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Recommend a DAC
#11
(09-09-2020, 05:23 PM)Park13 Wrote:
(09-08-2020, 10:01 PM)Alaini93 Wrote: I didn't pay attention, your are playing on a Google max Speaker. Sorry I thought your system sounded like a Google speaker and you wanted better. But in this case just buy the cheapest DAC, you would not hear the difference anyway with this speaker.

No I am going eventually get a better speaker.  So meanwhile get the apdapter for DAC and Max speaker for now?


I have no idea how the Google Max speaker is controlled or how it can access digitally encoded audio, but the Google site says of it

Quote:Supported Audio Formats
HE-AAC
LC-AAC
MP3
Vorbis
WAV (LPCM)
Opus
FLAC with support for high-resolution streams (24-bit/96KHz)

It would seem to me you would be best served going that route if you can figure out how it works.

If you want to drive it via its 3.5mm analog audio input, then you really need to know what its input sensitivity and input impedance is. IIRC the Raspberry Pi output was supposed to be about 1Vpp (peak-to-Peak). That's the same as output of the Adafruit DAC Hat. Some DACs are rated more like 2Vpp. 

In any case the output impedance of the DAC and the input impedance of the Google Max should be appropriate. Most DACs, not even the RPi onboard DAC, are not designed to drive low-impedance headphones even though the presence of a 3.5mm jack might suggest one is.

I can't find a statement on the Google site of the input sensitivity or the impedance of the Google Max.

I agree with @Alaini93. If an external DAC is the answer, I'd buy the cheapest DAC which works in this application and leave more expensive products on the shelf until the rest of the future system has been chosen.

Regards,
Kent
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#12
The 3.5mm jack on the Pi does sound pretty awful it's gotta be said.
Why don't you use Bluetooth @Park13?
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#13
@Park13 I use Khadas Tone Board (110 €) Dac with a lot of fun in my system with RPI4 and Moode.
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#14
(09-09-2020, 08:56 PM)vinnn Wrote: The 3.5mm jack on the Pi does sound pretty awful it's gotta be said.
Why don't you use Bluetooth @Park13?

So Bluetooth is better than 3.5 jack.  Good to know.
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#15
(09-09-2020, 06:32 PM)TheOldPresbyope Wrote:
(09-09-2020, 05:23 PM)Park13 Wrote:
(09-08-2020, 10:01 PM)Alaini93 Wrote: I didn't pay attention, your are playing on a Google max Speaker. Sorry I thought your system sounded like a Google speaker and you wanted better. But in this case just buy the cheapest DAC, you would not hear the difference anyway with this speaker.

No I am going eventually get a better speaker.  So meanwhile get the apdapter for DAC and Max speaker for now?


I have no idea how the Google Max speaker is controlled or how it can access digitally encoded audio, but the Google site says of it

Quote:Supported Audio Formats
HE-AAC
LC-AAC
MP3
Vorbis
WAV (LPCM)
Opus
FLAC with support for high-resolution streams (24-bit/96KHz)

It would seem to me you would be best served going that route if you can figure out how it works.

If you want to drive it via its 3.5mm analog audio input, then you really need to know what its input sensitivity and input impedance is. IIRC the Raspberry Pi output was supposed to be about 1Vpp (peak-to-Peak). That's the same as output of the Adafruit DAC Hat. Some DACs are rated more like 2Vpp. 

In any case the output impedance of the DAC and the input impedance of the Google Max should be appropriate. Most DACs, not even the RPi onboard DAC, are not designed to drive low-impedance headphones even though the presence of a 3.5mm jack might suggest one is.

I can't find a statement on the Google site of the input sensitivity or the impedance of the Google Max.

I agree with @Alaini93. If an external DAC is the answer, I'd buy the cheapest DAC which works in this application and leave more expensive products on the shelf until the rest of the future system has been chosen.

Regards,
Kent

Kent,

Thank you for the education.  Very well explained.
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#16
(09-10-2020, 01:54 PM)Park13 Wrote:
(09-09-2020, 08:56 PM)vinnn Wrote: The 3.5mm jack on the Pi does sound pretty awful it's gotta be said.
Why don't you use Bluetooth @Park13?

So Bluetooth is better than 3.5 jack.  Good to know.

Well it'd be better than the Pi's 3.5mm jack yes, and has the advantage of not requiring a cable and not costing anything.
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#17
(09-10-2020, 03:57 PM)vinnn Wrote:
(09-10-2020, 01:54 PM)Park13 Wrote:
(09-09-2020, 08:56 PM)vinnn Wrote: The 3.5mm jack on the Pi does sound pretty awful it's gotta be said.
Why don't you use Bluetooth @Park13?

So Bluetooth is better than 3.5 jack.  Good to know.

Well it'd be better than the Pi's 3.5mm jack yes, and has the advantage of not requiring a cable and not costing anything.

Thank you!
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#18
(09-10-2020, 03:57 PM)vinnn Wrote:
(09-10-2020, 01:54 PM)Park13 Wrote:
(09-09-2020, 08:56 PM)vinnn Wrote: The 3.5mm jack on the Pi does sound pretty awful it's gotta be said.
Why don't you use Bluetooth @Park13?

So Bluetooth is better than 3.5 jack.  Good to know.

Well it'd be better than the Pi's 3.5mm jack yes, and has the advantage of not requiring a cable and not costing anything.
Ok, I have looked and google but cannot seem to find a good tutorial on how to do this?
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#19
(09-08-2020, 06:34 PM)TheOldPresbyope Wrote: So something like the low-end US$10 Adafruit dac or the US$35 HiFiBerry DAC+. 

If you ever move up from that Google Max speaker you might want to consider a modest USB dac in the US$100 to US$250 range. There's lots. See for example the audiosciencereview listings.

Regards,
Kent

What Kent said...

I don't know if the Pi headphone jack is still as BAD as it was back in the Pi 1 days,  didn't they fix it a bit?  But I think it's still fairly horrible...  so getting anything should be an improvement.

For the spending forward for future improvements idea...  I'm kinda liking my Schiit Modi 3 DAC...  Nice little USB box for only $99,  plug and play with Moode.
Measures rather well, too...  https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum...-dac.4742/

Don't get fooled by the bit of noise problem complained about at the beginning,  Amir finally figured it out for a driver issue,  and down the review gave it a clean bill of health.
This DAC is better than some at many times it's price,  and very few are this good near that price.  They used to hate Schiit gear over there, but this and other recent products have changed their minds...
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#20
(09-10-2020, 10:03 PM)Park13 Wrote: Ok, I have looked and google but cannot seem to find a good tutorial on how to do this?

Tutorial for using Bluetooth?
I believe you configure your speaker through the Google Home app, there you can access your speaker's settings including enabling Bluetooth and pairing devices.

Assuming your Pi is a Raspberry Pi 3, 3+ or 4 (which have onboard Bluetooth) and the Bluetooth adapter is enabled in Moode's System settings (is enabled by default), you can configure Bluetooth output on Moode by selecting BlueZ in the Moode menu, pairing instructions are there on the page.

By the way, I've had an Allo Boss DAC HAT in the past and it's a good DAC for the price, clean sound no jitter.
For an external USB DAC within your budget I can also give the Cyrus Soundkey a recommendation, full sound with 3mm out and is cheap nowadays. Can be used as a mobile DAC & headphone amp or just as a desktop USB DAC, I use one as a DAC for my desktop PC.

But seriously if all you're trying to achieve is to bypass the quiet 3mm jack on the Pi, just use Bluetooth. It'll be good enough for outputting to the Google speaker. Throwing hardware at it is wasting money IMO.
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