Raspberry Pi Zero has received a new clone that produces premium audio through a built-in DAC chip. Dubbed VoltaStream Zero, the open source single-board computer (SBC) comes at a starting price of €42.
The VoltaStream Zero features a digital audio converter (DAC) by Texas Instruments (TI). You can opt between the TI PCM5121 and PCM5142. The inclusion of the DAC has resulted in the inflated price tag of VoltaStream Zero but enabled high-end sound output that was previously available on Chromecast.
Berlin-based PolyVection, the company manufacturing VoltaStream, is currently producing the SBCs in the batches of 100. Founder Philip Voigt has worked for four years in the same industry before launching the VoltraStream Zero. Moreover, the MVP of the SBC was a Raspberry Pi with attached DAC.
VoltaStream Zero features NXP’s i.MX6ULL ARM Cortex-A7 996MHz processor. Also, the SBC comes with an option of 512MB or 1GB of RAM. There is a USB Type-A connector, microUSB port and 28 GPIOs. The board additionally includes a combined 3.5mm TRS jack that offers access to analog line output or optical TOSLINK audio.
