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

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Michael Kelly, Jan 16, 2021.

  1. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    I'm not sure how well they play with others. Frankly, I'm not sure how well I play with others! it's one thing to kibitz with you guys and hear your ideas and see what matters to all of you, but it would be another to make changes to my designs to match someone else's engineering viewpoint.

    still, if they were to reach out to me I would certainly have a good conversation and possibly create something that they could brand under their own name.

    The thing to know is I spent 32 years running a company that created high-speed networking and embedded technology for all number of industries. Mostly designs for other people with some stuff mixed in for ourselves. But now I'm at a stage where I want to pursue audio and I, quite selfishly, need to prove to myself that I can create an ongoing concern that will be successful and self-sustaining as an audio business.

    I'm sure this is all TMI.
     
  2. Yethal

    Yethal Facebook Friend

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    There's enough room in Bifrost sized chassis for the power supply to fit as well. Pair it with a short coax cable and you've got yourself a nice stack. I'd name it Schtreamer
     
  3. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Piarrhea
     
  4. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    You have been interacting long enough with this community that I think you already understand the right balance of indulging us and doing things your way. As someone who works with startups and small businesses for a living, I say make whatever the hell makes you happy, especially given you have already had a career and have already proven yourself with past products. So as long as you haven't created some sort of puzzle box construction, it is super easy for people who really want a different color to do so for themselves or for you to provide later down the line.

    And as much as I both like (NEED) things to match and really like the Schiit aesthetic, I don't think it is a reasonable ask on many levels.
     
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  5. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Too bad they already used schiitter!
     
  6. dasman66

    dasman66 Self proclaimed lazy ass - friend

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    I don't think so much as sell it as a Schiit product, more that they give you access to their contract case manufacturer. As them to poke a hole for the display, change the back panel and you're there.

    Although, assuming the case isn't a trademark, I suppose the shape could be easily copied if you wanted... but this way you get Schiit's economy of scale on the cases... you just have different hole layouts.

    Otherwise, I suspect that they would still have little interest (even if handed a package ready design)... because it's supporting the software side that they probably don't want to deal with.

    ------edit-------

    To make a blatant play... you could even adopt Roman gods for your streamers. First is Mercury, then the schiit shape version is "Coming soon is our new Apollo streamer, the god of music" (or go all out and name it Bacchus, the god of sensual pleasure) ;):D:rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2021
  7. earnmyturns

    earnmyturns Smartest friend

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    Deep respect for your independence and creativity. I only thought about the Schiit connection because of the outsourcing comments, their ability to find and work with US suppliers, and because there's a certain parallel between your no-nonsense, no exploitation approach and theirs. For myself, I'll be lining up for a Mercury because I need a red faceplate among the boring black and silver fronts of my gear, wherever you get them made ;)
     
  8. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    If Schiit hasn't trademarked the design, they should. Schiit products have a consistent, distinctive, recognizable look, and they have become well known and popular enough that others will want to copy the design.
     
  9. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    OK, since I have not caused enough trouble, soon after Mercury will come Neptune. Same digital side, but with an added analog DAC and HP Amp. The analog is based on a design I did for the PI2AES (remember all those extra holes?), but got caught in the AKM fiasco and did not have any real stock to fall back on. So we have made two new versions, ES9038Q2M and CS43198. HP Amp is a single TPA6120a composite AMP design using OPA1612.

    Both DAC's are in testing now, but need some refinement. I will use them with Neptune without the RCA and 3.5MM jacks installed. Neptune will have a PGA2311 with low noise LDO's feeding it. This is not meant to be "State of The Art"! What it will be is a very solid DAC/HPA combo similar to what you would pay $100-$200 for each. Neptune will be $200-300 more than Mercury so it's right in the ballpark.

    neptune_front.PNG

    neptune_back.PNG

    neptune_top.jpg
     
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  10. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    I don't see a TRS or XLR for headphone out anywhere?

    EDIT: NVM I see it now, thought that was a silver button next to the other black buttons.
     
  11. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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    I love it. Creeping closer to the Frankenstein I was going to make using the RPi3/502DAC, a de-cased Schiit stack, and a TPA3116 board for a supreme budget office all-in-one. Was going to cram it into a 1U case or something similar.
     
  12. HumanFly

    HumanFly Acquaintance

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    You could make it pink and it would still look better than the freak I`m currently running :)
    As long as it doesn`t get too proprietary and I can still tinker with it and run different software on it, I want one.
     
  13. CEE TEE

    CEE TEE MOT: NITSCH

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    In case (pun intended) anyone needs it:
    Screen Shot 2021-03-23 at 9.45.51 PM.png
     
  14. weaver

    weaver New

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    As a long term user of moOde with a CM3 based board in the shape of the Allo USBridge Sig and also the PI2AES (different systems) the Mercury project really appeals, thank you. I have some questions for @Michael Kelly please:
    Will the power switch perform a full software shutdown, ie. will it be the equivalent of selecting shutdown within the moOde UI?
    I see from upthread that how an OS update is performed was somewhat in development, has that progressed? While it is possible to get moOde working then just leave it be it has to be good practice to update the OS from time to time and for the numbered releases (and not infrequently for the intermediate releases) this requires a new image. Because this is relatively straightforward to do the default position for anything that doesn’t quite work is to do a fresh install. As soon as there are tweaks though (as there would be with Mercury) this process becomes more cumbersome and time consuming. MoOde is still plenty good enough to stick with it but would there be an option of a download of a Mercury ready version? Not immediately on release but when a new version of moOde has been out a couple of months and is known to be stable? Or will the extra Mercury configuration needed be simple enough for this to be a non-issue.
    Thanks and looking forward to it.
     
  15. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    The plan is to provide a few premade images and update them a few times a year. Moode and Volumio for sure, Ropieee and others TBD.

    As for the power issue, the power button, when pressed, will put the CM4 into low power mode (and remove power from the rest of the board), but only after Linux shuts down. A subsequent press will reboot the CM4 and enable the rest of the board.
     
  16. weaver

    weaver New

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    Excellent, sounds good. Presumably you would rather not get into software support so won’t stray too far from the stock versions; updates once or twice a year would be plenty (personally).
     
  17. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    That's the plan!
     
  18. lehmanhill

    lehmanhill Almost "Made"

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    Dragging you back into the Pi2AES/acrylic case world (cool project, by the way), I have been thinking about heat, even on an RPi 3. I prefer the 3 because I don' t need the speed for a streamer and some say the 3 is quieter than the 4.

    I recently started having problems with USB on a long running RPi3. A friend of mine suggested the combined USB/Ethernet controller was probably getting hot. He pointed me to this article, which is interesting to all who in the RPi world.

    https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/thermal-testing-raspberry-pi-4/

    As you can see from the thermal imagining, the USB/Ethernet runs warm to hot, even at idle, so the 5 or 6 years that this RPi 3 has been running may have accumulated heat damage. Of course, I don't have any proof this is the problem. It has only been an issue on the server RPi where I have an SSD plugged into USB. It starts with intermittent drop-outs of music stored on the SSD. As it gets worse, everything starts acting up, probably because I have the configuration data stored on the SSD also.

    My first thought was to get a stick-on heatsink and I will probably do that for both the USB/Ethernet controller and the main ARM chip. However, when I was looking at the case, I realized that it was hard for air to get in and out of the case at the RPi level. Some air can get into the case around connectors, but the RPi and Pi2AES board are a good fit and rising air is mostly sealed off by the boards. Funny, tight fit to the boards makes the case look high quality. Since I'm a form follows function guy, I will drill some holes in the case to let air flow to see what happens.

    This isn't a big flaw or anything. It is just something to think about if you are like me and use your server many hours each day.
     
  19. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Place it on its side with the HDMI side facing up. This had been shown to reduce cpu temperature by several degrees. It may also work for the ethernet chip.
     
  20. lehmanhill

    lehmanhill Almost "Made"

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    Thanks, I'll give that a try.

    And my apologies. I just realized that I posted in the wrong thread.
     

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