You have to install one of the advanced kernels. Then the Boss will show up in the audio config list.
I just read this post about a change to the analog audio on the Pi: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=136445
Great for testing before committing to a HAT or USB DAC.
Great for testing before committing to a HAT or USB DAC.
I did some tests with volume software and hardware control. One has to login with ssh on Pi and start the "top" programm and check the CPU load caused by mpd process. The tests where done using dsf and wav files, not flacs, to avoid additional flac-wav decompression load and without sox oversampling.
File Type------CPU Load SW control------CPU Load HW Control
DSD-----------~30%-----------------------~30%
24192---------~7%------------------------~4%
2496-----------~4%------------------------~2%
1644-----------~1,5%----------------------~0,7%
One can see, that with pcm files cpu load of mpd process is 50% smaller when using hardware volume control. Only when playing dsd files, the load is the same . Why ? Dac + pro is using TI 5121 dac chip and this chip is only accepting pcm data (max. 32/384), not dsd, so mpd has to change dsd on the fly into pcm format.
Lower cpu load with hardware volume control is probably the reason for better sound (lower latency?).
You can set the type of the volume control in moode player this way:
configure - audio - open mpd config - volume control
File Type------CPU Load SW control------CPU Load HW Control
DSD-----------~30%-----------------------~30%
24192---------~7%------------------------~4%
2496-----------~4%------------------------~2%
1644-----------~1,5%----------------------~0,7%
One can see, that with pcm files cpu load of mpd process is 50% smaller when using hardware volume control. Only when playing dsd files, the load is the same . Why ? Dac + pro is using TI 5121 dac chip and this chip is only accepting pcm data (max. 32/384), not dsd, so mpd has to change dsd on the fly into pcm format.
Lower cpu load with hardware volume control is probably the reason for better sound (lower latency?).
You can set the type of the volume control in moode player this way:
configure - audio - open mpd config - volume control
What's the difference (and have you suggestions for my script problems I posted?)
Hi,
Probably because MPD cannot perform Software volume on DSD bitstream format yet.
If you experience diffs in sound when switching between Software and Hardware volume control its probably due to the DSP algorithms used to perform volume attenuation rather than CPU load.
Most DAC chips with hardware volume controllers just have basic algorithms. Most don't even use dithering. Exception are the ESS chips and a few others, but since ESS prohibits Open Source drivers for their chips, Linux based players can't access the nice ESS Hyperstream volume controller.
-Tim
I am new to Linux and never used Rune. I move from Volumio to Moode so no extra knowledge need.
Rune is Arch Linux and I think the kernel limit at 24/192, something must different.
For PCM51xx family, upsampling the sound to 32/384 give a better result to my ear (bypass internal filter).
I love the sound from Moode 3.1 but need a new feature from Moode.
I keep learning a lot when Moode release a new version by exam the code.
To answer your question, there is a lot of code that I don't understand and I can't suggestions for your script.
@Zootalaws, thanks for the pointer!
This is definitely one of those best-kept secrets of the war. That forum thread was started over a year ago, but there's still no mention of this configuration parameter in the Raspberry Pi documentation or in the supposedly complete list on elinux.org. A quick search of the raspberry pi firmware repo on github didn't get me any hits either. On the other hand, in the current MoodeOS firmware (vcgencmd dates it to Mar 3, 2017), I see "audio_pwm_mode" among the strings in /boot/start.elf.
Have you tried this mode with MoOde Player yet? I'll have to free up an appropriate RPi (the RPi0W lying in front of me is useless for this since the Zeros have no analog filters/outout).
Regards,
Kent
With the Piano 2.1 DAC I think the LL kernel has a slight performance/sound advantage, but with the Boss -YMMV.
unable to upgrade to v 3.7 OTA
I'm currently running v 3.6. When I click on the "check for software update" link it tells me that I'm running the current version. One thing I notice from the system info is that my SD card is at 97%. Is that a problem or does that indicate the percentage of the card available to Moode? IIRC it's a 32 GB card. There should be no media files or other data that's not part of Moode there.
I could install the downloadable image but then I'd have to go through the setup again. Hoping there's a fix.
I'm currently running v 3.6. When I click on the "check for software update" link it tells me that I'm running the current version. One thing I notice from the system info is that my SD card is at 97%. Is that a problem or does that indicate the percentage of the card available to Moode? IIRC it's a 32 GB card. There should be no media files or other data that's not part of Moode there.
I could install the downloadable image but then I'd have to go through the setup again. Hoping there's a fix.
Thanks to the help from you kind folks, I got the Boss DAC working this morning before the workday, using the Low Latency Advanced kernel. Verdict? The Boss DAC is a MAJOR upgrade from the Behringer UCA-202 sound card I was using before. Instantly noticeable, no comparison.
Through a Sony MDR-7506 and O2 amp, I listened to a 24/96 rip of "My Foolish Heart" from the Analogue Productions Bill Evans "Waltz For Debby" SACD (PCM converted from DSD). I left the Moode > Customization > MPD Audio Settings for bits/sample rate to the defaults. The track sounded fantastic. I was transported to the Village Vanguard, a room I love and know well. The sound had a good 'feeling' to it, which is often hard to get from digital sources.
- For this combo of RPi3 and Boss DAC, are there any combinations of MPD settings people have found to sound particularly good?
I'm still using the stock Canakit 5V SMPS. I'm curious to hear what a psu upgrade will do.
Can't wait to get home, get out some better headphones, and listen to the Moode/Boss Pi!
--
Through a Sony MDR-7506 and O2 amp, I listened to a 24/96 rip of "My Foolish Heart" from the Analogue Productions Bill Evans "Waltz For Debby" SACD (PCM converted from DSD). I left the Moode > Customization > MPD Audio Settings for bits/sample rate to the defaults. The track sounded fantastic. I was transported to the Village Vanguard, a room I love and know well. The sound had a good 'feeling' to it, which is often hard to get from digital sources.
- For this combo of RPi3 and Boss DAC, are there any combinations of MPD settings people have found to sound particularly good?
I'm still using the stock Canakit 5V SMPS. I'm curious to hear what a psu upgrade will do.
Can't wait to get home, get out some better headphones, and listen to the Moode/Boss Pi!
--
Hi,
Try the USB (UAC2) work around in System config. This is the only setting in Moode that can affect the USB audio interface.
-Tim
Hi,
Fresh image starts at 77% full for root partition. Log files can can eat up space but takes a really long time. Periodically run Clear system logs in System config.
Could be stale Browser cache that causing Software update to report "up to date". The update will fail at 97% full root partition.
-Tim
Hi,
Try setting SoX resampling to 32 bit 384 kHz. This rate when fed to PCM5122 chip on the Boss triggers a bypass of the chips internal oversampling filter. Some listeners prefer this configuration over feeding the chip a native sample rate which is oversampled internally.
-Tim
Thanks Tim. I tried 'pinning it' to 32/384k and I find it sounds a little brighter and maybe more what they call 'airy.' To tell you the truth, I can't tell which I like better, native or 32/384k. I'll have to spend some time with it. There's plenty of room for some serious audiophilia nervosa with this combo. Great fun. (Sure does sound nice.)
I wonder, do people say that different storage media sound different? Maybe music from an SSD drive sounds better than the same files served up from a USB stick, etc? Or that music files sound better from local storage than over Ethernet? Or has everybody decided that's all silliness?
I wonder, do people say that different storage media sound different? Maybe music from an SSD drive sounds better than the same files served up from a USB stick, etc? Or that music files sound better from local storage than over Ethernet? Or has everybody decided that's all silliness?
Hi rongon.
I had been accessing my music files from a 128G micro USB flash drive. Then I decided to put together a Linux NAS.
I was pleasantly surprised to notice the SQ improved when using the NAS - at least in my setup it did.
Rob