DAC+ RCA Version

Great sound, clean and clear, with none of the background noise found on the Raspberry Pi onboard analog output. Definitely worth the cost of this tiny DAC.As noted by another reviewer, the installation is not plug and play, but I am not taking a star off for that. HiFiBerry has no control over the software, and hopefully this will be corrected by someone soon.I am using a 2-amp 5V power supply, but surprisingly, the Pi with the dac and three USB dongles runs fine on an old 5-volt 1-amp cell phone supply without a hiccup. So, I assume the 2-amp supply is hardly maxed out by adding the HiFiBerry DAC.A few notes:Once the board is installed, the chosen Raspberry Pi software has to be configured (a 2~3 step process), and the HiFiBerry DAC must be selected from a list of audio output devices in one of the system setup screens. Configuration is easy, as long as you find the directions for your os and music/video player (OSMC, OPENELEC, or my personal current favorite, XBian).The typical Raspberry operating system is based on a version of Linux called Debian which most users do not have to interact with very often if at all. If you are one of the people already familiar with Debian or Linux, you may as well skip the rest of this. HiFiBerry has all the info you need on their site. If not, read on (at your own risk)To get audio out of the RCA jacks on the HiFiBerry board, I had to do three things. Log into the Pi from a text terminal, change a couple lines of code in two config files, and select the HiFiBerry dac as the audio output.In more detail:First, log into XBian (or Raspbian, or whatever version of Linux you have on your Pi ), from a text terminal interface. In my case, this was remote login using ssh from a laptop on the same home network as the Pi. I used the default user login and password, but one can also log in as root. From terminal, something like this (in the case of xbian, you may have to exit from xbian-config if it appears auto-magically on login):me@MyLaptop:~$ sudo ssh [email protected][sudo] password for me: ((hi quality top-secret password here))[email protected]'s password: (("raspberry" password here))xbian@xbian ~ $ ((now at xbian prompt))Second, configure Xbian for the HiFiBerry dac. Once at the Xbian prompt, I used the Nano editor to make changes to two configuration files, modules.xbian, and config.txt. Config.txt has other uses, so understanding that one is helpful elsewhere, modules.xbian, not so much. Example:xbian@xbian ~ $ sudo nano /etc/modules.xbianxbian@xbian ~ $ sudo nano /boot/config.txtIn modules.xbian, a single line was commented:#snd_bcm2835In config.txt, the original overlay file was replaced by another, like this:#dtoverlay=lirc-rpidtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplus"dacplus" is for the HiFiBerry DAC+ version. The other DAC boards have their own names, dac, digi, dacplus, and amp, respectively.Third, the Pi has to reboot, and now the HiFiBerry dac is ready to be selected from the Audio Output Device list in the System-Settings-System screen. If all has gone well, a green LED will light on the dac board as soon as the dac is enabled, and glorious analog audio will come out of the two RCA jacks... :DNote that since I am running Xbian, and not one of the other distros, I did not have to edit the blacklist.conf file. My complete system has no monitor or keyboard, since I use a tablet and Android phone to control the Pi, but they are useful for setup, so I am listing those below.Complete system:- Raspberry Pi 2 B, 8GB class 10 micro SD card, from Amazon- Xbian 1.0, latest "stable" release, downloaded from Xbian.org- HiFBerry DAC+ w. RCA jacks, from Amazon- Edimax EW-7811Un 150Mbps Wi-Fi USB Adapter, from Amazon (very power efficient, essential for the Pi)- SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB USB 3.0 Low-Profile Flash Drive, from Amazon (this holds a few favorite MP3's, but I stream most audio over a home WiFi network)- 2 Amp power supply which came with the Pi- A good quality set of short RCA leads- Older NAD receiver with a manual volume control- Older Bowers & Wilkins speakers, pre-CM series (I am not made of money)For configuration purposes only:- Logitech K400+ wireless keyboard w. touch pad, from Amazon, but any old USB keyboard would do- A venerable HDMI flat screen TV, basically a piece of junk compared to any new-ish TVFor day-to-day control:- Samsung Android phone with Kore remote control App, alternatively,- and not as cool, an old Google Nexus tablet, also running the Kore remote AppTotal cost, around $110~120 not including the old audio gear, an obsolete tablet, and phone.

I've purchased two of these now for my Pi 3s and they're both pretty awesome. They put out a clean, loud, and clear signal. Good enough that you could put it in with your best hifi equipment and not feel slighted in the least. I have them working as an Apple airplay receiver and it's perfect.I don't have any experience with any of the other Pi DACs, but if you're looking for one this is a good choice. Installation is super easy, software setup is pretty much automatic with the current Raspbian (I'm pretty sure the most recent one was actually autodetected and enabled when I installed Raspbian). I honestly can't imagine the sound being any better - and I've been an audio geek for a long time.

First off, the main thing - this DAC sounds great. I have some natural skepticism of 'audiophile' gear (I think a lot of it is snake-oil and people hearing what they want to hear after spending $$$), but this DAC is a totally unambiguous improvement over the analog output from the Sennheiser USB audio dongle I had been using before.The main frustration is with the installation, on the software side. The hifiberry support site is a confusing mess, with lots of out of date and confusing information. I get that providing install instructions for a device that can be used with a whole bunch of different operating systems is tricky, but their support site really needs some grooming and cleanup. I muddled through and got the device working on my Raspbian Jessie and OSMC systems by reading various different documents and sort of triangulating the necessary steps, but it wasn't a good experience, and wasted a bunch of time.

I installed it on a Raspberry Pi 3B+. After installing HiFiBerryOS it works right out of the box!

I wanted to build a music server, automated dj sort of device for my wedding, so grabbed a new Pi3 B and this DAC.Physically installing the DAC is simple, plugs right into the GPIO of the Pi.Getting it up and running was a little more work, but HiFiBerry does a pretty stellar job of keeping up with instructions and tutorials despite there constantly being new iterations of Pi hardware coming out, as well as new versions of Rasbian, not to mention all the other OS's folks like to run on the Pi and use this accessory with.I used the latest Rasbian Jessie, and initial install and setup was smooth. For playing music I was using MPD though, and that took quite a bit more tweaking. I didn't do myself any favors in that regard though as I wasted who knows how long trying to troubleshoot config issues that ended up being a problem with the adapter cable I was using to temporarily hook between the DAC and a little portable speaker. (Learn from my mistake, make sure your speaker/cabling is known working before you start troubleshooting the Pi + DAC + audio software.Once I got that sorted I was able to put together a cool little music player using MPD + Meteor and set the Pi as a WAP to connect to with a mobile device and access the custom web interface I built. Hooked the whole thing into the mixer on our rented PA system and had great sound quality for all our music during the event.I know there are a lot of DACs out there anymore. Both cheaper USB devices as well as lesser known brands / unbranded devices that try to copy the HiFiBerry. I doubt your experience will be as pain-free getting those configured without having a company like HiFiBerry committed to supporting them, as well as a great community with other users ready to help. I definitely recommend just going for the tried and true and getting the HiFiBerry.