Great news for all HiFiBerry fans and Max2Play users looking add a new room to their multiroom system with an amplifier HAT: The new, improved HiFiBerry AMP2 HAT is out now!
The AMP2 is HiFiBerry’s new generation of flagship amplifier boards replacing the popular and renowned HiFiBerry Amp+. The device comes in elegant black instead of the former Amp+’s green color and its insides have also gotten some new upgrades.
The new amplifier offers up to 60 watts of power and thus could improve its peak output a full 10 watts compared to its predecessor’s two 25 watts outputs.
At the same time, the AMP2 is able to also pass along more power to its connected devices. So aside from also powering the Raspberry Pi, it can also power periphery like displays or USB storage.
Furthermore, the new amplifier board can offer up to 192 kHz/24bit sample rates and thus can offer an HD stereo sound out of the box.
The AMP2 was made to cover the whole range of passive speakers, from 4 to 8 ohms all impedance is supported. Therefore, the board connected to a Raspberry Pi is ideal to supplement your multiroom system in rooms that have been musicless thus far. Just add some passive speakers and your Pi with the AMP2, Max2Play does the rest.
Another great improvement of the AMP2 is its bigger voltage support. While the previous board only covered a maximum of 18 volts, the new amplifier manages to work within a range of 12 to 24 volts. Consequently, bigger power supplies can now also be used to make the AMP2 fill up rooms with music.
Here you can find the HiFiBerry AMP2
Also available as a bundle with the Raspberry Pi 3
AMP2
- Up to 60 watts output power with stereo outputs
- HD Audio with 192kHz/24bit sample rate
- Compatible with practically all passive speakers of 4-8 ohms impedance
- Supports higher voltage levels from 12 up to 24 V
- Improved power management for both connected Raspberry Pi and other connected devices like displays
AMP+
- Up to 25 Watt output performance
- 44.1kHz and 48kHz spample rates
- Compatible with passive speakers of 4 ohms impedance
- 12-18V voltage supported
Ideal Support with Max2Play
The Max2Play HiFiBerry Plugin already supports the HiFiBerry AMP2. Just select the sound card in the drodown menu, click save and reboot to immediately start listening to your favorite music on your favorite player software.
As opposed to the previous Amp+, you can now activate hardware volume control on both Squeezelite and Shairport!
Just add the following to each player’s command line options (with built-in audio deactivated):
Squeezelite -> -o hw:0 -V Digital
Shairport -> -t hardware -m hw:0 -c Digital
Tell us about your experiences, projects and plans with the HiFiBerry AMP2 in the comments!
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5 Comments
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Just what I was looking for.
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Does anyone know if the HiFiBerry Amp2 is compatible with Raspberry Pi 4?
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Author
Hi Kevan,
The AMP2 board is compatible with all Raspberry Pi 4B models.
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Hello all ,please tell me how much ampers need AMP 2 hat ? Normaly pi3 ,that’s what I have,use 2 ampers power supply.Thank’s .
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Hi Marius,
This depends mainly on the additional hardware you use. If you want to connect a USB hard drive and a display to the Pi, the power supply should offer at least 3A. But as I said, it depends on the devices and how much power they draw. The amp alone together with the Pi hardly needs any additional current, so theoretically a 2A power supply should be sufficient. You have to make sure that you use a 12V-24V power supply for the amp though. I would recommend using a power supply unit with at least 3A, then you are on the safe side.
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