What was the company's idea?
The Canadian high-end audio manufacturer Bryston planned to add an entry-level digital music player to their range, featuring a smaller form factor than classical HiFi components and slightly lower specs than their advanced player, that still delivered an extraordinary sound along with Bryston’s typical high-quality build.
To fit the hardware platform, the Raspberry Pi was selected due to its form factor, flexibility, and competitive price. Similar to Bryston’s other digital players, it would feature different digital SPDIF audio outputs to connect one of their high-end DACs.
What support did HiFiBerry provide?
To add a high-quality digital output to the Raspberry Pi, Bryston contacted HiFiBerry in order to include the Digi+ in its player. To ensure the best integration in the final product, Bryston decided to license the design of the Digi+ from HiFiBerry and designed and manufactured a board which includes not only the Digi+ and connectors to the Raspberry Pi, but also a power regulation circuit along with connectors to a display, buttons, and an IR receiver.
Bryston developed their own specialized software for this player, focusing on the best audio quality, flexible connection options, and easy use. The drivers of the Digi+ are developed and maintained (including for future Raspberry Pi kernels) by HiFiBerry. Future updates can therefore be easily implemented.
Further, HiFiBerry supported Bryston when troubleshooting during the development.