TOPIC:

Dear All

As some of you might have noticed, there is indeed a new version of SHD currently shipping. This update is transparent and therefore won't change much to the equation apart from one detail (see below). Some of you are asking clarifications so here are details:

WHY a new version?: Because the previous streamer (neo2) went End of Life(EOL). We just chose a similar streamer (similar specs) to replace it. That is all.. Together with that change we implemented a better standby mode turning off more devices on the unit. Hardware/firmware upgrades happen all the times on our gear (new flash, new oled, new chipset)... It's the same for all electronic manufacturers and parts going EOL. That doesn't mean the product goes EOL...

See below answer asked before:

What are the specs for the new hardware?
ANS: No changes. Exact same performance.

Are there features (specific or general) that this hardware will enable you to develop that you couldn’t before?
ANS: None. Exact same feature set

What’s going on with the new hardware’s standby mode in terms of what components are actually turned off in that state?
ANS: The hardware on new version allows for turning off more section of the DC-DC section of the board.

Is it true that you have determined that the Neo2 units cannot also do the same standby behavior via firmware update? As you know, many of us have been desperate for a 12V trigger solution.
ANS: Unfortunately we can't turn off power to the USB port on the Neo2. We are still thinking of a way for this trigger option but don't have a magic solution. We do not want to state something here until we have a solid/proven solution. Thanks for your patience.

Are the Neo2 SHDs EOL now? What can we expect as existing customers in terms of feature additions or support?
ANS: Your board will autodestruct in 2days.. Please move away.. We've moved to a new version but as explained already that means nothing to prior customers.. They have all the same features, all the same audio performance... it is the SAME.. ..It's actually the same volumio build but with different compiling process. There is delay (3weeks) between the 2 release but that's only because we can't QC all features on both platforms at once. That is all there is to read. The new upgrade of Volumio (new GUI, new Qobuz, newer Volumio bug fix) will be online for everybody in coming 2days or earlier.

Is there a changelog for the new Volumio build? Some accounting of all the changes from 1.062 would be helpful.
ANS: None public. We can see in the future.

Are there aspects of the new hardware that allow for features in Volumio that are not possible on the Neo2 SHD? As an example, specifically I wonder if you know at this time whether a Tidal Connect plugin will be possible on the new units but not the old units (once the functionality is delivered by Volumio HQ, they predict they can deliver Q2).
ANS: We already answered this above I believe so hopefully this answer is clear. It's JUST a different ARM chipset. it has "nothing" to do with the a software features.. Akin to asking, if I update my CPU from Intel 3.5GHz to AMD 3.5Ghz, can I still run word? Yes, you still can... As for future feature, we never comment on these as we've stated this clearly on all pages, FAQ, support tix.

Will the feature set of the plugins diverge between the hardware versions?
ANS: That's exactly the exact same answer as above here.. So I'm sure that you're all set to answer it.. ..

Hoping this clarify,

DevTeam

Thank you for the update.

Is it possible to replace the Neo2 board with a Neo3 from FriendlyArm? Many of us are able to replace mother/daughterboards easily...

My Neo2 SHD is out of warranty anyway

ds58 wrote:

Is it possible to replace the Neo2 board with a Neo3 from FriendlyArm? Many of us are able to replace mother/daughterboards easily...

I had the same question. But after thinking a bit about it: What would be the advantage if the specs are the same?

The only advantage would be the USB power off in Standby... if you need to trigger your amps.

@devteam ... thank you for the update... this is good information.

It appears that the standby power consumption is greatly reduced as well... right now my SHD uses 10-11 watts doing nothing.

devteam wrote:

Are there features (specific or general) that this hardware will enable you to develop that you couldn’t before?
ANS: None. Exact same feature set
 

The one you mention exactly below that statement seems a pretty big deal already tbh:

What’s going on with the new hardware’s standby mode in terms of what components are actually turned off in that state?
ANS: The hardware on new version allows for turning off more section of the DC-DC section of the board.

But I can understand that this is different hardware and it may not be possible to do this with neo2.

However, in contradiction to what you write above, you post on your page about the Microsoft Dial beta integration :

Note: the Surface Dial plugin is compatible with the Neo3 version of the SHD Series only. It is not compatible with the older Neo2 version of the SHD Series.

That’s really a shame, is there no way to make that possible? 

Thank you
Ragu

+1

ragurix wrote:

devteam wrote:

Are there features (specific or general) that this hardware will enable you to develop that you couldn’t before?
ANS: None. Exact same feature set

 

The one you mention exactly below that statement seems a pretty big deal already tbh:

What’s going on with the new hardware’s standby mode in terms of what components are actually turned off in that state?
ANS: The hardware on new version allows for turning off more section of the DC-DC section of the board.

But I can understand that this is different hardware and it may not be possible to do this with neo2.

However, in contradiction to what you write above, you post on your page about the Microsoft Dial beta integration :

Note: the Surface Dial plugin is compatible with the Neo3 version of the SHD Series only. It is not compatible with the older Neo2 version of the SHD Series.

That’s really a shame, is there no way to make that possible? 

Thank you
Ragu

For those of us who've been using the platform for years now, and while I will say when things work it's great, there have been a lot of teething issues including but not limited to:-

• random sometimes frequent disconnects of the configuration app, especially over the Wi-DG, probably more so when updating PEQ settings.
• complete freezes of the system with a repeated audio sample being played
• more recently brought up the "DSP FAIL" message which I eventually managed to fix

The firmware and Volumio updates that the team has worked on over the years have certainly improved things however I can't help but feel ripped off by a product that presents itself as a high end complete solution but seems more like a public beta test. (RRP $1299 USD)

I would like to see the development team release the neo3 image for those of us whose units are beyond warranty and are willing to purchase and install the newer board ourselves.

This is especially frustrating now that the units are Roon Ready, I've been trialing it the past few weeks and am quite impressed, but missing out on the USB trigger and external volume control interfaces like the Microsoft Surface Dial really put a damper on my purchase. There's no way I'm going to buy another one just for a $35 NanoPi board and the SD card image on it.

Note: I requested the logon details for the existing image recently which the dev team kindly provided however I never got to using them as soon after I ran into the "DSP FAIL" issue. So I can honestly say none of the issues I've had throughout my experience have been a result of "hacking" or using the device against the developers intentions.

I would like to see the development team release the neo3 image for those of us whose units are beyond warranty and are willing to purchase and install the newer board ourselves.

This is especially frustrating now that the units are Roon Ready, I've been trialing it the past few weeks and am quite impressed, but missing out on the USB trigger and external volume control interfaces like the Microsoft Surface Dial really put a damper on my purchase. There's no way I'm going to buy another one just for a $35 NanoPi board and the SD card image on it.

 

@  amoeb86

We'd certainly love to help on this as we indeed worked few weeks on trying to get the Surface Dial to work on the SHD. Unfortunately the EOL chipset on the Neo 2 simply doesn't have support on its Kernel for a lot of the features/libraries required for the Spotify dial. It looks like a simple, dumb accessory but it's actually fairly complex behind the scenes I'm afraid.. We tried all our best tricks to port some new kernel but it just wasn't possible. On these phone like ARM core, the manufacturers have a much higher turnover than others chipsets and the kernel behind it just aren't something you update like a win upgrade unfortunately.. some features are impossible to port without the manufacturer of the chipset help..

Hardware replacement of the Neo2 to Neo3 is unfortunately also impossible as it is a completely different pin out and mechanical fitting to rear panel... We would have been happy to provide it otherwise.. 

Besides the dial, neo2 vs neo3 is really identical when it's coming to features though. We're going through 2 x completely dev process to keep everybody to the latest same features. It's like having 2 different products.. not a trial process to keep everybody happy..

If you're using Roon, maybe there is a way to do that with RooDial + Surface? 

DSP Fail would imply that you're running on a very old "DSP" firmware I think. Please upgrade to the latest version of plugin, click RESTORE -> "REFRESH DSP" when you're live and connected. Do make sure that you're running a new firmware as well. (v1.32). please start a support ticket on this, it's not something that get dealt over a forum. 

Is CD playback available?  I see the option in the menu settings, but I cannot get a USB cd drive to recognize.

Thanks

devteam post=62231

I would like to see the development team release the neo3 image for those of us whose units are beyond warranty and are willing to purchase and install the newer board ourselves.

This is especially frustrating now that the units are Roon Ready, I've been trialing it the past few weeks and am quite impressed, but missing out on the USB trigger and external volume control interfaces like the Microsoft Surface Dial really put a damper on my purchase. There's no way I'm going to buy another one just for a $35 NanoPi board and the SD card image on it.

 

@  amoeb86

We'd certainly love to help on this as we indeed worked few weeks on trying to get the Surface Dial to work on the SHD. Unfortunately the EOL chipset on the Neo 2 simply doesn't have support on its Kernel for a lot of the features/libraries required for the Spotify dial. It looks like a simple, dumb accessory but it's actually fairly complex behind the scenes I'm afraid.. We tried all our best tricks to port some new kernel but it just wasn't possible. On these phone like ARM core, the manufacturers have a much higher turnover than others chipsets and the kernel behind it just aren't something you update like a win upgrade unfortunately.. some features are impossible to port without the manufacturer of the chipset help..

Hardware replacement of the Neo2 to Neo3 is unfortunately also impossible as it is a completely different pin out and mechanical fitting to rear panel... We would have been happy to provide it otherwise.. 

Besides the dial, neo2 vs neo3 is really identical when it's coming to features though. We're going through 2 x completely dev process to keep everybody to the latest same features. It's like having 2 different products.. not a trial process to keep everybody happy..

If you're using Roon, maybe there is a way to do that with RooDial + Surface? 

DSP Fail would imply that you're running on a very old "DSP" firmware I think. Please upgrade to the latest version of plugin, click RESTORE -> "REFRESH DSP" when you're live and connected. Do make sure that you're running a new firmware as well. (v1.32). please start a support ticket on this, it's not something that get dealt over a forum. 

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I managed to sort out the DSP FAIL issue so all good there. I believe I caused it switching USB connections while the unit was switched on (didn't know that could cause issues at the time and had done so many times before without issue *shrugs*)

With regards to the neo3 replacement, working out some pinout connections and adapting a modified rear panel plate wouldn't be beyond the capabilities of most electronics technicians. I get that from your company's point of view you'd love to sell another $1300 unit but from the consumer's point of view they now have a perfectly working audio processor with an obsolete IP/IoT interface. The combination of the 2 is the main selling point that drew me, and I'm sure others, to the product.

For those with the skills, why not make an image available and let us modify the rear plate? After all, isn't the image available to anyone that's bought the newer units anyway?

Worst case is I damage the unit and buy a new one

Thanks for your time

 

ok, board replacement is not option, but could you provide some help for those of us who 'd like to implement a trigger out? Are there any pins on board that can be used to solder some wire and make a trigger out cable? Power to lcd could be used (if you don't use setting to off with a delay), ie when lcd is on, then trigger out on, when lcd off, trigger off.
Can we have some schematic of the board?

@amoeb86 — join ASR with the same name and I’ll find you there to send a DM. No messaging allowed here, unfortunately. I think the community there can be helpful to you.

hi,

look for a rooextend box or a rooextend pi (diy) and the extension for the dial....it will work! I use twitch a numb and with a 3Dconnexion Space Mouse. It is awesome.

Sebastian

I'm "Amoeba" on ASR