American Pi

If ever there was a case of not judging a hi-fi component by its cover, David Vivian reckons the PecanPi Streamer is it

David Vivian

Hi-fi can be a maze of competing ecosystems with the capacity to confuse and coerce as much as connecting on a bespoke level. But one that seems to be hitting the sweet spot with increasing real-world relevance is the low-cost, no-frills, function-first, high-performance, multi-tasking, software-flexible, plug-and-play little black (or silver) box. And Orchard Audio’s PecanPi Streamer appears to be exactly that.

The cute wordplay references the RaspberryPi 3B+ platform inside, replete with tell-tall input socket group poking through the backplate. A fully balanced, dual-DAC chip design, think of it as a kind of audio hardware hot-rod, with skinned-back bodywork and pepped-up engine to extract maximum performance bang for the buck. For the true audio tinkerer prepared to forgo the streaming function, the PecanPi can be bought in raw soundcard guise and the streaming alternative’s metal casework is reassuringly solid and well finished.