PecanPi Music Streamer Review - A Perfect 10 !
To Purchase :
www.OrchardAudio.com
AudioQuest Mackenzie XLR Cables Referal Link:
amzn.to/3D9jB8F
Using balanced cables into your amp is a must. I found very good performance with Audioquest Mackanzie Cables. Im an Audioquest dealer , so call me at (732)-539-8002 to order a set along with any other products from AQ. This helps support my channel and keeps me going.
DAC Section consists of dual flagship burr brown chips running in dual mono mode with both XLR and the included RCA converters. The XLR section is putting out 5 volts and RCA putting out 2.5 volts. I suggest using XLR output into your AMP if possible, since XLR has double the VOLTAGE output voltage over RCA , and the increase in audio fidelity is very noticeable.
I use a high quality set of XLR cables from Audioquest called “Mackenzie”. For this review I chose the Pecan Pi with the Volumio Operating system. With a purchase of a service called My Volumio for under 100 dollars per year you can stream high rez audio $@ 24 bit up to 192 Khz using Tidal Connect that utilizes the NATIVE Tidal software on your smart phone , tablet or computer. NATIVE Qobuz is also available with My Volumio subscription. This is a breakthrough product since manufacturers have been writing their own programs with tidal and qobuz integration and all of them are very buggy and have sluggish performance. My Volumio subscription with “Tidal Connect” was the main reason I had purchased this product since using Native Tidal software is the OPTIMAL experience from a user interface and software reliability stand point as well as a HUGE leap in sound quality. The Pecan Pi can do airplay but there is a significant DROP in sound quality. I personally have no use for AIRPLAY. There are other features of VOLUMIO that i will not get into in this review, however you can read more about these at volumio.com
The DAC section of the Pecan PI is the biggest surprise of the unit since the DAC is putting out sound that rivals more expensive Dacs as much as 3 times the price. The DAC uses 2 flagship PCM1794A
Burr Brown chips running in dual MONO mode mode with XLR outputs. Included with the unit are RCA converters. The Dac also features a Crystek CCHD oscillator to control digital timing and control Jitter. The output stage uses Low Noise Panasonic Resistors and Proprietary filtering topology exclusive to Orchard Audio. The results of all this ?
The moment you turn on the Pecan Pi you realize right away something special is going on here. You get an explosive sense of pace , rhythm and timing right out of the gate. Audophiles call this PRAT. The sound Reminds me of a very expensive NAIM streamer. The sound , unlike other streamers is focused and crystal clear. The Burr brown chips used have a dead even frequency response that DOES NOT highlight any part of the frequency range. The result is a sound THAT is pure analog.
The design of the Pecan Pi utilizes a Raspberry Pi computer board that benefits from a low component part count therefore limiting noise in the audio signal path. The Pecan Pi uses 3 internal linear power regulators from Texas interments to limit noise even further. The result is a dead silent backround that has ZERO hash, not an ounce of grain and lends itself to achieving instrument separation like no other steamer in and around its price class. In 1978 NAD released a breakthrough product “the 3020 integrated stereo amp” that put out 20x2 into 8ohms. It was an instant success for NAD since it sounded much better than products that were more than 3 times the price. The 3020 achieved a cult status and had a long production run. The Pecan PI reminds me of the NAD 3020 !!! The Pecan Pi should by all accounts be a product that achieves worldwide notoriety. @ 549.99 nothing can touch it…..and It’s NOT even close.
The Pecan Pi streamer is a breakout product that’s performance far exceeds its price point of $549.99. A product like this comes along once in generation. If you own a $1000 Dac and your running it off your computer through a fancy USB cable…there is a very good chance that the Pi will sound much better.
To make this even a sweeter deal the headphone section is too good to be true. Putting out 1.5 watts @ 32ohm in balanced mode it can power almost any headphone including the 300 ohm sennheiser HD600. Headphone audio quality is the same as the output to the AMP since it has the same signal path. The pecan pi is Unlike other headphone amps that come in products. There is ZERO degradation in audio quality when compared to its regular output stage. This feat is rare. Listening to my Hifiman 32 ohm Ananada on the PI , rivals my dedicated headphone amp @ 1200 dollars. Its amazing.
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