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[iorbell]

Just a quick post...I run MC on quite a few SBC's and mini intel PC's. Lately I have been using a Rock Pi 5B, using a Rockchip RK3588, running on the latest Armbian release (I normally use Dietpi but had an issue with partition size when updating).   When converting to 4xDSD, 1 CPU core (out of is pretty much tied to a ~90% usage, but the sound is good, without any hiccups. I am not a convert to converting everything to DSD format yet, but MC gives me the opportunity to try it.

Outside of Intel mini PC of recent generations, I have not found a hobby-type SBC that will handle to 8x conversion. 4x sounds pretty good. My personal aim is to find that right baslance wbetween energy usage, and quality of sound reproduction.

I have used Volumio, Daphile, Moode Audio, straight MPD, Logitech media server etc.    All can produce great sound (to my old ears anyway), MC is the only one that will play everything  I have in all formats (including SACD iso's etc.).   Thanks MC!!

[eve]

Just a quick post...I run MC on quite a few SBC's and mini intel PC's. Lately I have been using a Rock Pi 5B, using a Rockchip RK3588, running on the latest Armbian release (I normally use Dietpi but had an issue with partition size when updating).   When converting to 4xDSD, 1 CPU core (out of is pretty much tied to a ~90% usage, but the sound is good, without any hiccups. I am not a convert to converting everything to DSD format yet, but MC gives me the opportunity to try it.

Outside of Intel mini PC of recent generations, I have not found a hobby-type SBC that will handle to 8x conversion. 4x sounds pretty good. My personal aim is to find that right baslance wbetween energy usage, and quality of sound reproduction.

I have used Volumio, Daphile, Moode Audio, straight MPD, Logitech media server etc.    All can produce great sound (to my old ears anyway), MC is the only one that will play everything  I have in all formats (including SACD iso's etc.).   Thanks MC!!

I don't think they're out there really. Small x86 intel systems can absolutely sip power, be entirely fanless and powered by a proper linear PSU (or frankly a battery) if desired. It's the single core clocks that are the limiting factor (in this case) on SBCs right now.

Is there any reason you can't order a prebuilt fanless x86 mini PC (aliexpress is littered with options, or if you want something a little more 'vetted' check out Fitlet) that would satisfy your needs? Boards are also available, and I've actually had decent luck on some of the sketchier options ordered. Most of the configurations on the market can be pretty easily adapted to work inside of a custom enclosure or form factor.

I have a ton of fanless x86 systems in service by this point, I stopped using SBCs nearly as much as I used to.

[iorbell]

Thanks for your reply and advice.  Quite understood, I do have a 11th gen Intel NUC that just gets the 8x DSD done, so yes, Intel should probably be the way to go currently. I just like a challenge, and when you think there are ARM cpu's that run the fastest of today's cell phones I am keeping an eye on whether the hobby type SBC will be getting any of those X1-X3 type cores, then I imagine 8X is not out of reach. But of course I do not know for certain. Its the single thread performance that determines the upconversion capability.

I am tinkering....the Rock Pi 3A (earlier rockchip chip, RX3568) does not do as well as RK3588 (PCM upconvert to 352.8K/384k....still produces great sound, so its really just satisfying my hobby interest rather than I am dissatisfied with the sound. I wonder what chip the Raspberry 5 will have in the end ?

[eve]

Thanks for your reply and advice.  Quite understood, I do have a 11th gen Intel NUC that just gets the 8x DSD done, so yes, Intel should probably be the way to go currently. I just like a challenge, and when you think there are ARM cpu's that run the fastest of today's cell phones I am keeping an eye on whether the hobby type SBC will be getting any of those X1-X3 type cores, then I imagine 8X is not out of reach. But of course I do not know for certain. Its the single thread performance that determines the upconversion capability.

I am tinkering....the Rock Pi 3A (earlier rockchip chip, RX3568) does not do as well as RK3588 (PCM upconvert to 352.8K/384k....still produces great sound, so its really just satisfying my hobby interest rather than I am dissatisfied with the sound. I wonder what chip the Raspberry 5 will have in the end ?

I think it's going to be a bit of a stretch to see Hobby SBCs getting these ARM chips any time soon. The rockchip stuff is lightyears ahead of the Pi hardware wise but the drivers still leave a little to desire.
Raspberry is taking a 'year off' aren't they? So 2024 is when 5 probably goes into production.

My logic for using ARM SBCs less was that I could either get by with a lighter SBC / SOC (hell ESP32s are pretty impressive) or with inflation and supply issues on the ARM SBC side, a significantly more powerful x86 board for frankly, not a huge premium. I think the Pis have been really misappropriated by hobbyists, I get it because, I'm guilty of it too. They're linux, they're easy, there's excellent community support, etc. All of it makes it very attractive but I'm often seeing them employed for projects where you could EASILY get by with an ESP32. Between that and x86 essentially 'just working' (no worrying about whether the random SBC with excellent specs, will actually get usable graphics acceleration under linux for example), I've definitely reshaped my view on when I implement these capable ARM SBCs.

The J4125 and N5105 are 2 intel based chips that frequently show up in boards and mini PCs for *really* cheap. They're actually super capable. I have like 8 of them scattered around for stuff (the # ballooned thanks to an Amazon pricing error)

My main Dante / AoIP endpoint for my surround rig is an N5105 and the AES67 endpoint that handles headphones at my desk is a J4125. The desk one does some quasi heavy multichannel to stereo DSP and is pretty competent for being a cheap chip.


Oh speaking of AoIP, finding SBCs with NICs that support PTPv2 is a PITA (god thats a mouthful of acronyms) whereas, on the x86 side I've had great luck using ones designed as 'mini routers'.  For ARM, the 1 that comes to mind is the CM4 actually.

[iorbell]

You are right, no current hobby SBC's will currently manage anything like output format 8X DSD, a new Ryzen 7735HS based mini PC Yjay I just bought running Windows 11  handles x8 with quite alot to spare. I believe the later the generation of CPU, the more significant the overall performance boost  more than just sheer CPU frequency.

I have read, on this forum I think, that the PCM to DSD on the fly output conversion specifically relies more on single thread performance, rather than multi-thread.   In the case of the Ryzen 7735HS, the turbo/boost speed for a thread is 4.75Ghz. Putting aside for a moment the fact that  SBC's being RISC cpu and the Intel/AMD being CISC cpu design, I am not aware of any current hobby SBC that gets anywhere near that speed.  The RK3588 SBC cpu runs JR on Linux really well, just not including any on the fly DSD conversion greater than x2.

[BryanC]

You are right, no current hobby SBC's will currently manage anything like output format 8X DSD, a new Ryzen 7735HS based mini PC Yjay I just bought running Windows 11  handles x8 with quite alot to spare. I believe the later the generation of CPU, the more significant the overall performance boost  more than just sheer CPU frequency.

I have read, on this forum I think, that the PCM to DSD on the fly output conversion specifically relies more on single thread performance, rather than multi-thread.   In the case of the Ryzen 7735HS, the turbo/boost speed for a thread is 4.75Ghz. Putting aside for a moment the fact that  SBC's being RISC cpu and the Intel/AMD being CISC cpu design, I am not aware of any current hobby SBC that gets anywhere near that speed.  The RK3588 SBC cpu runs JR on Linux really well, just not including any on the fly DSD conversion greater than x2.

Have you tested 8K/60fps or 4K/120fps on that chip yet?