HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

With the number of players that fit the spec being (severely) limited, is it possible to approach this from a different angle?

A TFS II - this being a Pi-based device with a slot-loading DVD drive running on Pi's USB input. Analogue output through a HifiBerry DAC Pro. Controlled via the PC/tablet/smartphone via Volumio/Moode/Rune.

Network-capable, able to stream Spotify & internet radio, and to play CD & DVD.

Mounted in an NVA case with Doc's awesome PSU.

I have done a preliminary experiment using a Samsung USB DVD drive that I have here.
Problem 1 was that the Pi didn't have enough output voltage to power the drive - this was solved by attaching the DVD drives secondary USB plug to a mains adaptor (the Samsungs are fitted with a double USB plug for just this very reason).
Problem 2 - the Pi OS programs that I use (Volumio and Moode) do not recognise such a drive and cannot read the discs. They can find USB storage devices though. I believe that media centre programs like XBMC and Kodi do have this capability - but at the possible cost of reduced SQ.
I await the imminent release of Volumio 2 and have a faint hope that this problem will be addressed.

The general impression from the Net is that physical (digital) discs are dying a rapid death and that the world is heading for music streaming and vinyl is picking up momentum again with the audiophile community leading the way. The CD/DVD is becoming history.

Anyone any thoughts about this?

For me the biggest problem with any sort of player will be the quality of the transport and the DAC, now obviously the Raspberry Pi DAC is good (probably great with decent power) but a cheap DVD players transport will be just that, cheap. It's the reason the Doc's own CD source is sooooo good. Sony built a bomb proof transport and an amazing DAC, using the best components they could develop. I personally don't understand why it has to be a DVD player, I'd have thought a half decent player like a Tascam, Onkyo that is a pure CDP would be a better starting place.

However...

I also think we'd all like something different and as the designer/builder the Doc simply can't build 10 different players to meet each persons desires. He's clearly got an idea in his head so I think people will just have to wait and see what he comes up with.

I don't think it would be a good idea for the doc to build a product that includes something like a Rasp Pi as he simply won't be able to support them when/if they go wrong (it's a computer so it will).

I think it's best if the Doc is left alone to design/build the CDP that's in his head and then I know people would be interested in a power supply for the Rasp Pi so maybe that's an idea.

Leave him be I think.

A TFS II - this being a Pi-based device with a slot-loading DVD drive running on Pi's USB input. Analogue output through a HifiBerry DAC Pro. Controlled via the PC/tablet/smartphone via Volumio/Moode/Rune. (Fretless)

Apart from not having a bloody clue what you just said above - I didn't sign up for any of that malarkey, I just want a cdp what was discussed to begin with.

Fretless wrote:Anyone any thoughts about this?

A friend of mine one of your Bass playing fellow musicians fretless is convinced cd/dvd is dead and is with great haste selling all his cd collection and buying up vinyl to replace his cd's he has suddenly found the sound and tactile pleasure of vinyl after being gifted a new (to him) hifi system that used to belong to a relative.

After listening to mine and various other peoples kit for absoluetly year n years and using it as a reference to music only he has definately got the vinyl bug and being out very recently with him and talking to a bunch of spotty yoofs at a gig most of the young folk seem to be embracing vinyl a hell of a lot and are quite happy to pay a little more for a vinyl copy rather than a cd.

It seems from conversation that bit rate has a lot to do with there decisions in respect of the plethora of 128 192 320 flac 16bit etc formats and depending on who copied what at what rate and on what! and how that is played back means you can end up with very poor copy of a recording so the march to vinyl is on where you get a much better quality from the get go and the pleasure of reading all the cover info and art associated with it.

Regarding the TFS 2 reference's i think until Volumio 2 is out and we see what is included in respect external cd usb drive support etc i and think the doc has said previously he just wants something to plonk down and play with no extreme workshop leasons in computer knowledge to use it.

It is coming i'm shure as more and more folks get to grips with it the raspberry pi is now capable of running it's own 7" touch screen monitor various digital and analogue boards are available dac's on board and off so it is just a matter of time before somebody utilises a simple approach to accessing this maybe a remote of some kind would help to pull various requests together made on the machine i have not looked into this myself but it will come shure as eggs are eggs.

Also from a design point of view i would imagine it would be very easy to get caught out with idea's which could be superseeded in a blink of an eye in this digital audio race for quality of sound unless you have a very clear idea of what it is your trying to achieve.

So to quote Selby"

I think it's best if the Doc is left alone to design/build the CDP that's in his head and then I know people would be interested in a power supply for the Rasp Pi so maybe that's an idea.

Leave him be I think.

"jammy" Calm lad's Calm........The Future Suck's.

The Future is Scarey frank zappa said so and that's good enough for me

You're all quite right, folks (including you, Jammy!) and my own enthusiasm just ran a bit wild, I had visions of a souped-up music-playing computer with additional disc-playing capability - rather than a solid, top-quality no-frills CD player.

On that note I have ordered for myself a Pro-Ject CD Box S to use as a transport (the Kenwood is skipping too much, again, and irritating the hell out of me).
This tiny player has a special CD-optimised drive that is sourced from a bunch of ex-Philips engineers who make transport mechanisms for high-end names like Wadia. There is also a good-quality internal DAC alongside the SP/DIF coax.
I think this is the cheapest, high-quality, slot-loading CD player on the market. As the power comes from a 9V wall-wart it looks like there will be scope to provide improved power supplies.
Report coming in a week or 2 when it arrives.

It is a lot more than I wanted to pay but the pro-ject could be the donor unit for the project.

I think all the wanking over the Pi and custard DACs has shown that digital decoding for audio is bloody cheap now and some Top End people still making things over complex are on a fuggin' ego trip or worse, a full blown brain fcuk imo!!!!!!!!!!!

By all means, take a basic machine and put decent power supplies on it - and I don't know if any dedicated CD-only transports are made now. They're cheap because they're made in hundreds of thousands if not millions and careful design means they don't need to be built like a cast aluminium out-house as they once were. DVD drives spin their discs at frightening speeds compared to red-book CD's and my cheapo DVD players do this with minimal vibration, quite fast access times and barely a whirring noise as they spin up or down. As I understand it, the accurate reading needs of a Blu-Ray disc are far more critical than an audio CD...

_D_S_J_R_ wrote:I think all the wanking over the Pi and custard DACs has shown that digital decoding for audio is bloody cheap now and some Top End people still making things over complex are on a fuggin' ego trip or worse, a full blown brain fcuk imo!!!!!!!!!!!

By all means, take a basic machine and put decent power supplies on it - and I don't know if any dedicated CD-only transports are made now. They're cheap because they're made in hundreds of thousands if not millions and careful design means they don't need to be built like a cast aluminium out-house as they once were. DVD drives spin their discs at frightening speeds compared to red-book CD's and my cheapo DVD players do this with minimal vibration, quite fast access times and barely a whirring noise as they spin up or down. As I understand it, the accurate reading needs of a Blu-Ray disc are far more critical than an audio CD...

+1 (obviously)

for feks sake i just want an nva sounding cd player which is what doc proposed in the first place not interested in fruit pie in the sky
let the doc get on with it if the transport is going to cost a bit more i reckon it will be worth paying a bit more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VKouBH ... VKouBHarIo