HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

I'm usually pretty sceptical about optical cables - but that QED toslink looks to be rather good.

Allo HAT boards have no optical output as they regard them to be sonically inferior to coax.

Fretless wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 7:27 pm ...
Allo HAT boards have no optical output as they regard them to be sonically inferior to coax.

That's why I got me one of these, a HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro



The HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro is a high-resolution SPDIF interface for the Raspberry Pi (all models with a 40-pin GPIO header). It uses the I2S sound port that connects directly to the CPU without the need for an additional USB conversion.

The Digi2 Pro also supports the HiFiBerry DSP add-on board that allows your setup to process your audio before sending it to the output.

The board can be equipped with an additional BNC connector (available from The Pi Hut soon). Note that you have to solder this yourself!

This is a special sound card for the Raspberry Pi, optimised for one specific use case: affordable high-quality audio playback!

Features
SPDIF output 2-channel
Can be equipped with an additional Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for flexible audio processing
No volume or sound controls - passes digital audio as it is sent from the application (“bit-perfect”)
Output isolation transformer
Connects directly to the Raspberry Pi, no additional cables required
No soldering - comes as a pre-fabricated kit
Compatible with all Raspberry Pi models with a 40-pin GPIO connector
Directly powered from the Raspberry Pi, no additional power supply
Low-noise linear voltage regulator
Low-jitter dual-domain clock for optimised clock decoupling from the Raspberry Pi
HAT compliant, EEPROM for automatic configuration
Comes with all components required to mount it. HiFiBerry include 4 M2.5x12mm spacers to fix the board onto the Raspberry Pi

I was very impressed with the Digi+ Pro but found the Allo DigiOne slightly better. And the DigiOne Signature is the best coax-output streamer I have heard so far.

But haven't yet got around to the Digi2 Pro. It's now on my Xmas list.

slinger wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 5:06 pm Well, this is getting interesting. It seems that Volumio is quite happy to see the HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro as a HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro (the previous incarnation of the card) as an i²S DAC board.

It does say, in the blurb, "HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro is a high-quality S/PDIF output for the Raspberry Pi. It uses the I2S sound port that connects directly to the CPU without the need for an additional USB conversion," but although I (obviously) tried it I never expected it to work.

24 hours later and !2S seems to be the way to go.

After a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing, I've decided optical via the I²S is the way to go, which surprised me a bit, and to that end, I've just done a very un-slinger-like thing and lashed out (almost) eighty-quid on a 0.6m optical cable.

My shoddy logic tells me that buying what is hopefully going to be my end-game optical cable will save me £50.00 in the long run by buying it now, rather than spending £50.00 or so on an intermediate cable, and then deciding to step up again later on.
Obviously, I can only go by the dreaded reviews, but they do seem uniformly good. Once again (as with my WireWorlds) I've bought my digital cable from Analogue Seduction.

Oh, sorry, it's one of these... https://www.qed.co.uk/qed-reference-optical-quartz-digital-audio-cable.html#tab1

By you had a moment there Slinger, 'spend now, save later'

All very interesting, as usual I wait with baited breath, and the cable does look good

I2s is the way forward fellas. The dac chip ought to be as close as possible to the decoder. Gets rid of all the digital cable and reclocking bollox.

Fretless wrote: ↑Mon Sep 20, 2021 10:16 pm I was very impressed with the Digi+ Pro but found the Allo DigiOne slightly better. And the DigiOne Signature is the best coax-output streamer I have heard so far.

But haven't yet got around to the Digi2 Pro. It's now on my Xmas list.

I haven't heard the DigiOne Signature, but remember, it sells for around the £225.00 mark, and my Digi2 Pro was only £ 41.50.

My new cable has arrived, and I'm a bit annoyed. Would you believe that a 0.6m cable came packed so that it was far too large to fit through my letterbox? It was in a huge padded envelope, and inside that was a heavy cardboard sleeve, inside which was a heavy cardboard tray, covered by a separate plastic and cardboard window-cum-lid. Hardly what one hopes to see when we're all supposed to be going greener.

Anyway, the cable itself is satisfyingly chunky, with heavy, metal, plugs. Note the punctuation. They are heavy, and they are metal, they are not Heavy Metal. :D

As soon as I've finished watching last night's "Manhunt: The Night Stalker," I shall actually plug it in.

We are a long way from going 'Greener'

Big news for Volumio users - the long-awaited version 3 is finally available.

It requires a full install on devices and I am just starting on mine.



We are proud to announce Volumio 3 has officially been released to all!

Faster, better and sounds excellent!

Volumio 3 was developed to give you the best experience with many functionalities and improvements:

A new sound architecture
Major rewrite of the build system
Based on Buster
A new plugin store
Manifest UI
New iOS and Android apps

Volumio 3: Well it doesn't appear that they have the X86 implementation for PC's ready yet, but I have it on 2 Pi-based streamers and am having a first listen on my workstation setup of Allo DigiOne SIG, Metrum Musette, Kenwood KA4010 and Mission 760's.

Feels like the SQ has improved with more space and ease in the presentation. better definition of instruments and a deeper 3D field. However won't be able to really get critical until I can get the PC in the main system updated.

Promising, though.