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[Hilton]

Just a small update. I did a battery test and got 6 hours battery life out of it before it shutdown. (that's with the 1TB SSD installed instead of the 2TB HDD)

It's been exceptionally stable since the last update to 21.0.7 so I'm staying on this version of MC for a while.

I'm designing the final printed circuit board for the switches, LEDS and wiring to tidy it up and make it plug and play with the Pi GPIO header.
That way if I end up mass producing it, I can just sell it as a case with switches and power circuit all mounted with the option for the charging circuit with battery.

People can then just plug in a Pi and optional HDD or SDD, load up an SD image and away they go.

That's the theory anyway.

PS. It doesn't get at all hot anymore with the SSD installed compared with the HDD.

[blgentry]

That's cool stuff.  Keep reporting your progress on this.  I wasn't all that interested at first, but the more you talk about it... 

Brian.

[gvanbrunt]

Not sure if you know about Ponoko or not. Good for prototyping cases etc.

[GuitRdone]

Hi Hilton-

I've read through your whole Brick thread. Your device is wonderful! You are definitely a Wizard! I have a thread going on the hardware forum regarding replacing my iPod ( http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=100602.0 ), and mwillem mentioned your Pi Brick thread. The Brick seems to be *almost* what I have been looking for.

Since I have so much digital content, my ideal rig would be a 3-5TB USB 3 drive, an MC renderer (which could certainly be the Brick), and my iFi Nano iDSD DAC. Actually, an X5 style player that incorporates a very nice DAC and headphone amp could eliminate the need for my external DAC.

What I didn't see in looking at the Brick is support for external USB devices. Again, storage is the most important for my needs. I would prefer that to a fixed internal storage capacity. Did I miss that in reading about the Brick? Do you plan on supporting that type of role for the Brick?

Are you close to marketing your Brick?

Thanks for your time!

[Hilton]

Hi Hilton-

I've read through your whole Brick thread. Your device is wonderful! You are definitely a Wizard! I have a thread going on the hardware forum regarding replacing my iPod ( http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=100602.0 ), and mwillem mentioned your Pi Brick thread. The Brick seems to be *almost* what I have been looking for.

Since I have so much digital content, my ideal rig would be a 3-5TB USB 3 drive, an MC renderer (which could certainly be the Brick), and my iFi Nano iDSD DAC. Actually, an X5 style player that incorporates a very nice DAC and headphone amp could eliminate the need for my external DAC.

What I didn't see in looking at the Brick is support for external USB devices. Again, storage is the most important for my needs. I would prefer that to a fixed internal storage capacity. Did I miss that in reading about the Brick? Do you plan on supporting that type of role for the Brick?

Are you close to marketing your Brick?

Thanks for your time!

Hi No problem!

I'm looking for a house to buy at the moment and busiest time of year for work so the project has been on hold. It's been working great in its current state, just not ready for mass production.
I'm learning designspark PCB software to design the circuit board and wiring to have a few prototypes made up but I haven't finished it yet.

The device has 4 usb ports.
1 is required for the wifi dongle leaving 3 free for DACs and HDD or 2 free USB ports if using an internal HDD.
If you use a Bluetooth dongle there's only 1 free for a DAC.

[GuitRdone]

Thanks Hilton. I'll be interested in getting one when you are ready.

[Hilton]

Big news today boys!

I purchased a pair of Sony MDR-1ADAC active headphones.
http://www.sony.com.au/product/mdr-1adac

Built in DAC and amp.
DAC does up to 192/24 384/32 and also does DSD 2.8Mhz and 5.6Mhz on PC and yes even does DSD on the Pi2!!!
With the native iPhone lightning connector looks like it down samples to 44.1/48 16bit.
7 hours battery life.

The Pi2 can effortlessly push SACD ISO DSD and DSF files to the headphones built in DAC plugged directly into the USB port of the Pi2.
Best part, plug and play - no special setup.  
No more messy cables and external dacs/amps.

AND best of all no more down conversion necessary, play every 2 channel file natively to the headphone DAC from the Pi2 usb port!  
i.e. The DAC supports all the below with no down sampling playing back from the Pi2 via USB.

16, 24 and 32bit.

44.1k
48k
88.2k
96k
176.4k
192k
352.8k
edit: 384k  also
DSD64 2.8Mhz
DSD128 5.6Mhz

The Pi2 cant can decode and transcode DSD files to 352.8 PCM to the DAC in the headphones via USB without raising a sweat. (oops it is working hard but not skipping!)
This is DSD to PCM (just worked out how to get native DoP - first time with a DoP capable DAC)
Pi2-DSD by Hilton, on Flickr

This is native DSD DoP 2.8Mhz using 3 cores for decoding.
Pi2-DSD2 by Hilton, on Flickr

[RoderickGI]

Very nice.

If they were noise cancelling as well they would be almost perfect . . . except for the price. Although with all those features built in, they are probably well priced.

[Hilton]

They also work on the Samsung Tab 3 8" I have.
They do 192/24 on the tablet through JRemote.


When plugged into the iPhone, JRemote shows 192/24bit but the specs for the headphones say they are limited to 44.1 & 48/16bit on iPhone.

Maybe it's downsampling in the iPhone or maybe they mean with the native Apple Music player?
I know using my other DAC on the iPhone that the iPhone definitely supports 96/24 with JRemote.

The headphones PC cable also works through the iPhone camera connection kit. (showing 192/24bit in JRemote)

PS.. Giving them a good workout. Realllly nice sounding headphones, the built in headphone AMP has heaps of power and is clean and punchy and the bass from the drivers is full but not bloated, the mids are really present and the highs are very clear without being tedious and too bright. Great imaging, space and separation. These are easily my favourite headphones out of the Senn HD600 and Klipsch Image Ones. (the build quality is awesome too, lots of strong metal hinges, no fragile plastic on these bad boys.)  

In comparison the Image ones lack detail and have an exaggerated sloppy bass, and the HD600's lack the punch and power in the lower octaves and don't cut through as well at the top end.

[Hilton]

Sony MDR-1ADAC on Pi2 by Hilton, on Flickr
Sony MDR-1ADAC on Pi2 by Hilton, on Flickr

Sony MDR-1ADAC on Pi2 by Hilton, on Flickr