Minimalist

This case is minimalism taken to a new level. Looking at the rear, we see the ports from a Raspberry Pi 3B, and not only the usual phono (RCA) sockets but XLR sockets too. This unassuming box is aimed right at the professional market as well as the audiophile.

Driving the PecanPi is Volumio, a popular interface amongst audiophiles. It can accept a number of different services such as Spotify or SoundCloud. In our tests it spotted our local Plex DLNA server immediately and we were playing music without delay. Such is the dedication to pure sound that Bluetooth and wireless LAN are unavailable because the radio interference is unwanted. The PecanPi demands a wired Ethernet connection, and nothing else.

But what a sound. Even with fairly average speakers, The Dark Side Of The Moon encoded with FLAC gave amazing detail with a depth and warmth we’d never heard before. This will not be a disappointing product to those who care deeply about how their music sounds.

Verdict

9/10

If you can stomach the price, Orchard Audio’s humble black Pi-containing box could change the way you think about sound and music.

Specs

Dimensions: 195 x 120 x 100mm DAC: Dual flagship Burr-Brown PCM1794 Signal-To-Noise (RCA): 130dB (A-weighted) Dynamic Range (RCA): 125dB Total Harmonic Distortion (RCA): 0.0003%