Life of Pi

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Geoff.R.G
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

Fretless wrote:However, an increasing number of better quality headphones, like Grado's, now come standard with 3.5 mm plugs and 6mm adaptors.

Edit. Iphones appear to be rejecting headphone sockets altogether, constant rumours of bluetooth-only connections on next year's model.
I have two sets of Sennheiser HD25s and they, despite being sold as "Professional" equipment, have 3.5 mm plugs as standard, at least the later one has a screw on adaptor. I also have a Bose noise cancelling headset which doesn't have an adaptor as these are sold with an expectation of use with aircraft IFE systems which use 3.5 mm connectors. I only saw a 1/4 inch jack once on an aircraft, a SAA 747 SP.

I won't be upgrading to an iPhone 7 then, unless there is suitable Bluetooth receiver available, I don't need any more headsets.

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Fretless
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

I managed to break a large chunk off a Pi casing last week - the microSD card fell inside as I was swapping it and I had to take the case apart to get it back out. The plastic housings are a bit vulnerable if you're not being careful.

Looking for a replacement I spotted that HifiBerry are now marketing their own steel casings for DAC and Digi models AND they are quite affordable. So an order was placed by my regional reseller.

Mounting is straightforward, if a bit fiddly. The Pi board is mounted underneath

Image

Then the HifiBerry unit is fixed to the top half:

Image

Note for those who do this: the longer spacers are for the HifiBerry board.

Then the two halves are carefully fitted together and fixed with long bolts. Smart, eh ?

Image

Pics are for the DAC model - there is a separate case for the DIGI+. Don't know if this improves the SQ at all, but they look a lot neater and more 'solid' than the perspex cases. I believe that they are also available in a 'brushed steel' finish. :grin:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Fretless
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

News for the more adept Pi-programming audio fans : :ugeek:

HifiBerry have announced the release of a Digi+ PRO board. This improves on the standard Digi+ by having separate clocking chips for 44.1 and 48 KHz signals, and the coax socket is gold plated - it is also 'hackable' allowing for the soldering of outboard power supplies.

Image

BUT: currently no OS software is configured to use it so they are offering the board as a reduced-price 'beta-test' unit for those willing to participate in a code-modifying programme to check out the units functionality (I think I'll wait until Volumio supports it).

Info here: https://www.hifiberry.com/news/

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

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Fretless
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

For those who find the standard Pi to be too large and lumpy in their audio installations, Hifiberry have now announced a DAC card for the tiny Pi Zero (6.5 cm x 3.0 cm). This is a simplified unit but will allow you to make a super-miniturised music player.

Image

Info here : https://www.hifiberry.com/2016/09/our-s ... -dac-zero/

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

George Hincapie
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by George Hincapie »

What do you guys make of the Kali reclocker? https://volumio.org/product/allo-kali-i2s-reclocker/

What would I need to use this? A Pi 3 and a DAC? Would that be it?

Have seen this ESS Sabre based one that looks nice: https://volumio.org/product/collybia-mamboberry-ls-dac/

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Fretless
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

The Kali board is interesting, looks like it sits in-between the Pi and the Hifiberry units and synchronises the I2S signal before the Hifiberry board processes into an audio signal.

The new Hifiberry Digi+ PRO board (above) also has separate clocking chips - so is doing similar processing.

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

George Hincapie
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by George Hincapie »

That functionality is hilarious for something costing £50; audiophile grade reclockers are usually very expensive.

You can buy the Kali as a bundle, discussed here: http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthre ... avy-review

I don't really need one, but want to try one nonetheless...

I am going to give EAC a spin later and see what the FLACs it creates are like.

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terrybooth
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by terrybooth »

George Hincapie wrote:
I am going to give EAC a spin later and see what the FLACs it creates are like.
I use that all the time. It takes a little setting up (there are instructions out there for you to find). Rather counter-intutively, you need to set up 'compression' to create a FLAC file - EAC will do a direct rip to WAV and then convert the WAV to FLAC. This requires an external FLAC converter.(flac.exe - and I've just noted that I am using an older version of the software.) And you need to configure it in EAC as an external compression programme.

A tad fiddly to set up, but Google is your friend. e.g. http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=EAC_and_FLAC

[EDIT] Just downloaded the latest version of EAC and it looks like it includes the latest version of FLAC.exe.
Pioneer PL71/DL103/ Phono2/HiFiPi/P90SA/TIS/CubixPro

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Fretless
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by Fretless »

EAC is THE standard for high-quality rips. :grin:

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro & AudioQuest

George Hincapie
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Re: Life of Pi

Unread post by George Hincapie »

And in terms of what I need component wise, is that right? It'll all work together?

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