Big Ego+ on Linux

[oidarnam]

I just received my first Emotiva Big Ego+ and have been playing around with it quite a bit. What an upgrade from my onboard Realtek ALC656! I'm using it on a Linux system with PulseAudio for music, stereo TV, and general web content.

It sounds every bit as good on my modest system compared to the Schiit Modi 3E, with the added benefit of a sample rate indicator (I think that's a must have to figure out what's really going on) and some filter options (I'm liking F3 which I believe is an asymmetrical high filter). The price is about half the Modi when factoring in Emotiva free shipping.

I've played some 96/24 and 44/24 FLACs so far, mostly with PlexAmp, and it's sounding really good. I think I would need to remove PulseAudio and setup straight ALSA to take it any higher—an added complication for no perceptible gain.

Big Ego+ is a great budget DAC!

[oidarnam]

I thought I'd do a quick update in case anyone else is curious how Big Ego+ plays with Linux, in particular, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS with PulseAudio in my case.

I was able to find some test files and music files up to 24BIT/352.8kHz so far. Using a player which supports the selection of Emotiva Big Ego USB hardware directly (PlexAmp in my case), I can play each file and see the sample rate change on the Big Ego indicator. Of course, I lose the ability to control the mixer/volume, but I can still adjust the volume and mix audio for other applications — just not at the same time as I'm streaming directly to Big Ego.

So contrary to some articles I read, an external DAC works fine with Ubuntu and PulseAudio defaults as long as you select the correct audio device setting. I did make a few changes to the PulseAudio default settings for audio going through its mixer based on some articles I read (they don't seem to be necessary changes but might sound slightly better than the defaults):

[In file /etc/pulse/daemon.conf]

; resample-method = speex-float-1
resample-method = soxr-vhq

; avoid-resampling = false
avoid-resampling = true

; default-sample-format = s16le
default-sample-format = s24le

; default-sample-rate = 44100
default-sample-rate = 48000

; alternate-sample-rate = 48000
alternate-sample-rate = 44100



Here is the asound stream information playing Mozart: Violin concerto in D major - Allegro
Marianne Thorsen / TrondheimSolistene as a FLAC Stereo 24BIT/352.8kHz

mike@media-center:/etc/pulse$ cat /proc/asound/Ego/stream0

Emotiva Emotiva Big Ego at usb-0000:00:1d.0-1.3, high speed : USB Audio

Playback:
Status: Running
Interface = 1
Altset = 1
Packet Size = 392
Momentary freq = 352794 Hz (0x2c.1968)
Feedback Format = 16.16
Interface 1
Altset 1
Format: S32_LE
Channels: 2
Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000
Data packet interval: 125 us
Bits: 24
Interface 1
Altset 2
Format: S16_LE
Channels: 2
Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000
Data packet interval: 125 us
Bits: 16
Interface 1
Altset 3
Format: SPECIAL
Channels: 2
Endpoint: 1 OUT (ASYNC)
Rates: 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 176400, 192000, 352800, 384000
Data packet interval: 125 us
Bits: 32

[KeithL]

VERY cool... and thanks for posting that.

The Ego DACs are a perfect example of how you don't need to spend a lot of money to get great sound.
You can make a great little low-cost music player by just connecting an Ego DAC to something like a Raspberry Pi running Volumio... 
Just add a USB hard drive or SSD and you're done.

[vcautokid]

Silly money doesn't always mean just gear, but the guy that spends that money. More for less folks. High End has been High forever and is just getting Higher, are you really on the day to day getting that High too? Well that is your Money, and a you thing.