Kali/Piano 2.1 on an RPi2
I'm not sure this is the best thread for this question, but I imagine it will work.
I'm considering the combo for my Pi2 or possibly a new Pi3. I'm currently using Moode via the Pi2 and a HifiBerry Digi+ to a Twisted Pear Opus Dac.
I think the Kali/Piano 2.1 combo could be a sufficient jump in performance to take the chance, but, of course I have two questions:
1) It sounds like I can stack the three units without a problem. The fact that the Allo units are not 'hat compliant' should not be a problem insofar as I will put together my own enclosure. Is this thinking correct?
2) One of the potential areas of improvement that attracts me is the possibility of sending 384/24 pcm to the Piano 2.1. The specs of the Kali suggest that it may not allow that. What is the situation there? I have been very pleased with the evolution of Moode, and this combination looks to be promising.
Skip
I'm not sure this is the best thread for this question, but I imagine it will work.
I'm considering the combo for my Pi2 or possibly a new Pi3. I'm currently using Moode via the Pi2 and a HifiBerry Digi+ to a Twisted Pear Opus Dac.
I think the Kali/Piano 2.1 combo could be a sufficient jump in performance to take the chance, but, of course I have two questions:
1) It sounds like I can stack the three units without a problem. The fact that the Allo units are not 'hat compliant' should not be a problem insofar as I will put together my own enclosure. Is this thinking correct?
2) One of the potential areas of improvement that attracts me is the possibility of sending 384/24 pcm to the Piano 2.1. The specs of the Kali suggest that it may not allow that. What is the situation there? I have been very pleased with the evolution of Moode, and this combination looks to be promising.
Skip
I believe that both those DACs operate in master mode, and will not work with Kali which requires a DAC in slave mode.
John
Actually the main problem for both of these is that the Kali does not pass 3.3v on its output pins. Both of your DACs need 3.3v to operate. You could find a small add-on regulator to provide it and we could assist you in getting it hooked up if needed.
Also the HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro normally operates in 'master' mode where it feeds the bitclock and LRclock to the R-Pi to get a better-clocked/lower jitter I2S stream out of the R-Pi. The current version Kali only works with DACs operating in 'slave' mode like the IQAudio DAC. There is a way to force the HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro into 'slave' mode... see here:
Allo KALI Reclocker & Raspberry Pi DACs running as Slave or Master?
and here:
https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/pull/1501
Your other option is to check with Allo.com... I understand they are working on a 2nd version of the Kali HW and I believe it will accommodate both situations.
Greg in Mississippi
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I agree regards layout of most SOC boards on the market, not set up for audiophiles for sure. But the RPi has the sockets of most interest on one side at least - the ethernet and USB ports.
Quick pic of my player with RPi3, Kali and a DAC I am sure you will recognise Jean-Paul.
SPDIF portion of the SUBBU hacked off and I2S header attached to the Kali. Kali and DAC powered by the SUBBU supply, RPi has its own chunky supply.
Not a lot of space left but result is a neat little box (in my opinion!).
Attachments
Wow it is possible ! I like it except for the mains wire that should (IMO) have been at the backside. Mains wiring is very close to sensitive circuits too. Your device gives inspiration for sure.
I would have donated the SBT PSU to go with it but I see you don't have any space left for that one, let alone for the Rcore transformer.
I would have donated the SBT PSU to go with it but I see you don't have any space left for that one, let alone for the Rcore transformer.
Normally I do try to keep mains wiring separated but the layout was dictated by the case I had to hand. It was a bit masochistic of me trying to squeeze it all into that box tho the Kali was a later addition.
Unfortunately not, the PSU boards are a couple of mm away from the front panel. I do like the look of that socket tho and maybe one would fit but that would mean the mains came it at the front panel (the 2nd pic was from the rear of the box) and I would lose that nice clean layout. Just a thought, is EMF from the mains the concern here? Would shielding help?
To be honest this is in my less critical system anyway, I really only use it as background music during the day. The player in my more critical listening system has much better separation of incoming mains. That uses a Beaglebone black with external oscillator/clock (similar to the Chronos set-up) and Miero's sw. At some stage I must compare the two players.
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Super neat Chris! I've modified a Mamboberry DAC which fits right on top of the R-Pi for a similar setup, but have much larger power supplies, so it wouldn't case nearly as nicely.
For many, that setup of yours should be pretty darned good!
Greg in Mississippi
I should add the Mamboberry R-Pi DAC HAT also uses the ES9023 chip. If someone wanted to duplicate Chris' setup with a slightly more compact DAC, use the newer Mamboberry LS which has slightly better regulators and also has separate regulators on the DAC chip and clock chip.
Greg in Mississippi
Greg in Mississippi
Jean-Paul,
Yup, could see that in Chris' great picture. Thanks for the clarification. I am sorry, I should have said that the LS with the better and dual regulators was a better choice than the original Mamboberry. I was NOT trying to imply it was a better choice than the Subbu (which I have no experience with).
From looking at Chris' picture, I also think the Subbu MIGHT have a better clock AND looks to have a more extensive (not sure if it is better) power network.
Again, thanks!!!
Greg in Mississippi
Yup, could see that in Chris' great picture. Thanks for the clarification. I am sorry, I should have said that the LS with the better and dual regulators was a better choice than the original Mamboberry. I was NOT trying to imply it was a better choice than the Subbu (which I have no experience with).
From looking at Chris' picture, I also think the Subbu MIGHT have a better clock AND looks to have a more extensive (not sure if it is better) power network.
Again, thanks!!!
Greg in Mississippi
Just read this entire thread but it's still not clear if and how custom filters are handled in the Piano 2.2 (why did they call it 2.1?).
I have been using an analogue active crossover for many years and would like to try this in the digital domain. However I need some slighlty unusual slopes:
Low pass: 2nd order at 80Hz cascaded with 2nd order at 120Hz
High pass: 2nd order at 120Hz
Can this be done with the Piano?
I have been using an analogue active crossover for many years and would like to try this in the digital domain. However I need some slighlty unusual slopes:
Low pass: 2nd order at 80Hz cascaded with 2nd order at 120Hz
High pass: 2nd order at 120Hz
Can this be done with the Piano?
Hi, I have the Dac Piano and Kali reclocker. I connected Kali and dac piano Rapsberry Pi 2.by I selected volumio version 2 I2s and dac piano, but the music played by the dac, but the hdmi output (even when not selected hdmi as audio output. any idea what could happen? I am afraid that the problem is with the dac piano, I do not work without Kali connected or not connected to Sparky pcb.
And this
Configuration: sparky pcb / kali / Piano / Ubuntu Piano 2.0 from microsd.
UBuntu starts well but no device is recognized audio and music does not sound.
lights on in Kali 48k green, red empty. On piano power and SD green.
sparky piano directly without Kali does not appear in sound output devices Ubuntu
Any idea what's wrong?
thanks for the help.
And this
Configuration: sparky pcb / kali / Piano / Ubuntu Piano 2.0 from microsd.
UBuntu starts well but no device is recognized audio and music does not sound.
lights on in Kali 48k green, red empty. On piano power and SD green.
sparky piano directly without Kali does not appear in sound output devices Ubuntu
Any idea what's wrong?
thanks for the help.
Not at the moment. The drivers are not ready. There are some issues to be resolved with redistribution of the TI miniDSP firmware.
I'm interested to know if the end user will be able to create their own filters in TI's Pure Path Studio, or whether there will be a limited set distributed with the drivers.
Perhaps Ioan can comment?
That's what I thought.
The Allo website seems to say this is possible:
"We are using 2 DAC Ic's PCM5142 with integrated DSP. The PurePath software from TI is available for download (registration required) and can be used to create specific filters and other audio functions."
It's a bit naughty leaving this on the website IMHO. Had I not seen these threads, I would have ordered and been dissapointed!
(Hope this is not deemed as negative, the KALO looks like a greaat product!)
Looking forward to more information on this. I too have an DDDAC and is currently using runeaudio running on an Odroid C2 connected to the DDDAC by i2s.
I'm thinking about introducing a reclocker and or isolator between the Odroid and the DDDAC. Manly been looking at Kali and Ians solution. And have to say that the Kali looks promising as a bang for buck solution (and I like bang for buck solutions
), but as it's aimed at the rpi I have to rewire/mod it to work with the Odroid.How did you wire up the Kali to to Odriod?
Any fancy PSU to power the Odroid/Kali?
Have you done any measurements on the output (by scope or other tools) or is it by ear? Tried to removing it again to verify the SQ changes?
What mods have you done to the DDDAC? I'm running blue mainborad with one dac board and Audio Note tantalum I/V resistors and find it quite good.
Users can create specific flows with Purepath software, we will show how to integrate it.
AT this point TI license says that we can distribute the flows, but to be compatible with GPL license it should be "distribute and re-distribute " ..
So again waiting for TI legal team
AT this point TI license says that we can distribute the flows, but to be compatible with GPL license it should be "distribute and re-distribute " ..
So again waiting for TI legal team