08-22-2021, 05:32 PM
(08-22-2021, 02:38 AM)usery Wrote: Just finished a RPi 3b+ moOde 7.3.0 build with a HifiBerry DAC2 HD (the device name on the Hifiberry product datasheet). I used the weirdly-named dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplushd in the IS2 device config (maybe the Hfb devs were boxed-in by some previous naming convention?), completed the rest of setup, and I'm now playing back through the moOde UPnP renderer to a JDS Atom amp out to Sony IER-M9 iem's. As usual moOde setup was easy, reliable and pain-free.
Right out of the box I'm 'hearing'/perceiving a kinda squashed dynamic range from mids through highs - not what I expected from Hifiberry's "high end DAC" (their words). It's almost a 'veiled' or faintly muffled result to my ears. I tried a bunch of my own reference tracks so I'd know what to expect for this frequency range. Soo the question: could lack of full integration with moOde account for this? I haven't tried it with Volumio yet but will soon.
This morning I tried Volumio v2.970 UPnP renderer playback on the HifiBerry DAC2 HD - and there was no squashed/muffled effect. Mid- to high frequencies 'sounded' as I expected on my reference tracks: clear, well-defined, illuminated, 'range-y', whatever. This is what I was hoping for from the HfB DAC2 HD. Of course, I had to put up with the crappy performance Volumio seems to have with UPnP renderer playback over wifi (the primary reason I switched to moOde). However in the end SQ trumps all for me so I will tolerate some pain for it. Note I experience no such muffled/veiled effect on my moOde ApplePi or HifiBerry DAC+ Pro builds.
Next up for comparison on the DAC2 HD: HifiBerryOS.
