RPi>DAC vs iPhone>DAC

Audio Gear Talk
1

I’m working on a headphone listening setup for my bedroom, to sit on a bedside table. My main question: is there any difference from an audio perspective of using a RPi vs my iPhone as a bridge, assuming that both would feed into the same or similar DAC & headphone AMP?

For example, consider these two signal chains:
Roon Core>iPhone>USB>iFi Hip-Dac2
Roon Core>RPi w/ Ropieee>USB>iFi Hip-Dac2

or alternately, something like:
Rig A: Roon Roon Core>iPhone>USB>iFi Hip-Dac2
Rig B: Roon Core>RPi w/ Ropieee>USB>iFi Hip-Dac2

In other words, if I’m going to be buying a portable DAC/amp combo like the iFi (or something similar) to use as an on-the-go rig, would there be any benefit to having a RPi in the bedroom to hook it up to for listening in bed, or would I get the same audio quality from just plugging the thing into my phone when I’m in bed?

From my research, it seems like both the iPhone and the RPi would be able to feed the same digital audio bits to the DAC/amp. Would there be any meaningful difference from an audio perspective?

2

My choice is an RPi4 running RoPieeeXL with USB out to a DAC. That can be set up as an always connected and ready to play device. Use your iPhone as a Roon control device. There will be no difference in SQ.

3

+1 for the RPi>DAC combo, it’s what I’m using right now as I’m typing. RPi4>Dragonfly Red>IEM

Dongle DACs, of which I have two, are a bit of a pain on the iPhone, and after you purchase a CCK you realise that the RPi would have cost about the same.

1 Like