DIY Streamer: In search of one ultimate streamer...

2. ReceiverPi DDC without any USB board

3. ReceiverPi DDC with USB board installed

4. FifoPi Q7 mk1(left) vs FifoPi Q7 mkII(right) . Notice the upgraded clocks on the new Q7 mkII board


5. The boards after the clock switch


6. The final assembled boards with new Q7 mkII and direct USB connection

 

I'm also realizing the power and flexibility of this as a platform where I can make tweaks and change the DDC according to my needs. Its pretty amazing from a builder's perspective.

Here is a sneak peek into the ESS Dac i'm hoping to build (attached).

 

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. I have also built a streamer based on Ian Canada boards and quite like it. I had asked about upgrades in my chain and was kindly pointed to focusing on my source, so I decided to look into streamers.

Since I'm all in on Plex I needed Plexamp support and there didn't seem to be too many streamers supporting Plexamp in my price range so I opted for a DIY option. For those that just want to dip their toes into the Ian Canada stuff, he has a couple boards available you can attach to a RPi4. That's what I did for about $160 USD, then added some Accusilicon clocks. I'm really enjoying this over the Chromecast setup I had before. LOL.

The boards I purchased for the RPi4 are UcPi and TransportPi Digi, and I installed Ropieee on the Pi to support Plexamp. I really enjoyed putting this together and currently have a custom case coming in to house it.

@neo_the_one looking forward to see where you go with this. My next streamer I'm hoping will be the 'end game' streamer and I'll probably consider going the DIY route again.

 

Not gonna lie, i love the looks of it. Have no idea what's going on with it though.

 

Finally able to complete the Dac platform. I now have a ESS dual mono dac with IanCanada's clocks (removing the stock clock the Dac comes with).




The dac I built currently runs with active opamp I/V stage. I have also ordered a very good passive I/V stage that i wish to replace the current output stage.

Currently only playing PCM . Need to setup HQPlayer again to get DSD going. One good thing is that I also have access to all the ESS chip options like DPLL Bandwidth PCM, IIR filter Bandwidth, FIR filter shape, ES9038Q2M filters etc.

This platform now lets me
1. Stream PCM and DSD to external dac with reclocking.
2. Change new clocks and experiment with better clocks.
3. An ESS Dac with replaceable output I/V stage.
4. Really good power supply using capacitors. This removes me from the mains fully.
5. A platform to change other dac types.

 

My previous ESS Dac (i bought) is a twisted pear buffalo 9038 board with tube output stage. In the first image note the Crystek clock used by that doc. Previously when I was using my streamer only build the output of the stream was being consumed by the dac below.

 

Initial listening impressions:
This does not sound like a ESS dac. I might have a builders bias, but if i was in a blind test I could not have guessed it as a ESS dac. It does not have the sibilance that ESS dacs have and that too with Utopia.