Gieseler Audio Posted March 15 Posted March 15 (edited) I recently purchased a Pi 5, installed Snakeoil OS & also Pi Core player then used USB audio out into my TDA1541A DAC. The results were very impressive & even better once I looped in my USB Reinigen. However it was a bit messy with three boxes & connecting leads. It would be possible to combine these units all in my standard DAC case making a much neater layout. It would include a low noise 5v 3A linear PSU for the Pi. Any interest? I also tried I2S out of the Pi header pins directly into the TDA1541A DAC - also impressive but not as good as the USB version. Also a I2S output option is not as common in most of the Pi Streamer OS options. Edited March 15 by Gieseler Audio 11 1
Guest Posted March 15 Posted March 15 Interesting idea, one box which includes a Pi5 + Reinigen + Kraftwerk II LPS. Some questions; Does it have a heat sink or fan for the Pi5? Presumably all 4 existing USB ports of the Pi5 are still available and there will be a fifth Reinigen USB port? S/PDIF ports an optional extra? Possible to add a SSD? How much RAM will Pi5 have? Can it include a LPS for an external DAC? Are you supplying and supporting SnakeOil? What if someone has own Pi5?
Gieseler Audio Posted March 15 Author Posted March 15 @Snoopy8 Questions Does it have a heat sink or fan for the Pi5? Yes - small passive heatsink fitted to pie to keep temperatures reasonable. Presumably all 4 existing USB ports of the Pi5 are still available and there will be a fifth Reinigen USB port? Correct - rear panel cutout for Pi rear connections + Reinigen in/out sockets S/PDIF ports an optional extra? No Possible to add a SSD? Yes via Pi USB sockets How much RAM will Pi5 have? 8GB but can be optioned up if required Can it include a LPS for an external DAC? No Are you supplying and supporting SnakeOil? No - micro SD card & OS supplied by customer What if someone has own Pi5? No problem - It can be ordered without Pi There will be 2.5mm threaded standoffs so the customer can mount their own Pi 2
JMN1999 Posted March 15 Posted March 15 (edited) The is a great idea was looking for something like this around 18 months ago. Have since upgraded to an dac and streamer in one but could be handy to support a warmer second dac. Edited March 15 by JMN1999
JMN1999 Posted March 15 Posted March 15 (edited) Sounds like a better version of the holo red. Edited March 15 by JMN1999
chaddy Posted March 15 Posted March 15 Would make a great Roon Endpoint. I'm using a RPi 4 with Ropiee into a Schiit Modius for a small desktop headphone setup. This would certainly be a class or two above that.
Guest Posted March 15 Posted March 15 (edited) 13 hours ago, chaddy said: Would make a great Roon Endpoint. I'm using a RPi 4 with Ropiee into a Schiit Modius for a small desktop headphone setup. This would certainly be a class or two above that. Have both a Pi4 (Mercury V2 Streamer) and Pi5 running SnakeOil, and the Pi5 sounds better. And SnakeOil SQ is better than other Pi O/S. Add in the Reinigen and a LPS for the Pi5 and SQ will be incredibly good. And more than likely to beat streamers costing $$$$. I have most of the pieces, substituting the Reinigen for an Innuos Phoenix USB, but in 3 box messy environment with many cables. If I started now, would not hesitate to get one, but without the Pi5. What is approximate price @Gieseler Audio ? *** While I don't use Roon, I do agree it will make a great Roon end point (& SnakeOil does support it). Edited March 15 by Snoopy8 Added **
Gieseler Audio Posted March 16 Author Posted March 16 I might have to put this on hold for a while as I've come across a technical hitch. I'm having trouble providing independent power to the Reinigen. This is an important requirement so that the Reinigen can operate with full galvanic isolation between the in and out sockets. I will do an update if/when I find a solution. Stay tuned. 7
pete_mac Posted March 16 Posted March 16 14 minutes ago, Gieseler Audio said: I might have to put this on hold for a while as I've come across a technical hitch. I'm having trouble providing independent power to the Reinigen. This is an important requirement so that the Reinigen can operate with full galvanic isolation between the in and out sockets. I will do an update if/when I find a solution. Stay tuned. Good luck Clay and I hope you get it sorted. For me, the combination of a Reinigen and Rpi5 running Snakeoil has been a revelation. The Reinigen elevated the performance of my former Squeezebox Touch with USB output enabled, and then switching to the Rpi5 and Snakeoil combo was a substantial step up in terms of clarity. It really is a great combo that a few have compared favourably against certain $2-3k streamers. It would certainly be a great foundation for any digital streaming setup where the user wanted to retain some flexibility around the DAC they use, rather than a device with a built-in DAC where the designer has made that decision for you. 3
MrBurns84 Posted March 17 Posted March 17 (edited) 19 hours ago, pete_mac said: It would certainly be a great foundation for any digital streaming setup where the user wanted to retain some flexibility around the DAC they use, rather than a device with a built-in DAC where the designer has made that decision for you. Could agree more and am glad that Clay's working on this project. I need to download the Snakeoil distro and try it out myself. Like others have mentioned here, once you have the Reinigen in line, you hear the difference, its hard to do without. And especially integrating this with a streamer, and one that uses an open source OS distro, you are free to experiment with what works best in your system. The Rpi4b was more than capable running as a streamer, the rPi5 even more so and has enough grunt to do basic room correction i believe, just needs a good clean power supply and reclocking (see the Ian canada kits) Having have all the above in one case and reclocked output into the dac of choice just simplifies the need without a complicated streamer (like my current one). Watching this space closely Edited March 17 by MrBurns84 3
lenticularis Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Hi Clay, Definitely interested in this potential product, for a desktop or garage system. Best wishes, David 2
alex87 Posted March 17 Posted March 17 Looks like Clay is developing his own supercharged version of the Holo Audio Red! Would be a dream to have a Gieseler version with a CM5 & all non-audio essentials stripped out with a built in Reingen USB output. 2
Guest Posted March 17 Posted March 17 1 hour ago, lenticularis said: Definitely interested in this potential product, for a desktop or garage system. What a waste! It deserves to be your main setup.
twwen2 Posted March 17 Posted March 17 (edited) I'm more skeptical of this concept, not because I don't think Clay would do a good job of it, but because I don't think it makes sense to combine a component that has a long lifetime (DAC) with a component that will most likely be obsolete in a few years (streamer). Edit: Probably worth acknowledging that there are many such products on the market already (DAC+streamer). But I look at how quickly streaming technologies change and wonder who in their right mind would spend big money on something like that? Edited March 17 by twwen2 3
pete_mac Posted March 17 Posted March 17 3 minutes ago, twwen2 said: I'm more skeptical of this concept, not because I don't think Clay would do a good job of it, but because I don't think it makes sense to combine a component that has a long lifetime (DAC) with a component that will most likely be obsolete in a few years (streamer). Agreed, and that's exactly what Clay is proposing - a separate streamer/reclocker/power supply, without an integrated DAC. That said, with the Rpi5 as a base, the ability to use whatever streaming software you want (including Snakeoil OS) and the Reinigen spitting out that lovely clean signal, I reckon the lifespan of this unit could be surprisingly long! 8
Raffinator Posted March 31 Posted March 31 On 16/03/2025 at 5:53 PM, Gieseler Audio said: Stay tuned. I am
TRiN Posted April 14 Posted April 14 On 15/03/2025 at 4:27 PM, Gieseler Audio said: What if someone has own Pi5? No problem - It can be ordered without Pi There will be 2.5mm threaded standoffs so the customer can mount their own Pi I'm onboard if it's compatible with the previous rpi4. The mounting points and power requirements doesn't appear to be a problem at an initial glance, though the physical USB and Ethernet ports are mirrored which may pose a problem when integrating with a case. Having a pure (DAC-less) streamer, reclocker, power supply in one unit is definitely appealing though I don't have an immediate itch to scratch since I'm currently enjoying a Reinigen connected to a Raspberry Pi with a HAT powered by a Gieseler LPS, albeit with spider web of cables:- Raspberry Pi - Power-in, Ethernet, USB Reinigen - Power-in, USB Gieseler LPS - Power-in, Power-out On 15/03/2025 at 4:27 PM, Gieseler Audio said: Possible to add a SSD? Yes via Pi USB sockets Maybe outside of the intended vision and dependent on the capacity of the case, there's a M.2 HAT such as 2230 or 2242 form factor NVMe drives for onboard storage for an even cleaner look:- https://core-electronics.com.au/raspberry-pi-m2-hat.html The Extra-long stackable headers will be needed when using the active cooler:- https://core-electronics.com.au/stacking-2x20.html
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