HOLO AUDIO Red DDC and Network Streamer User Guide

Before we dive into the exciting world the HoloAudio Red we wanted to take a moment to express our sincerest thanks to you. Seriously, you could have chosen any digital audio device out there, but you decided to trust us with your needs, and for that, we’re truly grateful.

Unpack the Red
Unpack the MicroSD card (Micro-SD is already prepared with RedOS software)
Before connecting the power cable Insert the SD Card into the Red (important!)
Connect the IEC power cable
Use Red as a Digital Converter (USB to 12S or S/PDIF) follow “Set up the Red in DDC mode” Use Red as Streaming Endpoint follow: “Set up the Red as a streaming bridge”

HARDWARE DESCRIPTION

RED is composed of multiple sets of ultra-low noise linear regulated power supplies, high-quality clocks, USB signal processors, USB DDC, Raspberry Pi CM4, etc. The internal block diagram is shown below:

When the USB-IN is effectively connected, the USB DDC will be connected to the USB-IN and disconnected from the USB processor; 12s, COAX-7, COAX-2, OPT, AES will simultaneously output the audio signal from the USB-IN.

HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS

Digital Output

Note: When using USB output of the RED, Coax-7, 2, Optical and AES/EBU output will be inactive.

Chassis Specifications

Power Specifications Appendix

Accessories AC Power Cable xl (USA Only)
‘TF card (pre-installed RedOS) xl

FRONT PANEL

LED status indicator: the power indicator is green and steady, and the load indicator is red and flashing (it is normal to flash or turn off according to the load used)

REAR PANEL

From left to right (top to bottom) interfaces are: optical fiber, system TF card holder*, 2 1 s*, AES, coaxial 7 *, coaxial 2*, USB input, USB output, network port, AC power input

Do not hot swap the TF card while the power is on! Please turn off the power before inserting or removing the TF card.
12S adopts LVDS differential transmission mode, and the pinout can be configured. Please refer to 12s output configuration for details. The physical interface form is the same as HDMI. An HDMI cable can be used but note that the electrical signal it transmits is 12s, not a conventional HDMI audio and video signal.
Coaxial 7 and coaxial 2 cannot be short-circuited.

Ps OVER HDMI SPECIFICATIONS

12s Output Configuration

Configure the I2s pinout through the DIP switch [7,2] at the bottom of the chassis,Set the DIP switch [3] to enable I2S_DSD_ON; DIP switch [4] sets I2S -MCLJ< frequency, ON is 45.1584M/49.152M, OFF is 22.S792M/ 24.576M.For HoloAudio I2S, DIP switch [3,4] are NA / Do not affect either way.

1 25 Pinout

DDC OR NETWORK BRIDGE MODE

DDC Mode

When USB-IN is connected, the USB DOC will be connected to the USB-IN and discon
nected from the USB processor; 125, COAX-7, COAX-2, OPT, AES will simultaneously : output the audio signal from the USB-IN.

Network Bridge Mode

When Micro-SD with RedOS is inserted and the LAN cable is connected (and USB-IN not connected), the RED will act as a network bridge.
Supported audio services are: Roon Ready, HQPlayer NM, UPNP, AirPlay2, Squeezelite, Scream*, Spotify Connect* and Tidal Connect*.
In Compatibility Mode , multiple services can be activated at a time
In Performance Mode , only one service can be activated at a time
Audio services can be enabled/disabled in the web-browser interface. The web-browser interface can be accessed via http://red/config.php or RED’s IP address.
Scream (Virtual network sound card for Microsoft Windows) , Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect exclusively occupies the output device, so other services can’t use this output device and will be deselected.

SET UP THE RED IN DDC MODE

off the Red
Unplug LAN cable from the RED
Plug the USB cable into the Red and Roon Core / PC
Plug the HDMI (125 over HDMl)/COAX/ AES/OPT cable into the Red and your (Holo) DAC
Power On the Red

Next steps are only for Roon installation

Red should be visible in Roon Core=> Audio Setup
Enable the Red device in Audio setup (in Roon)
Select the Red player to play music

SET UP THE RED AS A STREAMING BRIDGE

Note: Please make sure you do not change settings in Red OS if you don’t know what you’re doing. USS redirector is configured correctly and no need to make changes to its config normally.
When LAN cable is connected (and USB-IN not connected), the RED will act as a network bridge.

Power off the Red
Unplug the USB cable from the RED
Connect the LAN cable into the Red (and make sure the SD Card is properly inserted)
Plug the USB-OUT/HDMI (12S over HDMl) /COAX/ AES/OPT cable into the Red and your (Halo) DAC
Power On the Red

Next steps are only for Roon installation

Red should be visible in Roon Core=> Audio Setup
Enable the Red device in Audio setup (in Roon)
Select the Red player to play music

Note: If you can’t find the Red it might not be available on your LAN. Check the IP address of the Red on your network. Open a web browser on your computer connected to the same (local) network and enter the IP address to access the RedOS page (configuration of the Red).

RED OS

If local network can resolute the domain name of RED. Use a browser to access http://red/config php; Or, find the IP address the corresponds to RED through your router’s client list or use tools like an IP scanner to obtain the IP address. Then user a browser to access the IP address you just obtained.
In Compatibility Mode, multiple services can be activated at a time*
In Performance Mode, only one service can be activated at a time*

Use RED’s Native Output
When using RED’s native output (12S, Coaxial, AES, Optical). Please select ” Red Native Output ” in each service item. Then set the Volume Control and DSD Mode options.

Use RED’s USB Output
When using RED’s USB-OLJTto connect DAC or USB DOC. Please select “USB -> (USB device name)” in each service item,such as “USB -> Holo Audio UAC2.0 Gen2.1 Enhanced” or “USB -> Holo Audio UAC2.0 Gen2 Standard” . Then set the Volume Control and DSD Mode options.

About Roon Ready
When using Roon Ready, you can select a single device or both the RED native output (125, Coaxial, AES, Optical) and RED’s USB-OUT to connect DAC or USB DOC Simultaneously. The output is determined by Roon setup.

About Scream, Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect
When using Scream, Spotify Connect, and Tidal Connect, the output device your selected will be exclusively occupied by these services. A lock will be displayed on the page to indicate this. Other services will not be able to use this output device and will be deselected.

Save Configuration
After you changed any setting, click [Save] button.OS Update
When there is an Update I New! l button in the bottom of config page. Means that there is a new update available. Click Update I New! l and wait for the system update complete.

WRITE THE OPERATING SYSTEM TO THE TF CARD

Caution: Do not hot swap the TF card with power on! Please turn off the power before plugging and unplugging the TF card

Unzip the downloaded chosen operating system image file to get the .img file.
Insert the TF card into the card reader and connect it to the computer.
Run the ba lena Etcher-Porta ble tool.
Select the desired system image (.img file) in the BalenaEtcher-Portable sofuNare under “Flash fTDm file” , select the corresponding TF drive letter under ” Select target”, and then select “Flash!” to start writing to the system. A dialog box will appear asking if you are sure, select “Yes”

BalenaEtcher-Portable sofuNare under “Flash fTDm file” , select the corresponding TF drive letter under ” Select target”, and then select “Flash!” to start writing to the system. A dialog box will appear asking if you are sure, select “Yes”
If the system prompts you to format, please remember not to format, click “Cancel” or “X”, otherwise the system installed in the hidden partition may be erased and unable to enter the system.

COMMON ISSUE

After the installation is complete, you will find that the displayed capacity of the TF card is lower than the original capacity. This is because only the boot partition in FAT format is displayed in the Windows system, only tens or hundreds of MB (according to the system written in the TF card), and the larger partition is the Linux partition, which is not displayed in the Windows system. It does not affect the work of the Raspberry Pi Linux (moodeaudio, volumio, etc. .. ) system.
If you want to use the drive for something else or want to install a new system, it will need to be formatted according to the instructions below. After the TF card is formatted using the Windows system “My Computer”. the TF card will still be partitioned according to the Linux system and will not merge the TF partitions. You can use the Windows disk management tool for partition management to do this.

In addition, you can use the SD Card Formatter tool to format the TF card. Proceed as follows:
Run SD Card Formatter and select the TF card to be formatted. !!! Carefully check the drive letter that needs to be formatted to avoid the tragedy of formatting other disks!!!

After checking the letter of the drive that needs to be formatted, click “Format”, and click “Yes (Y)” after a warning box pops up.
Formatting
After the formatting is completed, drive capacity and storage space can be seen; click “OK” to close the software.

COMMON ISSUE

Because CM4 turns off USB by default to reduce power consumption, some systems need to configure it after writing to the TF card.
Moode audio and RoPieeeXL systems are USB enabled and require no user configuration. After the Volumio system is written using balenaEtcher, it is necessary to add the USB enable configuration statement “dtovertay=dwc2,dr_mode=host” to the config.txt file in the system TF card and save the txt file (shortcut key Ctrl+S)

Documents / Resources

HOLO AUDIO Red DDC and Network Streamer [pdf] User Guide
Red DDC and Network Streamer, DDC and Network Streamer, Network Streamer

References

User Manual

Red DDC and Network Streamer

PRECAUTIONS

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