DAC recommendations for RaspberryPI

[gobble]

I havent read this thread except for the last page. But a few quick comments.

The poor Wifi performance for bitrates above 3mbps is due hardware vendors not open sourcing their drivers. Most linux WiFi drivers lack performance because of closed secretive implementation by vendors and linux not having a comparable programe Microsoft certified hardware. There are specific chipsets that are hardware designed opensource but maybe only pci or pcix card based. I will update in a few days if I recollect which ones. Usb dongles generally give poor performance with linux for this reason.

The clicking is likely due to drops in data transfer between pc and dac. You need to locate what irqs are shared with usb audio like usb wifi dongle and usb hdd and use the rtirq config file to prioritize the audio interrupts over others.

~G0bble

 

[indialogue]

Hey Indialogue,

Thanks for the update. Very helpful for me in this phase.

What is your file storage - NAS or USB drive? How easily can they be accessed? Can you provide some pics of the interface please?

My file storage is a Pogoplug-based SMB server, connected to a 2TB HDD. I'm streaming music over wireless because my internet connection is only available in one room and my audio system is setup in another.

 

[indialogue]

I havent read this thread except for the last page. But a few quick comments.

The poor Wifi performance for bitrates above 3mbps is due hardware vendors not open sourcing their drivers. Most linux WiFi drivers lack performance because of closed secretive implementation by vendors and linux not having a comparable programe Microsoft certified hardware. There are specific chipsets that are hardware designed opensource but maybe only pci or pcix card based. I will update in a few days if I recollect which ones. Usb dongles generally give poor performance with linux for this reason.

The clicking is likely due to drops in data transfer between pc and dac. You need to locate what irqs are shared with usb audio like usb wifi dongle and usb hdd and use the rtirq config file to prioritize the audio interrupts over others.

What you've said is right but I think that if you stick to Realtek chip-based wifi solutions, you will have a better chance of success - Debian (which is the underlying distro for Volumio) seems to have very good driver support for them.

I dont face any clicking issues as well. I do face dropout and latency issues when streaming high-bitrate audio but given the fact that there is over 20M of distance between the router and the RPi (including multiple walls), its more likely a signal strength issue. One of the tweaks I plan to do is to get a high-gain antenna for the Rpi and check if that improves things

 

[dheerajjotwani]

Off topic but has anyone yet tried the hifiberrry with the rpi?