HQPlayer NAA - POE (Power Over Ethernet) RPi4 HAT thread

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@jussi_laako

That looks good, and there are likely also some with a short wire as it would put less stress on the RPi Type-C connector… Just not fond of AliExpress

Hard to find on Amazon strangely but easy to find on eBay.

Probably the same sellers as on AliExpress

I agree these extensions are better than the hard adapter - too stiff

USB 3.1 Type C USB-C Male to DC 5.5mm x 2.1mm Power Jack Extension Charge Cable...

[dabassgoesboomboom]

Smaller case has already reached 68 deg C

It comes with a fan - I’ll try to see if its audible. Unfortunately fixed speed

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

Have you seen what is the temperature limit? 68C doesn’t sound bad, Intel CPUs are usually thermal throttled at some 90+C.

Since I have silent cooling profile on my PCs, they usually run around 65 - 68C.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

I’ll check but it reached 68 deg C in only 20mins isn’t a good sign. Big case didn’t pass 66 deg C after 2 hours. I’ll see if it goes over 70 deg C

POE is causing this heat. This smaller case would be good for normal USB-C 5V power I imagine.

Merging Anubis runs warmer over POE also - triggers higher fan speed.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

The included fixed speed fan is crap - too audible.

Noctua PWM to the rescue dead silent - on lowest speed

The holes on top come in very handy for plastic ties to hold Noctua down

Not permanent solution but curious to see temps

[dabassgoesboomboom]

Ok for POE use, the bigger DFRobot case wins if you want to run fanless (UCTronics mini POE HAT) & silent. Put a copper heatsink on the SoC and it should never go above 66 deg C. Very happy with this case. Performance is nearly as good as ‘fully open’.

If not using POE, the small DFRobot is nice and very cheap. Still use copper heatsink on SoC.

Now I can remove a PSU permanently from my system.

I still have RPi4 USB output feeding 5kV Intona isolator, so I don’t care about POE noise

[Larry_Barbatsoulis]

just to add to convo,
hiberry hat on rpi4 + case .

I keep it powered 24/7 zero heat issues but i do power off wall wart.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

Looks like DAC+ ADC (Pro)? I have DAC+ ADC Pro in similar steel case, but it’s just black. For analog input features.

[Larry_Barbatsoulis]

HiFiBerry DAC2 Pro https://a.co/d/0PdyE61

Steel Case for HiFiBerry DAC+ RCA, Pi 4 - White https://a.co/d/f9fbbmg

Also have zero tier vpn running on it so Pre roon ARC

I could just take that connect to internet cable or wifi anywhere and I have my roon library.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

OK, I think I have that too. I have quite a collection of RPi’s + HifiBerry boards…

Since the boards max out at 192k PCM, RPi4 is enough to run HQPlayer Embedded with pretty much any processing to 192k PCM output. It is sort of very inexpensive full fledged streamer with room/headphone correction in a very small box. With analog output, DAC included.

[Larry_Barbatsoulis]

Exactly! Perfect inexpensive roon endpoint.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

Yeah, for me it is not really related to Roon, but…

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@Chunhao_Lee

Sorry interrupt the discussion… the RPi officially released PoE+ HAT recently but the NAA OS only has the old PoE HAT overlay. @jussi_laako would you help us add the PoE+ function into the NAA OS’ kernel? RPi really needs the fan spinning (high temperature will degrade the SQ).

So I put my RPi POE+ Pi HAT (the official RPi one) inside this case that I’ve been using with my UCTronics fanless POE (non-plus) HAT:

Raspberry Pi Case-Pi ICE Fan Compatible - DFRobot

I put copper heatsink on SoC and took out the fan (see photo below) - it maxes out at 65 deg C after 2 hours. Safe !

And this is tough test to draw most power - fully powering USB 2.0 DAC (near 500mA), streaming DSD512, HDMI monitor connected, USB 2.0 keyboard connected.

For NAA purposes keyboard and monitor obviously never but I wanted Pi4 and POE+ HAT to draw most power for this test.

So for NAA, official RPi POE+ HAT , I can run mine fanless , with this case linked above. This metal case is tall and has slots on all sides.

With this other case I previously tried, RPi POE+ HAT definitely needs the fan. That case is very compact, nowhere for heat to go: HPQe NAA UP Gateway, Atom - #89 by dabassgoesboomboom

But to me UCTronics is better POE (non plus) HAT - it is so small, low profile, doesn’t cover any RPi4 components. But RPi’s POE+ HAT also fine, and same temp when in this big tall & open case.

[dabassgoesboomboom]

I forgot UP makes POE HAT too ! Decent price and in stock.

Same size as RPi , so big DFRobot case will be fine - assuming NAA can run fine with just copper heatsink on the Intel Atom chip.

If we can get UAC2 input to work properly @jussi_laako I’ll add this to my POE NAA’s

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

New overlays eventually propagate to NAA OS. But it takes some time to arrive through the official RPi kernel tree.

The UAC2 input feature seems to be a bit nightmarish. So I rather stick to standard interfaces like S/PDIF and AES/EBU for digital inputs at the moment. I believe I have now RME HDSPe AIO also on Windows covered (with auto rate switching), but I still have some testing to do. Maybe ADI-2 on Windows too (we’ll see).

[dabassgoesboomboom]

@jussi_laako

New overlays eventually propagate to NAA OS. But it takes some time to arrive through the official RPi kernel tree.

I’m using latest RPi POE+ HAT fine with the NAA part of latest HQP OS image (4.33.0).

I didn’t have to change anything - POE worked on the first boot.

@jussi_laako

The UAC2 input feature seems to be a bit nightmarish. So I rather stick to standard interfaces like S/PDIF and AES/EBU for digital inputs at the moment.

Agreed. My ADI-2 will be with me as a fancy SPDIF-to-USB converter for many years even with new DACs coming.

[jussi_laako (Jussi Laako (Signalyst))]

@dabassgoesboomboom

Agreed. My ADI-2 will be with me as a fancy SPDIF-to-USB converter for many years even with new DACs coming.

And it does very good analog inputs too. Even 768/32 PCM and DSD256 if you want to go extreme.

[steven_goodier]

Hey DBGBB,

Any thoughts on SQ differences using POE instead of LPS or regular PSU?

[dabassgoesboomboom]

Nope no difference for me at all - just great convenience of less power supplies plugged into AC !

In my home office setup alone, I removed 2x power supplies that powered 2x RPi4’s - one for NAA input and one for NAA output.

In the office when I’m not using the RPi4s, I disconnect the ethernet cable. It’s a more reliable mechanical connection than plugging/unplugging USB-C long term (USB-C can be flimsy long term)

What DAC you use?

If your DAC has USB galvanic isolation, RPi4’s power supply won’t have any effect on SQ.

[steven_goodier]

I’m using a Denafrips Ares2 and a Topping D90se with RPi no hats. I connect using usb and use HQPlayer Desktop.

My Gieseler LPS and Allo LPS could be retired…or sold

I currently leave both DACS on, because when I turn them off, I have to re-boot the pi’s to re-connect with HQP. Is there a specific order you need to power DAC and Pi ion and off?

How much power is being used by a DAC and RPi whilst idle?