Streamer/DDC Showdown: Pi2AES vs Sotm SMS200 Ultra Neo

[db_Cooper]

Most of your questions will be answered here.

Pi2aes Source install and other thoughts

For those that may not be aware, the Pi2aes is a digital audio interface that connects to the Raspberry Pi via the GPIO pins. This is particularly useful is it enables you to stream music to your DAC without the noise of your PC potentially polluting the signal stream. I’m told that the Pi2aes has particularly good clocks and this enables you to get a higher quality digital signal to your DAC than by using USB. Special thanks to @GoldenOne for helping me get my set up running and giving me ma…

@mochimashu

I am just using a MacBook (and I use some streaming services such as Qobuz but mostly ALAC files in iTunes ripped from CDs and I don’t have a strong need for hi-res tbh) with USB, will a solution like Pi2AES or a DDC make a noticeable sonic improvement?

Most of the sonic benefits from the Pi2AES will come from it being a network bridge where you can get off of USB. A DDC on the other hand may be a better solution if your plan is to get music out of a PC via USB. BTW since you mention having the BF2. The Unisom USB is pretty good, but it’s still bettered by the BNC or AES output from the Pi2AES into my Yggdrasil.