There have already been suggestions like this, I know, but I want to add something from myself on this topic.
We have the Raspberry Pi platform and the amazing audio player software that is Moode audio. Unfortunately, the Raspberry pi platform has its drawbacks as a computer for audio applications. The most serious is the very low quality of the masterclock for the audio data stream on the I2S bus. This is a workaround using a USB DAC unless the HAT DAC extension has its own masterclock generators based on two low jitter oscillators. Yes, for example, the chiy ESS Saber have a great jitter eliminator, but it also has its limitations (Burr-Brown DAC chips like the PCM5122 do not have jitter suppression. This means that typical solutions such as connecting this chip directly to the I2S bus in Raspberry Pi is a total wrong solution, unless we do not care about sound quality at all).
However, the Raspberry Pi has further disadvantages. The first is the lack of an interface for the M2 drive (SATA or NVMe). The second is, unfortunately, USB ports, Ethernet port, etc. use one data channel.
While the latter may be tolerable, the lack of M2 interface memory for mass storage is a significant disadvantage. The multiplication of cables and additional devices is always a disadvantage, not an advantage.
The recent situation on the market of electronic components caused once that problems with the availability of Raspberry Pi, forced a significant increase in its price and, what is worse, the suspension of the development of this computer.
The aforementioned Moodeaudio and its Local GUI allows you to build a stationary audio player connected to the TV as a monitor. I accept an external USB DAC for this application, especially since it is the most suitable option for high-quality sound. For such a role, it would be convenient for the same Raspberry Pi to have an M2 connector to eliminate the need for external USB drives. Yes, there is a LAN, but an additional NAS device, additional cables are still a small problem. I only care about my own files. I'm not convinced by music streaming services like internet radio. For accessing Internet sources, it is more convenient to use a laptop and cast audio over LAN to Moodeaudio.
Lack of availability on the market and the increase in the price of the Raspberry Pi encourages you to look for another hardware platform.
For the price of a Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB, a power supply, a housing, a fanless minicomputer PC is available, for example the BMAX B1 Plus. Celeron N3350 processor, 6GB RAM DDR3, 64GM eMMC mass torage, M2.2280 slot for SSD M2 SATA III disk, HDMI and 4K resolution, gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 (OK too bad it's not 5 but for me Bluetooth is not acceptable audio input/output), two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports. Dimensions: 27.9 x 15.8 x 7.6 cm. Compared to the Rapsberry Pi, it is a much better minicomputer with passive cooling.
Well, the equipment itself will not be a player. Time for software. And here is the problem. let's see what's available.
Unfortunately, commercialized volume requires subscription fees to be able to install plugins. For me, the parametric equalizer is important. I'm not an orthodox audiophile, I don't care about bitperfect. Unfortunately, most of the released albums have shortcomings in the bottom and top of the acoustic spectrum, often overly preferring the midrange, which in total is tiring in the long run.
The second software that can be used is Daphile. But it's not sweet with him. First, poor hardware support. This described PC has a WiFi interface based on the RTL8821CE chip. Unfortunately, the distribution has a built-in faulty driver and there is no possibility to install any software, no drivers, no modules. As Daphile has worse than bad Local GUI because it can't display legible subtitles on a 4K resolution screen, despite the large diagonal screen, the lack of support for built-in WiFi means difficulty in use. Only Ethernet and an additional external Access Point remain. Another problem is the equalizer, it requires the Brute FIR option to be turned on, but there is a problem with resmplng. Always the output stream is resampled to the maximum value.
Sorry for the digression but I have to explain something at this moment. Current DACs are mainly sigma-delta converters. Well, by increasing the sampling frequency in the input signal, we do not gain anything and even lose the resolution headroom offered by oversampling in this technique, which moves the aliasing problem far beyond the acoustic band (but it must be filtered out, because it may not be heard, but the amplifier may react badly to this noise over-acoustic generated by sigma-delta drivers. Coming back to Daphile, there is no option to leave the output sampling frequency as in the stream file being played. In this respect, Moodeaudio is unrivaled. The last problem of Daphile is the lack of connectivity, a forum for users offering support and a channel for users to communicate with the author of the project.
And here we come to the clue.
We have sensational software which is Moodeaudio but it is only available for the Raspberry Pi platform.
On the other hand, we now have an easily accessible, compact, more powerful X64 platform.
I know there was a lot of resistance to the x64 port of Moodeaudio. However, at one time Mooodeaudio was provided as an installation script that ran on the installed system. This means that it would potentially be able to install Moodeaudio on a PC like the one I described.
There was an argument about matching components to the equipment. OK, but for use as a player, only USB DAC support will suffice. It doesn't make sense to use audio built into PC motherboards, the quality will be lower than external USB DAC.
The realtime kernel is available (used as one of the options of the ready-made Daphile image). Support for WiFi, LAN, USB mass storage controllers is for the X64 platform.
So?
No time at the moment but maybe I'll try to install moode on a small fanless PC. Let me remind you that the option of using the Moodeaudio as a stationary player with a built-in disk resource for music connected to the TV is attractive. Controlling with a wireless mouse (the remote control does not seem to be the most convenient solution for interacting with the GUI).
Unfortunately, the problems with the availability of electronic components have reappeared and are getting worse. In the world of consumer audio for a portable DAP. In a short time, manufacturers such as Hiby removed from the offer sensational and reasonable-priced models such as the R3 Pro Saber. There are those from a much higher price shelf, but their additional capabilities are often paid for with shorter battery life. Another manufacturer Fiio here we have a very poor range of models. And not so long ago, in the spring, Hiby R3 Pro Saber in the new edition was available.
Not only consumer audio. I struggle with the lack of availability of programmable controllers integrated with HMI and even simple devices such as residual current devices (especially class A tolerating a distorted sine).
So once again I will mention Moodeaudio port for X64 platform.
I know I put a stick in an anthill (that's what they say in my country). Now you can pour a bucket of swill on me.
.
We have the Raspberry Pi platform and the amazing audio player software that is Moode audio. Unfortunately, the Raspberry pi platform has its drawbacks as a computer for audio applications. The most serious is the very low quality of the masterclock for the audio data stream on the I2S bus. This is a workaround using a USB DAC unless the HAT DAC extension has its own masterclock generators based on two low jitter oscillators. Yes, for example, the chiy ESS Saber have a great jitter eliminator, but it also has its limitations (Burr-Brown DAC chips like the PCM5122 do not have jitter suppression. This means that typical solutions such as connecting this chip directly to the I2S bus in Raspberry Pi is a total wrong solution, unless we do not care about sound quality at all).
However, the Raspberry Pi has further disadvantages. The first is the lack of an interface for the M2 drive (SATA or NVMe). The second is, unfortunately, USB ports, Ethernet port, etc. use one data channel.
While the latter may be tolerable, the lack of M2 interface memory for mass storage is a significant disadvantage. The multiplication of cables and additional devices is always a disadvantage, not an advantage.
The recent situation on the market of electronic components caused once that problems with the availability of Raspberry Pi, forced a significant increase in its price and, what is worse, the suspension of the development of this computer.
The aforementioned Moodeaudio and its Local GUI allows you to build a stationary audio player connected to the TV as a monitor. I accept an external USB DAC for this application, especially since it is the most suitable option for high-quality sound. For such a role, it would be convenient for the same Raspberry Pi to have an M2 connector to eliminate the need for external USB drives. Yes, there is a LAN, but an additional NAS device, additional cables are still a small problem. I only care about my own files. I'm not convinced by music streaming services like internet radio. For accessing Internet sources, it is more convenient to use a laptop and cast audio over LAN to Moodeaudio.
Lack of availability on the market and the increase in the price of the Raspberry Pi encourages you to look for another hardware platform.
For the price of a Raspberry Pi 4B 4GB, a power supply, a housing, a fanless minicomputer PC is available, for example the BMAX B1 Plus. Celeron N3350 processor, 6GB RAM DDR3, 64GM eMMC mass torage, M2.2280 slot for SSD M2 SATA III disk, HDMI and 4K resolution, gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 (OK too bad it's not 5 but for me Bluetooth is not acceptable audio input/output), two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports. Dimensions: 27.9 x 15.8 x 7.6 cm. Compared to the Rapsberry Pi, it is a much better minicomputer with passive cooling.
Well, the equipment itself will not be a player. Time for software. And here is the problem. let's see what's available.
Unfortunately, commercialized volume requires subscription fees to be able to install plugins. For me, the parametric equalizer is important. I'm not an orthodox audiophile, I don't care about bitperfect. Unfortunately, most of the released albums have shortcomings in the bottom and top of the acoustic spectrum, often overly preferring the midrange, which in total is tiring in the long run.
The second software that can be used is Daphile. But it's not sweet with him. First, poor hardware support. This described PC has a WiFi interface based on the RTL8821CE chip. Unfortunately, the distribution has a built-in faulty driver and there is no possibility to install any software, no drivers, no modules. As Daphile has worse than bad Local GUI because it can't display legible subtitles on a 4K resolution screen, despite the large diagonal screen, the lack of support for built-in WiFi means difficulty in use. Only Ethernet and an additional external Access Point remain. Another problem is the equalizer, it requires the Brute FIR option to be turned on, but there is a problem with resmplng. Always the output stream is resampled to the maximum value.
Sorry for the digression but I have to explain something at this moment. Current DACs are mainly sigma-delta converters. Well, by increasing the sampling frequency in the input signal, we do not gain anything and even lose the resolution headroom offered by oversampling in this technique, which moves the aliasing problem far beyond the acoustic band (but it must be filtered out, because it may not be heard, but the amplifier may react badly to this noise over-acoustic generated by sigma-delta drivers. Coming back to Daphile, there is no option to leave the output sampling frequency as in the stream file being played. In this respect, Moodeaudio is unrivaled. The last problem of Daphile is the lack of connectivity, a forum for users offering support and a channel for users to communicate with the author of the project.
And here we come to the clue.
We have sensational software which is Moodeaudio but it is only available for the Raspberry Pi platform.
On the other hand, we now have an easily accessible, compact, more powerful X64 platform.
I know there was a lot of resistance to the x64 port of Moodeaudio. However, at one time Mooodeaudio was provided as an installation script that ran on the installed system. This means that it would potentially be able to install Moodeaudio on a PC like the one I described.
There was an argument about matching components to the equipment. OK, but for use as a player, only USB DAC support will suffice. It doesn't make sense to use audio built into PC motherboards, the quality will be lower than external USB DAC.
The realtime kernel is available (used as one of the options of the ready-made Daphile image). Support for WiFi, LAN, USB mass storage controllers is for the X64 platform.
So?
No time at the moment but maybe I'll try to install moode on a small fanless PC. Let me remind you that the option of using the Moodeaudio as a stationary player with a built-in disk resource for music connected to the TV is attractive. Controlling with a wireless mouse (the remote control does not seem to be the most convenient solution for interacting with the GUI).
Unfortunately, the problems with the availability of electronic components have reappeared and are getting worse. In the world of consumer audio for a portable DAP. In a short time, manufacturers such as Hiby removed from the offer sensational and reasonable-priced models such as the R3 Pro Saber. There are those from a much higher price shelf, but their additional capabilities are often paid for with shorter battery life. Another manufacturer Fiio here we have a very poor range of models. And not so long ago, in the spring, Hiby R3 Pro Saber in the new edition was available.
Not only consumer audio. I struggle with the lack of availability of programmable controllers integrated with HMI and even simple devices such as residual current devices (especially class A tolerating a distorted sine).
So once again I will mention Moodeaudio port for X64 platform.
I know I put a stick in an anthill (that's what they say in my country). Now you can pour a bucket of swill on me.
.
