thank you!
Got the Canakit with the RaspPi, power supply, SD card, etcā¦ But the Pi2AES will be a couple-three weeks out.
So, is it worth it to configure the RaspPi without the Pi2AES? Iām assuming it might be worth setting up as a roon endpoint as is, and listening via USB for a while, right? (then add the Pi2AES unit after and hopefully notice a gigantic difference, right?) 
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Yes, thatās what Iād do in your situation. I donāt know about āgiganticā difference, but I certainly could hear a difference between Pi2AES and an old Allo USBridge, and thatās with Yggdrasil with a Unison USB card, which is very good compared with most other DAC USB inputs I know.
Wow, weāre streaming!
A little trial and error to find the device on the network, but so far so good.
I went with RoPieeeXL because I have HQPlayer. But not exactly sure how Iād install HQPlayer onto the Raspberry Piā¦ (Iāll hunt this down, but if you have insight, lay it on me.)
Thank you!
EDIT: ok, i just had a realization. I wouldnāt install HQP on the pi, but it would run an NAA, and then HQPlayer on the Core would see that.
Iāll give that a shot.
EDIT #2: BINGO.
I am an old dog learning new tricks and it feels fabulous. 
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Ok, some interesting behavior depending on DACā¦
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RaspPi HQP/NAA upsampled to 192K > USB into X-SPDIF > AES into Topping D70 DAC.
Flawless. Worked great. -
RaspPi HQP/NAA upsampled to 192K > USB into TEAC UD-501 DAC.
Constant cutting out at 192K. Could still use HQPlayer, but had to keep sample rate at 44.1 or it would cut out. Like every two seconds or so. -
RaspPi HQP/NAA upsampled to 192K > USB into Parasound HINT6 integratedās onboard DAC. Sounds āfineā but volume is waaaaaaay low. And i have Roon/HQPlayer volume up all the way. Turned parasound volume ALL THE WAY UP and it was still at ānormalā listening volume.
More tests to follow, but Iām scratching my head!
Some older DACs (such as the one in the Bel Canto C7R I used to have) donāt do well with USB at > 96K.
I hear ya, but interestingly, the TEAC does fine if the USB comes from my Mac. (Also using Roon/HQPlayer.)
To be honest, it still sounds fine at 44.1 with HQPlayer filtering.
The weirder thing is the volume issue on the Parasound. Iām gonna keep investigating that one.
Interesting thread! Thanks for all the valuable links. Currently use a Sonos Port (latest version of Sonos connect) as a bridge/endpoint (the Sonos digital out goes into a Chord āQutestā DAC, but Roon of course does not see the Chord DAC). This all works very well.
Curious: if I built up a Pi4 with or without the Pi2AES HAT, what benefits might accrue? I assume more digital formats would be available (DSD, etc) though I donāt yet dabble in those formats.
Others will have to speak to the formats, Iām afraid.
Roon can convert to DSD I believe, as can HQPlayer. However, Iāve not had much luck converting to DSD. Might be my DAC, might be the processing power of the computer (whether Mac or Rasp Pi), Iām not sure.
But I donāt dwell too much on that as PCM upsampled to 192K sounds outstanding.
Hmmmmā¦
had a power outage in our neighborhood for about 30 seconds earlier this evening.
Later, went to play through the Pi, and nothing. HQPlayer couldnāt find the device.
Web interface canāt connect. I canāt ping it or anything. Seems like itās stuck in reboot mode. (Green light does the quick/random flash, not the 1-per-second flash it does after it boots.) Iāve tried power cycling it a few times. Nothing.
Did some searching and I see that the SD card might have been corrupted from the power outage. So I re-flashed it. (Didnāt erase anything, just re-flashed.)
No joy, so I erased the card and re-flashed it again.
Still no joy. (Both times Etcher says the flashing is successful.)
Anyway, any ideas?
@terzinator I have a test RoPieee Pi2 on my desk and turn it off by pulling the USB plug on the board.
Done that probably over 20 times and it has no influence.
The board boots always.
Could there be some other thing that has changed or damaged in your setup?
When reflashing and powering, was the board connected cabled (UTP)?
Not sure what other thing you might mean. Like, beyond the Pi? Or something on the Pi? The Pi is the only thing not working.
Iāve removed it from any audio device, and am just trying to boot it. I connected an HDMI cable to see whatās going on. Normally, youāll see its boot-up processes, and then the monitor will lose its signal as I understand the Pi disables HDMI once itās booted. But itās hanging here (Last sequence says āTIME SYNCED!ā):
Hmmm not sure what this means. UTP?
(Sorry, Iām a novice!)
Iām gonna create a new thread in the RoPieee section, just so I donāt muck this one up with tech support!
Looking at the screen, itās connecting to the internet and getting the time from a network time sever (NTP == network time protocol). Then crickets.
Never mind: looked more carefully at the screen images (should never try to debug things before my second coffee in the morning) I see āeth0: Link is downā which means that Ethernet is not connected ā eth0 is the Linux device name for the Pi ethernet port.
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Pi2AES HAT finally arrived and I assembled it and hooked it up.
I decided to try the I2S interface into my Topping D70, which never worked with the Matrix X-SPDIF 2. (Apparently a known issueā¦ no amount of futzing with the settings would make any signal come out of the D70 with Matrix & I2S.) But the I2S/HDMI works great out of the Pi2AES.
Now, I am SURE there is confirmation bias and wishing for improvements, but it really sounds amazing. I donāt know that I have the patience to assemble/disassemble all day long to compare, but maybe Iāll buy another RaspPi and run it USB only, and try to A/B the two.
For $300 all in (including RaspPi, Pi2AES, case, all power supplies and SD card and whatnot), itās a pretty great Roon endpoint.
Anyway, extremely happy with the device. Thanks for all your input and advice!
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