Distorted USB audio with Tinker Board and DietPi

Audio Gear Talk DietPi
41

I remember having had these set up in Roon just to test comparatively against the USB-connected Chord Mojo, and after being done with them, you can remove these endpoints from Roon, in the Settings part.

42

Thank you Radu, i realize that but i was more interested in hiding them from ALSA so to speak.

43

Hi @Mikael_Ollars,

Any luck getting the AQDFR to work on the Tinkerboard? Turns out it also doesnā€™t work on the USBridge by @allo.com, and I am wondering if the problem is related. The kernel versions are completely different:
Tinkerboard dietpi: Linux tinkerboard 4.4.71+ #1 SMP Thu Aug 17 00:28:01 CST 2017 armv7l GNU/Linux
Usbridge dietpi: Linux usbbridge 3.10.38 #96 SMP PREEMPT Tue Nov 7 17:10:13 IST 2017 armv7l GNU/Linux

I have both these boards and can confirm the same issue with Drafonfly Red on both updated to Dietpi V158.

Wouter

44

Hi Wouter, i havent tried the AQDFR for a while (on my Pi-endpoints) but i can for sure give it a whirl tonight!

45

That would be fantastic, thanks!

Just remember to turn the volume way down as the noise it makes is quite horrificā€¦

Wouter

46

Hi Wouter
Just tried the Audioquest Dragonfly Red on my Tinkerboard with Dietpi 156, no goā€¦ Same horrible distorted audio as previously. Tried different power schemes but nothing had any noticeable effect. :confused:
Updated DietPi to 158 and then i couldnā€™t get the AQDFR to play any sounds at all :frowning:
Playing the same Tinkerboard right now over USB out to an Audiobyte Black Dragon which works really well!

47

Forgot to say, i also tried the AQDFR with a regular Raspberry Pi2 with DietPi 158 and it works just fine!

48

Thanks for testing @Mikael_Ollars . I did listen using the AQDFR on my Macbook pro using Tidal native app last nightā€¦not ideal, but the sq was very good(Specially on MQA tracks).

The Audiobyte Black dragon looks awesomeā€¦Iā€™ll have to save up :slight_smile:

All the best!

1 Like
49

Just an update here. With the latest version of DietPi (6.6) the Tinkerboard works like a charm with most external USB DACs i have tried. Power scheme should be OnDemand or Conservative, not Interactive. The exception is still the AudioQuest Dragonfly Red which makes really offensive noise on the output.
The built in headphone socket also works fine but itā€™s volume control is not available anywhere else than in the ALSA Mixer (over SSH)! Sounds pretty good though if your headphones are easy to drive. I think iā€™ll give the SPDIF output a whirl in the afternoon!