[EagleWings]

Hi,
I am still interested if any of you here managed to get Wavelight DAC work with I2S connection on the "streamer" based on Rpi.
It would help me a lot.
Many thanks

Short answer is, yes. I have used the I2S from Pi2AES with the Wavelight. Wavelight has the option to adjust the I2S pin setting to the 3 popular standards on the market. The question becomes if the I2S from your Pi HAT is one among these 3 standards. If yes, then yea it will work.

 

[Clemmaster]

Slightly off topic, but does someone know a good DDC with i2S Input and USB out?

I was thinking about that until Rockna enables FPGA upsampling for the non i2S outputs

Not sure that exists.

The only DDCs I know are USB in to digital out (S/PDIF or I2S) and the only devices with USB outputs are either streamers or (since recently) CD players like Schiit Urd.

 

[sajunky]

The only DDCs I know are USB in to digital out (S/PDIF or I2S) and the only devices with USB outputs are either streamers or (since recently) CD players like Schiit Urd.

This is correct, but DDC also have S/PDIF and AES/EBU inputs. When two devices are synchronised to the same frequency, these inputs deliver comparable in quality to I2S.

 

[nikolaindigo]

Short answer is, yes. I have used the I2S from Pi2AES with the Wavelight. Wavelight has the option to adjust the I2S pin setting to the 3 popular standards on the market. The question becomes if the I2S from your Pi HAT is one among these 3 standards. If yes, then yea it will work.

Many thanks for your answer.
Can you please tell me one more thing?
What software did you use...Volumio?...Moode Audio?...
I have Audiobyte gear and VOX DAC has similar I2S settings like Wavelight : Rockna, PS Audio, Other...
Whatever I tried I did not manage to get it work.
My Pi Hat is Ian Canada HDMI pro that uses PS Audio pinout and works without problem with some other DACs!
Thank you

 

[EagleWings]

Many thanks for your answer.
Can you please tell me one more thing?
What software did you use...Volumio?...Moode Audio?...
I have Audiobyte gear and VOX DAC has similar I2S settings like Wavelight : Rockna, PS Audio, Other...
Whatever I tried I did not manage to get it work.
My Pi Hat is Ian Canada HDMI pro that uses PS Audio pinout and works without problem with some other DACs!
Thank you

I’ve used Moode, Volumio and GentooPlayer and all worked fine.

Yea, that does seem weird.

 

[Newsee]

Many thanks for your answer.
Can you please tell me one more thing?
What software did you use...Volumio?...Moode Audio?...
I have Audiobyte gear and VOX DAC has similar I2S settings like Wavelight : Rockna, PS Audio, Other...
Whatever I tried I did not manage to get it work.
My Pi Hat is Ian Canada HDMI pro that uses PS Audio pinout and works without problem with some other DACs!
Thank you

I suppose you tried it with several different Hdmi cables.

When changing I2S mode on WL make a power off/on as well. That helped me setting up connection from WDnet streamer.

 

[hafzz123]

I read the Superbestfriends thread on the Wavelight and saw a common complaint that the SE output seemed so bad (compared to the XLR) they thought something was wrong with it. But it could have been a bad unit, and they send the same unit on tour to each other.

So what have you guys found regarding the SE output vs XLR?
Also this hybrid volume control.... how decent a preamp is it?

I am after a DAC/Pre, going direct into an SE solid state power amp.

IIRC it seems to be a bad unit and the problem only occurs on certain amplifiers. I have compared SE and XLR out briefly at micromeet condition and didn't hear noticeable differences

 

[Clemmaster]

I owned a Wavelight for several months (different unit from the SBAF loaner) and I, too, noticed the SE output didn't sound as good as the balanced output. It didn't make any sense because the Wavelight is single ended internally, but my ears heard what they heard...

 

[nikolaindigo]

I suppose you tried it with several different Hdmi cables.

When changing I2S mode on WL make a power off/on as well. That helped me setting up connection from WDnet streamer.

Thank you for your help.
I have tried 3 different HDMI cables that I use for I2S connection.
I dont have WL but VOX dac from Audiobyte...sister company. There are no I2S options in Volumio or MoodeAudio for Rockna so I was testing various including Generic I2S that works good with my Denafrips.
I think I will eventually go for different HAT with AES output to get rid of the problem becuse I want to keep AB gear but also for Rpi streamer to work.

 

[Chris1967]

Ian Canada Hdmi Pro, works on all Rockna Dacs.

Hdmi cables (for picture AND and sound) are all identical. Hiend hdmi cable might have different configurations.

Your problem is configuration of your linux distribution.

I have Rockna Wavedream with Hdmi Pro and Gentoo Player works fine. Two configurations one is for the one circuit for rpi to see eg Ian Fifo (on gentoo player) , and another for the dac. When you use the dac output should not be your dac but the hdmi pro hat.

 

[hafzz123]

Does the i2s input on wavelight gives significant improvement over the other inputs? My source only have coaxial and optical output to feed the dac and wondering should i invest a DDC or Server that has i2s output

 

[K3cT]

Does the i2s input on wavelight gives significant improvement over the other inputs? My source only have coaxial and optical output to feed the dac and wondering should i invest a DDC or Server that has i2s output

To be honest it’s hard to tell between i2s and aes fed through the same DDC.

 

[Chris1967]

Does the i2s input on wavelight gives significant improvement over the other inputs? My source only have coaxial and optical output to feed the dac and wondering should i invest a DDC or Server that has i2s output

The answer is: it is system dependent.

The better connection is the i2s because it sends pure clocked digital information to the dac were it is used directly, either with reclocking or not (depending on the dac).

All spdif/AES connections need additional decoding in the source (DDC or streamer) and in the DAC. This can be subject (is most certainly) to jitter, thus these connections are less pure and accurate.

All this in theory.

If your system is not resolving or it is a headphone only rig, you might not be able to hear all the tiny but important nuances as difference. Mainly less jitter, increases the depth and width of the stage and the resolution is better. As it is well known, headphones even the top tier ones, do not have the same ability as very good speakers to portray these small but significant details especially in the staging department.

The quick answer to you is use what you have and enjoy it, but when you are ready to upgrade try it might be better to have the i2s option so that you can hear for yourself the differences if any on your rig.

 

[alekc]

To be honest it’s hard to tell between i2s and aes fed through the same DDC.

@hafzz123 in short answer I confirm @K3cT words, yet @Chris1967 is also right telling you it is system dependant.

From my experience Rockna WL inputs are all very close to each other in terms of SQ minus their limits which are different.

As Rockna WaveLight Server user I must say that both I2S and AES inputs are great, however upsampling is only available currently when using I2S so while some stick to AES I finally decided to move to I2S and stick with single WLS and WL settings (yet I know there are recordings I need to listen with NOS). Using other sources and DDCs YMMV.

 

[sajunky]

Does the i2s input on wavelight gives significant improvement over the other inputs? My source only have coaxial and optical output to feed the dac and wondering should i invest a DDC or Server that has i2s output

I2S became popular with widespread PC use. As your source only have S/PDIF outputs, there is no reason to invest in a DDC or converter to I2S. It won't fix jitter in the most important low frequency range, but it can add its own.

There is only one way to improve SQ in this situation. Install external clock synchronising both a source and DAC. It will eliminate both a source jitter and jitter added on the connection. This is assuming that your source and/or a DAC has such feature.