Sonocotta’s HiFi-Amped is a Raspberry Pi Audio HAT designed for Raspberry Pi single-board computers. It features dual PCM5100 DACs and TPA3110 (2x15W @ 8- or 1x 30-W @ 4-) class D amplifiers for high sound quality and power efficiency.
Key features of this module include support for both small and large speakers, an external power source to drive speakers and power the Raspberry Pi, and the ability to shut down the amplifiers using GPIO pins for minimal noise when not in use. This makes it ideal for creating a Raspberry Pi-based media center or audio streaming setup.
HiFi-Amped specifications:
- Compatibility – Raspberry Pi 2, 3, 4, 5, Zero, and potentially others with a Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header
- Amplifier – 2x Texas Instruments TPA3110D2 Class-D amplifiers
- Output Power
- 4x 10W into 8 ohms @ 13V
- 4x 15W into 8 ohms @ 16V
- 2x 30W into 4 ohms @ 16V (bridged mode)
- Output Power
- DAC – 2X PCM5100A 32-bit DACs
- Connectivity
- Standard Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO header
- Speaker terminals (left and right channels)
- I2S interface for audio data transmission
- Power
- External power input (8-26V DC)
- Onboard DC-DC converter to power Raspberry Pi
- Supports power pass-through for the Raspberry Pi
- Dimensions – 70 x 61 x 20mm
This audio board is fully compatible with Raspberry Pi OS using a simple driver overlay for plug-and-play functionality. The company also mentions that Volumio Linux distribution for music playback is supported. While the board can also be used with other Linux distributions, some manual configuration may be required. More information about the HiFi-Amped Raspberry Pi Audio HAT and other Sonocatto audio products can be found on GitHub.
We have previously written about various Raspberry Pi-based audio products such as the Linamp audio box, the IQaudio audio boards for Raspberry Pi, the HatDrive! Piano NVMe storage with audio, and Sonocotta’s Louder Raspberry Pi Media Center among others.
The More HiFi-Amped Raspberry Pi Audio HAT can be purchased from the Sonocotta Tindie store for $25.
Debashis Das is a technical content writer and embedded engineer with over five years of experience in the industry. With expertise in Embedded C, PCB Design, and SEO optimization, he effectively blends difficult technical topics with clear communication
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“High sound quality”? From a piddly little poorly filtered class D? You have to be joking. The THD figures are not mentioned and I’m willing to bet there’s a significant roll off at the top end. It’s basically a controllable boombox amp. It has some possibilities for sure, but high sound quality is very unlikely