Pi 2 Design - 502DAC - Pro Audio Shield

Audio Gear Talk Raspberry Pi
21

The TOSLINK is powered directly from the 5V. This is the same for all our hats that have optical out.

Michael

22

Thanks Michael.

23

Hi @Michael_Kelly

Itā€™s great that the HiFiBerry code has been working without issues so there should be no rush to change but have you got any plans to develop your own code/images for your boards?

And when separate external 5Vdc power is used, does the LT3042 still power both NDK clocks and the WM8804?

Cheers

24

502DAC and 502DAC Pro use the same digital section, but in the 502DAC the PCM5122 is the master, while in the 502DAC Pro the WM8804 is the master. 502DAC Pro uses the TI PCM1792 DAC.

Cheers,
Michael

25

Correct, the external 5V is summed with the Pi 5V using a back power protection circuit. This 5V is then sent to the LT3042 LDO.

Cheers,
Michael

26

Sorry, I lost track of this forum when the messages stopped coming to me. I messed up my account!

Anyway, the 502DAC has the TI PCM5122 and the 502DAC Pro (was 502DAC3) uses the TI PCM1792. The 502DAC2 had some issues in the prototype phase so we pulled it. We will probably do a 502DAC Pro version with an AKM DAC in the future, but likely it will be the AK4497EQ.

Cheers,
Michael

P.S. We just went live with an Indiegogo campaign for the 502DAC and 502DAC Pro. We plan to do an updated showing Roon running within a week or so. The campaign is at:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/digital-analog-audio-shields-for-the-raspberry-pi/x/17113346#/

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,
Michael

27

I have the 502DAC and confirm Roon works wonderfully well.

Iā€™m using it with RoPieee but Iā€™ve also tested with DietPi and Moode (both with RoonBridge installed) and itā€™s easy - just select the HiFiBerry DAC+ Pro as your HAT and youā€™re off and running.

A super sounding Pi HAT.

28

Sean,
Would you be willing to post this comment on our 502DAC campaign page?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Michael

29

Shall do. I already did on your website btw :wink:

30

Just a question, since the 502DAC is already out (I have one, works beautifully), why is the there a new Indegogo campaign for it?

1 Like
31

@Michael_Kelly Any update on the 502AES release?

32

That has been pushed back a month. I am moving some connectors around so that the HDMI sits where the RCA jacks were. That way the board can go into the existing cases with minimal modification.

Michael

1 Like
33

Many thanks for the update @Michael_Kelly.

34

Hi Michael, how are things coming along with the 502AES? Iā€™ve been keenly watching the discussion here and on SBAF looking forwards to the release! :slight_smile: Really think this could be a great product, there are many people looking for a barebones, high quality ethernet to AES Roon endpoint at the price point of a MicroRendu.

Are you able to offer any subjective comparisons of where the 502AES might stand on the ladder of sound quality of AES capable roon endpoints? (Aries, Bryston BDP1/2 etc)

No need to create miracles but Iā€™m hopeful this may end up becoming a fantastic cost vs performance option for feeding my Yggdrasil!

Enjoy the weekend

1 Like
35

Kenneth,

Using the aes digital out on the 502DAC. How do you control volume? On the shiit dac or in roon setting the volume on the 502?

36

Roon is set to fixed output level. The schitt analog out feeds a McIntosh integrated amp. From there I use the old fashioned volume control on the McIntosh.

37

Ok. Iā€™m looking at feeding active speakers with digital signal.

Volume can be controlled from a PC using the speakers software. But obviously it would be far more elegant to control in roon without the additional pc hooked up all the time using the speakers in stand alone mode.

Is it possible to set roon to variable output level and control the volume on the 502DAC in the digital domain ?

38

Yup, it will be just like any other Pi3 RoonBridge endpoint in this case. You just need to turn up the volume on your powered speakers and then reduce the volume via Roonā€™s digital volume control, and maybe use Roonā€™s auto volume levelling for added convenience.

You just need to be careful when Roonā€™s volume goes to 100% (e.g. acccidental) but the Roon v1.4 update really improved things there with safety features.

39

Thanks Sean, just the answer I was looking for.

Now time to audition and decide what size of Genelec ā€œthe onesā€ to go with. :sunglasses:

40

NICE. Iā€™m jealous.