Pi2aes Source install and other thoughts

Polygonhell · February 3, 2021, 4:24am

Yes.
At least as far as I understand.
I have one with volumio connected to a Bifrost 2 via USB.
I use a network share, but Volumio lets you use local content on the Pi.

LastUpperSupper · February 5, 2021, 6:43pm

S50 “pro” is now in stock on the Arylic website. Now with a fancy screen! It has few other upgrades too.

db_Cooper · February 13, 2021, 7:42pm

Okay guys, got this thing built and power up. I got Volumio installed on it first. I’m in the configuration screen, step 2 and have to pic an output. Little confused now as the Pi2AES isn’t on the DAC list, I guess because it’s not a DAC, it’s a DDC. So do I pick no DAC and i2s Audio out?

EDIT: Another question, what’s the preferred storage to attach?

Since it’s local and I’m only using it as a music library storage speeds isn’t as important as longevity, low power consumption and least amount of electrical noise. I’m going to go research this question myself as it’s the first time I’ve thought to ask it and it may be irrelevant or there may be valid reasons to for one over the other.

A_Jedi · February 13, 2021, 7:57pm

Re: the output, just pick any and it should work.

Re: storage attachment you can just plug in a USB drive. I run Audirvana on a Mac Mini where all my music is stored. Audirvana can use UPnP to stream directly to Volumio. Cool thing about this is I can have multiple Pi2AES connected to different systems at home and choose which to stream to. The weird thing in this particular case was that Volumio output selection can freeze Audirvana for some reason. I had to try a few different DAC choices to get one that works.

Gizmo1k · February 13, 2021, 7:58pm

Per 7.1 in the Pi2aes manual if Pi2aes driver isn’t available

Note that for standard Audio Player software, the PI2AES can use the HifiBerry Digi+ Pro driver.

db_Cooper · February 13, 2021, 8:13pm

HA! In other words, RTFM. Thanks.

I may get to the point where I try Audiorvana because it seems to have a pretty spotless rep. Right now I just got the Pi2AES to fiddle around with things and see if I am leaving audio quality on the table in my stereo system over the ELAC Discovery Server I’m using now. This seemed like a cheap way to fiddle around. I may ultimately wind up with just the Pi connected to a reclocker via USB but right now I’m trying to take things out from the chain to see if there’s improvement.

Doing some research online, of course there’s nothing but arguments as to the benefits over the various storage media and how timing is critical, jitter, blah, blah. Just realized that in the end it’s the Pi that’s doing the conversion and sending it out so you’re always going to share the same bus speed the processor and the memory for the Pi use.

For now I may just get an inexpensive 2.5" SSD drive with a USB adapter. The Pi 3 B+ I got is USB 2.0 anyway.

Polygonhell · February 13, 2021, 8:25pm

The pi2aes has it’s own pair of clocks, one is a multiple of 44.1 and the other is a multiple of 48K, those clocks latch the AES/SPDIF signals.
If anything the value of the Pi2AES is the relative quality of those clocks for the price point.

db_Cooper · February 13, 2021, 8:45pm

That’s what I was hoping, I’m going to play with it as is not sure whether I’ll ultimately use it for my desktop just to get the library and USB out away from my PC or whether I’ll use it to replace my Elac Discovery streamer. I’ve got options now and this is a cheap way to fool around and try things out.

Out of Curiosity, are people signing on to the MyVolumio monthly service? I’d like to check out the Tidal player capability if this indeed turns out to be a noticeable improvement over the PC.

Gizmo1k · February 13, 2021, 8:48pm

Most folks I talk to are using it with Roon \ HQPlayer. My distribution of choice for the Pi2aes is the DietPi Allo gui. If you decide to test it out you use the Allo Digione driver on that one.

Polygonhell · February 13, 2021, 8:51pm

I did for a while before I got Roon.
It’s required for Qobuz support, it’s not the greatest Qobuz interface ever, pretty basic, with it’s share of bugs, but it does work, and if I hadn’t gotten Roon I’d still use it.

db_Cooper · February 13, 2021, 8:53pm

Looking at the pricing, it’s not that much more to just pay for a Roon monthly subscription. I do enjoy the Roon experience.

A_Jedi · February 13, 2021, 9:15pm

Not I. Audirvana runs both Tidal and Qobuz natively so it basically does all I need. Plus streams to Volumio. I’ll likely end up with 3 Pi2AES boxes and just stream to whichever system I’m using.

I couldn’t use Tidal for more than 3 days because it sounds like crap to me. Everything is MQA and whatever they’re doing is no bueno.

The way I see it, Spotify has the greatest selection and discovery/suggestions, Qobuz has the best sound quality, Tidal has the best nothing. Haven’t and won’t bother with Amazon’s service.

db_Cooper · February 13, 2021, 9:23pm

Okay everything is configured but… I can’t get any sound.

I’ve got the Pi2AES feeding my DAC via Digital COAX. If I use the browser on my PC to play a song using Volumio, I am not getting sound. There’s really no audio driver on the PC so what do I set my Windows 10 box as far as audio out.

Polygonhell · February 13, 2021, 9:29pm

Are you getting audio if you use Volumio to stream from a file share/local file?
I don’t think by default you can just use it as a USB audio device, it’s not something I’ve ever tried.

You have a couple of options for sending audio from the PC wirelessly, either DLNA or Apple airplay.
Both have to be enabled in volumio, and I think DLNA support is a plugin.
They both require software support or something like “Stream what you hear”.

In case it’s useful here are my playback options

db_Cooper · February 13, 2021, 9:46pm

I got it now, just being stupid. Somehow I’d blown away the DAC config. It’s good now.

So basically I can just throw any DAC on the PC now for windows sounds. I guess I could also just use the existing DAC but then I’d have to switch inputs to get windows sounds or music depending on what I’m doing.

Thanks for listening to me rambling and thinking out loud here guys. Initial impression is that it’s not as good as a dedicated reclocker, but definitely a step up from the Discovery streamer.

I’ll dig a little into the settings now with what you shared @Polygonhell thanks!

Polygonhell · February 13, 2021, 9:49pm

That’s pretty much what I do, I run USB from the PC to the DAC and run the PI2AES to the AES input on the DAC, if I want to game with that DAC, I select the USB input on the DAC, and select that as the output in windows.
If I’m listening to music I run it from roon, and leave the DAC on the AES input.

db_Cooper · February 16, 2021, 3:26am

This little fucker is actually pretty good.

kcrack · February 16, 2021, 3:59am

We brought in another one

A_Jedi · February 16, 2021, 4:57am

Yeah it’s a killer little box.

db_Cooper · March 17, 2021, 12:05am

I switched from Volumio to RoPieee. There was nothing wrong with Volumio but couple of things bothered me.

Volumio didn’t have a native driver in their dropdown for the Pi2AES. This added absolutely nothing in terms of performance difference but you know, OCD.
Since I’m using Roon and only using the Pi2AES as a network bridge, I didn’t think there was any point for me to have the Volumio player portion of the SW up and running, maybe taking up CPU cycles? Don’t know but why have it running if I’m not using it. Figuring the RoPieee is a lighter bridge endpoint so why not.

That’s it, from an installation standpoint and just ease of getting it up, Volumio is much easier. Also RoPieee took forever during the initial install, more forever after configuration and reboot, more forever after an update that was ready. About 3 hours start to finish, Volumio was up and running in a half hour.

Anyway, since I have the SD card already set up, figuring on it being an easy thing to switch back if I wanted.