with a I2S DAC the sound quality of RPi3B and RPi4 will be the same.
with RPi4 you might get a better responsiveness of the Volumio UI, but with the RPi3B it should be good enough already.
PS: nice work you did! congratulations!
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I think that’s a useful distinction. My Pi4 system has some important advantages over my 3b systems: faster UI, much better wifi and bluetooth. However, as I use I2S DACs, there is no difference in sound quality. I can imagine this might be different with a USB DAC.
In a small enclosure with an ethernet cable, I’d probably choose a 3b as it runs cooler.
with a USB DAC, the RPi4 is recommended
How the USB is implemented on RPi4 is way better than the other versions
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I agree about the better USB implementation on the 4.
Regarding heating, I have the 4 on a FLIRC case and it’s normaly on the low 60°C.
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For that reason I swapped out the standard RPi4 in my Audiophonics RaspDAC Mini with a RPi3B: in the former setup I had to install a fan to keep the Pi below 80 degrees C in summer. Problem solved now, UI speed differences are relatively minor.