Hello! Long time audiophile and tube geek looking to get into the digital age. Listen to mostly vinyl and was never a fan of CD sound. A friend recently brought over a Chord Qutest and got me excited about digital again! I ordered a Burson Swing so now looking for a player.
I have an extensive library on a RAID attached to my iMac via iTunes. I downloaded LMS last night and scanned that library. I also added the DSD plugin and was successful playing DSD256 for the first time last night but on my lousy computer speakers. 😛
My thoughts are:
- Pi 3 B+ (I have 5GHz router)
- 7" touchscreen
- Case like this
Am I correct in that I just need a LMS player to stream my music over WiFi and out the USB to my DAC? Any recommendations on a player? I prefer one I can control with my iPhone via an app, touchscreen will be secondary control preference. Looking for a clean interface that shows album artwork and track info. piCorePlayer looks like a good candidate.
I have an extensive library on a RAID attached to my iMac via iTunes. I downloaded LMS last night and scanned that library. I also added the DSD plugin and was successful playing DSD256 for the first time last night but on my lousy computer speakers. 😛
My thoughts are:
- Pi 3 B+ (I have 5GHz router)
- 7" touchscreen
- Case like this
Am I correct in that I just need a LMS player to stream my music over WiFi and out the USB to my DAC? Any recommendations on a player? I prefer one I can control with my iPhone via an app, touchscreen will be secondary control preference. Looking for a clean interface that shows album artwork and track info. piCorePlayer looks like a good candidate.
If you're going to use a pi, I'd use the Pi i2s interface, instead of its usb interface.
Then you need a i2s dac, and there are a bunch out there. But the pi doesn't have the right clock of i2s, so you should reclock it for best sound.
But there are reclocker fifos and pi dacs out there, Ian is having a group buy sale going on right now, mine is in the mail.
Allo audio also has a good reputation, and they hang out here.
Both Ian and Allo have recently released new dacs, Allo came out with the Katana.
Randy
Then you need a i2s dac, and there are a bunch out there. But the pi doesn't have the right clock of i2s, so you should reclock it for best sound.
But there are reclocker fifos and pi dacs out there, Ian is having a group buy sale going on right now, mine is in the mail.
Allo audio also has a good reputation, and they hang out here.
Both Ian and Allo have recently released new dacs, Allo came out with the Katana.
Randy
Here are some of the popular media players for the RPi:
- Volumio
- Moode
- RuneAudio (Download the latest from the forum)
There are much the same under the bonnet (Linux, MPD, ALSA). Just download the image, burn the image to a sdcard using something like etcher and try each one in turn to see which one has the features that you prefer.
Some of the media players have an app or you can use a web browser and even connect a local LCD Touchscreen.
- Volumio
- Moode
- RuneAudio (Download the latest from the forum)
There are much the same under the bonnet (Linux, MPD, ALSA). Just download the image, burn the image to a sdcard using something like etcher and try each one in turn to see which one has the features that you prefer.
Some of the media players have an app or you can use a web browser and even connect a local LCD Touchscreen.
I already bought a Burson Swing so not looking for a DAC. It will have to be USB for now.
As you've already installed LMS, then it makes sense to install PiCorePlayer on your RPi. You can control it via your touchscreen, web ui on phone, tablet, PC etc, or even an Iphone or Android app.
piCorePlayer
piCorePlayer
Advantage of a touchscreen is it's always there and mains powered, I suppose. Advantage of not doing that is a smaller form factor and no reason to have the thing in sightline all of the time. I run my Pis headless unless there is a problem.
I use the Moode web UI to control it from PCs, android phone etc.
Pi USB is not without problems, noise. Some sort of USB clocker/noise filter may be required. IFI or similar.
J.
I use the Moode web UI to control it from PCs, android phone etc.
Pi USB is not without problems, noise. Some sort of USB clocker/noise filter may be required. IFI or similar.
J.
I never bothered with a touchscreen, you can do all the control you should need with your iPhone.
If you go with PcP (Pi Core Player), then you can use the iPeng app on your phone to control it. Costs a few bucks for the app. PcP uses the old squeezebox based software. Still works fine. PcP will also act as a webserver, so you can access it from any PC or other device, through a web browser. The squeezebox sw actually needs a client and a server, but PcP can act as both. The client is playing the music that the server sends it. Server needs access to wherever you music is.
From what I remember, Volumio, Moode and Rune would be accessed through a web browser. I also remember volumio being easy to get setup and running. Its a good option to try, to easily get something working.
For starters, if you get a pi and a power supply to get it running, you can get going. To bring the pi up, easiest way for beginners is to connect a monitor, keyboard and mouse. With Volumio and PcP, you might be able to just program the SD card with their image and echer, and not need to connect anything to bring them up, if you have an ethernet connection. Not 100% sure. If you can only connect wireless, you would have to connect a monitor and keyboard to get started, to setup the wireless connection.
My Pi's are mainly connected to Ethernet (not wireless), and I know how to get a remote connection to them without ever connecting a monitor or keyboard. Once you establish the remote connection, you can run headless no problem, and never need a monitor.
So I would try just a Pi to start with, and see if it works like that, without the touchscreen. Add the touchscreen later if you feel the need.
Randy
If you go with PcP (Pi Core Player), then you can use the iPeng app on your phone to control it. Costs a few bucks for the app. PcP uses the old squeezebox based software. Still works fine. PcP will also act as a webserver, so you can access it from any PC or other device, through a web browser. The squeezebox sw actually needs a client and a server, but PcP can act as both. The client is playing the music that the server sends it. Server needs access to wherever you music is.
From what I remember, Volumio, Moode and Rune would be accessed through a web browser. I also remember volumio being easy to get setup and running. Its a good option to try, to easily get something working.
For starters, if you get a pi and a power supply to get it running, you can get going. To bring the pi up, easiest way for beginners is to connect a monitor, keyboard and mouse. With Volumio and PcP, you might be able to just program the SD card with their image and echer, and not need to connect anything to bring them up, if you have an ethernet connection. Not 100% sure. If you can only connect wireless, you would have to connect a monitor and keyboard to get started, to setup the wireless connection.
My Pi's are mainly connected to Ethernet (not wireless), and I know how to get a remote connection to them without ever connecting a monitor or keyboard. Once you establish the remote connection, you can run headless no problem, and never need a monitor.
So I would try just a Pi to start with, and see if it works like that, without the touchscreen. Add the touchscreen later if you feel the need.
Randy
Thanks for all of the input! I am not sold on LMS so far. It seems a resource hog on the server side and the interface is glitchy with the DSD Plugin. I may take a closer look at Volumio since I like what I see in the screenshots.
The touchscreen is more for as display so I have visual feedback of what is going on. I have played around with headless installs before and not a fan ... some of us need that instant gratification of visual feedback. 😛
The touchscreen is more for as display so I have visual feedback of what is going on. I have played around with headless installs before and not a fan ... some of us need that instant gratification of visual feedback. 😛
I wouldn't say LMS is a resource hog, my LMS is a Raspberry Pi 1B (512MB) no DSD though, only WAV. I was using the original Raspberry Pi 1B (256MB) for many years.
I don't use DSD, but Soundcheck does, refer to:
soundcheck's - audio@vise: RaspBerry PI - The Audio Engine - Part 6 - DSD Native
As for instant gratification, can't help with that. In the LMS/squeezebox environment most of the pretty stuff is in the add-ons and smart device apps. The default LMS web interface is quite old and usually only used for setup.
I don't use DSD, but Soundcheck does, refer to:
soundcheck's - audio@vise: RaspBerry PI - The Audio Engine - Part 6 - DSD Native
As for instant gratification, can't help with that. In the LMS/squeezebox environment most of the pretty stuff is in the add-ons and smart device apps. The default LMS web interface is quite old and usually only used for setup.
OK ... I got the (headless) Pi 3 B+ yesterday. I was able to flash PCP to the SD, get wifi configured and get the USB Audio Out working. I can stream PCM to my external DAC fine but I can still not play DSD. I added the -e dsd variable and can now enable DoP in LMS but it still will not play. It starts to play the file in the LMS player interface (seconds start ticking down) for a few seconds but then stops and jumps back to 0:00.
I looked at soundcheck's page above but his info seems outdated for the latest version of PCP.
I looked at soundcheck's page above but his info seems outdated for the latest version of PCP.
I gave up on PcP and LMS! I installed Volumio yesterday and had a little trouble getting the right syntax to deifne my shared music folder since the documentation is very lacking.
Regardless, I am now streaming DSD direct to my DAC with iPhone and computer control via the web interface.
Regardless, I am now streaming DSD direct to my DAC with iPhone and computer control via the web interface.
Can any of the PI be made to work in a car audio system? With a hard drive full of music and video
Yes, and it is not hard. Get a Raspberry Pi 3b, a 7" touchscreen to which you can mount the Raspberry Pi and a 5V 2A buck converter (eBay) to connect the combo to your vehicle's electrical system. That adds up to about $110 before taxes and shipping and you will have a self contained, fully functional unit. Choose a music/media player and set it up to automatically launch when the system powers up.
I will not name any music/media player or this thread will quickly degenerate into another religious war.
I will not name any music/media player or this thread will quickly degenerate into another religious war.
You say use a 7" touchscreen, is it selecting tracks. Sorry I am not familiar with touchscreens, is there a monitor underneath.
Thanks
thyristor44
Combining the Raspberry Pi with a touch screen you end up with a tablet-like device.
Buy a Raspberry Pi Touch Display – Raspberry Pi
I call it tablet-like because it will have a bulge in the back (the Raspberry Pi itself) and is better suited for mounting on a stand or panel. The interaction however is identical to that of using a tablet.
Buy a Raspberry Pi Touch Display – Raspberry Pi
I call it tablet-like because it will have a bulge in the back (the Raspberry Pi itself) and is better suited for mounting on a stand or panel. The interaction however is identical to that of using a tablet.
One more question
What would I need to buy with the pi3 and that screen in order to hook it up to my head unit. My head unit does not have hdmi inputs just a yellow video input and left/right audio inputs
Like I’ve stated, I want to use it as a media player with a few ssd drives with music and videos
What would I need to buy with the pi3 and that screen in order to hook it up to my head unit. My head unit does not have hdmi inputs just a yellow video input and left/right audio inputs
Like I’ve stated, I want to use it as a media player with a few ssd drives with music and videos
You can watch videos on the touch display, as converting from HDMI to analog (yellow RCA input) will require an external device and the picture quality will be poor. For the audio you can get a DAC card which attaches to the Raspberry Pi. You can find it on eBay if you search for "Raspberry Pi DAC card". You can also buy a USB DAC like the Audioquest Dragonfly. It's pricey but sounds good.
You will need a MicroSD drive with at least 8GB capacity. I suggest you get two or more with 16GB capacity or higher. They are inexpensive and you can have a spare for backup and another to try a different operating system.
The car electric system provides 13.8V (12V nominal) and you need to reduce it to 5V. You can use a buck converter that you can buy on eBay cheaper than you would pay for the parts alone. Look for one with at least 3A current rating to account for the display and DAC added demand. Or you can use more than one as on eBay they sell them in pairs, quintets or even a dozen.
You also need to make a cable to connect from the buck converter to the Raspberry Pi. I suggest you buy a ready made cable and cut it, like I did for my music streamers.
Custom built case for Raspberry Pi music streamer
If you decide to go with the DAC card you will need to use two power cables as the card will use the 5V and Gnd pins the display needs. However, the display also has a micro USB connector to receive that second cable.
The different operating systems are available at raspberrypi.org along with a wealth of information.
Here is the Raspberry Pi and touch display assembly guide so you know what to expect.
https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-78156/l/raspberry-pi-7-touchscreen-display
You will need a MicroSD drive with at least 8GB capacity. I suggest you get two or more with 16GB capacity or higher. They are inexpensive and you can have a spare for backup and another to try a different operating system.
The car electric system provides 13.8V (12V nominal) and you need to reduce it to 5V. You can use a buck converter that you can buy on eBay cheaper than you would pay for the parts alone. Look for one with at least 3A current rating to account for the display and DAC added demand. Or you can use more than one as on eBay they sell them in pairs, quintets or even a dozen.
You also need to make a cable to connect from the buck converter to the Raspberry Pi. I suggest you buy a ready made cable and cut it, like I did for my music streamers.
Custom built case for Raspberry Pi music streamer
If you decide to go with the DAC card you will need to use two power cables as the card will use the 5V and Gnd pins the display needs. However, the display also has a micro USB connector to receive that second cable.
The different operating systems are available at raspberrypi.org along with a wealth of information.
Here is the Raspberry Pi and touch display assembly guide so you know what to expect.
https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-78156/l/raspberry-pi-7-touchscreen-display
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