Cheap and amazing Volumio box

Diy and Tweaks Diy Volumio Projects
1

Hi,

I would like to share with my Volumio box, It’s a very simple and cheap project that looks amazing :smiley:

Here is the parts list :

Total is around 150€ (with shipping)

I’m really happy with this setup. I use a vintage amplifier so this simple DAC gives me great results. No noize in speakers, punchy bass, clear stereo :astonished:

2

Hi !
Nice work !
I’ve got the same Dac but powered with linear Psu from audiophonics.
On the first picture I can’t see clearly : do you power the dac with the PSU ? I don’t see the Raspeberry’s Usb connector linked ?
Or Rasp is powered by the Dac ?
Anyway, well done !

3

Thanks !
RPI is powered by the PSU using GPIO and DAC is powered by the RPI.
This PSU has two outputs (5v for the RPI & 12v for the LED ring on the power button).

4

Looking great. Can you tell me where you got the aluminum power switch?
Maybe share a link please?

5

Hi mbliek,

I just updated my post with the link to this button :blush:

audiophonics.fr/fr/interrupt … -8922.html

6

Hi
I love your project.
I have one question : how did you cut the square parts for USB ?
it looks very sharp on your system :slight_smile:
Thanks

7

Why 54W?

Why not only 15w
audiophonics.fr/fr/alimentat … -8302.html

Will that handle a Rasberry pi B+ and Iqaudio DAC+ ?

8

How do you turn it off? It seems like you just cut off the power.
Did you consider a safer shutdown using non-locking power button and sending a proper signal via GPIO?

9

He also uses 12v, the 54W is the only one on audiophonics.fr that has both 5v and 12v.

54W also sounds like its way to much to me. They also sell a 15W 12V and 15W 5V both could be used but would require to change the voltage to 5V for either the R-Pi or the 5V to 12V just for the LED on the button.

I dont know whether or not there is an additional use for the 12V rail than the one LED for the power button. If there isnt, i dont see a reason why not to use the 15W 5V that supply’s 3A. The R-Pi uses less then 1A and the DAC shouldn’t use more than 1A.

10

Nice build!

One thing confuses me though. Doesn’t the DAC (Audiophonics DAC Sabre ES9023 V2.0 I2S vers Analogique 24bit/192KHZ) need a MCLK (the orange wire from the DAC)? It seems as the wire is not connected, or is it?

As the Pi can not provide MCLK, how did you manage your build to work :question: I am interested as I would like to build something similar.

11

Jonas,

you can see an 50 MHz oscillator on the DAC, right bottom…

12

Yes, I noticed my mistake…

Do any of you know why that this DAC is so cheap (~half price) compared to other similar DACs?
Is the sound simply worse :question:

13

The DAC is really cheap (though they make up for the low price in crazy shipping charges) - there’s only three cheap ICs on the board, with a crystal clock, a few cheap passive components and a couple of cheap gold-plated phono (“RCA”) sockets. Total cost of the parts (in quantity) would be £2 - 3!

The quality of the DAC is excellent - I had one here, connected to a Raspberry Pi. I bought it as a time-saving measure, because I wanted to build a quick web radio for my father’s birthday.

The total cost of my first system:

Raspberry Pi Model B - £23.75 including a “free” 5V 2A wall wart from the Pi Hut (on Amazon)

DAC Module - €29.40 including postage

Aluminium box - gold coloured - Banggood - £4.50

Chrome bezel green LED Power indicator - £0.40 from Banggood.

Resistor to drop the 5V for the indicator - £0.002 (I buy them by the thousand!)

USB Wi-Fi dongle for the Pi - £2.75 from 7-Day Shop

I cut off the mini USB end of the power adaptor lead leaving about 5cm of lead connected to the USB plug, and replaced it with a 2.5mm cylindrical “power plug”. I fitted a corresponding socket to the case, and soldered the USB lead inside the case to the power inlet socket. I did this in case the “free” power adaptor turned out to be no good. I fitted a USB extender adaptor to allow one of the USB ports of the Pi to come out of the back panel, so that the USB Wi-Fi dongle would stick out of the back of the case (online - Amazon, I think, about 50 pence).

I added a power switch and a reset switch - http://www.raspberry-pi-geek.com/Archive/2013/01/Adding-an-On-Off-switch-to-your-Raspberry-Pi using small momentary push switches with chromed knobs (Banggood again, just a few pence).

The “2A” power adaptor turned out to be OK - not noisy at all - so I was lucky there. However, it ran rather warm which worried my Dad, so I put two 7805 linear regulators inside the case, one for the Pi and the other for the ADC. The power adaptor I then used gives 9V DC at 2A (it was for a Casio mini TV) and is linear - it runs cold. I put a 1N4001 in series with the input pin of each 7805 regulator to drop 0.65V on the way in and reduce the work the rugulators have to do, and soldered 100n ceramic capacitors from the output pins to the ground pins on the ICs themselves to keep them quiet.

The whole deal cost around £45, and is flawless.

All my family have seen the one I made for my Dad, and now they all want one!

14

Awesome !!

I guess the next Volumio projects will use this neat little power supply :wink:

Kindest regards & thanks for answering !

Huarez