Hi everyone
I'm in the process of making a RPI4B based music player. I'm a bit confused abut the choice of DAC. I have gone through a lot of YouTube videos to learn about this. In the prosses I found that Pi2AES is very good hat dac. Is it available anymore? As I could not find it on net for sale (new).
What other hat dac would you all suggest that will have a decent sound output?
My plan is to make the streamer with RPI+DAC+External HDD+6inch Touch screen display+Allo shanti PSU
Have not thought about enclosure yet.
Would really appreciate some guidance from you all
I would suggest go for a external USB DAC. It can be replaced alone without changing the RPI player and would definitely sound better than HAT DACs.
I have used and connected following DACs with below OS's:
- IQaudio DAC Pro
- SMSL SU8S
- Topping D50s
I still have a the above boards, hats and display. Have used some variety of OS's.
1) Android bases LineageOS
Pros:
- Can install any android app - Main purpose of build was Apple Music.
- Can connect USB DAC and HAT DAC, both can be used together.
- Sound quality is Ok compared to others OS i used.
Cons:
- After editing all the root files to get bit perfect it is still not, came to know after I connected USB DACs and played AM files. Higher sample rates don't have a problem at all.
- Cannot be controlled from phone, laptop or any other device. Touch screen or screen with keyboard and mouse is needed and only way of using it.
2) RopieeXL
Pros:
- Superb sound quality, better than anything I heard. The processing Roon does is very good.
- First unfold for MQA songs, I used Tidal mostly on this.
- Flawless setup and no issues with OS, never experienced any hick ups or reboots.
- Now Playing can be casted to any device on same network. The screen looks amazing and refined with real time lyrics.
- Spotify also can be played flawlessly
Cons:
- Expensive! Around Rs.700 a month
- Connected Display to RPI works only with the official Raspberry Pi 7 inch touch screen. Cannot use any other screen.
- While using Spotify, u cannot adjust volume through volume buttons on phone or Spotify app. Need to back to Roon.
- Needs a constant server running, laptop desktop etc.
3) Volumio 3
Pros:
- Easy to setup, nice help guide too.
- Good sound quality, nothing to complain about. Wide variety of support for DACs.
- Huge community, tons of plugins and mods.
- Easy to use over a long time, play through Spotify or Tidal directly and even control volume. (need paid versions)
- Any display works, lot of aftermarket parts available.
Cons:
- To use Tidal and some other features you need a paid premium account. Or BubbleUpnp type apps.
- Can get buggy and require reboots
I am using Volumio 3 now, liking it so far.
I would rate the above OSs like below:
RopieeaXL > Volumio > LineageOS