Next up in the RPi / DAC pairing featured the AudioQuest DragonFly Cobalt ($299.95). There was also a bit of homogenization happening, where music sounded a bit shy of its full voice, its myriad colors and textures, but in a more price-appropriate system I’m not so sure this will be as big of an issue. The RPi / BOLT combo did a nice job of capturing that groove with a fun, fat sound, albeit with a bit of bass bloom. Lianne La Havas’ self titled album album from 2020 is a soulful groove of a record with fairly straight ahead production, keeping La Havas vocals out front right where they belong. Let’s begin with a $170 Streamer/DAC solution, using the RPi with the $99.99 bargain of a dongle DAC the Helm BOLT. I used the lovely Fern & Roby Brass Record Weight to keep the lightweight Pi in place. The RPi + DACs were used with the Riviera Audio Laboratories Levante and Jadis DA50S Tube Integrated Amplifiers powering the DeVore Fidelity O/93 speakers. For the record, the Node costs $549 but it includes a DAC and a number of other features that are not found in the Pi which goes a long way to explain the price differential. Nice!Īs I mentioned, I do not have another USB streamer in Barn so I’m going to compare the Pi to the Bluesound Node 2i’s Coax S/PDIF output. In other words, less than 70 bucks and less than an hour of your time buys you a USB-endowed Roon Ready streamer. If you’re not a hurry, the above steps should take about 30 minuted to complete, with frequent beverage breaks taken into account. Name it and select it as the output device In Roon, go to Settings > Audio and select the RoPieee device Screw the Pi and case together using the screws you just removedĬonnect the Pi to your DAC using a length of USB cable When balenaEtcher has finished, load the microSD card into your Pi Using balenaEtcher, select the RoPieee download and your SD card and click Flash Load the ScanDisk microSD card into your card reader The RPi 4 changed all that by separating the USB and Ethernet bus making things decidedly less crowded and, in theory, better sounding. The same bus, not an ideal situation for moving audio. Up until the RPi 4, Pi’s were designed so the USB and Ethernet ports shared the same controller. Many years ago, back in my AudioStream days, I reviewed a Pi-based streamer and was largely unimpressed. S/PDIF has been my only means to connect streamer to DAC these days so I was on the hunt for a simple, affordable USB streamer. As a reviewer, I need to have a USB streamer in my bag of tricks and I’m nearly ashamed to say I’ve been making due without. Interestingly, as streaming is the music source of choice, finding a streamer with USB output is becoming more difficult. Streamers come in all shapes, sizes, and prices. To get Roon into a USB-endowed digital to analog converter, we need a device that converts a network input, Ethernet or WiFi, to USB audio out. Same thing as computer audio, more or less.īut the reality of the day is there remain countless USB DACs out in the wild along with multi-purpose preamplifiers and integrated amplifiers with USB inputs. Imagine using a washing machine as a motor for your turntable. Let’s face it - Computer Audio was not ideal, largely because of the computer. These days, DACs without streamers are beginning to feel like relics. Review: Soulution 330 Integrated Amplifier Twittering Machines Favorite Albums of 2023 Meet totaldac’s New Amp-1-Sublime Power Amplifier HiFi Bargains: Wattson Emerson ANALOG Streaming DAC In Barn for Review: Viva Solista Integrated Amplifier Twittering Machines Favorite Gear of 2023 In Barn for Review: GoldenEar T66 Tower Speakers In Barn for Review: Vivid Audio GIYA G3 Series 2 Qobuz Sessions at SXSW: Live Music from Yazmin Lacey, Daniel Villarreal, and Shana Cleveland! Twittering Machines: A Year (of Reviews) in PicturesĪlbum of the Week: New Age Doom | There Is No End
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