Bridge Volume Control Question

Audio Gear Talk Raspberry Pi
1

Recently took the plunge into modifying my system by incorporating an RPi and Allo DigiOne which allowed me to relocate RoonCore. Pretty straight forward and initial impressions are very positive. My question has to do with volume control. I’ve searched this forum and have found fragments but I still have some gaps to fill.

MacMini (core)—>Cat5—>Router—>Cat5—>RPi/DietPi/DigiOne—>SPDIF coax—>Pre/DAC

Currently I’m controlling volume using DSP volume from an iPad. Tried ‘Use Device Control’ and this outputs 100% and app volume icon indicates ‘Fixed’. Is DSP volume the only way? Seems it is but just want to confirm.

I could use the DACs volume control knob but would prefer to do this from the app. The pre/DAC doesn’t have its own remote and that means I’d need to actually get out of the comfy chair.

Lifetimer here and Roon just continues to impress. Never enjoyed this hobby more.

Appreciate any insight.

Edit: moved to Raspberry Pi sub

2

@Support/
Bumping this thread since I still don’t know the answer.

Is it possible to device control volume of either the RPi or the DigiOne to retain bit perfect playback?

The DSP volume adjustment occurs between the RPi and the DigIOne steps. If this is the way it is, please confirm and I’ll go away.

Been using DSP volume for close to a year now and living with the high quality Green light. Sure would like to see Purple!

Been through the FAQ and knowledge base as well as searching anything relating to volume. I see topics about ALSAmixer and such but have not found a solution or answer that can point me in the right direction. I built the RPI/DigiOne end point and got it working by following the guides and info in this forum. My RPI/Linux knowledge ends there.

I have a resolving system (Yggy/Pass/Gallo Ref 3.5) and sure would like to know I was maximizing output quality through the playback chain.

Any help is appreciated.

4

Hello @WaterDog,

Using DSP Volume control will always result in the playback appearing as “High Quality”, since it is altering the bit-perfectness of the stream to the DAC. While Roon’s DSP volume algorithm is an incredibly high quality and transparent software volume solution, its use can cause features like MQA and DSD playback to malfunction as in addition to the performance penalty.

-John

5

Thanks, John. Please confirm that this is my only option to adjust volume on a RPi/DigiOne end point.

6

You won’t get the best SQ using DSP volume.

In the past, I’ve used this -


If you have just unbalanced inputs then -
http://www.schiit.com/products/sys
Since you have a Yggy, you’re probably already aware of the SYS.

7

Thanks, Slim. I was hoping to avoid a preamp stage and manual volume control. Want to control volume from tablet and retain bit perfect playback. Doesn’t seem possible but I was hoping it was.