raspberry pi 2 as media player

[AVcrazy]

What solution are you using for wireless rege sir?

 

[rikhav]

@Regeha

The discussion Venkat sir started was between RPI vs Desktop PC


There is no doubt that the Sony prem bought is best for that price

 

[rikhav]

Thank you all for ganging up against me. :lol::lol:

A couple of rejoinders.

1. I have never ridiculed RPi. I am going to have at least 3 RPi based systems. So that statement is completely wrong.
2. I do understand that digital processing can be done by a 100$ computer as well as a 100,000$ computer. But when it comes to processing data in real time for audio and video, the later has undoubted advantages in number crunching.

I was looking at RPi, I suppose, in a way that is different from your viewpoints. So, let us leave it at that.

Thanks and Cheers

You are still ridiculing in this post of yours
Okay, explain me how desktop pc has upper hand over RPI in processing data in real time for audio?

I am not talking about video, just audio because that's what the discussion was about

 

[regeHA]

What solution are you using for wireless rege sir?

In my signature... I'm using MinimServer on both a Synology NAS and Raspberry Pi.

Connection is like this...
1. Synology NAS (MinimServer) to Chromecast Audio (4 different rooms) to DAC and/or AVR.
2. Raspberry Pi (MinimServer) to Chromecast Audio (4 different rooms) to DAC and/or AVR.

Both sound the same... cannot say the NAS sounds better though it costs 20 times more than the Pi.

I have 3 Schiit DACs, an Onkyo AVR, and a Marantz AVR. 2 of the Schiit's, the Onkyo and the Marantz are connected to the Chromecast Audio. The 3rd Schiit is used with headphones so CCA is not needed.

 

[regeHA]

@Regeha

The discussion Venkat sir started was between RPI vs Desktop PC


There is no doubt that the Sony prem bought is best for that price

No need to convince me. Like I said the $35 Pi actually trashed my over $2000 PC. I'm all sold on the Pi and I try to convince everyone to buy it.

In fact I find it hard to believe that a desktop PC or even a laptop can really compare to the mighty Pi especially for audio. Of course you'll have a hard time convincing the Apple brigade that the Pi is actually better than the Mac Mini all things considered.

My point was some folks have more of $$$ than time and/or are not inclined to play around with the Pi like installing various distros and for them a device like Auralic or Sony will be a better fit. Likewise instead of spending "$1000 on an LPS and another $500-$1000 on a USB cleaner for the Pi" why not buy something that already fixes those issues like the new Bryston Pi, or an Auralic (both of them have a Pi on the inside).

I personally would never buy an Auralic Aries (I've heard it and its good, very good in fact) because I can do the same with the Pi and a NAS for 1/3rd the price, but then I've also recommended the Auralic to many people who I know will not have the time or the technology chops of Sam9s to build something that sounds the same or even better.

Just my 2 cents...

PS: No way will I ever agree a PC sounds better than a Pi. I've had everything from a C2D to an i7 and the Pi beats everyone of them hands down and with a mobile charger for power supply.

 

[rikhav]

Hi regeha
You have highlighted some very good points why won't someone like a RPI and I totally agree with you

The discussion becomes so healthy and beneficial to all when you have personal experience with any component you are passing judgement on

That's all I want. If ones opinion is based on personal experience then it's always well taken by others

 

[drgb]

@venkat ji: dil pe mat lo sir! Bura Na maano holi hai! Hehe.
Jokes aside sir, as Joshua pointed out; you really need to listen to it. Now that you're going to have 3 RPi systems I guess you'll be doing a lot of that. So happy listening to you!

@avcrazy: just go to the OSMC site and download the tarball. You'll have to extract the .gz file to obtain a bootable ISO. From there the procedure is same for volumio. Just this time you'll need a TV screen/display to get it configured.
Once the configuration is done you can use it any way you want. With a TV screen, mouse, keyboard, etc as you would use a PC or via a 3rd party RC app like Yatse (from the Android playstore).
The best part about OSMC is the user friendliness it offers. For someone without a Linux background, it'll be easier to setup than installing windows on a new PC. You can customise it quite a bit too.

As long as one is getting a pure PCM stream from the transport to the DAC , it doesn't matter the cost of the transport equipment; the SQ will nearly be the same.

 

[regeHA]

Hi regeha
You have highlighted some very good points why won't someone like a RPI and I totally agree with you

The discussion becomes so healthy and beneficial to all when you have personal experience with any component you are passing judgement on

That's all I want. If ones opinion is based on personal experience then it's always well taken by others

I can understand. It's hard for people to believe something for $35 can be so good and so versatile. But that's what computers are... good and versatile and the Pi was designed to be a $35 computer.

I've had a similar experience with another $35 device, the Chromecast Audio. Its one of the best things to happen to audio, local streaming, internet streaming, etc. but most people have a preconceived notion that it sounds bad or it does not do anything... but even more so from people who have not actually heard it or used it.

Bias goes every which way I suppose.

 

[drgb]

@avcrazy: oh and btw, if you're going to buy that digi+ adapter then OSMC might not be the solution for you. You see, OSMC uses pulseaudio sampling for i2s interfaces (Pulseaudio on the Raspbery Pi | Crazy Audio).
In OSMC, there are multiple service layers that would want access to the sound device (for eg. The videocore hub, streamer package, the default audio player etc). Now i2s allows only exclusive access to the sound device at a time. To solve this OSMC uses pulseaudio sampling instead of ALSA which, unlike ALSA; takes in all the audio data, resamples it to one audio stream and feeds it to the sound device. This resampling kills the idea of our pure PCM stream concept. Thus if you want to get PCM from osmc, you'll have to use the USB interface only since it bypasses pulseaudio and uses just ALSA.
I'll have to delve into the code to explore this further. Maybe fellow members who are using the digi+ can check this and verify? How about it @saikat? We'll be really obliged.

 

[manniraj]

No problem at all [emoji4]

I am still using smps based charger. I am building some lpsu for RPI, dac, router, switch etc. Will definitely post my impressions on the dac shootout.

I am also looking for a Linear PSU for my Gigabyte barebones PC which requires 12V 2.5A power ratings and would like to replace the smps power supply. But could not find one with reasonable cost except the HDPlex or other branded ones. Please share the details about your LPSU.

 

[Naturelover]

I am also looking for a Linear PSU for my Gigabyte barebones PC which requires 12V 2.5A power ratings and would like to replace the smps power supply. But could not find one with reasonable cost except the HDPlex or other branded ones. Please share the details about your LPSU.

Check out the Teradak LPSU post 320 onwards in this thread.

 

[terrible]

To add my two bit to this discussion, I have done a live test of music thrown over DLNA from Pi 2 as well as Cocktail X12 and X30. I could absolutely find no difference in quality. So without much knowledge of the science of it, my ears loved the sound of just $100. I was almost about to spend $1000, till I came across raspberry pi, and regeHA and sam9s helped me set it up. I don't think I will be easily convinced with the argument that Pi can't stand up to an expensive music player or streamer. I now would like to try out the LPS way that rikhav has proposed. Waiting for him to put up some sort of guide.

 

[rikhav]

Hi terrible
If you are talking about using the teradak linear power supply, you don't need any guide for that . its as easy as it gets
Or you want to bypass the fuse and protection circuitry as well?

 

[terrible]

Hi terrible
If you are talking about using the teradak linear power supply, you don't need any guide for that . its as easy as it gets
Or you want to bypass the fuse and protection circuitry as well?

Yes I was talking about Teradak. I think you said that even through Teradak the raspi only draws 1V or something like that and that a cmd has to be added in the SD card to underclock.

 

[rikhav]

Yes I was talking about Teradak. I think you said that even through Teradak the raspi only draws 1V or something like that and that a cmd has to be added in the SD card to underclock.

If powering the drives through a USB hub it should be fine
But for even 1 hub to power 5 drives is too much
Let me call you tomrorow and we will discuss in detail

 

[venkatcr]

You are still ridiculing in this post of yours
Okay, explain me how desktop pc has upper hand over RPI in processing data in real time for audio?

As I said before I am not ridiculing anything. That aside I concede the point to you guys. This thread is moving well and let us not spoil it. I am learning a lot from this thread and this is important for my setting up my own RPis.

Thanks

 

[rikhav]

As I said before I am not ridiculing anything. That aside I concede the point to you guys. This thread is moving well and let us not spoil it. I am learning a lot from this thread and this is important for my setting up my own RPis.

Thanks

Yeah we all are here to learn. Always like to learn from others

 

[terrible]

If powering the drives through a USB hub it should be fine
But for even 1 hub to power 5 drives is too much
Let me call you tomrorow and we will discuss in detail

I am using a powerful hub for the 5 drives with Pi 3 and 5V 2.1A power supply with Openelec. To my amazement its working fine.

I want the LPS for Pi 2, which I am using for music with just 1 HDD attached through USB.

 

[rikhav]

I am using a powerful hub for the 5 drives with Pi 3 and 5V 2.1A power supply with Openelec. To my amazement its working fine.

I want the LPS for Pi 2, which I am using for music with just 1 HDD attached through USB.

Buy a powered HDD if you can for that RPI. Alll problems solved
Should not let RPI starve of power it needs

 

[sam9s]

Whew!! what a discussion,..... lol missed a lot of action. Well I think I am the very few of the first people who started using Rpi when it was originally launched, I think @dheerajjotwani is the only person I remember using Rpi from way back when it was first launched. Anyway the point is I am a HUGE fan of Rpi, and it is a device with a huge potential, not only in A/V department.

Coming to Rpi as Audio Player/Server/Streamer, I must say I dont have an "audiophile" grade audio gear per se, but what ever I have I can vouch Rpi sounded equally good if not better from playing music via PC/NAS/iPod/iPhone/HTC One M7/PSP etc.....and what ever I have read online (and trust me I have read a lot), with people testing/comparing Rpi with their multi-dollar equipment, all have been very very impressed, and given the price difference, Rpi is winner hands down from all corners .......

....anyway lets continue with the thread, its been a good source of info for all ...

@venkat few articles for you to ponder ..

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/05/23/review-raspberry-pi-2-as-music-streamer/

Computer Audiophile - Geek Speak: Raspberry Pi HiFi Is Here

Sound quality of Raspberry PI 2+ I2S DAC - diyAudio