I am curious about this one. It is possible to replace the card to a dedicated HQP NAA image card, according to various sources on internet (?) Will this potentially be an equal/better streamer/endpoint as the Eversolo T8? It seems to offer the important linear power supplies and a proper protective earth to minimize the ‘wild fire’ electrical noise. It further offers a SFP port to lift the galvanic connection to the local network.
Happy to hear from you guys who have some experience about this one, thanks.
It sure does, but with some cheaper designs. I does not support the optical decoupling, there is no compartments keeping interference from critical areas. How that in turn will be audible, is hard to ‘see’ from pics. Interesting, thanks for sharing
I changed from Holo Red to this a while ago. I run GentooPlayer on it. I also have an LHY AS6 switch. Both work great and offer great sound quality. LHY has high quality PSU’s in their equipment so no need to fiddle with external PSU’s. I wrote my thoughts about RPI Pro in Head-Fi. There’s a dedicated thread for the RPI Pro.
Well I wouldn’t have changed from the Holo Red to the RPI Pro if I didn’t find it better. No massive differences, slightly more refined sound from the RPI Pro IMO.
Thanks for sharing I already have the switch you mentioned. Would you place that combo superior to Holo Red?
Edit: OK you already replied … pressing F5 before sending a question is obviously good …
This particular area of my rig is highly sensitive. I have fiddled with it back and forth and was able to ruin it with unfortunate hardware replacements, some time ago. It seems a DAC (not just my RME) is highly sensitive to electrical noise on USB line, the opposite device and the SQ benefits is obvious.
My chosen optical bridge in USB line is definitely on par with Ifi’s, if not better, but must have a linear PSU. I have bought them (USB receiver, transmitter, SFP modules, optical 2 x LC patch and 5 volt LPSU) from Chinese trade place at the price around Euro 150:- free delivery my address, while the equivalent Ifi cost 10x in Sweden.
Fibre makes a difference. In my case it gives a complete isolation of server from the rest of the rig. I have my custom built server machine with Solarflare SN8522 NIC connected over fibre to the LHY AS6 (I use Finisar SFP modules on both ends) and AS6 is connected with Blue Jeans Cable Cat6a cable to the RPI Pro. From there, Intona Premium USB cables with Intona 7054-X USB isolator to the T+A DAC200. Streaming software is Roon + HQPlayer + Diretta.
RPI Pro is also slightly cheaper than Holo Red. I got mine for a very good price from Aliexpress.
I already have the switch you mentioned. Would you place that combo superior to Holo Red?