For this short post I thought I’d just show the setup I’m using for the spare bedroom now that both Idiot Children have left home. The room still has a bed but I’ve managed to have a desk for my electronics.
Digital audio files are streamed from a QNAP TS-251+ NAS, located in the kitchen, through ethernet to a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ (2018 version). The digital output from the Pi is provided by the IQAudio Pi-Digi+ HAT running Volumio 2. This is controlled by a Google Nexus 7 with DLNA and UPnP capabilities provided by the excellent BubbleUPnP app.
The signal is then passed from the Pi to a Topping D30 DAC. This is a really nice DAC for the price (c. £90 at time of purchase) with USB, coax and optical S/PDIF inputs, delivering PCM up to 192 Khz and DSD up to DSD128. The Topping has been independently tested and performs very well for its price.
Output from the DAC is then presented to the Objective 2 headphone amplifier (using standard gain settings of 2.5X and 6.5X) which is used here as a preamplifier. Final amplification is provided by the excellent Nelson Pass ACA feeding a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 220s.
This is a budget setup but I’m really happy with the sound I get for when I’m working on DIY audio projects.
