I am trying to make HiFiBerry Digi+ work with Runeaudio/Volumio on a Raspberry Pi2. However, both systems are unable to output higher bitrates than 96 kHz. I have tried to output though S/PDIF to an Arcam AVR-300 and a Denon TX-NR818. Both work flawlessly for 16/44.1, 24/88.2 and 24/96 files. 24/176.4 files plays with low volume and highly distorted sound with lots of background noise (both Volumio 1.55 and Runeaudio 0.3beta). Trying to play 192 kHz files, both Denon and Arcam switch to analog inputs.
I have followed the available instructions for installing the card and kernel modules and I have also tried to upgrade to the most recent kernel distributed with Arch linux. For all conditions the card is properly detected. Aslo when booting the HiFiBerry test SD-image the card is detected and the test tone is played.
I am trying to establish if my problem is software or hardware related but I am now stuck and out of ideas
I have noticed that I cannot play high bitrate test files with aplay. The output from aplay when trying to play 24/96 or 24/192 fils is:
Playing WAVE 'naim-test-2-wav-24-96000.wav' : Signed 24 bit Little Endian in 3bytes, Rate 96000 Hz, Stereo
aplay: set_params:1233: Sample format non available
Available formats:
- S16_LE
- S32_LE
I cannot tell if this is normal or if this is related to my problem.
Best regards
Anders
Date
Votes
12 comments
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HiFiBerry team Hi,
do you use the optical or electrical output? While the optical output might work with some DACs, it is not guaranteed as the optical output is specified only up to 96kHz.
Best regards
Daniel -
anders Hi
I'm using the electrical output only (but I have verified that the optical output works up to 96 kHz).
Anders -
HiFiBerry team Ok, try to use mplayer with your 192kHz file. You should be able to install it withapt-get install mplayer
Best regards
Daniel -
anders Output from mplayer (Runeaudio/Arch):Opening audio decoder: [pcm] Uncompressed PCM audio decoder
AUDIO: 192000 Hz, 2 ch, s24le, 9216.0 kbit/100.00% (ratio: 1152000->1152000)
Selected audio codec: [pcm] afm: pcm (Uncompressed PCM)
==========================================================================
[AO OSS] audio_setup: Can't open audio device /dev/dsp: No such file or directory
[AO_ALSA] Format s24le is not supported by hardware, trying default.
AO: [alsa] 192000Hz 2ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
Video: no video
Starting playback.. -
anders Output from mplayer (Volumio/Debian):Playing naim-test-2-wav-24-192000.wav.
Detected file format: WAV / WAVE (Waveform Audio) (libavformat)
[lavf] stream 0: audio (pcm_s24le), -aid 0
Selected audio codec: Uncompressed PCM [pcm]
AUDIO: 192000 Hz, 2 ch, s24le, 9216.0 kbit/100.00% (ratio: 1152000->1152000)
AO: [pulse] Init failed: Connection refused
[AO_ALSA] Format s24le is not supported by hardware, trying default.
AO: [alsa] 192000Hz 2ch s16le (2 bytes per sample)
[AO_ALSA] Unable to find simple control 'Master',0.
Video: no video
Starting playback... -
HiFiBerry team Ok, that's the output, but does it play the file?
Best regards
Daniel -
anders No no output from the 192 kHz file. Some initial noise (about 2 seconds), then the amp switches to analog input (same as with aplay). The 96 kHz file works fine also with mplayer.
Best regards
Anders -
HiFiBerry team In this case it looks like your devices can't sync to the 192kHz signal of the Digi. Do you use the transformer version or the standard version?
Best regards
Daniel -
anders I am using the transformer version.
/Anders -
HiFiBerry team The transformer version can be tricky, if the Raspberry Pi itself is not grounded. Most USB power supplies are not grounded on the secondary side. In some cases, this can create problems. Can you try to connect GND from the Raspberry Pi to a ground potential on your amplifier (often the enclosure itself is grounded).
Best regards
Daniel -
anders Unfortunately this didn't help. I grounded the Pi by connecting the black wire from an USB cable to the ground connector on the amplifier.
Perhaps I should return the DAC and replace it with the version without the transformer?
Best regards
Anders -
HiFiBerry team Dear Anders,
we can try this, but it is also possible that is is an incompatibility with your amplifier. If you want to test this, send us the Digi back, we will replace it by the standard version.
Best regards
Daniel
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