When I connected Allo Boss dac board on top of isolatorPi, the GPIO connection was too low and the dac board was rested against and slightly slanted on top of the capacitors of isolatorPi. How to extend the GPIO so that Boss dac will align properly in horizontal position and won't stress the GPIO? Could anyone show the pic how to do it?
I had tested isolatorPi with Allo Boss 1.2 dac and the outcome was very positive. I powered the rpi through the GPIO at connector J2 with a makeshift smps and isolatorPi together with dac with another smps. The Allo Boss dac had improved with quiet background and lack of glare. The dac is more analog in sounding. Thank you Ian for isolatorPi, it is very good product.
I'm running into a problem with my new Isolator Pi II that I just received.
My RPI 3B and HifiBerry Dac+ Pro Play music well together, even when using the Hifiberry's direct I2S output to my DAC.
Whenever I put the Isolator PI in between ALL i get is static noise.
My setup:
- RPI3B powered by an Ifi SMPS
- Isolator PI II powered by a Salas Reflektor D
- Isolator PI II jumpered in Master Mode because the Hifiberry has two clocks and runs in Master Mode
- Power Up the Reflektor D/Isolator PI before applying power to the RPI
Seems to me that I'm doing all that is needed but still only getting Static Noise whereas it works without the Isolator PI.
Does anyone have a clue?
My RPI 3B and HifiBerry Dac+ Pro Play music well together, even when using the Hifiberry's direct I2S output to my DAC.
Whenever I put the Isolator PI in between ALL i get is static noise.
My setup:
- RPI3B powered by an Ifi SMPS
- Isolator PI II powered by a Salas Reflektor D
- Isolator PI II jumpered in Master Mode because the Hifiberry has two clocks and runs in Master Mode
- Power Up the Reflektor D/Isolator PI before applying power to the RPI
Seems to me that I'm doing all that is needed but still only getting Static Noise whereas it works without the Isolator PI.
Does anyone have a clue?
@daansan
Try grounding the 0V of the Pi. Once the Pi and the audio chain don't have the same 0V reference (thanks to the isolator), all sorts of interesting things can happen... RF crawls everywhere.
Just try temporarily connecting the Pi USB connector shroud to something you know is earthed with a piece of wire and see if it solves your problem.
I have a USB lead that I hacked, connecting just the USB screen to a banana plug. The USB plugs into a spare port on the Pi. That then takes the Pi 0V to mains earth via a binding post on my mains conditioner for a more elegant solution.
Try grounding the 0V of the Pi. Once the Pi and the audio chain don't have the same 0V reference (thanks to the isolator), all sorts of interesting things can happen... RF crawls everywhere.
Just try temporarily connecting the Pi USB connector shroud to something you know is earthed with a piece of wire and see if it solves your problem.
I have a USB lead that I hacked, connecting just the USB screen to a banana plug. The USB plugs into a spare port on the Pi. That then takes the Pi 0V to mains earth via a binding post on my mains conditioner for a more elegant solution.
Jus tested the grounding of the USB connector shroud and that did not make any difference.
I notice that when I lower the volume in LMS to almost zero I can hear sound.. The static noise increases when volume is increased.
It seems the sample rate is also of influence as was mentioned before, but I am expecting this device to support high sampling rates??
Makes any sense?
I notice that when I lower the volume in LMS to almost zero I can hear sound.. The static noise increases when volume is increased.
It seems the sample rate is also of influence as was mentioned before, but I am expecting this device to support high sampling rates??
Makes any sense?
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@iancanada hi Ian I got your isolatorpi original version some time back now.
Only just got around to trying it...I have 2 actually and 2 daughter boards too.
The pi works to a soekris dam1021 with the basic 3 pins and gnd connections no issues with ropieeexl and roon playing just fine.
Adding the isolatorpi and dop/dsd board I get silence most of the time with shot bursts of normal sound being being played. So it’s intermittently working.
Tried without the daughter board too and also master and slave modes with the same results, or just no sound (master). Going back to the same pins connected same wires etc works normally.
Any thoughts?
Only just got around to trying it...I have 2 actually and 2 daughter boards too.
The pi works to a soekris dam1021 with the basic 3 pins and gnd connections no issues with ropieeexl and roon playing just fine.
Adding the isolatorpi and dop/dsd board I get silence most of the time with shot bursts of normal sound being being played. So it’s intermittently working.
Tried without the daughter board too and also master and slave modes with the same results, or just no sound (master). Going back to the same pins connected same wires etc works normally.
Any thoughts?
Hi Ian, yes clean power applied to the isolator hat, I get both power less on the board and the i2s and power lets on the daughter board too. Power is applied to the isolatorpi before the rpi and uses 2 different supplies.
power to the soekris is applied 3rd. the only pins used to connect the soekris are the 3 grounds and 3 i2s lines. This works fine without the isolatorpi attached.
The Soekris is powered via a small 7-0-7VAC transformer and is not grounded to anything else in the chassis. ie so its only ground connection is to the isolator pi.
I suppose I could open up the other bag with untouched boards inside. but its working intermittently so I'm thinking its maybe a clocking issue?
here are some pics of the working unit without you board so can see the cabling used. jumper cables are twisted and when straight are each 6.5" = 16.5CM long
power to the soekris is applied 3rd. the only pins used to connect the soekris are the 3 grounds and 3 i2s lines. This works fine without the isolatorpi attached.
The Soekris is powered via a small 7-0-7VAC transformer and is not grounded to anything else in the chassis. ie so its only ground connection is to the isolator pi.
I suppose I could open up the other bag with untouched boards inside. but its working intermittently so I'm thinking its maybe a clocking issue?
here are some pics of the working unit without you board so can see the cabling used. jumper cables are twisted and when straight are each 6.5" = 16.5CM long
Sorry Ian, Will have to get that to you tmro it’s 1am here and I’m done for the night 
but slave mode is intermittent and master is nothing, I’m using the same pins on the isolator as I am on the rpi. LEDs appear to be normal on the daughter board with power and i2s, and bot red leds on the isolator seem similar brightness. Doesn’t work without the daughter board either, yes I put the 3 jumpers back on.
but slave mode is intermittent and master is nothing, I’m using the same pins on the isolator as I am on the rpi. LEDs appear to be normal on the daughter board with power and i2s, and bot red leds on the isolator seem similar brightness. Doesn’t work without the daughter board either, yes I put the 3 jumpers back on.OK here are the pics... when playing DSD upsampled in Roon I get the DSD light and some audio with drops every second or 2, PCM I get basically nothing or sometimes a very short sub second burst. in this case the I2S light is on and DSD is off.
I tried to use shorter jumpers to the Soekris DAC (100mm instead of the original 150mm) but this hasn't helped at all.
1st Pic is without the decoder...basically no sound, 2nd pic with decoder playing PCM, 3rd with Decoder playing DSD do note that the jumper on the Pi settings that looks to be missing is there but the plastic shroud fell off. Even with a jumper from the Decoder jumpers in its place it makes no difference.
Appreciate any guidance you can offer.
I tried to use shorter jumpers to the Soekris DAC (100mm instead of the original 150mm) but this hasn't helped at all.
1st Pic is without the decoder...basically no sound, 2nd pic with decoder playing PCM, 3rd with Decoder playing DSD do note that the jumper on the Pi settings that looks to be missing is there but the plastic shroud fell off. Even with a jumper from the Decoder jumpers in its place it makes no difference.
Appreciate any guidance you can offer.
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This might help provide some additional info
Are isolator outputs 3.3 or 5v? I’m wondering if I need the 3.3v connection from isolator to soekris? Pi direct works with only the 3 i2s + gnd pairs
Soekris dam 1021 R-2R DAC ILLUSTRATED GUIDE | H i F i D U I N O
Are isolator outputs 3.3 or 5v? I’m wondering if I need the 3.3v connection from isolator to soekris? Pi direct works with only the 3 i2s + gnd pairs
Soekris dam 1021 R-2R DAC ILLUSTRATED GUIDE | H i F i D U I N O
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