 Using the Raspberry Pi for audio is very popular and rightly so. But lots of people have the wrong expectations and make unjust statements on the web. So let's first put that straight. The Raspberry Pi is developed to let youngsters get acquainted with computer technology. It was never intended for serious audio applications. But as with any modern computer it can play back audio in several ways. First there is a 3.5mm jack that sends out analog audio. Depending on the version we had version 4 now, that output sounds very horrible to horrible to audio files. It does playback sound and you might find it acceptable for in-car use for instance. But it's not suited for proper stereo setup. Then you can use an HDMI output and connect that for instance to an AV receiver that has HDMI input. That might sound acceptable on the average few hundred euro costing AV receiver if you don't set your expectations too high. A better way is to use a Raspberry Pi specific sound card that we call digital to analog converter, abbreviated to DAC. I have reviewed a number of these cards from very affordable to the more costly ones. These cards output analog audio on RCA's, sometimes even on XLR's and thus can be connected directly to your amplifier. The sound quality depends on the quality of the DAC design and my experience is that in general there is a direct link between the audio quality and the price. The power supply used also has great influence on the sound quality. The 7 euro switch mode power supply you buy from Raspberry Pi vendors provides a lot of high frequency noise and other nasties to the Pi that seriously influences the digital to analog conversion. The more expensive switch mode power supplies, like the ones from iFi, sound a lot better and about equal to the more affordable linear power supplies. Like for instance the ones from Allo and Audiophonics. For more on these power supplies watch about external power supplies. The link is in the top right corner. Another solution is to use a sound card that doesn't do the digital to analog conversion but outputs a digital audio output. That can be SPDIF TOSLink USB Audio Class 2 and, incidentally, i2S. SPDIF is the RCA connector used for digital connections, TOSLink is the optical connection and USB Audio Class 2 is the current standard for sending high-resolution audio to a DAC or amplifier with built-in DAC. i2S can use several connectors like the RJ45 or HDMI. Since there is no standard for i2S, it's a format you really need to dive into to get it working. The more precise digital signal coming from these kinds of audio cards is the better the connected DAC can do the conversion. That again also depends on the power supply used. The simplest setup includes a Raspberry Pi 3B or 4B, the sound card, the power supply, a housing for the Pi and a microSD card for the operating system. The cheapest solution will set you back around €80. A top quality one will set you back between €450 and €700 depending on the power supply you choose. The cheapest solution will barely be satisfying for my reference setup 3 while a €700 selection will be sufficient for my reference setup 2 and barely satisfying in my previous reference setup 1, using the Audio Note Zoro SE amplifier. It's no match for my current reference setup using the Air Acoustics AX520 amp. If you want to setup a Raspberry Pi based tweamer, you also need to install and setup specific software to run on the Pi. There are many options, I use either Volumio when I want the Pi to function as a network player or Rupi when I want the Pi to function as a Roon Endpoint or DLA renderer. You have to use specific software to copy a so called image to a microSD card. This is not difficult, just follow the instructions you find on the side you got a software from. You then stick the microSD card in the card slot on the Pi and connect it to the audio equipment and power supply. Depending on the software chosen, you then might have to do all kinds of settings to actually get it working. The Volumio donation software uses a setup sequence that asks you questions. Rupi does it all automatically and is also a donation software. There are also free DLA server programs and players to be used with Rupi+. To use it with Roon you need a paid Roon subscription. People with no affinity for the computer might prefer to stay away from Pi projects, unless they have the proverbial handy cousin. Setting up a Raspberry Pi for audio reproduction might even confront the more experienced computer buff with problems. Because he will probably solve after doing some investigation. But that is where the computer illiterate will get lost. And there are equally good ready to use solutions costing about the same. Which brings us to the end of this video. It's one of the Q&A videos I have made over time. Go to the Q&A playlist for answers on more questions. I also post new videos every Friday at 5pm central european time. If you don't want to miss that, subscribe to this channel or follow me on the social media so you will be informed when new videos are out. You can help me reach even more people by clicking the thumbs up icon and mentioning my work on the social media. Many thanks to those viewers that support this channel financially. It keeps me independent and thus trustworthy. If that makes you feel like supporting my work too, the links are in the comments below this video on YouTube. I'm Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com. And whatever you do, enjoy the music.