Its time to get Digital

[RochaCullen]

So I've been using a small laptop for a while now with an external harddrive containing all my music which I can hook up to my laptop in work also. This solution is fine and sounds great going through a MF v-link to my Audio Note DAC Zero, but its a bit fiddley.

What I would dearly love is to have a little black box that connects straight into my DAC, which can wirelessly pull flac files from a NAS or some such, and it can be controlled by an iphone app (I really dont want to need a monitor and mouse).

I've been doing some research today and the only thing I can see which seems to fit the bill and which is designed to do this is the Sonos, I'd preferably like to do this for cheaper if possible.

I'd like to see what ideas people have and what they use, the threads I've read so far list Squeezebox touch, Apple TV, etc.

I was considering a WD TV Live Media Player, plus a Seagate Central Wireless Harddrive. But I have a feeling you would need a screen for the WD.

Any ideas?

[Ali Tait]

No brainer - Squeezebox Touch. Not made anymore, but you should be able to pick one up secondhand.

[MartinT]

Logitech Touch - seconded. It's capable of awesome performance with a few tweaks, especially when used with an external DAC.

[RochaCullen]

I was starting to come around to that line of thinking the more I read peoples opinions on the forum. Does the squeezebox discover music folders sitting on your NAS?

[Ali Tait]

Yes, no problem, as long as you point it at the NAS.

[RochaCullen]

Is the Logitech Touch wireless?

[Ali Tait]

Can be wireless or Ethernet cabled. Will also work with a hard drive directly plugged in via USB. Buy an Ankaka battery or one of Nick's linear supplies to give a worthwhile improvement to SQ.

[RochaCullen]

That's great that it allows you to plug a USB hard drive straight in, it means I wont have to fork out immediately for the NAS kit. Well it sounds like we have a winner. Now to find one. :)

[RochaCullen]

Pity its a dead product though, as in, its no longer made.

[Trumpton_Rioter]

have you considered a Raspberry Pi Media Server using Squeezeplug v7.02?

There is a thread about setting it up on another hifi forum

[RochaCullen]

Been reading through it, sounds like you still need some sort of controller device, or am I missing something. The guy who started the thread keeps mentioning his squeezebox touch.

[NRG]

Even though the product is dead the on-line community continue to support it and have also developed their own version, see: http://www.communitysqueeze.org

[Markiii]

if you have an iphone/ipad you really want to look at ipeng and Squeezepad as apps to control the Touch

[Rothchild]

The Raspberry PI stuff has come on a long way: http://volumio.org/ is the simple solution.

I still run http://www.madsonic.org/ on mine, so I can stream my music anywhere I have an internet connection.

[Tim]

Slap Volumio on a BeagleBone Black board, power it with a 5V Linear PSU (or better still a battery), connect a DAC, app controller, point it at a network music library and you are good to go :D

BeagleBone Black

http://www.logicsupply.eu/media/catalog/product/cache/15/small_image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/b/b/bb-blk-000-beaglebone-black-board-logicsupply.jpg


CPU: AM335x 1GHz ARM® Cortex-A8
GPU: 3D graphics accelerator
Memory: RAM: 512 MB DDR3
Video outputs: HDMI
Audio outputs: HDMI
Onboard storage: SD, MMC,2GB 8-bit eMMC on-board flash storage
Network: 10/100 Ethernet RJ45 onboard network
Other: USB client for power & communications, USB host, 2x 46 pin headers
USB PORTS : 1
Power: 5V 1A


http://www.logicsupply.eu/beaglebone/bb-bblk-000/?gclid=CMOKqJGoxr0CFYMSwwodHHUAkw

[MartinT]

if you have an iphone/ipad you really want to look at ipeng and Squeezepad as apps to control the Touch

And if you have a Windows 8 tablet or phone use SqueezeRemote, which is excellent.

[Stratmangler]

And if you have a Windows 8 tablet or phone use SqueezeRemote, which is excellent.

Squeeze Commander is great on Android.
The the official Logitech app is OK too, although I find Squeeze Commander to be slicker in operation.
That said, the official Logitech is free of charge.

[Tim]

Squeeze Commander is great on Android.
+1

When I had my Touch I tried all the available Android apps and thought Squeeze Commander was the best.

[RochaCullen]

The Raspberry PI stuff has come on a long way: http://volumio.org/ is the simple solution.

I still run http://www.madsonic.org/ on mine, so I can stream my music anywhere I have an internet connection.

That volumino site is the business. I have access to some Raspberry PI boards in work, so I might first have a crack using them.

[Krisbee]

Supplies of the Beaglebone Black are limited with no guaranteed lead times. "Due to high demand and limited production capacity, orders for the community edition of this product are limited to 1 per customer. Lead times are currently subject to change. Please check back for availability"

In any case, Nathan's Audio Note DAC has no USB input, so a RPi + Wolfson audio card, or one of these http://www.hifiberry.com/hbdigi, is the obvious route. The author of squeezeplug gives his pros and cons here:

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?100724-SqueezePlug-Version-7-available&p=775922&viewfull=1#post775922

Which software you adopt depends on the audio server you need/want, eg MPD or Logitech Media Server. I favour LMS for its use of plugins and the separation of server and player.

As far as the "community squeeze" project is concerned, John Swenson's audio board is not in production yet and I've not seen an ETA. The software side, CSOS, is still under development, but is usable as is.

[RochaCullen]

Recently I've been considering the build or purchase of a digital music server, so I started planning the purchase or build of a budget digital music server that did break the bank and did not compromise the quality of audio.

I wanted my music server to do all of the following:


Must play hi-rez files, 24bit/96khz.
Must play lossless FLAC files (none of this substandard MP3 malarky)
Must be able to communicate with a NAS or use a USB Harddrive, which acts as a music library
Must be able to stream via USB to DAC (Digital to Analogue Converter)
Must be headless (i.e., does not need a monitor and can be controlled by my iphone.)


So what do I do, buy a laptop to put beside my hi-fi? No that would be a tad too expensive, and a waste of a laptop. Grab an old desktop computer and pump it with the right software? No that would be unsightly and detrimental to WAF. Then I read what might be achievable with a Raspberry Pi, plus there were a bunch of them available in work, meaning I could try out the Raspberry Pi as a music server before ever spending a penny.


Recipe for Raspberry Pi music server

Some research had me convinced that a Raspberry Pi supplied with the right software and peripherals could do the job. So what did I need:


Raspberry Pi B Model
WiFi USB Dongle
Power Supply
SD Card
USB hub
USB DAC
USB Harddrive (HDD)


I managed to get all but the USB DAC, USB hub, and USB HDD from work. Thankfully I had an old laptop HDD, which I rehoused, transforming it into a USB HDD for a fiver; a Behringer UCA202 (this is a very affordable USB DAC), which I had lying around from a previous project; and a USB hub. I later discovered that the hub had to be powered, as the USB HDD required more power than the Pi could supply, so I had to shell out €12 for a powered USB hub.

Outlay so far, €17. Cost of a Sonos Connect and Bridge: €400. Cost of a second hand Logitech Squeezebox Touch: €250+. The wife would be proud!

Now, all I had to find was the right software. While researching the Raspberry Pi, I read about a software project called Volumio (http://volumio.org/), and decided this was the way to go. I followed the getting started instructions, but could not get wifi working and could not get it to read from my USB harddrive. Back to the drawing board. A few days later I read that while the Logitech Squeezebox Touch is no longer in production, there are some good souls out there who are continuing to maintain the software and have even built it in such a way that it will work on a Raspberry Pi. The new software is called SqueezePlug (http://www.squeezeplug.eu/). This sounded like it might be worth a try, plus I found a very enlightening youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIlj_4mFQwg) on how to set it up using exactly the kit I had and configuration I wanted.

The results

It took me a while to get the whole thing working. The main mistake I made was not using a powered USB hub, which meant the USB HDD LED lit up, but the HDD did not have sufficient power to do anything. The USB HDD also had to be mounted manually, which was no big deal, a bit of googling got me the right commands. The sound produced even with the very low cost DAC (Behringer UCA202) is of very good quality. I have still to properly configure the buffer settings, which should eliminate the odd annoying pop that occurs. The main convenience is that I can control the lot using the squeezebox app on my iphone. I can browse the list of artists and albums, and select the tracks I want to listen to. I have yet to figure out how to gracefully power on and power off the Raspberry Pi, but I am sure there is plenty on the web concening this. Added to this the sqeezebox app allows you also integrate Deezer and Spotify apps, so you can listen to radio and your favourite tunes streamed from Spotify.

I have plans to upgrade the Pi (when I get my own Pi, that is) to use a HiFiBerry Digi, so it can output via SPDIF directly to my normal DAC. For now I am just going to enjoy the music. If folks are still awake and interested in hearing about how I get on with the intended upgrade, I might post about that also.


How was it done?

The steps I followed (fairly close to the steps mapped out in the video):


Download the squeezeplug software and used Win32DiskImager to load the image to the SD card. Simples
Format my USB Harddrive (HDD) to FAT32 (exFAT works fine too), making sure to remove all pesky volumes from the recycled HDD (DiskPart is a great way and the only way I could find to do this) so you can use the whole disk.
Move your music collection to the USB HDD.
Download PuTTY so you can access the Raspberry Pi "headlessly" over your network.
Connect your Raspberry Pi to your USB hub, to which you connect your HDD, USB WiFi Dongle, and USB DAC.
Connect your Raspberry Pi to your Router via ethernet cable.
Connect and plug in the Power Supply


The Raspberry Pi starts to light up and so does your HDD. Now you need to configure it to see all the attached gubbins:


Login to the Raspberry Pi using PuTTY:
Entering the hostname as squeezelug did the job for me, but if you need to be able to locate the hostname on your network you can use Advanced IP Scanner.
Enter username root and password nosoup4u when prompted.
As per the video, navigate the menu to set up WiFi, and your music library, that is, mount your USB HDD. (Selecting the USB device via the setup did not find my library, so I had to mount the USB HDD Manually)


I did find that squeezeplug had difficulty finding the music library on my HDD, so I connected using Putty and mounted the device manually. I did so using these steps:


Exit the setup so you are faced with the command prompt:
List the usb devices attached:
lsusb

If your harddrive is connected but you are not seeing it, it may, like mine did, have shown up as a scsi device. To see scsi devices you will need to install Isscsi.

apt-get install lsscsi

lsscsi

ls /dev/sd*

You should see the USB HDD plus any partitions on the USB HDD.
e.g. /dev/sda, /dev/sda1
Create a directory in mnt
$sudo mkdir /mnt/usb
Now to mount the music library on your USB HDD to the new directory (make sure to mount the right partition, for me it was the subdirectory /dev/sda1)
$sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb

To confirm run the following command
$df- f


Now its time to go wireless and configure your server and player:


Shutdown your Raspberry Pi and Disconnect the ethernet cable from your router and Raspberry Pi. Your Wifi is now enabled so its time to plug the unit into your Hi-Fi.
Connect the USB DAC to your amplifier.
Start the Raspberry Pi up again.
Use the setup menu to install the SqueezePlug LMS server, and install the SqueezeLite player.
Originally I was not going to use the Behringer USB DAC, but SqeezeLite did not like the other USB DAC I had attached, so I opted for it since it was listed amongst the recognized output devices.
Fire up your browser and open the server squeezeplug:9000
Here you will be asked to create a Squeezebox login and password.
Set the folder that will act as music library (corresponding to the new directory we created and to which we mounted our USB HDD, this is /dev/sda1), and the folder that will hold your playlists.
Find and install the Squeezebox app on your iphone. Its free!
Fire up your squeezebox app, select your favourite song, and press play. Magic.

[StanleyB]

It is the Pi software side of things that has me worried. I am still trying to figure out how to write an I2C interface and put values in drop down boxes. This is a key factor in getting the Pi to control the CaimanII.

[Krisbee]

Nice write up, but a couple of Linux points.

1. lsusb should have shown your USB HDD attached. Here's part of my output from my PC:



lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 04b4:6830 Cypress Semiconductor Corp. CY7C68300A EZ-USB AT2 USB 2.0 to ATA/ATAPI


so no need to install lsscsi

To list disk partitions, use "fdisk -l" . Again part of the output form my PC, where the external USB HDD appears as device /dev/sdc



fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sdc: 40.0 GB, 40007761920 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4864 cylinders, total 78140160 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00042890

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 2048 74870783 37434368 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2 74872830 78139391 1633281 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 74872832 78139391 1633280 82 Linux swap / Solaris


2. Everything is a file in Linux, and technically something like /dev/sda1 is a device file and not a sub-directory.

3. A typo/mistake has crept into one your commands

"df- f" should be "df -h".

What was the other DAC you wanted to use?

[Krisbee]

It is the Pi software side of things that has me worried. I am still trying to figure out how to write an I2C interface and put values in drop down boxes. This is a key factor in getting the Pi to control the CaimanII.

All I know is that I2C is on gpio pin 0 and gpio pin 1, they are unprotected and unbufferd and the RPI is a 3.3v device, plus the most rudementary aspects of control as shown by simple examples you can find on the net. So, not much help to you.

Out of interest which CaimanII chip are you interfacing to, and what aspects of the CaimanII will be controlled?

[RochaCullen]

Nice write up, but a couple of Linux points.

1. lsusb should have shown your USB HDD attached. Here's part of my output from my PC:



lsusb
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 04b4:6830 Cypress Semiconductor Corp. CY7C68300A EZ-USB AT2 USB 2.0 to ATA/ATAPI


so no need to install lsscsi

To list disk partitions, use "fdisk -l" . Again part of the output form my PC, where the external USB HDD appears as device /dev/sdc



fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sdc: 40.0 GB, 40007761920 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 4864 cylinders, total 78140160 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00042890

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 2048 74870783 37434368 83 Linux
/dev/sdc2 74872830 78139391 1633281 5 Extended
/dev/sdc5 74872832 78139391 1633280 82 Linux swap / Solaris


2. Everything is a file in Linux, and technically something like /dev/sda1 is a device file and not a sub-directory.

3. A typo/mistake has crept into one your commands

"df- f" should be "df -h".

What was the other DAC you wanted to use?


Thanks for the info. The DAC I wanted to use is my Audio Note DAC which I use with a Musical Fidelity V-Link, i.e., a USB to SPDIF converter. When I plug in the VLink I can see it when I type lsusb, and when I get squeezeLite to list the possible output devices I can see it, but selecting it just causes squeezeLite to crumble. Total pain.

[Krisbee]

Thanks for the info. The DAC I wanted to use is my Audio Note DAC which I use with a Musical Fidelity V-Link, i.e., a USB to SPDIF converter. When I plug in the VLink I can see it when I type lsusb, and when I get squeezeLite to list the possible output devices I can see it, but selecting it just causes squeezeLite to crumble. Total pain.

Can you elaborate? Was the V-Link attached via a powerd USB hub? I think you put your squeezelite config in /etc/default/squeezelite, so what config did you use for the V-Link?

[RochaCullen]

Can you elaborate? Was the V-Link attached via a powerd USB hub? I think you put your squeezelite config in /etc/default/squeezelite, so what config did you use for the V-Link?

The VLink was attached via the powered USB. I was trying to set the squeezelite input using the command ./squeezelite -o CARD=VLink

I tried a few other versions of the same thing.

[Krisbee]

List your audio devices with:


squeezelite -l (lower case letter L, not numeral one)

I'd be surprised if CARD=VLink would be correct.

Here'e an example on a system with two audio devices, in-built Intel HDA and an external USB DAC.



chris@U14-VirtualBox:~$ aplay -l
**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 1: STAC9221 A1 Digital [STAC9221 A1 Digital]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: CODEC [USB Audio CODEC], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
Subdevices: 1/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0




chris@U14-VirtualBox:~$ squeezelite -l
Output devices:
default - Playback/recording through the PulseAudio sound server
null - Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
pulse - PulseAudio Sound Server
sysdefault:CARD=Intel - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - Default Audio Device
front:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - Front speakers
surround40:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - 4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - 4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - 5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - 5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - 7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Digital - IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=Intel,DEV=1 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Digital - Direct sample mixing device
dmix:CARD=Intel,DEV=2 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Alt Analog - Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=Intel,DEV=1 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Digital - Direct sample snooping device
dsnoop:CARD=Intel,DEV=2 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Alt Analog - Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=Intel,DEV=1 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Digital - Direct hardware device without any conversions
hw:CARD=Intel,DEV=2 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Alt Analog - Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=Intel,DEV=0 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Analog - Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=Intel,DEV=1 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Digital - Hardware device with all software conversions
plughw:CARD=Intel,DEV=2 - HDA Intel, STAC9221 A1 Alt Analog - Hardware device with all software conversions
sysdefault:CARD=CODEC - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - Default Audio Device
front:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - Front speakers
surround40:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - 4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - 4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - 5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - 5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - 7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
dmix:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - Direct sample mixing device
dsnoop:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - Direct sample snooping device
hw:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - Direct hardware device without any conversions
plughw:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 - USB Audio CODEC, USB Audio - Hardware device with all software conversions


There's a large and potentially confusing number of devcies listed by squeezelite. In this example I used plughw:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 with squeezelite to allow for possible rate conversion by ALSA, as my USB DAC is only 16bit upto 48KHz.

You need to pick the appropriate device for your V-Link. Post the output of "squeezelite -l" here if in doubt.

As squeezeplug is setup to run squeezelite as a service, you need to edit the file "/etc/default/squeezelite" to set the right squeezelite options and then restart the service with the command:


service squeezelite restart

[RochaCullen]

Hey Chris,

The output from squeezelite -l is as follows:


Output devices:
null - Discard all samples (playback) or generate zero samples (capture)
sysdefault:CARD=VLink - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - Default Audio Device
front:CARD=VLink - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - Default Audio Device
surround40:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - 4.0 Surround output to Front and Rear speakers
surround41:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - 4.1 Surround output to Front, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround50:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - 5.0 Surround output to Front, Center and Rear speakers
surround51:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - 5.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Rear and Subwoofer speakers
surround71:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - 7.1 Surround output to Front, Center, Side, Rear and Woofer speakers
iec958:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 - Musical Fidelity V-Link, USB Audio - IEC958 (S/PDIF) Digital Audio Output
sysdefault:CARD=ALSA - bcm2835 ALSA, bcm2835 ALSA - Default Audio Device
front:CARD=ALSA - bcm2835 ALSA, bcm2835 ALSA - Default Audio Device

[RochaCullen]

I updated the config file to read:


################################################## ############################
### Wolfson Card ###
################################################## ############################
# Wolfson Card for all output: #
# SLOPTIONS=-o sysdefault:CARD=sndrpiwsp #
################################################## ############################
# IQaudIO for all output: #
# SLOPTIONS=-o sysdefault:CARD=sndrpiiqaudioda #
################################################## ############################
SLOPTIONS="-o sysdefault:CARD=VLink"
SLMAC="b8:27:eb:11:e2:81"


Your restart command does not seem to work for me. Its strange that you dont get a restart option when you list the help. I suppose squeezelite is like any other application and should be started and stopped accordingly.

I used the squeezeplug setup to edit the config file and restart.

[Krisbee]

I would try using this as your option:


SLOPTIONS="-o iec958:CARD=VLink,DEV=0" or
SLOPTIONS="-o plughw:CARD=VLink,DEV=0"

But you may also need to experiment with seting ALSA params in squeezelite using the -a option, e.g.:


SLOPTIONS="-o plughw:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 -a 80:40::0"

There's one other test you can make if you can get an audio file on to your RPi in WAV format, and that's to playback audio directly via ALSA with this command:


aplay -v -D plughw:CARD=VLink,DEV=0 test.wav

The wav file can have any name.

Here's the output of using this command on my system:



aplay -v -D plughw:CARD=CODEC,DEV=0 test.wav
Playing WAVE 'test.wav' : Signed 16 bit Little Endian, Rate 44100 Hz, Stereo
Plug PCM: Hardware PCM card 2 'USB Audio CODEC' device 0 subdevice 0
Its setup is:
stream : PLAYBACK
access : RW_INTERLEAVED
format : S16_LE
subformat : STD
channels : 2
rate : 44100
exact rate : 44100 (44100/1)
msbits : 16
buffer_size : 22050
period_size : 5513
period_time : 125011
tstamp_mode : NONE
period_step : 1
avail_min : 5513
period_event : 0
start_threshold : 22050
stop_threshold : 22050
silence_threshold: 0
silence_size : 0
boundary : 6206523236469964800
appl_ptr : 0
hw_ptr : 0

[RochaCullen]

Thanks Chris,

I'll have a try at this later this evening.

[Theadmans]

Hi Nathan have you considered using the new Wolfson Audio Card on the Raspberry Pi :-

http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-accessories/wolfson_pi?CMP=KNC-EU-RPI-ACC-Wolfson

...last week I bought a Pi and attached the Wolfson Card and put it all in smart little dedicated case. I loaded Squeezeplug - which has integrated drivers for the Wolfson DAC. I use it on my bedroom nightstand to feed SPDIF via coax into my old Bushmaster MK.1 :-

http://s25.postimg.org/3u1kzbey7/p1010104_1.jpg (http://postimage.org/)



I already have a Squeezebox Touch feeding my Bushmaster MKII in my main system in the lounge. But I needed a cheap alternative for when my family are watching TV in the lounge.

Squeezebox Touch prices have gone through the roof since Logitech discontinued them. The Pi with Wolfson Card and Case was only about £80 and does Hi Res 24-192 too. Sound quality is excellent and at least as good as the Touch with EDO mods.

[RochaCullen]

Hi Nathan have you considered using the new Wolfson Audio Card on the Raspberry Pi :-

http://www.element14.com/community/community/raspberry-pi/raspberry-pi-accessories/wolfson_pi?CMP=KNC-EU-RPI-ACC-Wolfson

...last week I bought a Pi and attached the Wolfson Card and put it all in smart little dedicated case. I loaded Squeezeplug - which has integrated drivers for the Wolfson DAC. I use it on my bedroom nightstand to feed SPDIF via coax into my old Bushmaster MK.1 :-

http://s25.postimg.org/3u1kzbey7/p1010104_1.jpg (http://postimage.org/)



I already have a Squeezebox Touch feeding my Bushmaster MKII in my main system in the lounge. But I needed a cheap alternative for when my family are watching TV in the lounge. Squeezebox Touch prices have gone through the roof since Logitech discontinued them. The Pi with Wolfson Card and Case was only about £80 and does Hi Res 24-192 too.

I was planning to go with something like this as stage two.

Do both the Pi and the Wolfson Card fit in that little case? If so, where did you get it?

[Theadmans]

Yes get the Pi and Wolfson Case here :-

http://uk.farnell.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?id=2407263&COM=WolfsonAudioCard&newreg=true&_requestid=80221

...if the site asks if you are a Business User just say yes otherwise it will redirect you to a sister site which does not carry this case.

The nice thing is the Wolfson Card just screws on to the Pi (no need for soldering). In fact I guess there is no need for you to buy a new Pi as you could screw the card to your work Pi (and if they ever ask for the Pi back unscrew it again). The Case has a clamshell design so it is relatively easy to put the assembled Pi and Wolfson Card into.

The Wolfson Card is a full DAC which has had excellent reviews but I just wanted to use the Headphone Amplifier on my Bushmaster so take a coax SPDIF from the Wolfson Card to the Bushmaster.

[RochaCullen]

That looks like a really tidy solution. It would suit my needs also and eliminate any need for me to hook into the MF V-Link.

I will still crack on and make sure I can hook up to the VLink using Chris's instructions in a previous post.

Adam, do you just leave the Pi on all the time or do you turn it on and off with the Bushmaster? I don't see a wifi dongle or an attached HDD, so where are you pulling your music from?

[Theadmans]

Hi Nathan - Yes all the equipment is plugged into a 4-way plug socket behind my nightstand. I flick the switch on the wall socket when I want to listen and it is all ready to listen to within a couple of minutes. Mind you as an experiment I tested running both the Bushmaster and the Pi from the Anker 20000 mah battery that I use in my main downstairs rig and it can run both (with the Pi plugged into the Anker's 5V USB outlet). I may consider in the future getting another battery for upstairs as there is no doubt it sounds better than mains power. However, I will probably get Stan's preferred Ankaka battery next as with the Anker you need a split cable powering a bulb to maintain continuous power supply.

I have a cheap USB Wifi dongle in one of the Pi's usb sockets. Downstairs is my PC (which is on 24-7) which has an external 3TB USB hard drive containing around 5000 albums in a mixture of 16-44 Flac CD Rips and Hi-Res stuff. Since I played with the Alsa buffer on the Pi I can stream 24-192 via wifi successfully too. Indeed the photo shows my tablet controlling Love "Forever Changes" (the new HDTracks 24-192 version) !

[RochaCullen]

Hey Chris,

The following worked:

SLOPTIONS="-o plugw:CARD=VLink,DEV=0"

Delighted.

I think Adam's setup is the next stage though.

[Krisbee]

Nathan,

Glad to hear you've got your VLink in action. Yes, I think the Wolfson Audio card helps cement the RPi as a viable audio player. The limitations of the combined USB/Ethernet are overcome.

[RochaCullen]

Nathan,

Glad to hear you've got your VLink in action. Yes, I think the Wolfson Audio card helps cement the RPi as a viable audio player. The limitations of the combined USB/Ethernet are overcome.

And I have found there is a slight crackly sound now and then when it is output through the VLink, which I would find it very hard to live with.

I do like the squeezebox app interface, it really is good. The button that allows you get right back to what is currently playing is very clever, but missing from so many other such apps.