DAC Choice

Raspberry Pi related support

DAC Choice

Postby smccloud » 29 May 2019, 18:16

I'm planning on throwing a Pi3 running rune audio in my garage. However, I'd like to put an external DAC on it. Looking at Amazon there are a lot of choices and I'm not sure which one to pick. All I need as stereo RCA outputs to connect to my component system. Any suggestions are welcome.
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Re: DAC Choice

Postby MikeC » 29 May 2019, 18:50

I have 5 or so inexpensive DACS (<$120 US).
Unfortunately my favorite does not fit your requirements. It is the HiFiBerry DAC+ – Pro (about $50 US). This one attaches directly to the Pi.
My 2nd favorite is a USB DAC, the Schiit Modi 3 DAC (about $120 US, with shipping) https://www.schiit.com/products/modi-1. I've owned 3 of Shiit's DACs and they are fine for the money involved. If you do need to reuse this unit for another app later on, it has digital inputs available.
Even though I like the HifiBerry much better, I hesitate to endorse it. I have mine on a Pi2B with an ethernet connection and there is no Wifi on the Pi2B. Some have noted that there were some complaints about interference with WiFi on the Hifiberry.

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Re: DAC Choice

Postby smccloud » 29 May 2019, 18:59

MikeC wrote:I have 5 or so inexpensive DACS (<$120 US).
Unfortunately my favorite does not fit your requirements. It is the HiFiBerry DAC+ – Pro (about $50 US). This one attaches directly to the Pi.
My 2nd favorite is a USB DAC, the Schiit Modi 3 DAC (about $120 US, with shipping) https://www.schiit.com/products/modi-1. I've owned 3 of Shiit's DACs and they are fine for the money involved. If you do need to reuse this unit for another app later on, it has digital inputs available.
Even though I like the HifiBerry much better, I hesitate to endorse it. I have mine on a Pi2B with an ethernet connection and there is no Wifi on the Pi2B. Some have noted that there were some complaints about interference with WiFi on the Hifiberry.

Mike C

Actually, the HiFiBerry DAC+ - Pro would work great for me. Has the RCA jacks for a connection to my component receiver. I do plan on running a network cable to the garage because I prefer Wired to WiFi (and I'll be using it for FLAC files).

I was also looking at Audio DAC HAT Sound Card (AUDIO+) for Raspberry Pi Zero/PI3/PI3B/PI3B+/PI2/Better quality than USB https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MDW602K/re ... 7Cb9CCC3JJ due to it's price but I'm not sure it's supported.
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Re: DAC Choice

Postby janui » 30 May 2019, 12:27

Hi smccloud,
smccloud wrote:I was also looking at Audio DAC HAT Sound Card (AUDIO+) for Raspberry Pi Zero/PI3/PI3B/PI3B+/PI2/Better quality than USB https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MDW602K/re ... 7Cb9CCC3JJ due to it's price but I'm not sure it's supported.
The 'Generic PCM510x' or 'RPi DAC' soundcard setting will probably work fine with the PiZeroAudio DAC.
But if you want to go low-cost, this pcm5102 based DAC will probably outperform the PiZeroAudio DAC (UDA1334ATS dac chip): https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCM5102-DAC-De ... SwEvZcAH2p
You will need some connector leads like this to connect it: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=dupont+cable (female-female type, 10cm is probably long enough).
Otherwise the ‘HiFiBerry DAC+ 3.5mm’ is a good choice since it fits into a standard Pi case, you only need to drill a hole for the 3.5mm socket.
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Last edited by janui on 09 Sep 2019, 17:38, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: DAC Choice

Postby smccloud » 30 May 2019, 12:57

janui wrote:Hi smccloud,
smccloud wrote:I was also looking at Audio DAC HAT Sound Card (AUDIO+) for Raspberry Pi Zero/PI3/PI3B/PI3B+/PI2/Better quality than USB https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MDW602K/re ... 7Cb9CCC3JJ due to it's price but I'm not sure it's supported.
The 'Generic PCM510x' or 'RPi DAC' soundcard setting will probably work fine with the PiZeroAudio DAC.
But if you want to go low-cost, this pcm5102 based DAC will probably outperform the PiZeroAudio DAC (UDA1334ATS dac chip): https://www.ebay.com/itm/PCM5102-DAC-De ... SwEvZcAH2p
You will need some connector leads like this to connect it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dupont-Cable-f ... KegIy6SVjw (female-female type, 10cm is probably long enough).
Otherwise the ‘HiFiBerry DAC+ 3.5mm’ is a good choice since it fits into a standard Pi case, you only need to drill a hole for the 3.5mm socket.
janui


https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASSEMBLED-PCM5 ... SwHodc2Upq Would be ok then too right? I would prefer RCA jacks to a 3.5mm mini-jack.
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Re: DAC Choice

Postby janui » 31 May 2019, 10:51

Hi smccloud,
smccloud wrote:https://www.ebay.com/itm/ASSEMBLED-PCM5 ... SwHodc2Upq Would be ok then too right? I would prefer RCA jacks to a 3.5mm mini-jack.
Yes this works fine as well, but more difficult to get it into a case. I use one of these for a Pi Zero player, see the photos:
IMG_0020.gif
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IMG_0214.gif
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IMG_0275.gif
IMG_0275.gif (183.12 KiB) Viewed 4094 times
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Re: DAC Choice

Postby andre_chang » 09 Sep 2019, 11:40

Hi janui
I have your pcm5102 DAC module.
But... I connected BCK lrck data on this module to pi3b + rune0.5bata
He doesn't work. I'm sure the hardware wiring + power supply is correct!
What should the driver of Rune be set to?
Or did I miss something?
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Re: DAC Choice

Postby janui » 09 Sep 2019, 17:00

Hi andre_chang,
andre_chang wrote:...He doesn't work. I'm sure the hardware wiring + power supply is correct!
What should the driver of Rune be set to?
Or did I miss something?...
These are the connections (pin's 12, 35 and 40):
audio gpio.jpg
audio gpio.jpg (103.77 KiB) Viewed 3777 times
Any of the GPIO 5v connections can be used for DAC power (VCC). For the DAC board pictured above both ground connections on the DAC (GND) need to be connected to a GPIO GND. One of these DAC GND connections is actually a system clock input, it needs to be connected to ground to disable it. The DAC then automatically generates a system clock signal based on the BCK signal. So in cases where a PCM510x DAC has a system clock (SCK) connection pin, this needs to be connected to a GPIO GND.
Selecting 'Generic PMC510x' or 'HiFiBerry DAC' in the Settings UI work's fine, both use the same 'hifiberry-dac.dtbo' overlay.
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