Description
Audio streamer comes in all shapes and sizes – but they do not need to be terribly expensive. Raspberry Pi has revolutionise a whole lot of the automation and computing industry, and for the audiophile community, it has been an excellent bit-perfect solution to hi-fi grade streaming.
Using Raspberry Pi with Volumio is nothing new – the combo is a favourite amongst many audiophiles for the exceptional playback of high res audio files with ease. The ability to hook up various DACs through USB has given Raspberry Pi with Volumio to stream and play fantastically on whichever file formats one throws in, even DSD file formats.
And when we meant hi-fi for this add-on hat as a DAC, we really mean hi-fi quality. This DAC sits directly on top of the Raspberry Pi perfectly on the 40-pin GPIO pins, with the connection through 12S being one of the most preferred method of communication in audio DACs, ensuring the most complete bit-transfer of data.
Installation is a breeze with just that, as the power of the DAC is also fed by the GPIO pins from the Raspberry Pi through the micro USB power input. Implementation of a dual chip setup with ESS Sabre 9023 prefaces an exceptional digital to analog conversion, as each DAC chip processes the left and right signal separately, thereby allowing truly high dynamic range of 112dB per channel!
With HifiBerry DAC selected as the I2S method of connection, the DAC should be ready to pump out glorious high resolution tunes with supreme clarity and resolution. DSD can even be natively playback in Volumio, as this I2S DAC will output DSD64 and DSD128 without a fraction of glitches or lags, as long as the internet connection is stable. Connecting to the Raspberry Pi with either the ethernet or WIFI connection is both fine and swift.
It will not be a QA product without maximising the potential of it through mods and upgrades. This DAC is no different, as a straight-forward upgrade of the original trio of aluminium electrolytic capacitors to audiophile-grade Nichicon FW radial electrolytic capacitors yielded not only a more accurate midrange, but also presented a livelier timbre and a more open soundstage.
Punching above its weight, once you hear this little combo of a Raspberry Pi with Dual ES9023 DAC it will not seat out of place amongst bigger equipment of preamps and amps for the RCA outputs can readily connect to them for a complete home Hifi setup. The availability of the 3.5mm output also allows it to be connected to smaller stereo setup in rooms to complete any portable rigs. Moreover, the 3.5mm output is capable of driving headphones up to 120-150 ohm with juice aplenty. Volume will be controlled in software.
This Dual ES9023 DAC hat is recommended to be used on RPI 4B models.
Available as a standalone hat with acrylic covers if you already have a Pi board yourself and know how to implement it.
Also available as a complete streamer package with Raspberry Pi 4B fully setup with Volumio installed and ready. You just need to subsequently add the music files to stream and play yourself.
Standalone hat contents: $70
- 1x Dual ES9023 DAC hat
- 1x acrylic case with screws
Complete Streamer Package contents (additional 2-3 days): $370
- 1x Raspberry Pi 4B 4G board (8G +S$80)
- 1x Dual ES9023 DAC hat
- 1x acrylic covers with screws
- 1x Raspberry Pi Power Conditioning Filter Add-on Hat
- 1x 5V 3A SG/UK type power adapter
- 1x 32GB SanDisk Ultra Micro SD card with Volumio installed
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