the house over to multi-room streaming via Roon, I set out some years ago to keep the turntable available. My solution was to tuck a Hagerman Bugle phono unit inside the plinth, connect the line-level analog to a Hifiberry ADC on a Raspberry PI 3, and run ethernet out the back. The Pi runs icecast to capture the ADC, and Roon picks up the data as a streaming radio station. I am not fully satisfied with this arrangement for several reasons:
1) I'm chasing a hum problem (and doing so upside down in a closed box.) There's probably a relative ground problem between the devices. The Hagerman runs on 12V and the Pi takes 5.1V; right now they each have separate power supplies. The Hagerman has a small linear, the PI is a cheap USB charging switcher. My original plan was to buck the 12V down to 5V with a dc-dc converter, but the Hag didn't seem to have the current for both. There's 120VAC under the plinth, and I suppose I could engineer up a dual-output supply, but.. I'm not feeling inspired. Not keen to add an external powersupply brick, due to living room aesthetics, but I do have a multi-output laptop-style brick available in the junque box.
2) Setting input levels on the HiFiBerry is done with alsamixer, and I'm just guessing. Seems like it needs a lot of gain, and the needle-drop sounds are pronounced. The Bugle has adjustable gain, maybe I crank that up?
3) I haven't listened to it in some time, but I feel like the sound was mostly just okay. Granted, I can't expect vast S/N from my collection of battered old vinyl, but wondering if maybe the Phono into the ADC is a poor impedance match or lousy ADC chip or.. something.
The turntable is a late 60's Pioneer PL-41 with a Denon DL-103 cart. The TT and the speakers are the living room, while the rest of the streaming rig is one floor straight down in the garage. Speakers are driven from a JBL CSA-120 amp in the garage, a nifty little Crown design for small commercial fixed installations.
I have half a mind to abandon digital streaming, build a meters-long analog interconnect, and run the line level signal out of the Hagerman down through the floor to a remotely-triggered analog input switcher before the power amp (if such a product exists.)
Any thoughts on hum, levels, longish runs of analog signal or novel left-field solutions warmly appreciated.
