2017-01-17, 17:43
Don't forget the gold-plated, oxygen-free dielectric (e.g. PTFE) cabling to your offboard DAC, as you get an awful lot of noise introduced otherwise. Butadiene is also exceptional at removing signal artefacts.
2017-01-18, 01:02
Laugh all you want, but upgrading the power supply makes a HUGE difference that even you guys would notice INSTANTLY. If you do a blind A/B test and 100% of everyone guesses right the second they hear it, you're probably on to something. Maybe you guys should do the tiniest bit of googling or even read about it on the hifiberry site before you laugh at something you don't know about. I was just trying to pass on some stuff that has made huge improvements to my Pi setups. Enjoy the sound you guys get from your $10 smps.
BTW - These are my favorite snake oil...
BTW - These are my favorite snake oil...
2017-01-18, 02:01
albertstroh77, cmon, don't take it to serious, people are just kidding.
Yes, a proper power supply with enough output is needed to make things work, and in some cases, it maybe need some isolation to avoid interferences. But this are things that you have to make sure when setting your sound/video system. This is a hardware setup thing and not software. You have to RTFM (F stands for f*cking).
And about using a real time kernel, it doesn't do anything to improve music quality. It just improves latency, which is important to music production and real-time mixing. But it has it drawbacks for a "normal" operation. I have used it in the past for music production, with JACK, and I can confirm that it doesn't improve audio quality.
Yes, a proper power supply with enough output is needed to make things work, and in some cases, it maybe need some isolation to avoid interferences. But this are things that you have to make sure when setting your sound/video system. This is a hardware setup thing and not software. You have to RTFM (F stands for f*cking).
And about using a real time kernel, it doesn't do anything to improve music quality. It just improves latency, which is important to music production and real-time mixing. But it has it drawbacks for a "normal" operation. I have used it in the past for music production, with JACK, and I can confirm that it doesn't improve audio quality.
2017-01-18, 02:57
Thanks, I was trying to keep it on the light side. I don't really use cable stands. Was just trying to share things i noticed a huge difference with. I'm sure not that many will diy a regulated supply or even have the system to be able to hear the difference with it. I'm not sure on all the Kernel tweaks that those distros have done, but I think it's more than just a real time kernel.
2017-01-18, 03:53
There is not much that they can do (the kernel developers guys) to improve audio quality unless changing audio drivers for a specific hardware. But that's the job of manufactors. You can always change the sound via software, but thats another thing, and what sounds better to me, maybe worse for you 
2017-01-18, 11:54
It's been some years since I played with "real" audio kit, I must confess - upgraded power supplies were all the rage then, but that was for analogue amps. I'm still not convinced that, beyond providing reliable power, they make any difference in a digital system that either works or doesn't - however, I suspect they'd still have some impact on any components that deal with the analogue signal.
Mind you, if that carpet is synthetic it could do no end of damage to the little bits of signal as they wander down the wires. Better to keep them off the floor just to be sure.
Mind you, if that carpet is synthetic it could do no end of damage to the little bits of signal as they wander down the wires. Better to keep them off the floor just to be sure.
2017-01-19, 00:12
2017-01-19, 10:43
(2017-01-19, 00:12)albertstroh77 Wrote: Thanks, good idea.
I'm sure this might explain it a little better than me.
diyaudio.com link
Try to play a file while recording the output from the DAC (by means of any PC card) then equalize it for having the same reference values and finally do compare.
If you want to make something quicker, do FFT of both the source file and the recorded one.
2017-01-25, 14:04
I use a IQaudio Pi-DigiAmp+.
It has no business sounding as good as it does.
For £54 it is quite astounding. The amp passes power through to the RPi, so only one PSU for the whole setup.
I have a RPi, official RPi touch screen and the Digi-amp all running some top end Rogers LS3/5a speakers. I can't recommend it highly enough.
http://iqaudio.co.uk/audio/9-pi-digiamp-...99650.html
It has no business sounding as good as it does.
For £54 it is quite astounding. The amp passes power through to the RPi, so only one PSU for the whole setup.
I have a RPi, official RPi touch screen and the Digi-amp all running some top end Rogers LS3/5a speakers. I can't recommend it highly enough.
http://iqaudio.co.uk/audio/9-pi-digiamp-...99650.html
2017-01-25, 14:08
(2017-01-25, 14:04)S3nox Wrote: I use a IQaudio Pi-DigiAmp+.
It has no business sounding as good as it does.
Really?
The datasheet says it has SNR = 104 A-Wtd (Ref. to THD+N = 1%)
http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/tas5756m.pdf
Not good figures, I'd say...
2017-01-25, 14:08
You could of course spend £1518 - yes one thousand, five hundred and eighteen pounds on a 1 meter long audiophile mains lead.
Because of course it will make your system sound so much better.
Just browse this site, you won't believe what people are willing to spend on mains fuses, speaker cables or even burning in of your cables!
http://www.russandrews.com/the-superkord...o-rhodium/
Because of course it will make your system sound so much better.
Just browse this site, you won't believe what people are willing to spend on mains fuses, speaker cables or even burning in of your cables!
http://www.russandrews.com/the-superkord...o-rhodium/
2017-01-25, 14:39
(2017-01-25, 14:08)S3nox Wrote: You could of course spend £1518 - yes one thousand, five hundred and eighteen pounds on a 1 meter long audiophile mains lead.
Because of course it will make your system sound so much better.
Just browse this site, you won't believe what people are willing to spend on mains fuses, speaker cables or even burning in of your cables!
http://www.russandrews.com/the-superkord...o-rhodium/
I was kidding, as yuor words sounded a little bombastic.
Yes I agree, a D-class amplifier is a very good compromise, especially as value for the money.
I was thinking a lot about getting an HiFiBerry, the only problem I see is the risk of closed-source drivers.
Here is how your Amp compares to HiFiBerry.
Both design are exactly copies from the Texas Instruments evaluation board, thus the actual design is TI's
http://www.ti.com/assets/js/compareParts...30&lang=en
2017-01-25, 15:23
2017-01-25, 15:29
(2017-01-25, 15:23)popcornmix Wrote:(2017-01-25, 14:39)Claudio.Sjo Wrote: I was thinking a lot about getting an HiFiBerry, the only problem I see is the risk of closed-source drivers.
Not quite sure what you mean. It is supported by the linux kernel and so driver source is available.
Thanks for the info.
At the time of my investigation, there was the need for some hacking in order to make it work.
