So far I’m very impressed.
But it is difficult for me to separate the DAC3 from the HPA4, or their integration. I don’t use the DAC3 for anything other than headphones, my Meridian speakers have their own DACs.
See my write up about headphone amps.
I did a comparison today of the Benchmark combo, with the AAA 789 driven by the Meridian 818, and the 789 driven by the Hugo 2, and the Hugo 2 by itself: the Benchmark stack was stunningly good, but the 818+789 was a close second, so is this a statement about the DAC3 or the amp (since the HPA4 and the 789 are related)?
I could perhaps do other comparisons, but I’m not sure I’ll bother.
I have a HifiBerry DAC + Pro XLR, which I chose because it was one of the very few XLR DAC HATs available.
In blind A/B comparisons with an iFi iDAC 2 (USB, connected to the same RPI), I can hear a very slight difference, but I can’t tell you which I prefer - I like them both.
Using several RPI with different HATs and doing blind A/B testing would indeed be fun!
Is it possible to get a breakout thread on these ChiFi and other low-cost options? I have a Digi-based solution, but can always sneak other low-cost purchases past the wife. ;-).
Sounds like a good idea to me. I guess you could start a new topic thread. There does appear to much interest in these boards here. There are also numerous threads over at diyaudio forum as well. I’m currently playing with the Khadas ToneBoard, but currently waiting for their VIM 2 host SBC to do some experimenting and possibly build an all-one-network streamer based on it. Not like I need another.
Thank you Burge.
I have the quad USB now on an Analog DAC. Even from MSB it sounds like the difference is small. But I never got into the USB cable thing, and now I won’t have to. This also offers MQA and let’s me take some pieces of equipment out of the room. So I’ve ordered the Renderer V2.
The USB Pro looks nice, but isn’t compatible with my older DAC.
Lumin A1 as the main endpoint in my system. Awesome!
Google CCA via TOSLINK into a Hugo TT for serious headphone listening (important with young children in the house!)
Audioquest DF Red feeding an Inateck BR1008, connecting to Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless headphones via Apt-X HD for when I want to go wireless. Surprisingly good!
Sure. I have seen discussion all over the forums. This thread, for instance, is in the software subforum. If I open a new thread, I think a better home might be Audio Products, or even Tinkering.
I’ll check out diyaudio. I’ve been lurking on audiosciencereview much of today and there’s a lot of discussion there too.
There are already lots of threads in the Audio Products subforum that discuss this category. They aren’t grouped by source or budget, though. There is already a category for RPi, but not other classes of SBC.
To the moderators, my real suggestion would be to create a category in Audio Products for sub-$200 USD solutions. Thanks.
The firmware as I recall is done through a chip they will send you that installs on the board to update the firmware. I think it was $50 or so. I actually forgot to do it, you’ve reminded me.
This DAC is totally awesome BTW, easy to use and gets out of the way and simply produces great music. I run it in DSD mode with Roon and I couldn’t be happier. Reviews state that the preamp section could be better, honestly I can’t really hear any shortfalls but my ears are not those of credentialed reviewers.
I don’t use the headphone section. I have Audeze LCD-4s driven by a Bryston BHA-4 that the headphones pair with quite nicely (evidently more voltage needed). I also use the analog input for my Rega TT married to a SimAudio Moon phono preamp. So I get great sound either digitally or via analog.
Thank you for the response. Looks like a great unit.
I don’t really need the headphone section either…that would be a duplication, but not a big issue…They make the unit w/o the headphone section, but value is probably higher for resale with the headphone model.
