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Post by plm on Feb 27, 2015 12:52:23 GMT -5
I'm interested in feedback on the HiFime 9018. I use a few of their U2 Async DACs for my rooms that don't have the 'proper' hi-fi systems in, and really like them. My high-end DACs use 9018s, so I'm keen to see how well they've been able to implement this chip at a low price. It's a very finicky chip to get right; much more difficult than some of the other ESS DACs, and layout and power supply is critical.
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Post by cburbs on Feb 27, 2015 13:04:23 GMT -5
So far the reviews look OK from there site. I won't have much to compare it to. I want to test out an I2s dac as well just not sure which one. I think I might go with the IQaudIO Pi-DAC+.
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Post by cburbs on Mar 5, 2015 14:38:59 GMT -5
So I now have a Raspberry Pi B, B+, and 2. I also have the USB 9023 and 9018 dac from hifimediy. I don't have an extra case/power supply for the Pi 2. I am going to see how I like these dacs vs Squeezebox 3 dac.
I also have to do some testing as seems to be I can't play anything higher than 44.1kHz/16bit without snap/crackle/pop sounds with volumio but those same files play fine in foobar on a PC.
Looks like the issue is my Reciever - Pioneer SC-25 max playback rate -
Flac
Sampling frequency 8 kHz, 16 kHz, 22 kHz, 32kHz, 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz
Quantization bitrate 8 bit, 16 bit
WAV
Sampling frequency 8 kHz to 44.1 kHz
Quantization bitrate 16 bit, 20 bit, 24 bit
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Post by plm on Mar 6, 2015 12:50:12 GMT -5
I don't know about the '2', but some DACs need a USB hub on the Raspberry Pi to behave properly. The underlying issue escapes me right now, but if you have a USB hub handy then give it a try and see if that helps with your crackling issue.
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Mar 6, 2015 13:28:01 GMT -5
I don't know about the '2', but some DACs need a USB hub on the Raspberry Pi to behave properly. The underlying issue escapes me right now, but if you have a USB hub handy then give it a try and see if that helps with your crackling issue. The Pi has a limited ability to provide current on the +5 line. This is why external USB drives that get their supply voltage from the USB will not work without a powered hub on the PI. I'm not surprised that some DACS may cause problems. A good 5V wal-wart is also essential for the PI. The job of charging a battery is far less critical than running a system. This along with the limited quality of the tiny DACS is why I preferred to output SPDIF and let the big boys, XDA-2 / XMC-1, do the conversion work. |
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Post by cburbs on Mar 6, 2015 15:17:24 GMT -5
My question is playing back a 24 bit/ 96khz flac file was snap/crackle/pop - is this due to my receiver as it can't handle it from what the manual says?
As the same file plays fine on it if I plug in my headphones into the dac.
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Post by plm on Mar 6, 2015 21:02:02 GMT -5
I don't know about the '2', but some DACs need a USB hub on the Raspberry Pi to behave properly. The underlying issue escapes me right now, but if you have a USB hub handy then give it a try and see if that helps with your crackling issue. The Pi has a limited ability to provide current on the +5 line. This is why external USB drives that get their supply voltage from the USB will not work without a powered hub on the PI. I'm not surprised that some DACS may cause problems. A good 5V wal-wart is also essential for the PI. The job of charging a battery is far less critical than running a system. This along with the limited quality of the tiny DACS is why I preferred to output SPDIF and let the big boys, XDA-2 / XMC-1, do the conversion work. No, actually, I'm sure it was something to do with the USB chipset as opposed to its (limited) ability to supply 5V. For the DACs that had the crackles (and not because of an underpowered USB interface) even an unpowered USB hub resolved the issue. I'll try to find more details when I get the chance. |
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Post by cburbs on Mar 16, 2015 14:48:32 GMT -5
So I did a comparo the other day with the following:
Pi B+(Volumio) -> HiFimeDIY Sabre U2 Asynchronous USB DAC(9023) -> Pioneer SC25
Pi 2(Volumio) -> HiFime 9018 Asynchronous High resolution USB DAC -> Pioneer SC25
SB3 -> Pioneer SC25
I noticed small differences but prefer the Pi2 setup the best out of the 3 listed.
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Post by cburbs on May 29, 2015 10:19:35 GMT -5
Would I gain anything going from a Hifime 9018 to a Hifime 9018D in the following setup I have? hifimediy.com/DACs/ready-made-dacsInfo on my current setup: Music files - All Flac files only. Rasperry Pi 2 > Hifime 9018 > Pioneer Elite SC25 > Speakers Thanks Chad |
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Post by plm on Jun 1, 2015 23:37:51 GMT -5
I'm going to stick my neck out and say probably not. There is very little price difference between the two, and the casing, display, etc. for the 'D' will eat up a good chunk of that cost. So this means they haven't sprung for higher quality components in the 'D' or a more complicated implementation in all likelihood. Also, there's a real wildcard around how well they've been able to implement the 9018 in either of the units. It's a notoriously difficult chip to get right, and there are plenty of 9018 implementations available, all touting the great manufacturer specs, that just don't sound that good. The HiFiMe guys seem to really know what they're doing though, so I wouldn't worry too much about this. But there remains the possibility that the 'D' could sound worse if the layout, grounding attention, etc. isn't as well executed as in the regular model. |
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Post by cburbs on Jun 23, 2015 9:15:42 GMT -5
That is what they told me as well.
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Post by alucard on Nov 11, 2015 9:26:29 GMT -5
Does the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B output a signal over USB that I can connect directly to the XMC-1? Or are my options using 1) HDMI out to XMC or 2) Hifi Digi+ S/PDIF out to XMC. Does one output provide better sound quality over the other?
Thanks
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Post by millst on Nov 11, 2015 11:29:51 GMT -5
Yes, the Pi will discover the C-media chip and it will be configured as an Alsa output device. The USB output is better because you don't have to deal with HDMI handshaking or buy an additional hardware device. I have mine configured this way. I use MPD for playing music off my NAS. I also have an airplay server setup on the Pi.
As far as quality, I doubt you'll find any significant audible difference between them. They are all digital connections that let the XMC-1 do the heavy lifting. If you're the type that is worried about something esoteric like jitter, you probably shouldn't start with a $35 computer meant for education. I can't speak to whether the Pi does hi-res audio. I just use mine for 44.1/48 16-bit files and don't know if the Pi has the horsepower for more.
Check out the last few pages of the "XMC-1 USB Stream Input Firmware and Driver UPDATE" thread. I think there was some relevant discussion there.
-tm
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KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 10,273
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Post by KeithL on Nov 11, 2015 11:35:16 GMT -5
As far as I know the USB output on the Pi is "standard" (except for possible power limitations).... but USB is simply a hardware interface. What you need to be sure of is that the particular Linux distro that you choose to use on it, and the player software itself that you're using with it, support whatever audio modes you want over USB. (The "USB DAC" input on the XMC-1 is UAC2, and uses the C-Media CM6632A USB chip, so you need to make sure that the distro you use supports UAC2 - many but not all do, and that the player software does as well.) Also note that there are limitations on what you can send via USB - both in terms of overall bandwidth and of formats supported. You can send two-channel PCM audio, or you can send digital surround-sound formats like Dolby Digital, but only as long as they don't exceed the bandwidth of the connection. For example, you can send two-channel (only) PCM up to 24/192k, and you can send Dolby Digital, as long as you don't exceed the overall bandwidth. However, you won't be able to send stuff like TrueHD multi-channel because there isn't enough bandwidth, and you won't be able to send multi-channel PCM because it isn't supported. Since everything works very well via HDMI, it usually makes sense to use USB for two-channel audio, and perhaps "basic Dolby Digital", and HDMI for other types of high-quality surround sound. Does the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B output a signal over USB that I can connect directly to the XMC-1? Or are my options using 1) HDMI out to XMC or 2) Hifi Digi+ S/PDIF out to XMC. Does one output provide better sound quality over the other? Thanks |
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Nov 11, 2015 11:56:36 GMT -5
I opted for outputting SPDIF(TosLink) from my RPI to a XDA-2 using the Volumio distro and a HiFiBerry Digi+ add-on card. This is a project that I need to get back to finishing the documentation on See: LinkI like Volumio because its user interface presents as a web page over my home network and I use my iPad as the remote. |
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Post by alucard on Nov 11, 2015 12:10:56 GMT -5
millst, KeithL, and Chuck Elliot,
Thanks for your input. I'll start with just the RPi board and test over USB. This will be for two channel music only.
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Post by millst on Nov 11, 2015 13:16:59 GMT -5
Depending on your level of expertise, the Volumio distro that Chuck is using might be a good one to check out. It's targeted towards high quality music playback. There is nothing special about the software as it's pretty standard stuff like MPD, shairport, Debian, etc. The big advantage is that it comes all configured and has a web interface.
I thought it was a little rough around the edges and didn't want to be limited by their development schedule. Example, Raspbian was updated to Jessie baseline a month or two ago, but Volumio hasn't had an update since August. I ended up selecting the parts I cared about and configuring them myself on Raspbian.
-tm
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Post by alucard on Nov 11, 2015 14:43:12 GMT -5
Depending on your level of expertise, the Volumio distro that Chuck is using might be a good one to check out. It's targeted towards high quality music playback. There is nothing special about the software as it's pretty standard stuff like MPD, shairport, Debian, etc. The big advantage is that it comes all configured and has a web interface. I thought it was a little rough around the edges and didn't want to be limited by their development schedule. Example, Raspbian was updated to Jessie baseline a month or two ago, but Volumio hasn't had an update since August. I ended up selecting the parts I cared about and configuring them myself on Raspbian. -tm I am looking for something that supports Logitech Media Server so I can continue to use my Synology NAS and andriod controller Orange Squeeze. Do these support LMS? I will be doing my homework over the next couple days - parts are already on order. |
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Post by millst on Nov 11, 2015 14:46:16 GMT -5
Check out piCorePlayer then.
-tm
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Post by alucard on Nov 11, 2015 15:08:25 GMT -5
piCorePlayer runs squeezelite to support LMS, and looks like squeezelite can be installed on Volumio. I'll test out both and see which one sounds better.
Also, what do you mean Volumio is rough around the edges?
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