Instead of blowing hundreds of dollars on hi-fi streaming equipment, some audio fans rely on a Raspberry Pi. That's right; you can revolutionize your home audio with an affordable Pi computer---all you need is a DAC. And there are plenty of official options to choose from.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation began selling DAC HATs two years ago. These HATs, which were originally designed by IQaudio, add analog audio components to a Pi computer. You can use a Pi DAC+ to connect your Raspberry Pi to an amplifier or A/V receiver, for instance.

And if you want to pair your Raspberry Pi with passive speakers, there's always the Pi DigiAMP+, a HAT with an integrated amplifier. These components are quite effective, and they're often utilized in music streamer projects. (One of my favorite projects turns the Raspberry Pi into a touchscreen music streaming interface.)

Here are the hi-fi HATs offered by the Raspberry Pi Foundation:

These HATs received a small redesign on December 2nd, which is why we're highlighting them today. Of course, this redesign is mostly superficial. The hi-fi HATs now use a green circuit board (instead of black) and are ever-so-slightly reengineered to streamline manufacturing. (Functionally speaking, the update changes nothing about these boards.)

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According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, you may receive a redesigned hi-fi HAT when ordering from a retailer. But this isn't guaranteed. I'm sure that retailers like CanaKit are still carrying the old black boards, which may take some time to sell out.

You can find all of Raspberry Pi's hi-fi equipment on the company's products page. Note that the Raspberry Pi Foundation doesn't sell directly to consumers. You need to purchase this stuff through a retailer like CanaKit.

Source: Raspberry Pi Foundation