Does anyone use a Pi2AES streamer?

It looks very interesting and measures well, and is only $199

PI2AES - PRO AUDIO SHIELD



I'd like to know if you can send music from your PC or a NAS to it using an app on your phone?

 

If you're not familiar with Raspberry Pi, it is a hobbyist computing platform. The functionality is in what type of software you install - or for a Pi, program.

A Pi shield is the equivalent of adding a digital-only sound card to your PC. A "shield" is an extension unit that plugs into the mostly-standard pin bus of a Raspberry Pi (or Arduino also uses the term).

This shield has a professional AES3 digital audio out. It needs an external DAC, or optionally, an I2S prototype board DAC of your own design. "Measures well" means it either works or it doesn't.

$275 shipped - for just the digital audio shield - is far more than one would pay for a used small-form-factor PC and a good sound interface of your choice - that does produce audio. PC which has many more media center options, or can be its own NAS.

(Also, the site you link has an embarrassing apostrophe in the company logo.)

 

Did you actually watch the youtube video I linked?

 

I own one after having used Macs and PCs previously as a music server. Once set up with a RPi, You can connect a NAS or use it to stream Qobuz, Spotify or Tidal, depending on the software installed.
If you haven’t used a RPi before there could be some learning curve if you aren’t somewhat network and command line savvy. But there are tutorials out there that make it not too bad.

BTW, the sound quality is noticeably better than any PC or Mac I’ve used for the same purpose. The quiet details are more apparent, and it’s just cleaner and more vivid.

 

Can someone explain why I'd use a Pi2AES over regular old Raspberry Pi 4 w/ USB galvanic isolation?

 

I can skim through the table of contents and see it is about digital to digital converters, jitter, etc. Which is a solved problem when the audio data goes via USB packets to a sound interface and audio comes out.

 

If your DAC does not have a USB port, or the USB implementation suffers from jitter. For most people, you would not.

 

If you only ever want to use USB, then don’t bother. But some people feel that some of the other connections give them additional benefits

 

Ah ok. So you didn't watch it. Thanks.

 

I don’t use it but it at least looks like a good product to offer that level of flexibility at that price point.

 

Great spot. Reminds me of the banner I once saw on a refurbished mill in Yorkshire:
Appartment's For Sale

 

Watch the video? It measures better.

 

Classic hypercorrection the story of ‘greengrocer’s apostrophe’, a.k.a. ‘apostrofly’

 

If you were British you would also get the hilarity of The Guardian newspaper pontificating about the correct use of English. The Guardian is infamous for its misspellings and is often referred to as The Groiniad in tribute.

 

Going off topic with the apostrophe thing, guys...

 

I don't use one, I use an Allo Audio USBridge Signature plus, also based on a RPI.

USBridge Sig - Ultra low noise RPI

But I did watch the video, and it was really good.

He explains, with tests, why bits are not just bits.

I happen to be very sensitive to jitter, and I can easily hear the effects of too much jitter in things like: soundstage, imaging, ambience and other spatial cues.

 

I'd also like to hear if anyone has any feedback using AES from a pi, since even though I'm happy using my Logitech Transporter right now, I've been curious about what it would be like to switch.

 

Really good video.

I don't start out being skeptical of people, or assume they have ulterior motives. So I don't have any pre-conceived notions of whether he's legit. But his video was clear, concise, and he backed up his words with data. I thought it was great.

Anyway, I have TWO pi2AES HATs in two separate systems.

One i run I2S into a Topping D70 DAC. (Then to my Bel Canto separates and to Magnepan .7i's.)

The other goes coax into my Parasound HINT6 integrated's DAC and to Harbeth 30.2 XD's. (But man, I am tempted by that Holo May DAC!)

Anyway, I am very happy with them, and I think they sound great.

Have I compared a million different streamers? No.

I first ran my rasp pi via USB to the Parasound, and that was fine, too. Can I tell a dramatic difference? No I cannot. It's a mid-fi living room system, not an esoteric listening mausoleum.

But it sounds fabulous, and it was pretty cheap. (I think he's raised his prices since I got mine.)

 

I use one and love it!
I did some research before my purchase and all arrows pointed to the PI2AES.
I have had in my system for about 6 months now. Hooked up w/spdif to a topping dac. HDD with flac files.
I can control it with my phone or remote pc.
Sounds "almost" as good as my CD player, but that would be big shoes to fill.

 

I do/did. I had an early revision and I would credit Pi2AES with finally convincing me that streaming local files and Qobuz through Roon were actually capable of hanging with a high quality physical transport. And for what it costs, that says a lot. It measures well, it fits into established digital networked audio setups rather easily, and has a lot of flexibility. Previous attempts were made with HiFiBerry products and a MicroRendu + LPSU. Pi2AES sounded better than both, to me. Never compared it to SOTM or Allo gear, though.

Ultimately, I went a different route because I'm using HQ Player to upsample, and Pi2AES doesn't support the rates and format I prefer to use. But that's just a subjective preference. Objectively, Pi2AES is a game changer.

 

Using Pi2AES w/ I2S input on a Pontus II "limits" sampling to 24/192. I wonder if the benefits of virtually eliminating jitter outweigh giving up DSD and/or oversampling? Really skeptical I'll hear a difference in my humble setup. Guess I'll just go for it and report my findings.

 

I have a couple of them set up as Roon endpoints (using RoPieee). They are very easy to set up and mine have been rock solid as far as staying online over wifi. Sound quality is unbeatable for the cost IMHO. However, they are very functional-looking (I hide mine). Note that Pi 2 Design has a new, more finished-looking streamer with a ssd called the Mercury coming out at some point (Coming Soon ).

Personally, I'm looking at the Ifi Zen Stream which gives you the same functionality + chromecast (eventually) and a more finished case for $200 more. Would love to compare these two but am waiting for the chromecast feature to come online as that's critical to the two systems my family uses (they prefer to cast spotify and use voice commands via google assistant).

 

iFi Zen doesn't have I2S output, which is the best measuring according to the video. I'd still be interested to see a USB jitter comparison between the iFi Zen and the standard Pi 4 USB

 

I can't do jitter measurements but I do think Zen Stream is a noticeable uptick in clarity and imaging from a Pi4 USB (HQP NAA image) to Zen Stream in NAA mode. Haven't compared both just as Roon Endpoints, but I'm not sure I'd expect any difference there either. And I'm not totally surprised - Zen is 6-8x more expensive than Pi4. May just come down to how revealing and quiet your room, speakers, and DAC are.

The biggest bugaboo for me with Pi2AES is that i2S is capped at DSD64 output, where I use 256 with a heavy modulator. And based on my use case, it's just outgunned from the start, and not a fair fight or comparison.

But, I never was bowled over by the i2S output in PCM versus the AES/EBU output from pi2AES. It may measure better but I don't think subjectively it was apparent.

 

What power supply are you using with your Pi4? The Pi4 does need clean power, a 5v SMPS isn't a fair comparison with the Zen. I'd also be interested how the Zen compares to a Pi4 with galvanically isolated USB output. The Zen doesn't re-clock, it just reduces electrical noise with ANC — the Pi4 can accomplish the same (over USB) with galvanic isolation. I think that would be the fairest comparison.