HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro

Instructions are clear: if you understand them, no hickups Good quality audio output. compared with ready products you can buy, you get very good audio quality for your money, but you have to do a bit of work :) I use it with a Raspberry PI 4 with 4 MB ram, a 128 mb SD card and a 1.5 m 75 Ohm digital audio cable. Software: PiCorePlayer + Lyrion

This little card is easy to set up and works great. I’m using this inexpensive Raspberry Pi 4 and HiFiBerry Digi combo to push music via Toslink to a high end Naim DAC and McIntosh amp/preamp system and I’m very satisfied with the results. I’ve fed it plenty of 96 kHz music files and it handles them, no problem, no delay. My Pi is running Volumio OS and all I had to do was select “HiFiBerry Digi+ Pro” as the DAC model and it plays through the board seamlessly (never mind that this is a Digi2 and that it’s not actually a DAC). Now I’m just waiting on a HiFiBerry steel case designed for this setup and it’ll look pretty, too.

I was using a dedicated laptop running Volumio, connected to a high end DAC (Audiolab DQ8200) via USB. I found the sound to be flat and grainy, even with hi-res flac files. I wanted to test if the Pi could do a better job on USB. Nope, it was even worse now, with random clicks and pops thrown into the 'grey' sound. Suspecting that it was a USB issue, I installed the DIGI 2PRO board, and using a high quality cable connected directly to the coaxial input on the DAC. Wow, it blew me away. The sound was crystal clear, open and airy. To test the influence of the Pi standard wall wart PSU, I replaced it with a high capacity USB battery pack which lasts 3 days always on. Running off battery the Pi/Digi2Pro/Volumio combo is a dream. It sounds as smooth and 'analogue' as you could ever wish for. The amount of micro detail that I am hearing on tracks is astounding. I enclosed the PI in a HiFi Berry metal case. For under $150 you can put together a micro digital streamer that will blow away high end names costing thousands.

This is a nice looking product, but unless you're doing something really simple you can forget getting any intelligent support from the folks at HiFiBerry. In my application, building a media server using PiCorePlayer, I asked a very simply question - their answer: "The best you can do is try by yourself". Really? A pretty stupid response. The product manufacturer basically says 'you're on your own'. My interpretation... they haven't tested this device in various configurations, and are waiting for you to sort it out! You buy a new car and it won't start. You call the dealer and he says: 'beats me, but you'll figure it out'. What total drivel. If you design a product and offer it for sale it had better work in many configurations, and it should be tested in various configurations. Otherwise it's just arrogant high-tech garbage. This product is utterly useless because it doesn't work in my configuration. The reason - it uses many pins on the Pi board that other components use as well. Some of these pins control data flowing in and out to your Pi. Basically they park there and say in their documentation "we do not guarantee interoperability with any other add-on card; even if another card is NOT using the same pins." Wow. So you can only install THEIR card and nothing else. If you do, it's "your problem". This is incredibly pathetic engineering. Avoid this product like the plague!!

Lots of folks are now using Pi's as inexpensive music streamers on their home network. Great application software like OSMC or Volumio makes this easy to do. Assuming one has a high-quality DAC (or a receiver that has a good DAC built in), what's the best way of sending audio data from the Pi? This board is the answer. It has both Toslink (optical) and S/PDIF (coaxial copper) outputs, and is a Pi HAT, meaning that it fits on the 40-pin connector without soldering or other challenges. Both OSMC and Volumio recognize the board and will route audio data through it after a simple configuration choice. You might be wondering about using the USB outputs on the Pi instead, and avoiding the extra expense of this board. Well, yes, that will work, but there are persistent rumors that the Pi's USB has high jitter figures (especially the early Pi 2's and 3's) that could reduce the final audio quality. I haven't seen any numbers myself, but I decided to go with the DIGI2 up front. I don't have many hi-res test files here but I've sent 24/96 music through the DIGI2 successfully. If you purchase this board, you must also purchase a Pi case that will allow access to its connectors - normal Pi cases do not. Suitable cases can be found in both plastic and metal.

The component pins will interfere with the fins on the active cooler. A header extension kit with spacers will be needed (~ 13/16" is about right).

I got this Digi2 Pro card for a Pi 3B+, to breathe new life into an old stereo receiver with digital inputs. Very easy to setup with the Hifiberry OS, though some boot issues once in a while. Sound quality is excellent using the Hifiberry. It is a good use of a Pi 3 or 4.

The product description states and I quote "Equipped with an additional BNC connector" "Soldering required" There is no BNC connector included with the product and no way to reach support