Best DAC for PI 4 ?

[mjlandy]

OK - I did search first and could not get an insight that helped. I have a new Pi4 with Rune 5 and my USB DAC died. I had the Dragonfly cobalt. I should say I indicate it died because its static as heck and I crushed it by accident.

I know the onboard audio isn't as good - I did hear that difference for a moment.

Whats the winner - or your top choice for this situation. I plan on buying another Dragonfly Cobalt later.

Mark TIA

[rastus]

https://www.audiophonics.fr/en/dac-and- ... -6384.html

PS: Or, (for now) use the HDMI connection on the Pi; this will/should give you 24bit 48kHz and use your receiver/amp's DAC. Maybe a temp method for now.

[surfninja]

I doubt it is the best but i'm using a allo boss HAT. seems fine for my mid fi system.

I like the hdmi idea but I don't use receivers and don't own one newer than the 70s.

[rastus]

[PhilHill]

ALLO BOSS V1.2 DAC

runs 24/7 since 3 Years w. Pi3b
good sound quality,
no complaints.

kind Regards,
Phil.

[Biedronek]

Recently I have started a long-running process of upgrading my system (once again) - not clearly replacing, since I plan to move current one to bedroom and buy some new as primary one. This is why I would like to ask for recommendations.

Currently I use low-cost (apx 6$*) DAC purchased on aliexpress which is based on a decent PCM5102. The PCB design is simple but looks ok, I even wonder if it is worse than competitors at x10 price which look similar. For testing purposes I plan to purchase Topping D10 (ES9018K2M inside at apx 130$) which has good opinions the price does not put off. There are other alternatives based on ES9038Q2M which have good reviews like the ALLO BOSS mentioned before.

I don't really complain about current setup but it clearly shows it could be better... Also I don't intend to listen to money As of now I have Tannoy M3 with Denon PMA880R and plan to give TannoyXT6F or Dali Zensor7 or Pylon Pearl 27 a try - also no high-end range but probably much better. It might turn out that I will not notice any difference now, but I don't want the DAC to become bottleneck.

Please, share your experience, It's okay for me to eventually have 3-4 DACs at home but I would like to limit buy/sell cycles and look for best value/price ratio.

[rastus]

[Biedronek]

Thank you a lot for you comments, I agree with you in many places - after all it's about music in the first place, not sounds/hardware. However, once I moved from Creative 2+1 computer speakers to amplituner, and then to amplifier I did notice a difference. Moreover, recently a friend of mine invited me to listen to his system and the $20K did impress me - I don't plan to spend that much but this experience showed room for improvement.

My sound card is so even a few times cheaper that PiFi DAC+. I have roughly read its datasheet and I don't see a big flaw in design, but I am no expert here. Hifiberry looks pretty similar and is considered as a good device... Maybe the devil is in details, therefore I ordered the ALLO BOSS DAC this afternoon which is based on slightly newer PCM1522. TI claims the main difference is in HW volume control - this feature on its own probably will not be noticeable on my system. We will see
There is however one important remark in you post - your sound card uses ES9038Q2M which is probably superior to the PCM1522, and this is reflected in your experience. Personally I opted for but I think between them two (or anything similar) the difference would not be noticeable.
The borderline is that if I want to get real improvement at later stages I shall target cards based on this chip.

[Biedronek]

I have just run a blind test on ALLO BOSS v1 ($55) and PCM I2S from Aliexpress (6$) and taking in account the following factors:
- budget setup (apx. $400-500)
- worsened hearing which effectively cuts off at 15 kHz but at the same time very sensitive to low volume at other ranges
- testing on well known to me .ogg good quality files
- the chips are from the same family (PCM5122 and PCM5102)
I conclude that subjectively there is little difference between the two soundcards, ALLO BOSS being slightly better. I will continue my tests with .flac files and higher volume and also give a try ES9038Q2M chip soon but I am afraid this will no help much with the rest of my system - and the audience

Of course YMMV but anyone looking for secondary setup may consider purchasing this low cost chip.

[rastus]

It is my understanding, from reading and experience, that it's a good idea to run the new DAC for 100 hrs run in before making a judgement.