Hi John, good to hear that Lavorgna banned your account on the Audiostream forum — you are in good company!

In my last email to him I dared him to write a review of a configuration like mine — a single board computer with a high quality I2S DAC running open source platforms like Volumio. A few days later he published this review of a $3000 network streamer and wrote

Some people like to think that all network players are created more or less equal; a $35 Raspberry Pi being every bit as good as everything less, regardless of everything else including cost. So things that we know make sonic differences like power supplies, internal noise, re-clocking, protection from external noise, processing power, and more, somehow don’t matter and a $35 device that doesn’t deal with many of these important aspects of overall performance magically disappear like pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. Knowing that you’ve spent $35 while others have spent thousands on the * same thing * offering an equally satiating self-satisfied belch. The problem is, it’s just not true.

The thing is, it is true. But if Lavorgna published an honest review of a $100 network streamer/DAC that had great performance, his career as an audiophile reviewer would be immediately over!

The IQAudio people are developing a really cool looking machined aluminum case for the Pi/DAC combo that will include a OLED display and volume knob. It just keeps on getting better, but you’ll never find out about this in Audiostream, Stereophile or the Absolute Sound.