Best Power Source for Pi4 running RoPieee

Audio Gear Talk RoPieee
21

Thanks! Unfortunately not in this room. I will need to do with WiFi.

22

Bummer. In that case, if I had a Chord Hugo TT, I’d probably bite the bullet and buy an AURALiC ARIES

23

Ethernet won’t improve SQ, just connection stability. As long as your wifi is reliable, running a bridge on wifi should be okay.

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24

Thanks for your suggestion!

To be a bit more precise: I have 2 systems.
My main system runs Roon on a MacMini with a direct USB connection into the Chord Hugo TT. My secondary system also runs Roon on a MacMini however, that feeds my Rpi4 over WiFi.
For the latter I am considering to add an Allo Digital board. Would you think the Auralic Aries would be a better choice?

25

AURALiC is one of the few endpoint manufacturers that advocates Wi-Fi over wired Ethernet for best sound and best results. They do caution that a good Wi-Fi signal is required and have some recommendations around solutions and setup to ensure this.

I’ve had great results with the Allo DigiOne over Wi-Fi (in the acrylic case). The difference in sound quality between the DigiOne and the ARIES will be small (like so many things in this space) and may come down to personal preference. But, the ARIES is a much nicer component to own and use.

Looking at your two systems, I would suggest putting the AURALiC ARIES in your main system. It should be a significant step in sound quality vs feeding the Hugo TT directly from Core running on the Mac. You can then remove Core from your audio rack and put it next to your router, which will result in less noise and RFI/EMI entering your audio system (if that was ever a concern).

If both systems are in the same home, you should not need two computers running Core.

26

Without knowing about your speakers, room or listening habits it’s still hard for a frugal person like me to justify the huge gap between the cost of Allo vs. AURALiC.

I am a big fan of the DigiOne Signature, and also suggest that you look at their less expensive 5v Nirvana SMPS if the Shanti is too much. Tried batteries as well, but tired of the swap/charge hassle.

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27

I use an Ifi power supply, Pi3b Raspberry Digi Hat. and wired ethernet. Qnao473 runs the core.
This feeds Naim Unitiqute2 and Meridian M100 active speakers.
The only thing I would change is to a Allo Digi Hat.
The sound quality is AMAZING
I have not tried a cheaper power supply

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28

I just don’t get why anyone should by a HAT, if you already have an external / high-end DAC which should do the Digital-Analog conversion. The whole idea of connecting a cheap Rasp.Pi to te DAC via USB is to just use the Pi as a ‘bridge’ to your external DAC.

Also, there’s supposed to be error correction and what-not going on between the Pi and the DAC. It’s a digital data stream. If your data stream gets interrupted (because of bad Wi-Fi for instance or a crappy USB stack), then you’d get interruptions in your music and maybe your DAC will go hay-wire and you’d start hearing hisses, clicks and/or static. But you’d hear that immediately… it has nothing to do with ‘sound quality’ in terms of lows and highs and soundstage or whatever lingo you use for SQ. :wink:

Only if you’re using the analog output of the HAT, feeding it into an analog amplifier… THEN you’d have to worry about the power supply of the Pi. In all other cases, be worried about the power supply of the DAC which might have ‘some’ influence, be it extremely little. ;).

It’s the analog path that is influenced by the type of power supply… not the digital path… at least not in terms of ‘Sound Quality’ as is meant in this thread.

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