Raspberry 4: best i2s dac?

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21

Thanks to all I think at this point I will choose an external dac for ease of use and quality

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22

Itā€™s funny, I own the same set - pi2aes + Sabaj D5, connected via i2s. Btw I can hear difference between the i2s and coaxial output, and i2s sounds better to me; this is strange because the coaxial spdif showed best results at audiosciencereview.com for pi2aes.
But actually itā€™s possible to connect rpi i2s output directly to the dac, but the wires must be very short, ā‰¤ 10cm. I tried it with a pcm5122 dac board from aliexpress, and it works.

23

Nice. What speakers/amp do you have?

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24

Plinius 9100 & Dynaudio Contour 1.3 + REL Q50.

25

Ooo you have a much more resolving equipment thatā€™s probably why you hear the difference

26

Do you have a schematic of how to connect the DAC like i2s?
does volumio recognize the dac normally by selecting i2s source?

27

I am surprised that no one here recommends HifiBerry. What do you say about the combination HiFiBerry DAC2 HD + DSP Addon Board.
Or who wants digital HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro + DSP Addon Board.

I think at the price-performance ratio HiFiBerry for RasPi is not a bad choice?

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28

Take a look a the PecanPi DAC:

I have quite a few customers here, maybe they will chime in.

Let me know if you have any questions.

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29

Any ES9068q hat available? Even R-2R existsā€¦

30

If I may add my two cents at this point, please check out the Allo BOSS2. He is a dream!
Ideally in an aluminum housing.
https://allo.com/sparky/boss2-player.html

I highly recommend adding the Allo Nirvana power supply.
https://allo.com/sparky/nirvana-smps.html

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31

Thanks for your cents. I have had BOSS 1.2 for years now. Itā€™s still ok, but I would like to update. I know that BOSS2 would be admirable candidate. Iā€™m heavy user of Tidal and I would like to have something understanding MQA. I know, wise guys are telling me: buy decent DAC. But i have active speakers which have dac inside. So it makes sense to update just HAT with rca/xlr out. ES9068q does rendering MQA. Iā€™m wondering what is the reason there is not any ES9068 HATā€¦

32

MQA will only certify devices not HATā€™s or addon-boards as MQA delivers the firmware/drivers to enable it. With a device itā€™s a controlled/closed environment, with an add-on on random hard- and software, they canā€™t force/guarantee full compatibility.

So forget the Tidel hype and use Qobuz :slight_smile:

33

You might be right with MQA. I just would like to testify myself.
Though, ES9068Q is " first product to offer an integrated hardware MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) renderer". I would expect that board with chip should have drivers/firmware available.

34

Even though the chip can do it, it still needs a license (certified driver) in order to use it.

35

There are already ES hatsā€¦
Otherwise, the topping USB DACs are highly recommended.
But I donā€™t have anything like that and accordingly have no experience.

E.g. the D30 Pro
https://www.tpdz.net/productinfo/590763.html

By the way, I also listen to Qobuz :wink:

36

Well, you can always contact MQA and ask if you can buy a license for their proprietary software :wink:

37

But be very patient.
I have a Pro-ject Pre Box S2 Digital, that stumbles upon MQA.
Pro-ject is already waiting for more than a year to get an updated driverā€¦

38

Itā€™s still doable. isnā€™t it?

39

See Wolfman74 reply.
But I think your cheaper of with a Zen DAC V2

40

I s there any general advice for playback opions if Rpi is feeding external USB dac? Starting from I2S/HDMI. Among others V2 is not on the list.

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