Not going into details, and harbouring personal opinion without challenging what you believe to be an ill-informed opposite opinion or conclusion is no way to ‘out the truth’. You are in effect saying ‘he is wrong - trust me’.
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I guess the basic jist I got from the article is that a Pi based system sounds great and you do not need to go overboard with stuff like expensive power supplies to get good sound, so I am surprised that you are not digging the article. I don’t follow Archimago, so I don’t know his history, but this article seemed a’ight.
Let me clarify: I would think that Roon is all about affordable (and expensive) ways to get music flowing, with Roon at the center of it all, of course! Anyway, that article seems to support that by laying out how to get an inexpensive Pi based music player up and running, with technical details and measurements supporting why it should sound good.
It’s all good, just trying to get a read on what was bothersome about that particular article.
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@Kenneth_Price I wasn’t criticising this particular article, but the overall “Archimago” package. I have no criticism with his tackling of the headline goal of the article.
@Jeff_C Yes, of course I am! I know that some of Archimago’s facts, interpretations, and claims are wrong: take it or leave it. I simply feel obliged to point this out to those who might not know otherwise. It’s a real shame that he tars his excellent measurement work by jumping to conclusions in other areas. However, I am no longer prepared to attempt to engage in reasoned argument on the Internet with those who cannot be reasoned with. Been there, done that.
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i think the Pi is a fantastic vehicle for music and this has taken some by surprise. The development around it has been quite phenomenal and it has brushed aside other more expensive competitors with greater ease than its rivals would like. They must be very envious and are probably working behind the scenes desperately trying to create a worthy rival. Problem is I think they will struggle and they probably know it will be a struggle to undercut the Pi and usurp its crown. You can buy expensive if you wish.Nothing wrong with that but I’m sticking with my Pi as I believe it is hard to beat, especially at the price.
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Indeed. I think that we’re entering an age of incredible quality at unheard of prices.
Not to undercut the value of the Raspberry Pi (I own a few myself), but it’s just a computer. Unless you’re running some kind of DSP software on it, it’s just routing bits of data from an Ethernet port out through USB; how does it “sound” like anything at all?
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Thas has always been my feeling…but you go down the rabbit hole of power supplies, cables that cost hundreds, etc…it is crazy, but if I had the money I would probably be spending on all that crazy stuff. Currently I run Roon on a Rock, feed a bunch of PIs with various types of hardware, and it works and sounds great. My main rig is a PI with a Pi2Design 502DAC outputting AES digital into a Schitt Yggdrasil, a used McIntosh Integrated, and Goldenear speakers. I couldn’t be happier…unless I upgraded the power supplies, power cables, speaker cables, and on and on and on…lol.
Back to the point: I am comfortable that the bits are making it cleanly to the Yggdrasil DAC, and I feel (maybe igorantly) that all the magic is happening in the DAC->Amp->Speakers. No need for a streamer costing thousands IMHO.
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I agree. The streaming device should be cheap and disposable as it only ever will be nothing more than a computer, and the shelf life of any computer is short to non-existent. It’s unfortunate to see the proliferation of “streaming DAC” devices which are just computers placed in very fancy cases with a few extra parts (ultra-low-jitter clocks!) to give it an audiophile aura… (I’m looking at you, sOTM, and your $3500 computer in an aluminium case).
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The Pi might be just a computer but its one that’s pretty scaled back compared to full PC’s. This is its strength in the audio dept less is more as its less added noise and its way, way cheaper. I have had pi’s running music now for about 3 years and have no need to ever change now unless they die and then ii’ll just use another one.They are flexible and not tied to any one vendor which is again a strength.I used them originally for squeezebox and now for Roon but you can take what you fancy as there is plenty of options. They sound as good as anything else I have had or heard in the streaming dept on my gear. I mourned for a while when my SB Touch died but that soon went away after replacing it with another pi and HAT.
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That’s the whole point, it shouldn’t have sound of it’s own. Never got the RPi1 to work properly and the DietPi I had blew up or something but the sound was fine. Incredible what a few euro’s of hardware (and Roon) can bring you. An eyeopener in a world of multithousand ‘high-end’ streamers.
Things only get interesting after that first streaming step, which is hardly ever the weak spot in any system. DAC’s? A little. Amp? I like the change my tube amp brought, but speakers is where the magic lies.
That is the message I take from the Archimago measurements and my experience. YMMV but I’m right 
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Sorry about your Touch. I still run mine as an Endpoint. It was and still is an incredible, far sighted piece of equipment. Shame Logitech didn’t have the foresight to develop it further.
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This is where I would suggest anyone who believes their system needs an upgrade should look first and foremost. All the parameters that can be measured, which are common to all parts of the hifi chain such as frequency response, distortion, along with those which are peculiar to the loudspeaker itself, varying impedance across the frequency range, directivity, resonances (aka ringing), make the loudspeaker the most obvious link in the chain where improvement is available. Like all things hifi weak links are not necessarily solved with throwing $$$$ at it. Some really expensive speakers have problems of ringing, poor directivity, and poor frequency response. Choose carefully and wisely.
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They where great, shame I blew mine up!
I plugged my dacs PSU in it by mistake when I took my equipment out of my rack to rearrange it. But it sounded no better to my ears and the pi with ropieee works better with Roon. Touch would never completely turn off the screen.
Oh no! Do you use ropieee with a screen?
Just came back to this post.
Are you against all pundits or just Archimago? You like people like Darko, LaVorgna, et. al.? How about Hans B.?
Just curious, so I know what to think of your opinion.
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Do you have to like any of them? Or is it ok if you think they are all full of shit?
Not liking any of them is always an acceptable option. On the other hand, to think you know better than anybody is a borderline personality trait.
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You named 4 people out of a world population of 7.5 billion. Not exactly everyone.
At least Archimago (don’t know the others) shows what he’s doing so you can prove him wrong…
IMO that is more productive than ‘you need this 200k plus device but I’m not showing you’ and ‘he’s wrong but I won’t tell you why’ I also see around here.
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I read Archimago and others views on various forums, including this one, because it is interesting. Sometimes the views correspond with my own and sometimes they don’t. I do all of this with an open mind. I tend to trust these views more than those of the detractors who assert cast iron judgements then walk away without justifying or evidencing them. I’m even more cynical when these detractors are Trade affiliated as this often suggests ulterior motives.At least Archimago backs up his views with measurements. I like his light handedness. Whole industries are formed around accessories that purport to offer great improvements. I think it is right that we are allowed to challenge some of these assertions so we can filter out the foo and get the best we can for the most reasonable outlay.Im sure this is not a minorty view.
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