audio via usb

Help and Support Help
1

Hello,
anyone knows if raspberry can output audio from usb port?

I would like to connect raspeberry to a dac through usb port.
thanks for your help
michele

2

No problem, just connect the DAC to an USB port, so far all USB DACs I’ve tried were detected immediately.

1 Like
3

thanks for your help :slight_smile:

4

Be aware that some USB-DACs do not function right away !!! The current version of Volumio (or linux-kernel or a combination) has problems with certain USB-DACs when you plug it in and start to play your music. The sound may be distorted (too high, too fast and/or with dropouts). In most cases this can be resolved by changing the kernel startup options. Please check the DACs-section audio-usb-dac-nfb11-not-supported-t2221.html for more details on this.

5

Thanks MSH for your feedback.

I would like to connect raspberry to my external dac. What would be better between the two options I have:

  1. Raspberry + Digital interface and then connect to DAC via coax cable
  2. Raspberry + Gustard U12 usb convertor and then connect to DAC via AES/EBU cable

I know that the second option cost much more then the first one. It would be worth the extra cost?

6

not sure what you mean with “Digital Interface”? In case you mean an I2S converter there are several solutions: e.g. HifiBerry Digi(+) which has Optical and Coaxial Output. See runeaudio.com/forum/hifiberr … html#p7980 ; in the text it points to a video of Hans Beekhuyzen who has quite a lot of (professional) knowledge about digital audio solutions.

I think the Gustard U12 is a nice solution, but since the USB ports are not very well designed on the Raspberry Pi, it may be a bit of overkill to go that path.

7

I have a CuBox-i2eX, not a Raspberry Pi, but I think the following observations might still apply. I’ve connected the CuBox to the following audio chains: 1) Schitt Audio Bifrost Uber > Schiit Audio Asgard 2 > MrSpeakers Alpha Prime headphones, and 2) Bel Canto C7R DAC-amp > KEF LS50 speakers. I play FLAC from a Synology NAS, from 44.1/16 (CD rips) to 96/24 (digital downloads), mostly jazz, world, and classical, lots of piano and guitar. In all cases, the quality improvement (upper range, stereo imaging) I get by interposing a Bel Canto mLink USB>SPDIF converter (reclocked) between the CuBox and the DACs is quite noticeable.