Choose Smartly - Raspberry Pi 4 vs 3B+ for Audio Streaming

00:00 What this video is about
02:05 Differences at a first glance
04:21 Pi 4 vs 3B+ (USB connection)
08:01 Pi 4 vs 3B+ (with Allo DigiOne)
13:24 Conclusion

Test system:
Denafrips Ares II DAC
Hegel H90 Integrated Amp

#hifi #audiophile #streaming #stereo #Raspberry

[kerryvanderkamp]

Another great review on using Pi as a streamer. I think you’ve hit on a big topic for many budget-constrained audiophiles that other reviewers are not giving enough attention. Thank you and keep up the great work!

[cdhankerson]

Excellent human explanation. It’s good to hear a reviewer that actually has an opinion.

[ralfm]

Thank you very much for your reviews, Srboljub. I highly appreciate the work and passion you put into them . I am also streaming music to a Hegel amplifier (using the Ares as DAC). I connected two Raspberry Pi 4's to the Ares: one with the Allo DigiOne attached and connected via a coaxial cable, the other one connected via USB cable. Since I only have one network cable in my listening room, I streamed music (UPN/P, mconnect, RoPieeeXL) alternating via cable or wifi. No matter what combination I tried I could not hear any difference in sound quality. I was curious to figure out if a linear power supply could lead to an improved sound quality as compared to the standard Raspberry Pi PSU. Last Thursday I received a Sbooster BOTW. Amazon quickly delivered a DC to USBC adapter so that I could power one of the two Raspberry Pi 4's yesterday. At the beginning I thought that the "clean power" improves sound quality. However, after asking my partner to set-up a blind test I could not differentiate between both power sources. My personal conclusion is: the Allo DigiOne does not make a difference to USB connection, wifi does not make any difference when compared to cable connection and I am going to send the Booster back because I could not hear an improvement. BTW: For comparison I used the following tracks: Death Scene - Chuck Mangione, Lillies - Melanie DeBiasio, Flamenco Sketches - Miles Davis, Babylon Sisters - Steely Dan...

[leifhanson]

I really like your description of the audio. You paint a clear picture of the differences I have heard in my pi(s). Keep up the great work!

[StefanoPettinelli]

Well, I tried PI3 vs 4 with an E30 over a pair of Adam A7x (I'm in an home studio environment) using MoOde Audio 7.1.0 and I heard no noticeable difference and absolutely no technical problem with the shared ETH/USB2 on the PI3b+. So I decided to go with the 3B+ for a lower temperature reason, being that raspy on 24/7. It has PiHole installed and acts as ads-blocker too. In theory usb data transmition has a packet integrity check system, so what is sent is what is received, bit-perfect.
Anyway, good videos here, you always have interesting arguments, congrats!!!

[fbombtehgrat]

Nice video, thank you.
Do you feel Pi 3 or 4 with a DAC HAT has better sound than Pi 4 with a USB DAC?

[monochromios]

Perfect analysis. For USB use Pi4 works quite well and with a good current input is quite silent. For I2S output Pi3B+ is more delicate in dynamics and in frequency response, much more enjoyable sound while Pi4 results too much aggressive to my ears especially in mids/highs. Great video, thank you for sharing.

[xcountry]

Glad you covered this topic, I am just about to put together a new pi4 to see what the differences are! Really enjoy your videos, keep up the great work! 🍻

[familyng]

❤hi, may I know if i connect DAC to my picoreplayer which model is raspberry pi 3B+ by WiFi. Can I get the sound quality like raspberry pi 4B ? Or nearly sound quality.

[SpaceEncounter]

Actually I’m using the HDMI output of my RP4 to display the Volumio GUI on my TV which looks pretty nice. I have even a mouse attached to my Pi to control Volumio once my Wifi has already switched off after midnight.

[TheZpilot]

Hello. Thanks you for great vídeo. In spite, 3 yrs late, I hope you and others here may help me to chose the proper RPi regarding RAM size They are from 1GB to 8GB. Is there any relevant impact among them? Please forgive me for primary question and thanks for comments.

[luminousfractal]

Do they allow you to tune the bus on pi? Sounds very similar to problems we used to have back in the 90's. You could usually smooth it out with some timing and scheduling optimisations.

[aualdrich]

You do such a great job of explaining! Thanks so much!

[coin]

Can You test The Pi Zero also? Would be interesting if its even better.

[DeFi-Macrodosing]

Agree with your description. I've been holding on to my Raspberries 3b+ and their HATs(I have RPI4s too, but use those for other more processing intensive projects).

[yyams]

This is good news, considering I've just bought a Pi 4 to go into the last free input (usb) on my modi!

[jurgenschleicher]

Had the same experiences! Use the RPi3B+ with a IQAudio Digi+-HAT for streaming. RPi4 4GB is used as a NAS! Best choice ever! Get a good PSU for both an you're done!

[varun]

How about Allo Usb-bridge signature player Vs Raspberry pi 4 with VitOS?

[FlexDRG]

I'm rather amazed and perplexed as to how these boards manage to change the sound in an all digital environment. The signal is only changed to analog in the/his dac-amplifier. Any explanation?

[mat.b.]

Have you ever compared the DigiOne to a Pi2AES?