Dummies Guide to Pi2AES! Throw away your PC or laptop.

I could use my computer but I really would rather not. Plus I do t like how Audirvana integrates with Tidal either. I can’t remember what it did but remember being annoyed and not paying the subscription after the trial ended.

 

Holy hell!

I've been using UBS through and Intona and an Allo DigiOne with Bifrost 2 for the last while. I came off of a Holo Spring I sold to pay for another family system.

Over the past 6 months, I've found the BF2 highly entertaing, but a bit bitey. I worked through a few tweaks and was considering getting rid of it. My ADI-2 from work was wayyyy better behaved in this system but less entertaining.

My PI2AES arrived yesterday. I ran it in for a few hours without listening to it and put it into my system. Honestly, pound for pound, dollar for dollar, this is the most significant change in have made to the system.

Where bitey ruled the land, the PI2AES served up the S/PDIF in a way that allowed the BF2 to render a smooth, spacious, effortless sense of material with precision and scale. From the PI2AES, the imaging and staging on the BF2 are like the much more expensive Holo in DSD with more balls.

Micheal was a pleasure to deal with. Congratulations to him and his team for making such a great product.

W10 Roon Server>LAN> PI2AES>BF2>Heed Obelisk SI 3>Harbeth P3ESR XD+Rel t7i

 

Which means it "loses" the lower 8-bits of a 24-bit file. Plus it down samples everything to 44.1Khz

 

Hah, true. 99% of my audio files are 16/44 so I didn't really think about it. At least it will still be redbook quality when it gets to the Pi.

 

I'm curious if you try using UPnP instead of Airplay if you notice a difference. Some I talked to in the past prefer using UPnP over Airplay due to better sonics, but I don't pay the Apple tax. @dubharmonic, I'm watching you.

Qobuz and Tidal funny enough can still be used in moOde in the Audio setting provided if you want to use moOde's UI.

I don't have your battery problem issue when I'm using BubbleUPnP on my two Sony phones, my slide-loaded Fire tablet, or even this E-Ink tablet I'm using for shits and giggles. It could be the chicken app on your phone.

 

Huh, interesting, it's kinda hidden but I found the settings (for anyone else that is interested, you need to edit the UPnP config under Configure->Audio). I still see no way to browse Qobuz within MoOde (or find my favorites) even though I've added my login/pass, saved, refreshed a few times, etc. Do you know where this is in MoOde's UI?

 

You know, I think I was thinking of something else. I thought I was able to go in Qobuz thru moOde UI interface, but I could be wrong (seems like I am wrong here).

I normally use BubbleUPnP or Roon to stream Qobuz into my PI Box, due to moOde UI interface is web-based and it is slow on my end.

 

Ahh, alright. I normally use Audirvana but agree with rhythmdevils's complaints about the crap interface for Qobuz/Tidal, though it's the best I've tried so far (for UPnP). I may try Roon, it would need to be really good to justify another monthly expense for music. Also won't solve streaming at work, I'm probably stuck with Volumio for that.

 

I don't personally use airplay, since I use Android, but my wife uses airplay to listen to music on the stereo if I'm not home, so I keep it enabled in moOde. I use BubbleUPnP to access and play music from my Pi.

 

Airplay supports up to CD resolution (16/44). However, when routing audio to Airplay on a Mac, everything goes through the Mac OS sound mixer which will blend system sounds, audio from currently running apps etc. The music stream won't be bit perfect.

When using Airplay, the audio is simply broadcast from the computer/phone/tablet to the audio receiver. The Tidal app on a phone/tablet will use similar amount of power whether playing locally or transmitting to Airplay. It isn't like Google Cast or Chromecast where the device takes over pulling the stream directly from the server.

 

News posted on the Volumio community forum: https://community.volumio.org/t/adding-tidal-connect/42022/32

Connect feature is a competitive advantage and Qobuz will need to step up.

 

Cool! I wonder if using Tidal connect will still be super light on the batteries of the source device.

 

Anyone with Roon ever tried using Sqeezelite as endpoint protocol instead of RAAT? Tried it with RoPieeeXL (super easy just turn it on via web gui control) and I found lit bit clearer + lit more spacious compared to Roon's RAAT.

Could be confirmation bias tho.

 

After a recent clean install of moOde to get 7.0.0 I followed my own guide to getting remote control working on moOde with FLIRC and it went really smooth.

Just wanted to give myself props.

 

Cross posting with the Gungnir thread.

I found a nice looking 75 ohm BNC cable on AliExpress and thought all you Pi2AES owners might be interested. I haven’t been able to find anything other than Joe Shmoe broadcasting quality except for this and some super expensive cables (300$+)

this one uses neutrick connectors and Canare wire and it’s 20$ for a 1m cable. You can get it in longer and shorter lengths too.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mLX7iqt

 

Blue Jeans Cable is good quality. For my CD transport I have it with RCA connectors, but BNC connectors are also available.
https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/digital-audio/index.htm

 

I have that cable, seems ok. Good for us in the EU who don't have blue jeans cable as an option.

 

i probably would have gone with blue jeans if I knew this. They hide the BNC option very well on their amateur website. The one I linked to is probably good but you never really know what you’re getting on AliExpress. It says Canare in the title fir the cable but then I noticed it doesn’t mention it in the description. Who knows.

 

Blue jeans is great. Myself I've used this one for years, uses quality Belden cable. A little easier to get into Europe:
https://www.ghentaudio.com/part/e07.html

 

Might be interesting if someone try Airplay > moOde vs UPnP > moOde to see if there's any sound difference.