Audio - HDMI or i2s or USB

Discussion Raspberry Pi
1

I’m using a Raspberry Pi Zero running the piCorePlayer software, hooked up to my home theater receiver through HDMI. I think it sounds terrific. I have played every type of audio file II can find through it and never had a problem with any of them.

Now I want to make another one that can be set up to play with a normal stereo patch cable. My first thought was to get the PhatDac since it just seems a perfect match for the PiZero, and would give me the 3.5mm jack I need to play in other places in my home that do not have a HDMI capable receiver.

Then I just noticed that you now carry a HDMI to VGA adapter that also has a 3.5mm audio jack. Has anyone tried this yet? How does the audio compare to the PhatDac option?

I’m actually posting this after I just received both products from Amazon here in the USA. I just tried the HDMI adapter hooked up to a little clock radio and it sounded terrific as well. I’m just using this for the audio, did not need the VGA part for the moment. This seems easier to setup than the PhatDac; no soldering required.

Thoughts anyone?

2

The pHAT DAC is likely going to perform “better” however if the HDMI > VGA adaptor sounds fine to you then there’s not much reason to look elsewhere!

3

Thanks for the reply Jon. Since I have both and have now tried the pHat DAC as well, I will leave it as the main DAC for the this Pi0. Nice to havethe options of using either one.