Pi2 Design Idiot-Proof Ready-To-Go RPi/AES Streamer

Hi, apologies if has been answered before
1) Will Mercury be preloaded with pure stock Volumio or some customise layers will be loaded over Volumio for ease of use
2) Will Volumio loaded will be paid version with all the bell & whistles OR will be free version

I wish if I can be the 1st gentleman on earth to buy mercury !

 

Hi

 

It will be the stock version with the configuration complete save for wireless. That will be done by the uses using the Access Point method described in the Volumio documentation.

We are thinking about contacting Volumio to offer some type of discounted or limited time for the paid version with each unit.

 

First cut of CM4AES (the board design used in Mercury) is in the link below.
https://www.pi2design.com/uploads/4/8/5/3/48531975/cm4aes_hw_ref_manual_p1_0.pdf

 

Perhaps add a "quick start" section?

 

this is the Hardware Reference Manual. There will be another operating manual for Mercury. That will be coming as soon as I write it!

 

@Michael Kelly Thanks for the preview of Mercury. I was just comparing the Pi2AES manual to Mercury's and had some questions:

1. The Mercury block diagram shows the AP1155 regulators used for both clocks and digital input receiver, but the written words later on say the LT3042 is being used. Which one is correct?

2. The Pi2AES manual is almost the opposite! It shows the LT3042 in its block diagram and the AP1155 and ADP150 is in the text later on. Has there been a change? The noise specs for the AP parts look much higher too.

3. Mercury uses a 50 Ohm BNC connector instead of the 75 Ohm connector in Pi2AES. Is there a reason for this change?

 

Thanks for catching these. I will make corrections ASAP.

Both boards use the LT3042, Mercury has separate ones for the clock and the WM8804, while PI2AES use one for both.

The BNC is 75 ohm.

 

All set. It turns out the block diagrams were not updating correctly from the drawing program I used to create them. They were correct in the word document, but wrong when printed to PDF. Weird.

 

Thanks Michael! I appreciate the clarifications!

 

@Michael Kelly, will there be any way of setting up the Mercury with an external display? I'd love to go offline - full Battlestar Galactica mode - and have my files stored locally on an SSD (internal or external via USB) and just use the display to play them.

My understanding is that this is only possible with Pi2AES.

I apologise if this has indeed come up in the thread, but I've read it through and I'm still unsure.

 

HDMI port 0 from the compute module is available on the back panel. So you can run any standard raspberry pi OS on mercury. There is a link to the hardware reference manual on the homepage of our website. That will let you see what interfaces are available.

 

Hello,

Will there be a possibility to install different OS on Mercury Streamer than Volumio, like e.g. DietPi?

Looking froward,
Przemek

 

Mercury is fully open and can run any standard pi software.

 

Thanks a lot for quick reply and good news

 

I have four beta units in the acrylic case with 500GB SSD. I have contacted 3 reviewers, GoldenSound, IWII Reviews and Z Reviews. All have reviewed the PI2AES. That leaves a 4th unit that I would like to send to SBAF as a loaner. Who is interested in getting it 1st and then taking responsibility for setting up the loaner tour? A key requirement is that anyone who gets the unit must provide a review with a week or so. I don't care what they say, just that is somewhat detailed and polite! You can call my baby ugly, just be polite about it!

I can send the unit next week and it might be best if the first person is in the US or Canada.

 

Posted some 3d captures and photos in our coming soon page:

https://www.pi2design.com/coming-soon.html

 

@rhythmdevils ?

 

@Michael Kelly send it to me I’ll organize a loaner tour for you.

Pm incoming.