.flac DAC

[helitim]

Hi,

I am interested in building, or possibly buying something that can hook directly to a harddrive, and play .flac, MP3, etc. directly through an amplifier.

Originally I was going to use an old laptop hooked directely into the amplifier, but would prefer something dedicated and not so bulky.

Is anybody aware of any DAC's or projects out there that might fit the bill?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[billshurv]

RPi would seem a good starting point.

 

[abraxalito]

Amazon has a few media players - here's a cheap, small sized one which will play FLAC from an external USB drive. No digital out that I can see though so you'll be stuck with whatever DAC's inside : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Player-AGPtek-Full-HD-Digital-Drives-HA0053-Blue/dp/B017GZJNM2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1507170756&sr=1-3

 

[Dimdim]

I too believe that an RPi 3 with a DAC HAT is the best choice.

You will get a very well supported platform, with plenty of audio distributions ranging from very easy to install and operate to more advanced platforms and a big selection of DAC boards, some of them sounding very very good.

 

[helitim]

Thanks for the suggestions! I've heard of Raspberry Pi previously, but had no idea what it was or did(coworker uses it for model planes). It looks really cool! I'll have to research it further to see if it can meet my goals.

The objective is to build a "HiFi quality" lossless input for a high quality DIYAudio amp / Speaker system.

 

[helitim]

Can anyone comment on relative sound quality of the RPi based DAC's? I see a lot of mismatched opinions on Google searches. I have a lot of money and time invested into my DIY amp and speakers. I don't want to drop the ball on the input. How would sound quality compare to say an ipod connected to the amp, or a PC sound card, etc. Some people refer to RPi + "audiophile DAC & HAT" as "mid-fi". Just looking for.experienced opinions... Thanks!

 

[Dimdim]

I'll just say one thing: steer clear of DAC HATs that are running in slave mode, unless you are willing to put a Kali reclocker in the stack.

Other than that, it's a pretty subjective matter.

 

[helitim]

can you give me an example of one (that doesn't use slave mode)?

This is all new to me. If I knew what I should be looking for, I could read up on it further and compare.

 

[Dimdim]

Check out the allo.com Boss dac.

 

[linuxfan]

Some people refer to RPi + "audiophile DAC & HAT" as "mid-fi".

Well some vendors market the most basic of hat-DAC as being "audiophile" so in this case, yes, the end product will be "mid-fi". But the higher grade hat-DACs (such as the Allo Boss, and Hifiberry DAC+ Pro) are more deserving of true high end digital transport status.

Of course everything's relative. People with Linn or Naim music servers probably scoff at all RPi-based transports.

If you want to take the embedded computer transport concept further, a BeagleBone Black with external clocks and isolation/reclocking is a step up.
See TwistedPear Cronus/Hermes -
Cronus - It's about time.
Cronus Reclocking
or AckoDAC AKX-S03 -
Amanero Isolator/Reclocker GB

In this case, you get high quality I2S digital output - but you then need to provide a separate DAC which accommodates direct I2S input.
An added feature is the ability to play DSD audio files natively.

 

[helitim]

Thanks guys! I'll look into both options.

From a quick read, it looks like the Beagle bone black runs off of, or at least in partner with the Raspberry Pi. This would make it easier to do a comparison if I were to try both.