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Hello,

I come from XBMC + Foobar200 in WinXP.
I want to go to Xbian + MPD in Rasp Pi.
I have an old school analog stereo audio setup.

Since I do not have a HDMI capable receiver and I don't like Pi's analog sound quality (specially for music), so I'm looking for a kind of external DAC.

Some considerations:
- I don't need to watch TV and listen to music simultaneously.
- only stereo sound (2.0).

Options are:
a) USB DAC. -Pros: lots of brands to choose from. -Cons: technically not an option at the moment.
b) HDMI audio splitter. -Pros: As long as I understand this approach is better than USB in terms of performance. -Cons: few unknown brands to choose, sound quality unknown.

My questions are:
1) Is the option Xbian + MPD through HDMI feasible? I mean software feasible. As I understand Xbian do not use a system-level sound system but a kind direct manipulation of the hardware.

2) Would be advisable to wait for the ALSA implementation and go for the USB option?

Thank you in advance and regards,

Diego

PS: I really like Xbian!

there is a talk about MDP on our forum, so I would say you may join the discussion and try to work through.

Regarding the USB DAC's and ALSA, I do not really see this bright in near future unfortunately.

So my best bet would be to go with some HDMI digital audio extractor which is confirm by some user to work, so you not loose a money by buying some cheap stuff which doesnt work or just partially.

Or just reconsider upgrading the AVR with HDMI. I know you probably say as this is no way cos the investment but this would be the best of all options, believe me

thank you rikardo.

I'll search the MPD thread and HDMI audio extractor.

Diego