Pi-DAC+ Full-HD audio card

Name: Pi-DAC+ Full-HD audio card
SKU: 3067
Price: 38.00 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 4.63 (74 reviews)

(74 Reviews)

The best sounding audio accessory for the Raspberry Pi [A+, B+ or RPi2] - available from www.iqaudio.com

Designed by IQaudIO.com in United Kingdom

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2015-06-16T16:01:51.322Z-newdacaudio.jpg

Sorry, we're no longer selling on Tindie. Come over to www.Pi-Shack.com to buy IQaudIO products.

The best sounding audio accessory for the Raspberry Pi [A+, B+ or RPi2] - available from www.iqaudio.com

Review Breakdown

Average Ratings

Product: (4.91)

Documentation: (4.35)

Shipping: (4.58)

Communication: (4.69)

Cor | Dec. 1, 2016

Great sound

The Pi-DAC+ is easy to fit on the Pi. I also bought the Pi-Case and it all fits nicely in the box.
The Pi-DAC+ gives you a lot of value for the money. The sound is great. Previously I used the audio output of the Pi, but now with the Pi-DAC+, it gives a much higher sound quality.

Nguyen Trong | Aug. 17, 2015

Toying audio

It is quite please to audition this card and appreciate it till tested same track with a $100 DVD player, found rather disappointed. Sound was less powerful and dynamic.

It was at its own position: a toying audio component.

Response from IQaudIO.com | Aug. 17, 2015

That's a shame. You will find that the audio quality benefits from good quality interconnects.

Gordon

Robert | Aug. 14, 2015

Pi-DAC+ audio card - perfect hifi addition to Pi

Installation dead easy as per documentation, card recognized immediately by Kodi and fully integrates with Kodi. Audio quality 10/10

Jakub | Aug. 6, 2015

Awesome DAC for RPi synth project!

Great sound this DAC delivers is hard to describe by words. One must hear it.
I've used it in my DIY Raspberry Pi 2 Synthesizer powered by SunVox Virtual Modular Music Studio project. Together with the pre-configured IQ Audio's Raspbian image (and slight overclock) I could get the latency down to 5ms! The sound is full and punchy. Absolute must if you want to do anything audio with RPi. Also the pin outs for master volume knob, L & R and headphones are very welcome feature of the DAC design. Also the support communication with the author was nice.

More info about the project:
http://www.warmplace.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=3733

And some photos here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskgVj3e9

Review Image

Response from IQaudIO.com | Aug. 6, 2015

Awesome project which I have passed on to others via Twitter. Hope you don't mind. Glad you are enjoying it.

Emmanuel | July 31, 2015

excellent product

Easy to fit, nice box (a bit expensive though), excellent hardware support, excellent communication with the maker !

Stuart | July 14, 2015

DAC+ AAA+

Perfect I2S DAC for the RasPi
Works like a charm with minimal fuss to setup, quick config for ALSA and we're in business
Using with Pi 2 running Squeezelite and Shairport
Very very happy with the results and would highly recommend

John | July 13, 2015

Very good

I was on the lookout for a headphone amp as my amp doesn't have an output. I stumpled across this by accident, as I already use five raspberry pi 's for streaming audio and watching TV, I had already purchased the hifiberry digi plus to output to my dac, and was very happy with the sound.
On receiving this I set up a raspberry pi with OSMC and pointed it to my NAS drive connected it to my amp, I was very impressed with the quality of sound, but I love my Rega Dac and amp to much to replace it, but this does have an impressive sound very smooth.
I bought this as a headphone amp project as I've just had an operation and off work for a few weeks, I had already ordered AKG k550 headphones so using the Raspberry pi 2 with a wireless usb adapter I now have a high quality wireless headphone amp streaming music from my nas drive, the sound is way better than phone or tablet output, and using a mobile phone power bank, it plays for hours, maybe down the line I may purchase the Rega ear to match my hifi, but this is definitely impressive for the money Review Image

Jeffrey | July 9, 2015

Nice board, great service

This is a great alternative to buying a high end DAC for your stereo. We looked into all the options, but quickly decided on the DAC+. Service and shipping were fantastic. Here in about a week, questions quickly answered. The Texas Instruments documentation on the chipset is recommended reading, especially for understanding dsp modes.

We started with an updated raspbian image. We used mpd and a music collection of lossy and lossless mounted via cifs. Alsamixer and kernel version yield a mixer control of "Digital" as opposed to "PCM". Works great, sounds great...even on that old Sanyo 50w/ch integrated amp from the 80s, Bose headphones, or Soundlink Mini. We have modest hopes of eventually connecting this up to a pair of refoamed original Advents from '69 powered by a kit tube amp.

Currently using IQaudIO pre-configured Volumio 1.55 image since you get a nice webui. Don't run check updates though. We broke the webui. Otherwise, great out of the gate image for enjoying your DAC+.

Like many others, highly recommended... Great board and service.

Jonas | June 8, 2015

A great sounding DAC with a prominent bass boost

A great sounding DAC at a great price! I normally listen to music through studio equipment that work well down to around 45 Hz. Switching out the source for a Pi2 and a Pi-DAC+ I notice a significant bass boost in the lower frequencies. Great, clear sound that goes well with headphones that struggle below 100Hz, but the bass is definitely on the stronger side when paried with a speakers that themselves are capable of good bass response.

Chris | June 5, 2015

The best piece of audio kit I've ever bought!!!

This wonderful DAC has revolutionised my listening experience. I bought it to replace a Roku M1001 Soundbridge as I needed something to stream FLACs. Paired with a RPi B+ running PiCorePlayer with audio streamed from another RPi B+ running Logitech Media Server it performs brilliantly. I was really blown away by the quality of sound.... it far exceeded my expectations. Even lower bitrate MP3s have an added depth and improved overall sound. It's quite simply amazing - do not hesitate in buying one - it will make you smile!!

David | May 31, 2015

Beautiful sound

I am using this card with a raspberry pi 2 in squeezebox replacements. One system feeds into a stereo amplifier or headphones, another has the AMP+ from IQaudio to drive a pair of speakers. Both systems are outstanding.

Mladen | May 31, 2015

Perfect

The sound is great. Using it with Volumio and everything just works. The shipping was very fast to Sweden.

Mark | May 30, 2015

Incredible, up there with high end hifi dac/streamers.

I bought the PiDAC+ after reading a few interesting and positive threads on various forums and im so glad i did.
I set it up running RuneAudio to stream flac files from my NAS, connected to a classic 1980's marantz pm4 amp and a pair of tannoy precision 6.4 floorstanders, the sound produced is nothing short of astounding. For the price, you cannot go wrong with this little gem !!

Dean | May 28, 2015

Great product, made my inner geek smile.

Loved the idea of the PiDAC from the moment I saw it, so I was über excited when it arrived.

Attached to Pi and loaded volumio, which wasn't quite so plug and play as I'd hoped but works well now (and I learned loads about configuring the Pi).

I have my PiDAC hooked up to my existing stereo amp and the sound quality is great. I'm playing stuff from my NAS drive and through Spotify and there's a noticeable improvement compared to playing through my iOS devices. I'm also loving that it works with Airplay.

The set-up is not quite as user friendly as SONOS f'sure but at less than £60 it's a great upgrade to my trusty old stereo separates, and it's definitely cheap enough to make me consider placing more around the house and one at my desk at work.

Massimo | May 27, 2015

Good product and good service for Tindie

I'm using it with Raspberry B+ and A+
The sound quality is perfect for both the Raspy and the cpu is generally below 45% with sampling and bitrate to max.
The new black version is stilish and it's perfect for the Raspberry A+ with the same dimension.
I'm satisfied with it and a ggod work done by Tindie

Ingo | May 27, 2015

Great sound and easy installation

I have the Pi-DAC+ is running with a PI 2 and volumio. Install went out of the box and the sound quality is really amazing. I use it mostly with a Fidelio X2 headphone and it is a fun to listen. Really a nice product without any problems so far!

Mike | May 13, 2015

Brilliant Sound quality.

Absolutely brilliant sound quality that stands up proudly in comparison with my $4000 Naim DAC. Build a music streamer for $150.

Keith | April 5, 2015

Simply Stunning Audio and Product

I received my Pi-DAC+ from Gordon on 10/31/14. I built my Pi that day, tried Volumio first, then switched to RuneAudio.

First off...if you're going to get a Pi-DAC+ RuneAudio provides by FAR the best support out of the gate for the Pi-DAC+. Bar none. Period. Use it. I've been so happy with RuneAudio I've contributed a total of $100 since starting to use it. Aside from a power outage in January and an unexpected need for a reboot last month the Pi has run continuously with the Pi-DAC+ and RuneAudio, and that's with multiple hours per day of streaming. One thing, If you are going to stream 24/192 don't fight it...just go wired Ethernet. Trust me. Gordon will tell you the same.

My point of comparison sonically for the Pi-DAC+ is my Denon DVD-5900 reference disk player...cost $2000 in 2002 or so. Multiple Burr Brown PCM1704 DAC chips...a truly stellar piece of equipment on so many fronts. I have to say that the Pi-DAC+ gives it a true run for it's money. I can setup for the Pi and the Denon on two different inputs and synchronize FLAC and CD. If there is a difference it's VERY slight...and honestly probably inaudible to my ears. The one thing that would shift me back to a Denon product would be if I could come across a DVD-9000, which has digital *inputs*...I would stream from the Pi to it. I do love the sound of my Denon :)

The Pi with the Pi-CASE+, Pi-DAC+, power supply, and SD card all totalled cost me $130. Combined with RuneAudio I simply can't imagine a better playback system for the money...or several times it honestly. If you're on the fence about a Pi-DAC+ don't be. Just order the DAC and the Pi-CASE+, install Rune Audio and don't look back. Seriously.

Thanks Gordon...for your support and the products. I couldn't be any happier with them.

Victor | March 31, 2015

Phenomenal audiophile experience

I purchased two sets of the PiDAC+/ PiAmp+ /PiCase+ (using two Raspberry Pi B+ boards) for two separate locations driving floor standing speakers (Denon SC T33 and my old faithful Musical Technology Kestrels).

Unpacking the IQAudIO boards and mounting them onto the Pi was satisfying and enjoyable, it all fits together beautifully and the case gives it a very solid feel. Make sure your speaker cables are thin enough to fit into the PiAmp's tiny connectors. It's strangely beautiful to see large floor standing speakers connected only to this tiny box - and it takes a while to get used to not seeing a huge amplifier and separate components.

The software installation and configuration was a breeze too. IQAudIO's provided images of Rune Audio and OpenElec (Kodi) are pre-configured to utilise the PiDAC+, so there's no need to be a Linux expert to get these working. There are plenty of instructions on the support page should you need to tweak the device at the command line, and Gordon is incredibly helpful if you have questions (thanks Gordon!). I've settled on Rune Audio as my software of choice, it's simple web interface is a joy to use on a wide variety of devices. Max2Play (connected to my LMS Squeezebox server) also works well at my second location and can be controlled easily with a Logitech controller.

The true enjoyment was sitting back and listening. Or should I say sitting back and feeling? The sound quality is jaw dropping. Every genre I played though this silicon sandwich sounded astounding: progressive rock, acoustic guitar, electronic dance, classical, jazz. I don't even like jazz! But the PiDAC+ has an ability to open up your ears to music you never thought you'd like ! Even my daughter's Taylor Swift album sounded unashamedly delightful! Sigue Sigue Spuntik anyone? Before I could congratulate myself for having over the years ripped all of my albums to FLAC, I discovered that even my lowly downloaded MP3s sounded astonishingly good! Calvin Harris' Sweet Nothing (Dirty Loud Remix) threatened to stretch and pull this tiny device to infinity and back, but never once did this tiny powerhouse lose it's footing whilst delivering a beautifully detailed wide, deep and clean sound scape. My Kestrel's are seemingly enjoying the workout from their new instructor as Primal Scream (another great Scottish invention) take music to unimaginable places on Vanishing Point. My oh my....that bass! My speakers haven't sung so sweetly since the good old days of the Linn Sondek LP-12 turntable. Could this mini-digital setup finally trump vinyl? It certainly gives it a run for it's money. Hearing your favourite albums on the PiDAC+/PiAmp+ is like hearing them again for the first time on a newly pressed 180 gram vinyl LP (sans crackles).

This setup looks great too, with it's sturdy bolts and transparent case, LEDs winking inside, you'll not want to hide this away behind your TV - it has to be seen and heard. It's unfathomable that something this tiny, for this cost, can produce such joyous sound quality across all genres. Kudos Gordon and long may your success continue!

Vic

Giorgos | March 27, 2015

Amazing sound, good construction.

This is my first dac, for raspberry pi or otherwise. It has amazing sound both on headphones and speakers. It's also very well built. I would buy again. Thanks iqaudio!

Ian | March 26, 2015

A superb Pi card that gives full 24/192 HD audio

Used with a Raspberry Pi and a software build like Rune Audio, this card enables you to build a top quality HD music streamer/player. No soldering involved and all mounting hardware is supplied. It really couldn't be easier.

Tamás | March 26, 2015

Oustanding DAC for Raspberry Pi 2

I am using the Pi-DAC+ together with Raspberry Pi 2 and Moode audio player. I connected the output of Pi-DAC+ to my old NAD amplifier. The sound quality is incredible good. I have never thought that it could be so good. The setup with Moode audio player is very easy. You simple need to select the IQaudIO Pi-DAC+ device from the System menu at the very first boot and then after a reboot you need to select the hardware volume control from MPD menu. I can recommend this product to anyone who wants to create a good music player on affordable price.

Dave | March 26, 2015

Great quality and easy to install

I bought this to replace the naff built-in audio-out on a Model A+. Installation and setup was simple and it works wonderfully with shairport-sync.

Thomas | March 21, 2015

EXCELLENT - Much Better Than I Expected

Using R-Pi B+ with iqaudio Pi-DAC+ as music server which takes FLAC files from a USB exHDD. Sound is clear, detailed and authentic. A big improvement over R-Pi USB out to external DAC; maybe it's the I2S interface. The Pi-DAC+ has the sound of a MUCH more expensive stand alone DAC, and it's just right for my system. (Primare CD31 CD player, Primare Pre30 preamp, a pair of Bryston 7B ST monoblocks and a pair of Vienna Acoustics Mahler loudspeakers. Control is headless via Nexus 7 android tablet. Chose this DAC over the hifiBerry based on reviews. Was going to try Wolfson, Sabre or Durio, but I am so satisfied with the iqaudio product that I will just stay with it for now. BTW, I listen almost exclusively to Classical music. Highest personal recommendation.

Thomas | March 15, 2015

Life changer...

Took 12 days from the day I ordered it to the day it arrived in Connecticut. It's great. Sounds really good. Wonderful detail and clarity. I got the case for it and was happy with how nice the construction/precision is. Very solid once its put together. The sound is really incredible. I've got a few DAC's and this one makes the others look silly in some respects. Using Volumio, it actually plays purchased iTunes music files (AAC) from a connected hard drive. I couldn't believe this. Totally stoked with this thing. I love it!!! Want to make up a few for friends and family. Can't praise this enough.

Leo | March 10, 2015

Great Product - Great Support

I have now got the Pi-DAC+ & Pi-Amp+ working as a standalone music player with a Pi A+.
Great product, lovely sound. Going to use several around the house in the near future.

I previously had bought a Woolfson card from Farnell - what a mistake. Support was nil. Needed to compile the Kernel to include drivers.

Support here is superb. New Images available for download. Updated documentation etc.

Thanks

Leo

John | March 9, 2015

excellent product, amazing customer service great communicat

I really don't know what else to say. for its money pi dac+ is more than superb. it is heavenly sent. the support is excellent i really like the faq which gets updated all the time (and i know it will get updated again soon), i love the preconfigured images as it saves time, and the customer servioce and communications are excellent. i am very very happy with my purchase!!!!!

Ian | March 9, 2015

Very nice sound for not much money.

I have quite happily been using a Raspberry Pi model B as an audio source for year now, with a hifiberry dac and running Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite. Having got my hands on a Raspberry Pi 2 recently, I tried it out as a replacement. The server ran noticeably quicker so I went looking for DACs that would work with it, and decided to give IQaudio's product a try. On the basis of that experience, I'd be happy to recommend either product, though IQaudio's slightly more expensive device does to my ears sound a little warmer without losing any detail.

I would have liked the option to have the board with no phono sockets though. I removed those, and the headers for the optional amp, so that it would fit in the existing installation (might add a photo later).

The right-angled header pins included (but not fitted) for the GPIOs was a nice touch - I used some of them to get the audio signals out underneath the board.

Duncan | March 8, 2015

Awesome

I've had coax, toslink and USB Dac's and none match up to the sound quality of this I2S dac😄
Very good sound with fantastic micro details and timing of leading edge.

Mike | March 3, 2015

Great little DAC!

I bought this DAC specifically to use with Volumio 1.5 after weeks of failing to beat the Wolfson DAC into submission (it works fine with Raspian, but I need a headless music streamer and it just wouldn't play (as it were)). I'm very happy to say the Pi-DAC is literally plug-and-play with Volumio, and the performance and sound quality is every bit (:D) as good as I was hoping for after reading all the reviews! Build quality is great, too, and delivery time to New Zealand was outstanding! Highly recommended.

Francesco | March 2, 2015

Way better that you might imagine

I'm using this product in my main rig, after buying it following the recommendation of a fellow-member on a forum.
Despite te small cost, the result are way bigger that I anticipated.
I ended up selling my previous Dac costing 8-10 times more.
Now, using this together with a Raspberry Pi2, you can buy a very effective full streamer solution with a modest cost (say around 100£ + USB storage) that IMO can directly rivals ready-made solutions from well known brands at a fraction of the cost.

Peter | March 2, 2015

The sound quality is fantastic

Bought the IQAudio DAC+ and matching case to use with a Raspberry PI 2 to create an audiophile player. The intention was to test whether this combination would provide as good as or better quality playback from my collection of FLAC audio files than my present hifi seperates system. Replacing the Squeezebox Classic feeding into a reasonably hiqh quality DAC with this combination surpassed my expectations. Suffice to say that some of my older hifi is now to be sold.
I am using Volumio as the music manager but also want to use PiCorePlayer once a version for the Pi 2 is available. I will try both but I do like the Logitech Music Server backend as a way to unify delivery and cover art management. Time will tell on this one.
Overall the iQAudio DAC+ and matching case are excellent value for money and the DAC+ produces a wonderfully detailed, very open yet untiring sound.

Dennis | March 1, 2015

Great Products, Great Sound, Wonderful Design

Hi:
I purchased a DAC+ and a PI Case. With a brand new PI2 I had it all up and running in about an hour.
Fit and finish on the case and the Dac+ were perfect.
Only a minor setup glitch in Volumio which was resolved with one click.
IQaudio sent the product expeditiously and even though it came from across the pond the shipping speed was great.
Thanks so much for the quality products and service.
Regards,
Dennis

Yang | March 1, 2015

DAC is not working

Followed steps described in the manual, but the DAC is not recognized. I am running the raspbery pi b+ module with raspbian OS. Not a fresh installed one. But the manual does not provide any help concerning such case, namely how to get it work without reinstalling the OS.

Response from IQaudIO.com | March 1, 2015

Hi Yang, drop me an email to gordon@iqaudio.com with your order number and I'll point you at all the information you need and walk you through it.

The product documentation - section 6 page 18, (http://www.iqaudio.com/downloads/IQaudIO.pdf) details how to use pre-RPi2 Raspbian.

Very best regards,

Gordon

Wing Hei | Feb. 28, 2015

Very nice product!

Easy to use, nice product with build in headphone amp. Just plug the dac to my pi2 and select it as output soundcard on volumio with a few clicks will work.
Shipping is fast also. Will definitely buy again in the future.

Gregory | Feb. 28, 2015

Best headphone listening experience I have ever experienced

I purchased this product to produce a minimalist Squeezebox streaming device. My prior experience has been with a Squeezeboxed O2 Joggler connected to a FiiO Alpen headphone amplifier, My plan was to extend streaming to other rooms in the house. The Pi DAC+ HAT mated to a Raspberry Pi A+ seemed to fit the bill, so based on reviews I read on the web I took the plunge. This was also my first experience with Raspberry Pi, so getting pi-core player streaming over wi-fi was an interesting challenge with my basic Linux skills and only one USB port to play with.

I am more than happy with my purchase. I have been pleased with the Fiio, but the Pi DAC+ HAT is absolutely amazing when listening with my Sennheiser HD 598s. The sound-stage is very precise and the bass is tight and nicely extended compared to the FiiO. The HD598s are not known for their bass, but the PiDAC+ HAT complements them well producing a refined and engaging listening experience.

I have not used the unit extensively with speakers, so cannot pass judgement yet.

I have designed and printed a suitably minimalist case. it is available on Youmagine if anyone would like to make one.

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/iqaudio-pi-dac-case-for-a

Darin | Feb. 27, 2015

Excellent DAC

The DAC comes ready to use, and it works flawlessly. I will buy more of these. Hardware volume control is nice, and It was easy as pie to get this working in volumio. Review Image

Clément | Feb. 26, 2015

DAC de grande qualité

Très bon DAC, au son aéré et dynamique. Je l'utilise avec volumio qui l'a reconnu immédiatement.
L'envoie s'est fait rapidement et il en va de même pour l'acheminement vers la france.
Je le recommande vivement.

Allan | Feb. 25, 2015

Redefine your music listening experience.

They have a compiled .img that works with their DAC.
Download, save to SD, connect Pi to network,
and start listening to your music over WiFi!

I am now seriously considering their amp as well!

Benedick | Feb. 16, 2015

Excellent sound quality, easy set-up

The IQaudIO PiDAC+ is excellent. Very easy to install, hardware and software. I also recommend IQaudIO.com Pi-CASE+. If you want to use your Raspberry Pi to output HiFI quality sound this is the DAC to buy. I Have two of them!

Kenneth | Feb. 16, 2015

A great bit of kit with 2 fantastic surprises!!

I already used an older model B raspberry pi/Hifiberry Mk1 as a music player playing through a big older NAD C320BEE Hi-fi amplifier - the Hifiberry Mk1 only had a software volume control that ruined the detail in the music at lower volumes (when controling the volume in MPD) so i thought i'd get a RPi B+ & an IQaudio Pi-DAC+ to see if its hardware volume control would improve things.

Replacing the software volume control with a hardware one did improve the sound quality as i'd hoped, but there were 2 other massive bonuses:

1 - The Pi-DAC+ can feed it's output straight into a power amplifier. If you've got an amp where you can bypass the preamp & feed straight into the power amp stage it's well worth a try. For me this has MASSIVELY improved the amount of character & detail in the music and the soundstage is much bigger than it's ever been (to me it seems twice as big as with the Mk1 Hifiberry fed through the preamp first), YMMV but give it a try if you can!

2 - The headphone amp is stunning - once burnt in (I played mine continuously for 20 hours), listening with headphones is breathtaking.

Ontop of everything Gordon (the guy that runs IQaudio) was incredibly helpful and i wouldn't hesitate in recommending the Pi-DAC+ to anyone - it's a truly stunning bit of kit & inexpensive to boot, a bit of a 'no brainer' - oh and the Pi-CASE+ is superb too.

Andreas | Feb. 15, 2015

HiFi at its best!!!

My RaspBi B+ is now a my phone amplifier for all formats incl. DSD 2,8/5,6MHz - the resolution and auditory spaciousness is amazing!
I am quite sure the sound is as good as from devices which costs 20 times more!!!

Andrew | Feb. 14, 2015

One of the best sounding DACs out there

This product is fantastic. I have a highly tuned set of ears due to my profession and can't find fault with this DAC. The fact the manufacturer leaves options for the user to expand it is fantastic. Documentation expands the usability and it also has great software support. I can't reccomend enough..

Aaron | Feb. 10, 2015

great sound!

Hi there, got my IQaudio DAC+ and Cear case in two weeks sent to Australia. I connected it up with my Pi-2 following the instruction, took about 5 minutes, its as easy as putting together LEGO, and tried Volumio 1.55...It
all booted up nicely (first go), I was impressed with the 'beefy' sound the DAC produced via my PrimaLuna Integrated valve amp...

The headphone amp sounded pretty good as well, not as spacious as my PONO player, it would be good if the headphone amp switched off external speakers when you plug in headphones, but I imagine thats a software thing...?

All up an excellent product, highly recommended!

Tim | Feb. 8, 2015

Simply fantastic and hope this will encourage others

Objective was to have my music files ripped to FLAC format play through my amplifier, although Sony have a device that caters for this it costs over a £1000, I did all what that can do for £80.
OK, I’m old school and have listened to my music for the last 40 years when it used to be a celebration playing an album. You would read the sleeve from front to back and place the vinyl on a state of the art turntable connected to a quality amp pumping the sound out of speakers that you had lied to your wife about the cost of. Those days have gone and the compulsion seems to be listening to tracks and not albums, it was in the early days of this technology listening to Bowie converted to MP3 format I could not understand why instruments were missing and the sound was very basic, I could not believe how much MP3 strips out so now only play FLAC lossless formats and I tend to listen to albums not just tracks.
So how was I going to playback all this stuff stored on my hard drive.
What I wanted was to see all my albums listed on my phone, select an album and playback starts through my amplifier, so this is what I did to achieve this

Listed Components:
• Raspberry Pi DAC+ HAT Full-HD audio card by IQaudIO.com (tindie)
• IQaudIO.com Pi-CASE+ (For Pi B+ and DAC+) (tindie)
• Raspberry Pi B+ Desktop (700MHz Processor, 512MB RAM, 4x USB Port) (Amazon)
• Raspberry Pi UK Micro USB Power Supply (Amazon)
• Edimax EW-7811UN 150Mbps Wireless Nano USB Adapter (Amazon)
• HDMI Cable (Already got)
• Ethernet Cable (Already got)
• Samsung 32 GIG Micro SD Card (Already got)
• Voyager Air 1TB powered Hard Drive (Already got)
• Audio Phono Cable (Already got)
• HTC One Android Phone (Already got)

Software:
• Operating system image flashed to memory card ‘5_OpenELEC-RPi.arm-5.0.0_iqaudio’
(Free and supplied by IQaudIO.com with support written in for Pi DAC+)
• SD Formatter
(Free and used to format your card correctly)
• Win32DiskImager
(Free and used to flash image to memory card)
• Yatse Remote Control app for XBMC/Kodi
(Free but paid for pro version to support developer)

Process Steps:
1. Build your Raspberry PI and Pi DAC+ HAT Full-HD audio card enclosing all in the case (help from IQaudIO.com and tindie is fantastic)
2. Download all relevant software listed above
3. Insert memory card to PC and format with SD Formatter
4. Flash operating system image using Win32DiskImager to memory card
5. Now insert the card into your pi, connect to a monitor with HDMI, USB a powered hard drive holding all your media, attach Wireless Nano USB Adapter, attach Ethernet cable straight from router.
6. Now connect the power to the pi and turn on, just sit back and wait, in my case it took less than 30 seconds to boot up, I’ve read while researching that in some cases it can take a long time.
7. Once booted up you will see the XBMC/Kodi home page and this will now need setting up, loads of good Youtube videos showing how to do this, such as telling the system where your media is, setting up a wireless connection, setting the sound output to Pi DAC. As I’m running a blind system (no monitor) I double checked everything before removing from TV display. Install Yatse on your phone and it should detect your pi automatically, make sure your connected and use the app to shut down the system.
8. Now connect the pi to your amp and turn hard drive on first and then the pi and wait 5 mins or so, boot up Yatse on your phone and press and hold the Music icon and it should update and display all of the media, done

Tips:

• Set up the option to scan media library on boot up from within XBMC/Kodi

• Make sure all you music folders are properly tagged as this stops media software flirting tracks out of folders and also help’s display album art work on your phone, I used TagSanner free to download and use

• If like me you only wish to play music from your system choose to not show weather, video, photographs menus from within XBMC/Kodi and the Yatse app, this will give everything a cleaner interface

• If your hard drive is not powered use a powered USB hub

Hope this has been some help to anyone thinking of doing all this and may I stress the service and quality of hardware from both ‘tindie’ and ‘IQaudIO.com’ was great!

tj

Mikael | Feb. 7, 2015

Working well

We are using it for a potential new client. Will keep you posted :)

Stephen | Feb. 3, 2015

Amazingly hardware for an awesome price

Delivery 100% as promised.
I bought the DAC+ and the matching AMP+ from IQaudIO and first impressions were of superbly designed and solidly build pcb's with top quality components. Incredibly easy to load up software and test on a RaspPi B+ and over the last month I've been constantly blown away by just how good this combo sounded. Its almost shocking how well these units are comparing against my real hi-fi setup considering the vast difference in price. I'm already looking at my next project that I can use more of these units with and can 100% recommend these units. Gordon from IQaudIO also responded to any email questions I sent in super quick time so top marks for after sales service too.

Niels | Jan. 14, 2015

Great sound, good fun, small money

The Pi-DAC+ HAT audio card is dead-simple to install onto your RaspberryPi+, very fairly priced and excellent fun for your DIY-hifi-system-project.
I own a Lead Audio LA-100 DAC/amp wich was rated 'Product of the year" by the swedish magazine 'Hi-Fi & Musik' in 2010. It cost me about 500 dollars back then, at it was (and still is -if you can get it) a bargain, in my opinion.
Priced at less than a quarter of the LA-100, the Pi-DAC+ compares favorably to the LA-100, in terms of detail and soundstage. Not so favorably in terms of what I subjectively would describe as 'overall roundness of the sound'. I miss the smooth bass and the mellow midrange that I get from my LA, but these days I prefer, and enjoy, the Pi-DAC+, in spite of the very dry (could actually be 'more precise' bass) and the somewhat harsher treble, because it can reveal details in the music I listen to, that I have not previously been aware of. And that's great fun! Note though, that the LA-100 also sports an asyncronous usb, a coax and an optical connector, making it a very versatile hifi component.
Thanks Gordon.

Alan | Jan. 6, 2015

Amazingly versatile, well designed, brilliant sound quality.

I previously used the Pi-DAC that fits the plain old model B Raspberry Pi and I was very happy with it. To my ears, I could not fault the sound at all. Combined with Runeaudio on the Pi, the DAC was natively supported and there was no technical issues to worry about. Less time fighting with cryptic software issues means more time listening to tunes of course!

I've since upgraded to this Pi-DAC+ for the model B+ Raspberry Pi. It brings the same sweet sound via the RCA sockets, but in addition it brings a headphone amplifier and the headers required for the Pi-AMP+ to connect with if you choose that option. With the four 12mm standoffs (provided) it forms a very strongly braced unit.

The headphone amplifier is clean and clear, and seems to have plenty of power. I tested with only basic headphones, and I genuinely look forward to listening with more demanding phones later. All indications are that it will be equally impressive as the RCA outputs.

An audiophile quality DAC with strong output, hardware controlled volume, a quality headphone amplifier, and seamlessly integrates with the Pi-AMP+... It's really an amazingly versatile device especially considering the price. I would buy again and recommend to it anyone chasing an quality source for their system.

To boot, Gordon is active on the Volumio, Runeaudio and likely other forums, helping users and taking in feedback. He clearly stands behind his gear.

Scott | Jan. 1, 2015

Pi-DAC+ w/ Volumio and Pi

Love it. It just works and it sounds awesome. It's as big as it needs to be and not a millimeter more. Took 7 days from Scotland to Vancouver - not bad at all. There was bit of confusion on my part related to the + versions' compatibility with Volumio, but a quick search of their forum fixed that.
I would order this product again in a second.
Thanks!

Thomas | Dec. 28, 2014

Works as expected

Attaching the audio card to my PI was as easy as promised and the sound is as good as I expected.
Some questions I had concerning the card were answered fast and exhaustive by IQaudioIO.

John | Dec. 24, 2014

IQAudio DAC Review

I'm a huge fan of audio and Raspberry Pi's. Nothing better than combining the two hobbies. I have fiddled around with the "other" HAT boards and they are okay but prefer the sound of the IQAudio DAC+. Then to add to the story I started getting into higher resolution audio and bought some 192/24bit music and realized that it choked on the other HAT board. I literally tried everything and just couldn't get higher resolution files to play via MPD.

Then I installed the IQAudio DAC and to my surprise 96/24bit stuff played perfectly. Then I played 192/24bit stuff and it worked pretty great except for the occasional hiccup. I then added a buffer command to my mpd.conf file and overclocked the Pi just a hair and it plays back the high res stuff perfectly.

If you are just ripping CD's at 44.1/16 bit just about any DAC will do but if you want higher resolution music on a Raspberry Pi music server this is the ONLY suitable choice and again it sounds better than the other guys.

Just buy this DAC. It's easy to set up, the sound quality is better, and it plays high resolution music CORRECTLY. The other guys claim to but I'll be darned if I could make it work.

Response from IQaudIO.com | Dec. 25, 2014

John, thanks for the kind words.

192/24b is a large amount of data - so if you find that music stutters you may want to look at hard wiring via ethernet rather than using wifi.

Best regards,

Gordon

Balraj | Dec. 17, 2014

Pi-Dac Great Dac

The DAC worked as advertised. Very good build quality. Has both RCA and 3.5mm jack for output. Sounds great after I run for a few hours (might have been the quality of the music I played earlier). I'm running Volumio on the Pi + Dac. Now the kids and wife can use the tablet to play their songs.

Damiano | Dec. 17, 2014

Instant installation

Really easy to add to the Raspberry card, in a minute you get a really audiofil player.

Nicolas | Dec. 17, 2014

Great extension to your Raspberry Pi B+

I got very impressed with such a small device.
Not as good as a high-end audiophile DAC (200x more expensive), but awesome for what it can deliver.
Works brilliantly with piCorePlayer, used in conjunction with a dedicated VortexBox PC!
Can natively play tracks up to 24/192KHz without a glitch.
Highly recommended.
Quick delivery too.
Thanks!

Mark | Dec. 15, 2014

its good

I bought two Pi B+ and one HiFi Berry+ and one IQaudio DAC+.
The IQaudio beats the HiFiBerry in terms of clarity and "air" and "spaciousness" around the music.
Identical PSU and interconnects to a NAD amp into NS1000M speakers.
Its a few more bucks than the HiFiBerry but for the extra euros you get a headphone amp and better sound quality.
Just need to get a case to jazz it up make it all beautiful :)

Thomas | Dec. 15, 2014

Excellent Product

I'm using this DAC on my raspberrypi over ssh with cmus, in my opinion the best cli audio player out there. I love the setup and the sound quality. Thank you for this .

Simone | Nov. 15, 2014

A little jewel

Easy to mount, it plays very well all my hd music, also 24/192! A must have for all rpy audiophilies!!

Niels A | Nov. 12, 2014

Great product and service

A bargain. Just awaiting the amp now!

Franz | Nov. 10, 2014

PiDAC+ against a NAIM streamer - or David against Goliath..

I could not believe what I heard - fed from an upnp server in my local net and attached to a densen full class-A-amp driving two audio physics speakers: incredible good !

The software in use is Volumio from Italy - the boards Raspbi B+ (!!!) , attached PiDAC+ from Scotland and a 2AMP power supply. At the beginning it took me some time to install and configure the Linux-based Volumio - but after bringing the board to sound via the earphone-interface I attached the PiDAC+, reconfigured the Volumio interfaces - worked!

Highly recommended. Now I am thinking on giving the boards as a gift to my 16 year aged nephews to onboard then to DIY electronics world ...

Matthew | Nov. 8, 2014

Very nice product

Sounds fantastic. A++

David | Nov. 7, 2014

IQ Audio DAC for Raspberry PI

There's not much to say. Installation is easy, Once on the Pi it works as a Squeezebox touch. Today I A/B compared it to a £400 highly rated Arcam Air DAC that's getting rave reviews in the HI-FI press. I, and the owner of the DAC could discern no difference.
It's a no brainer. Just buy it.

Luke | Nov. 6, 2014

An amazing bit of kit, sounds wonderful.

I was looking for a small footprint audio solution that would allow me to do away with all my CDs and have instant access to my whole music collection without sacrificing sound quality. Enter the Raspberry Pi, which I had not previously been aware of. Without any add-on, the sound from the Pi would not be exceptional, so I discovered. This Pi-DAC came highly recommended, and it has even surpassed my expectations - it amazes me that music can sound this good from something so small! Top marks to Gordon and all at IQaudIO for making such a quality product and keeping it affordable. A very satisfied customer.

Chris | Oct. 22, 2014

Pi-Dac+ sounds wonderful and is a snap to install

I purchased the Pi-dac+ to go with the raspberry pi b+ and volumio 1.41 (beta)
I live in the USA so, as expected it took a little while to arrive, but once it got here things went really well.
The "HAT" configuration is very easy to install. My 4 year-old daughter and I did it together.
I followed the PDF instructions which were emailed with the order and the volumio 1.41 beta thread in the forum and it worked fantastically. I'm now happily listening to my CD collection or to my iTunes via airplay or Amazon collections via android over UPnP. It even plays the high bandwidth recordings sampled at 96kHz or 192kHz and 24bits.

Gordon, the gave super fast responses on email as well.

John | Oct. 21, 2014

Great sounding DAC - I'll probably buy a few more

This is a fantastic DAC for your Rpi B+- I've got mine set up using Rune Audio, and I really enjoy the difference in sound quality this DAC has to offer. I have some 256kbps AAC files that you can hear "jitter" in the backing guitars on many devices; not so with the Pi-DAC+. The AAC files sound much closer to the source material (CD) with no detectable digital artifacts. FLAC files sound awesome.

I've got an idea for a car audio player using the Rpi as a base, so I'll be picking up another one or two in the near future.

Shipping to the US is a little scary - I'm sure the Royal Mail is just fine, but my local USPS carrier is a bit of an idiot. I'd love alternate carrier options if they become available.

I wholly recommend this DAC.

Nikodemus | Oct. 19, 2014

Great sound and quite easy installation

Great sound and easy installation, didn't found any instruction for how to install, but on the other hand it was very easy to figure out on you own!

Thanks!

Response from IQaudIO.com | Oct. 19, 2014

Hi Niko, all user documentation is on the website www.iqaudio.com, let me start adding pointers in each shipped product as a few people have missed this. I do link to the documentation on every ship notification email. Glad you were up and running quickly.

Gordon@iqaudio.com

Mika | Oct. 19, 2014

Really recommend

Only used for a little time but was really impressed with the quality of the sound and was of installation. I use it for squeezelite.

Matthew | Oct. 17, 2014

Superb Mini Audio Streaming Treasure Chest

This raspberry pi music streamer is the best on the market with the super sounding PCM5122 Burr Brown DAC, it's smooth detailed and looks great.
Capable of Hi-Res 24bit/192khz playback, stream to apple devices and android and so much more thanks to the many music distributions available to playback music the way you want to access it.

George | Oct. 16, 2014

Spectacular audio card for the Raspberry Pi b+

Not only is the IQaudio Pi-DAC+ a spectacular audio card for the Raspberry Pi b+, but the level of support is excellent. The do it yourself audio player offered by Volumio is my choice as it is not only easy to use, but the community of members supports a quality forum with answers to questions and an area to contribute directly to it's success. Everything is open source! The IQaudio PiDAC+ has a built in headphone amplifier along with line out to feed external amplifiers and speakers. The audio is HD quality. Shipping is from Scotland via Royal Mail. Delivery was fast all the way to Hawaii, less than one week. Do make sure that an adequate power supply and cable is used to power the Raspberry Pi b+, 5V @ 2 amps is recommended. That way USB hard disk drives and USB WiFi adapters will operate properly. Technical audio analysis is available on the IQaudio web site. This product receives my WoW award!

George | Oct. 16, 2014

Spectacular audio card for the Raspberry Pi b+

Alistair | Oct. 16, 2014

A great little addon for your Pi B+.

I finally got round to buying a Raspberry Pi when the B+ model was released. I had only one plan - to use it as a music client attached to my hifi in order to pull in ripped CDs that live on my server located in my workshop.

Configured as a headless device running Raspbian and MPD and with the B+ having improved audio from earlier models I was pleasantly surprised. The audio output from the B+ is perfectly listenable even through my ageing A&R Cambridge A60 amp and Arcam One speakers. However, lower frequencies were somewhat 'woolly' and the high end wasn't as crisp as I was used to from a CD source. While many may find the audio from the B+ adequate for their needs, I wanted more so when new PiDAC+ was announced by IQaudio, I quickly preordered one and awaited delivery with eager anticipation.

It turns out it was the best £30 or so I've spent for a long time. Bass has been tightened without losing the warmth my A60 amp is reknowned for. Meanwhile the high end is presented with a most impressive clarity that has left me with very satisfied grin on my face. And this is from music encoded as 256K mp3 files. I've yet to experiment with higher bit rates or lossless formats.

The husband of a friend spent thousands on a Linn based digital music system that, quite frankly, doesn't show any benefits over what I have. Certainly, in terms of 'bang for buck', there is no comparison. My amp and speakers are over 30 years old; my music is stored on a dell PC that was donated to me and runs Ubuntu server; and the Pi B+, USB network dongle and PiDAC cost less than £80. To say I'm delighted with what I have is an understatement.

All I can say is go buy one.

One last thing and a minor gripe: it came with absolutely no documentation. A spot og Googling soon had me up and running but for those who are new to the Pi and new to Linux some instructions might prove useful even if it just points to where on the web info can be found.

A minor detail that doesn't spoil the product. It is a delight to use and has revolutionised the way I listen to music. I say again, go buy one.

Alistair Hamilton

Response from IQaudIO.com | Oct. 16, 2014

Hi Alistair, glad you have it all up and running and are enjoying your music.

The documentation is linked of the IQaudIO.com web site which is pointed at on the Tindie advert page - I'll try to make it more obvious going forward.

The current documentation is linked here for your information....
http://iqaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IQaudIO_Doc.pdf

Best regards,

gordon@iqaudio.com

Ezio | Oct. 12, 2014

The best dac for Raspberry PI

The best dac for Raspberry PI, I use it with MacIntosh and Magneplanar, Yamaha and B&W, at last with Sennheiser Momentum. The sound is beautiful!

Jason | Oct. 7, 2014

great product

The DAC is super easy to install, and sounds great. I am using it with Volumio 1.41 without any problems. I currently have the DAC connected to an external t-amp and I control the volume on that device (I did lower the volume a tad in ALSA as suggested by a few online forums). If you want to control the volume of the headphone amplifier you will have to get hardware volume control on the DAC up and running, and instructions are provided in the documentation to do that.

Emailing the developer results in a speedy and very informative response. I feel this support (as well as the sound) may be the killer feature for this DAC.

I look forward to trying out the IQaudio amp in the future.

Ronald | Sept. 30, 2014

Pi-Dac+ and Rasberry pi B+ Excel

Well, this must be one of the bargains of the year.
I never had Lego as a child (I'm too old for that, it was all Meccano).
This combination beats both of these for ease of construction and certainly knocks them into a cocked hat for sound quality.
Using the new v1.18 piCorePlayer image I was up and running in less than ten minutes.
Rather, up and streaming.
The Pi-Dac+ is superb with regard to sound quality and the combination with the 'pi B+ is so 'Reet-Petite', in fact so is the 'pi B and its dedicated board.
If one wants good sound from ones streaming network then this combination is the answer, especially considering the low cost of the items.

Oh, and no question is too daft or simple for the IQaudio support,they answered all of mine with aplomb!

Go on!! buy one and enjoy!!

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