Sorry if it turned out sounding different than I intended! I just meant to say that the "combination" of the caps and the rpi/i2s, although very dynamic and detailed, also sounded harsh to my ears. Adding the transformers instead of the caps toned down the harshness significantly. I don't have an active i/v stage to compare against the transformers. Also I tested last night using the Acko S01 isolator (just populated with the a few caps and the NVE IL715E and it sounds better than the TI chip as an isolator).
Sorry, forgot to mention that too! I soldered mine when I got the pi a while ago and didn't even think about it being necessary if you start with a new pi model b. There's instructions around for getting the model without the p5 connector working with i2s too, but it requires soldering wires to resistors pads.
I agree. The measurement only addressed the effect on noise of hooking up the ethernet cable to the rpi. I suspect, like you mentioned, that the wireless noise might prove to be more offensive than the added noise of the ethernet cable being connected. The dongle was $10 shipped, so I thought it was worth trying.
The reason people are looking into the beaglebone black/cubietruck/udoo boards is because they don't have this usb sharing problem. With the positive rpi/i2s results I would assume this will only get better when i2s is implemented in these boards which are more robust than the rpi.
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I got the dongle today and listened for about three hours alternating between wifi only and ethernet only. I think the wifi only does sound cleaner and quieter, maybe even a tad more detailed. However, I had read the article on the ethernet noise so my hearing may be biased based on what I read. It's very diffiiicult to do double blind tests when you are the person editing the network config file...
One thing was that towards the end of the first round of wifi listening I started getting dropouts. I edited volumio's settings and doubled the audio buffer size to 4096 and increased to 30% the buffer before play. I didn't get any more dropouts for the rest of the listening session. The music is all 44 ripped cds (flacs). I was also alone at home so the wireless' bandwidth was all available.
I wonder if people who play higher rez files on busy wireless network will be able to maintain the music stream without interruptions... I will play with it a bit more.
At Russ White's thread they testing i2s on the beaglebone black right now!
I'm not getting this at all... WiFi sounds better than Wired...? I'm thinking what you think sound better is just added jitter or something. There's much more overhead in the WiFi protocol, signal strenght issues, encryption, etc... All this add up in the end. The only thing I could potentially see is that those uPCs might be using 10/100 ethernet which then becomes on some occasion slower than full speed wireless A/G/N
Has to be heard I guess!
Do
Has to be heard I guess!
Do
I got the dongle because I read this:
Tracking down noise sources on a Raspberry Pi | Crazy Audio
And wanted to see if I could hear any difference. But that's why I stated I'm probably biased because I read the article and it drove me to test. Auto-suggestion is a strong biaser...
This:
Raspberry Pi • View topic - Max expected throughput of eth0 for speedtest??
seems to say that the rpi ethernet throughput is ok when used alone (i.e., no other usb devices fighting the ethernet).
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Yeah, makes sense on the noise side since using wireless you completely isolate from the signal pairs on the ethernet cable, the remote host which could potentially be an issue with a P2P cable carrying signal from a remote source, hence noise from that device gets on the other side of the cable. Whether or not it really make a difference, only you can be the judge. I don't own a Pi but will try with Udoo or BBB. The noise has to be quite low on the GB standard since it would cause lots of re-transmit otherwise.
Ciao!
Do
Just a little up for Udoo platform. I have three friends that have the Udoo and we all are hoping for the latest build for it.
Thanks again!
Do
I2s from the UDOO board would be extremely interesting imo. The UDOO is one of the more capable and advanced boards out there, and has onboard Sata support etc. I’ve not bought one yet but will pull the trigger soon, once I've finsihed the DAC board I'm planning to hook up to.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to ascertain this, but the noise coming from the ethernet connection might not be as bad with other devices, might be peculiar to the rpi because of the design appreach they took.
As long as I don't get any dropouts (that is still to be seen on a busy day with hirez streaming) and the sound is at least the same (in my biased mind, slightly better) I'll probably keep the wireless as I don't have to worry about making sure I have an ethernet cable to the location I place the dac in. I think with other embedded boards this might not be an issue since they don't seem to share the bus with the usb and therefore spread the noise to other components.
I ordered a beaglebone black but it's still in backorder from where I made the purchase. The pi setup is great, but there seems to be a few things to worry about that looks like will not a problem to consider with the other embedded platforms.
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Seems like there is no interest from Mikelangeloz to update de Udoo... All platforms except for older cubox have been updated to 1.2 or 1.3... I'm very dissapointed that it was pointed as platform of choice but ended up being ditched or forgotten...
I guess I'll have to order a BBB instead
Ciao!
Do
I guess I'll have to order a BBB instead
Ciao!
Do
Given the title of this thread perhaps there needs to be a separate UDOO thread for this update.
John
I don't see why, Udoo is a supported platform for Volumio (used to be RaspyFi which no longer exist). The whole thread should be changed to Volumio instead.
Regards
Do
That would be the prerogative of the opening poster of this thread then wouldn't it? I suggest that he be allowed to decide. If he should choose not to then I would suggest that a thread dedicated to Udoo for Volumio would be your best hope.
Bon chance
John
Back! Yeah I agree to change the title to Volumio... Maybe the mods can help on that.
And, regarding Volumio for UDOO. Don't worry, the update is coming. I am just active on lot of fields right now... So, please be patient.
I have the 1.3 UDOO version ready, I'm just testing it prior to release. Pinocchio, you won't regret to have choosen it...
I was also asked for i2s output for UDOO. Unfortunately there is no i2s driver yet, hope that someone would hop on that and help...
And, regarding Volumio for UDOO. Don't worry, the update is coming. I am just active on lot of fields right now... So, please be patient.
I have the 1.3 UDOO version ready, I'm just testing it prior to release. Pinocchio, you won't regret to have choosen it...
I was also asked for i2s output for UDOO. Unfortunately there is no i2s driver yet, hope that someone would hop on that and help...
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