Moodeaudio as computer speakers

[lurkio]

Hi all I'm looking for advice on whether this is a good idea

I have a RPi3 and a Hifiberry Amp2 hat which I want to DIY a compact speaker setup to use with a mini PC (Beelink SER6 Max)

My worry is how to get the audio in with the least lag possible so that movies/games /youtube etc don't get out of sync

I suppose the easiest is bluetooth but I have experienced a lot of lag with that
Is there a way to connect a "line in" to the RPi ? or use HDMI or any other ideas ?

Thanks
Lx

[Nutul]

Hi all I'm looking for advice on whether this is a good idea

I have a RPi3 and a Hifiberry 2 hat which I want to DIY a compact speaker setup to use with a mini PC (Beelink SER6 Max)

My worry is how to get the audio in with the least lag possible so that movies/games /youtube etc don't get out of sync

I suppose the easiest is bluetooth but I have experienced a lot of lag with that
Is there a way to connect a "line in" to the RPi ? or use HDMI or any other ideas ?

Thanks
Lx

Sorry, but I don't get your point... you have a Pi with moOde... what's the meaning of including a mini-pc in the chain?

[Tim Curtis]

I think OP wants to route sound from the apps and sources on his mini pc to moOde.

USB audio input will be available when the full USB OTG (On The Go) stack is done and integrated into RaspiOS. In the meantime you might want to try something like a Hifiberry DAC+ ADC. Connect line out from your mini pc to analog in on the DAC+ ADC and then use moOde Input Select to switch to analog in.

I've used DAC+ ADC in the past for lag-free Youtube from my iMac.

[lurkio]

Yes sorry , maybe I didn't explain well enough

My idea was to make a MoOde powered set of compact speakers that would also serve as an audio system for my Mini Pc
My monitor has dreadful built in speakers 
Also I like the idea of using it as a sound system/radio when the PC is off

I have the Pi3 and Hifiberry Amp 2 lying around and hoped there would be a way of using USB SPDIF I2s HDMI or network connection to get low latency audio from the MiniPC

The MiniPC has digital line out , USB /C , and HDMI

I have tried Bluetooth in the past but was a bit disappointed by the lag - maybe it is better these days ?

is it possible that a USB dac hat would work with the Hifiberry Amp ?

Interesting about the USB-OTG work - Tim - any idea when that might be available ?

Lx

[Tim Curtis]

Yes sorry , maybe I didn't explain well enough

My idea was to make a MoOde powered set of compact speakers that would also serve as an audio system for my Mini Pc
My monitor has dreadful built in speakers 
Also I like the idea of using it as a sound system/radio when the PC is off

I have the Pi3 and Hifiberry Amp 2 lying around and hoped there would be a way of using USB SPDIF I2s HDMI or network connection to get low latency audio from the MiniPC

The MiniPC has digital line out , USB /C , and HDMI

I have tried Bluetooth in the past but was a bit disappointed by the lag - maybe it is better these days ?

is it possible that a USB dac hat would work with the Hifiberry Amp ?

Interesting about the USB-OTG work - Tim - any idea when that might be available ?

Lx

There's a thread in the diyAudio Forum that tracks USB OTG. @phofman is a major contributor.

You could also check on the HifiBerry DAC+ ADC Pro. I think it has a S/PDIF input. There is no integration block for it in moOde but it could be added if someone with the device wants to put in some work with me. Otherwise the input switching has to be done via ALSA commands or something like that.

You prolly won't have any lag whatsoever with a wired connection.

[lurkio]

I'm wondering if maybe a RPi 4 might fix my problem with Bluetooth latency
apparently BT versions 5 + are much better with lag - I tested with some BT v 5 headphones and the delay is imperceptible
Mini PC has v5.2

My RPi 3 only has BTv4 where as RPi 4 has v5

Can anyone confirm if it is indeed better or not ?

Lx

[jenzd]

I'm wondering if maybe a RPi 4 might fix my problem with Bluetooth latency
apparently BT versions 5 + are much better with lag - I tested with some BT v 5 headphones and the delay is imperceptible
Mini PC has v5.2

My RPi 3 only has BTv4 where as RPi 4 has v5

Can anyone confirm if it is indeed better or not ?

Lx

Have you already tried to reduce the length of the bluetooth buffer in Moode? (see menu "m => Bluetooth" or "m => Configure => Renderers => Bluetooth Control")

The second item under "Audio output" allows you to select the audio buffer size which is "500 ms" by default. If you set this to the minimum of "20 ms" and reconnect to your bluetooth device the lag should be considerably shorter. Note that although the option is called "output buffer" it actually affects inbound connections as well.

While 500 ms is a good standard setting for audio only transmissions (for stability reasons in case of a weak bluetooth connection), 20 ms is more appropriate in case you want to watch a video while sending the output to Moode. At least for me this largely fixed the lag when I connect to Moode from my phone (via aptX codec) and watch some YouTube video.


Best regards
Jens