Sound Tweak Rpi4

[largo]

Hello,
I am pretty new to Rpi and moodeaudio. I tried to summarize and combine different tweaks (thanks to all contributors) to optimize the sound of my Rpi which is connected to an external USB DAC. I have get a pretty good sound with these tweaks and settings:

1 – isolating procs
added in /boot/cmdline.txt: isolcpus=2,3

sudo pico /lib/systemd/system/mpd.service
CPUSchedulingPolicy=fifo
CPUSchedulingPriority=70
Nice=-16
ExecStart=/usr/bin/taskset -c 2,3 /usr/local/bin/mpd --no-daemon $MPDCONF

2 - config.txt
sudo nano /boot/config.txt

arm_freq=1000
sdram_freq=2000
core_freq=500
gpu_freq=500
over_voltage=-5
over_voltage_sdram=-5
gpu_mem=16 
max_usb_current=1
force_turbo=1
initial_turbo=60
avoid_pwm_pll=1

3 - configure moode
SOX 32/352,6 medium
64 bits


This is a first share on my side. May be you can as specialists improve these settings.
Best,

[hifinet]

Hello,
I am pretty new to Rpi and moodeaudio. I tried to summarize and combine different tweaks (thanks to all contributors) to optimize the sound of my Rpi which is connected to an external USB DAC. I have get a pretty good sound with these tweaks and settings:

1 – isolating procs
added in /boot/cmdline.txt: isolcpus=2,3

sudo pico /lib/systemd/system/mpd.service
CPUSchedulingPolicy=fifo
CPUSchedulingPriority=70
Nice=-16
ExecStart=/usr/bin/taskset -c 2,3 /usr/local/bin/mpd --no-daemon $MPDCONF

2 - config.txt
sudo nano /boot/config.txt

arm_freq=1000
sdram_freq=2000
core_freq=500
gpu_freq=500
over_voltage=-5
over_voltage_sdram=-5
gpu_mem=16 
max_usb_current=1
force_turbo=1
initial_turbo=60
avoid_pwm_pll=1

3 - configure moode
SOX 32/352,6 medium
64 bits


This is a first share on my side. May be you can as specialists improve these settings.
Best,

I've seen the tweaks in other posts in SQ. Did you add them sequentially or all at once? What sound improvements do you ascribe to each setting? I have never tried 1 or 2 (don't want to break Moode), but I'm a believer in SoX. Prefer very high quality setting. I've tried medium, and definitely prefer VHQ. I think SoX greatly improves 3D. Previously had RPi3B+ Allo Boss. Now have USB DAC SMSL Sanskrit MkII. Getting pops with SoX. Lose the 3D benefit without SoX. Assuming that I need to upgrade to RPi4.

[TheOldPresbyope]

@hifinet

Previously had RPi3B+ Allo Boss. Now have USB DAC SMSL Sanskrit MkII. Getting pops with SoX. Lose the 3D benefit without SoX. Assuming that I need to upgrade to RPi4.

Well, maybe. Are you getting pops playing PCM material or with DSD material or with both? There are still open issues on the MPD github repo which talk about clicks and pops in various circumstances. In particular, I'm looking just now at issue #796: Play DSD on Raspbian issue. Possibly a faster RPi will mitigate the problem but look at the error messages that Max pointed out in the issue comments.

Regards,
Kent

[hifinet]

@hifinet

Previously had RPi3B+ Allo Boss. Now have USB DAC SMSL Sanskrit MkII. Getting pops with SoX. Lose the 3D benefit without SoX. Assuming that I need to upgrade to RPi4.

Well, maybe. Are you getting pops playing PCM material or with DSD material or with both? There are still open issues on the MPD github repo which talk about clicks and pops in various circumstances. In particular, I'm looking just now at issue #796: Play DSD on Raspbian issue. Possibly a faster RPi will mitigate the problem but look at the error messages that Max pointed out in the issue comments.

Regards,
Kent

No pops with DSD and SoX off. Pops with DSD and SoX on. Pops are only present with SoX on, whether it's PCM, DSD or 324k internet radio. Possibly very minor pops when using the Boss, but very noticeable and at times annoying with this USB DAC.

[hifinet]

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread. My brother has the identical setup. He has no pops with SoX. 

Getting this in audio info:
Audio Device 

Device: 
USB audio device
Chip: 

Interface: 
USB
Formats: 
PHP Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in /usr/local/bin/moodeutl on line 206
Platform: 
Pi-3B+ 1GB v1.3

Need to research this.

[largo]

Hello,
I am pretty new to Rpi and moodeaudio. I tried to summarize and combine different tweaks (thanks to all contributors) to optimize the sound of my Rpi which is connected to an external USB DAC. I have get a pretty good sound with these tweaks and settings:

1 – isolating procs
added in /boot/cmdline.txt: isolcpus=2,3

sudo pico /lib/systemd/system/mpd.service
CPUSchedulingPolicy=fifo
CPUSchedulingPriority=70
Nice=-16
ExecStart=/usr/bin/taskset -c 2,3 /usr/local/bin/mpd --no-daemon $MPDCONF

2 - config.txt
sudo nano /boot/config.txt

arm_freq=1000
sdram_freq=2000
core_freq=500
gpu_freq=500
over_voltage=-5
over_voltage_sdram=-5
gpu_mem=16 
max_usb_current=1
force_turbo=1
initial_turbo=60
avoid_pwm_pll=1

3 - configure moode
SOX 32/352,6 medium
64 bits


This is a first share on my side. May be you can as specialists improve these settings.
Best,

I've seen the tweaks in other posts in SQ. Did you add them sequentially or all at once? What sound improvements do you ascribe to each setting? I have never tried 1 or 2 (don't want to break Moode), but I'm a believer in SoX. Prefer very high quality setting. I've tried medium, and definitely prefer VHQ. I think SoX greatly improves 3D. Previously had RPi3B+ Allo Boss. Now have USB DAC SMSL Sanskrit MkII. Getting pops with SoX. Lose the 3D benefit without SoX. Assuming that I need to upgrade to RPi4.

This is based on the same posts you mention, and I tried to optimize sequentially for the pi4.
Beginning with the config-file: overall, little improvements in all dimensions (details, scene etc.)
Then the procs: next level of improvement. Much better details and 3d. Very close to the quality of my CD player. With the parameter Nice=15-18, you can adjust the brightness pretty well to your taste.
I prefer SOX medium in my setup, somewhat more musical in the mids and highs.
Last I set 64 bits with moode 6.6: more clarity and details.

Overall I am happy with this setup.

[hestehandler]

I’m trying out these settings on my Pi 4 – save for the SoX and 64-bit kernel. It didn’t make a hell of a difference (if any), but I feel I did something, and placebo is one hell of a drug. Let’s see if I notice when the settings are overwritten by a system update.

[hifinet]

Largo wrote:

This is based on the same posts you mention, and I tried to optimize sequentially for the pi4.
Beginning with the config-file: overall, little improvements in all dimensions (details, scene etc.)
Then the procs: next level of improvement. Much better details and 3d. Very close to the quality of my CD player. With the parameter Nice=15-18, you can adjust the brightness pretty well to your taste.
I prefer SOX medium in my setup, somewhat more musical in the mids and highs.
Last I set 64 bits with moode 6.6: more clarity and details.

Overall I am happy with this setup.

Wow, what CD player do you have?

I suppose detuning the processor with lower clock frequency could reduce noise and improve detail. If the processor can still perform the computations of SoX, then why not. I have been using Moode for many years, because it just sounded better than the other options. Moode + RPi sounds better than my Windows 10 desktop and the same USB DAC. Could be due to higher clock frequency and noise, or noise from the SMPS. Many other factors.

BTW: Figured Moode was broken, so did the easy thing and now using 6.6 . No pops.

[hifinet]

https://github.com/philrandal/Linux-Audio-Adjustments

Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Dradder]

https://github.com/philrandal/Linux-Audio-Adjustments

Does anyone have any experience with this?

I do; I make these adjustments every time I install a new version of Moode. Results in a small but noticeable improvement in audio quality, IMO, on my system. I expect that most people would not hear any difference, unless they have a very high resolution audio system, so YMMV. It's easy enough to try out.