Tim (of MoOde Audio fame) suggested an easy to source way of getting two clean 5V DC feeds for a Raspberry Pi and a HAT DAC.
I was thinking something like this:
Anker PowerCore 20,000mA/hr Power Bank/Charger
The thing is, it's an 'off-label' use, so there could be gotchas. For instance,
- Will the Quick Charge USB port stop delivering power if the RPi isn't drawing much current at any particular moment?
- Will the two USB ports continue to supply power once the power pack's internal battery is all charged up?
If 'Quick Charge' should be avoided for this usage, maybe this Best Buy store brand power bank will be OK:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insign...enabled-devices-black/5906300.p?skuId=5906300
The potential problem with it is that it's rated only to 2.1A output. Is that enough for a RPi3B+ and a DAC HAT like an Allo Boss?
Has anybody tried this? Success? Failure? Gotchas?
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I was thinking something like this:
Anker PowerCore 20,000mA/hr Power Bank/Charger
The thing is, it's an 'off-label' use, so there could be gotchas. For instance,
- Will the Quick Charge USB port stop delivering power if the RPi isn't drawing much current at any particular moment?
- Will the two USB ports continue to supply power once the power pack's internal battery is all charged up?
If 'Quick Charge' should be avoided for this usage, maybe this Best Buy store brand power bank will be OK:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insign...enabled-devices-black/5906300.p?skuId=5906300
The potential problem with it is that it's rated only to 2.1A output. Is that enough for a RPi3B+ and a DAC HAT like an Allo Boss?
Has anybody tried this? Success? Failure? Gotchas?
--
* I use exactly these 20000Ah Ankers nowadays
* I use them for testing and while being on the road
* IMO these are the best I had in my hands for that purpose
* Currently I use them for testing on the PI 3B+ and the Katana
* I still do prefer my iFi iPower over the Ankers on my main system
Keep in mind. The 3B+ and Katana are real suckers. Such a setup is not meant to work on batteries.
With a little effort (no USB devices/no WLAN/BT/...) you can get the 3B+ consumption pretty much down though. I'm just preparing a blog article about that. It'll do on batteries under certain conditions.
The main issue I have with these Ankers, these do not come with an on/off switch. You need to plug/unplug the cable!
I saw - following up your link - that Best Buy charges 49$. That's the same amount you'd have to pay for the iFi iPower.
If portability/flexibility is not your main concern, your choice should be obvious.
Good luck.
* I use them for testing and while being on the road
* IMO these are the best I had in my hands for that purpose
* Currently I use them for testing on the PI 3B+ and the Katana
* I still do prefer my iFi iPower over the Ankers on my main system
Keep in mind. The 3B+ and Katana are real suckers. Such a setup is not meant to work on batteries.
With a little effort (no USB devices/no WLAN/BT/...) you can get the 3B+ consumption pretty much down though. I'm just preparing a blog article about that. It'll do on batteries under certain conditions.
The main issue I have with these Ankers, these do not come with an on/off switch. You need to plug/unplug the cable!
I saw - following up your link - that Best Buy charges 49$. That's the same amount you'd have to pay for the iFi iPower.
If portability/flexibility is not your main concern, your choice should be obvious.
Good luck.
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Thanks for replying soundcheck.
My current setup is an RPi3 from last year (not B or B+, as far as I know), with an Allo Boss DAC (older version, not the 1.2, no USB-C port on it).
I decided to do a test run with a Micro Center store brand 10,800mA/hr power bank, $18 USD. I'm running the Pi/Boss DAC both powered from its 2.1A USB output. That seems to sound a bit smoother than when powered from the Canakit-supplied 5V 2.5A SMPS. It's not that dramatic, though. After I purchased the power bank, I learned that these things have 3.7V batteries, with DC-DC boost converters to bring that 3.7VDC up to 5VDC. I haven't measured it to make sure it's actually delivering 5V. The Pi seems happy enough, though.
I tried running the Pi+Boss overnight from battery power, and it worked fine. The power bank still had three status LEDs out of four lit (75% charge left?) the next morning.
I need to get the little cable with 2-pin header and remove the SMD resistor on the Boss DAC so I can power the Pi separately from the DAC. Haven't done that yet. I suspect that will make for the biggest improvement in sound quality from the DAC.
I had previously purchased an iPower, last year. It caused an almighty hum from my Objective2 headphone amp, and it also hummed when I connected the RPi3/Boss DAC into my main system. In both cases, I got no hum if I used the originally supplied SMPS. If I used the iPower, I got hum. I wasn't about to spend $50 on the adapter cables iFi was telling me I had to buy, so I returned the iPower for a refund. ($100 USD for a 5V SMPS and some adapter cables?) Oh well. I tried.
--
My current setup is an RPi3 from last year (not B or B+, as far as I know), with an Allo Boss DAC (older version, not the 1.2, no USB-C port on it).
I decided to do a test run with a Micro Center store brand 10,800mA/hr power bank, $18 USD. I'm running the Pi/Boss DAC both powered from its 2.1A USB output. That seems to sound a bit smoother than when powered from the Canakit-supplied 5V 2.5A SMPS. It's not that dramatic, though. After I purchased the power bank, I learned that these things have 3.7V batteries, with DC-DC boost converters to bring that 3.7VDC up to 5VDC. I haven't measured it to make sure it's actually delivering 5V. The Pi seems happy enough, though.
I tried running the Pi+Boss overnight from battery power, and it worked fine. The power bank still had three status LEDs out of four lit (75% charge left?) the next morning.
I need to get the little cable with 2-pin header and remove the SMD resistor on the Boss DAC so I can power the Pi separately from the DAC. Haven't done that yet. I suspect that will make for the biggest improvement in sound quality from the DAC.
I had previously purchased an iPower, last year. It caused an almighty hum from my Objective2 headphone amp, and it also hummed when I connected the RPi3/Boss DAC into my main system. In both cases, I got no hum if I used the originally supplied SMPS. If I used the iPower, I got hum. I wasn't about to spend $50 on the adapter cables iFi was telling me I had to buy, so I returned the iPower for a refund. ($100 USD for a 5V SMPS and some adapter cables?) Oh well. I tried.
--
Hmmh. I never had any hum issues.
My system is pretty much fully integrated though.
I basically run the amp, pi and dac side by side on a
single piece of wood. That allows very easily to starground
all devices and keeps the cables very short.
If you feed a Boss and a PI3 with a 20000mAh battery
it of course will last a while. I'd guess that combo draws about 350mA.
My system is pretty much fully integrated though.
I basically run the amp, pi and dac side by side on a
single piece of wood. That allows very easily to starground
all devices and keeps the cables very short.
If you feed a Boss and a PI3 with a 20000mAh battery
it of course will last a while. I'd guess that combo draws about 350mA.
I wonder if there is any benefit with a power bank - there is definitely some kind of DC-DC converter. Theoretically, it may be less noisy than a cheap SMPS. Practically, I think I need to measure that
In my opinion, true battery power would be two LiPo in series, regulated by a linear regulator, but it would need to have some kind of battery protection circuit as well.
In my opinion, true battery power would be two LiPo in series, regulated by a linear regulator, but it would need to have some kind of battery protection circuit as well.I see the original discussion is from last year, but I use an Anker with my RPi 3b+ and Boss hat and it will run for a long time, longer than any single listening session but I don't expect it to play all day as background music. Don't know the specific model but it looks to be 4 18650 batteries in it from the size, but 18650 batteries vary in their capacity too.
As for iPower, I have that too and much prefer the battery sound. The iPower muddied the whole thing up.
As for iPower, I have that too and much prefer the battery sound. The iPower muddied the whole thing up.
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