“It's very neat, but it took quite a while to get any sound out of it at all, and even with everything turned up to the max it's still pretty quiet through my headphones...”
“Brilliant. Has opened up the Pi-400 to a new range of capabilities. I use mine within my Amateur Radio Hobby and use the sound output for listening to Morse Code and deciphering Fax. Great little add on that in the real world should cost a lot more.”
“I have mixed feelings about this device. It does make available an audio jack output which is not standard on the Pi400, but I feel it has some drawbacks. First, great care has to be taken when plugging the current model into the Pi400 GPIO. It is difficult to see the pins (because of the Pi400 case) for matching up, and if you get then wrong you can damage the device. I believe the company is looking at improving this so that you cannot plug it in offset from the correct position. Secondly, the device requires software to be installed, and at present this is specific to the kernel version you are running, and the latest Raspbian OS has employed several versions. I had to contact the company OSA Electronics to upgrade to the version on my SDcard, and since then it has been upgraded again! Currently the software is supporting 3 different versions, but every time an upgrade to the kernel is introduced it may cease to work. I would also like to see an uninstall for the software. At present it disables the built in audio chip on the Pi400, and so if the card is not working, or if you need to revert to the "normal" setup you need to manually configure the changes, having looked at the install software to see what they are. I have many SD cards, and at present it is not practical for me to ensure that they all have the same kernel version. Also, I suspect that the card may not work if you use your Pi400 with an alternative OS such as Ubuntu.
I bought the device to check if it would work with Sonic Pi which I use a lot, and it does, but I find that the audio response compared to the cheap USB interface I usually use which is about half the price, is rather muffled. The usb device also works with no problem with standard installed software both on Raspberry Pi OS and Ubuntu both 32 and 64 bit versions.
Although this review may seem a bit negative, full marks to OSA Electronics for coming up with this device. With a modified failsafe plug arrangement, software uninstall utility and cover (or rapid upgrade) for all kernel versions released it has a future as a neat way to get audio jack output from a Pi400. I notice that there is a version of the card mentioned on the OSA site which has stereo inputs as well. That would be interesting for use with Sonic Pi, but I'm not sure if it is available.
Also full marks to ThePiHut for good after sales service helping me sort out my difficulties and supplying a replacement when the first card didn't work.
Attached is a picture showing the card in place. Notice the gap at the end of the cutout in the Pi400. It may make you feel it is in the wrong place, too far along, but I am showing the correct positioning.”
“An excellent addition for the Pi 400 at a reasonable cost. Easy to install and setting up the driver software took no time t all. The quality sounds good so far and overall I am very pleased with my purchase.”
