'Analog Dinosaur' succumbs to the joys of FBA : enter Raspberry Pi 2/IQ-Audio DAC+!!

[guyb]

Hi Guy,

You don't need to power down anything!

For talking sake, say you're using Volumio and playing a particular track. Simply stop the track, by clicking on the stop button, close down volumio (and by that I simply mean closing the opened tab on your desktop, not actually shutting down anything in the operating system), switch off your laptop, or whatever other device you're using (and if you want your hi-fi system), and go to bed.

In the morning, switch your laptop and hi-fi system back on, and continue where you left off. No need to power down anything relating to the RPi. Leave it ALL on, ALWAYS. Simples!

My RPi, associated linear PSU, and NAS box (containing all my music files) remain powered up 24/7.

Marco.

Yeah, I know I will do.

I think it is just because it is part of my 'hi fi' - I turn of my amp and my DAC and my turntable at the end of the day - just makes me think I just turn of my streamer too

Plus as it is connected to my ifi iUSB both for USB and for powering the Pi that will also be on and activated and I am not sure it that would cause the ifi iUSB a problem...

But I definitely get your point

[NRG]

Hi Chris, have you been having a dabble with the Pi? The piCorePlayer distro works a treat with LMS

I'll have to revisit piCorePlayer at some point. I like max2play though, it separates the player part (squeezelite) from the OS which means you can 'power of' squeezelite like a physical SqueezeBox from something like the excellent iPeng app.

Also LMS is embedded so I can still use my SB Radio and office SB along side, plus the RPi has enough grunt to transcode on the fly unlike the version embedded in my Zyxel NAS. Oh it also has XBMC embedded as well!

[Marco]

Yeah, I know I will do.

I think it is just because it is part of my 'hi fi' - I turn of my amp and my DAC and my turntable at the end of the day - just makes me think I just turn of my streamer too

Plus as it is connected to my ifi iUSB both for USB and for powering the Pi that will also be on and activated and I am not sure it that would cause the ifi iUSB a problem...

But I definitely get your point

Cool. That's where we're different. Apart from my valve amps, the rest of my kit stays on 24/7 (including the RPi).

It not only sounds better that way (especially the IQ-Audio DAC connected to the RPi), but the kit lasts longer too, as one of the worst things you can do with any kind of electrical device is keep switching it on and off all the time!

That's the surest way of shortening its life, and the idle current draw from stuff such as CDPs (or small off-board PSUs) is minimal.....

Marco.

[WAD62]

I've not had a play yet, but I will do sometime.
And PiCorePlayer is likely to be the very first thing I'll play with. It would be great to have a Pi player that runs off my existing server setup.

It's a doddle Chris, just make sure you use Triode's version of Squeezelite (there is another option), especially if you want to synch with a Touch running EDO, I did experiment with the other version, but that seemed to introduce some unwanted features...I.E. stuttering!

Give me a shout if you ever get round to it, the only faff I had was getting a compatible wifi dongle, the rest would be a peace of pish to a man of your IT caliber

[WAD62]

I'll have to revisit piCorePlayer at some point. I like max2play though, it separates the player part (squeezelite) from the OS which means you can 'power of' squeezelite like a physical SqueezeBox from something like the excellent iPeng app.

Also LMS is embedded so I can still use my SB Radio and office SB along side, plus the RPi has enough grunt to transcode on the fly unlike the version embedded in my Zyxel NAS. Oh it also has XBMC embedded as well!

Hi Neal, I'd definitely go down the SqueezePlug route if I were to use the Pi to run LMS, however purely as a player piCorPlayer has some real advantages in robustness, due to its small size, I'd say a hybrid of the 2 would be ideal for a Pi only setup...but as I already have a NAS for LMS, my current requirement is as an alternative to SqueezeBox clients, and what a perfect replacement it is...

[guyb]

Hi Will,

That's cool. I've never tried piCorePlayer, quite simply because I've had ZERO problems with the RPi, using Volumio (and also Moode), since day 1, so have no need to experiment.

In my set-up, to play music on the RPi, all I have to do is switch my hi-fi system on, and as my Macbook Pro will already have been on since first waking up in the morning around 8-9am (and which boots up and is fully operational in seconds), all I have to do is click once on a saved tab on my desktop, which takes me to Volumio, and the last piece of music I had been listening to before going to bed that night, and click play (or choose something else), and I'm away!

It's a piece of piss!

Marco.

What I meant was in standby - is that what you mean? - or do you mean on on?

[Marco]

Lol... 'On', as in permanently connected to the main supply, and not switched off from the controls on Volumio. I guess you could call that 'Standby'

Marco.

[struth]

Hi Guy,

You don't need to power down anything!

For talking sake, say you're using Volumio and playing a particular track. Simply stop the track, by clicking on the stop button, close down volumio (and by that I simply mean closing the opened tab on your desktop, not actually shutting down anything in the operating system), switch off your laptop, or whatever other device you're using (and if you want your hi-fi system), and go to bed.

In the morning, switch your laptop and hi-fi system back on, and continue where you left off. No need to power down anything relating to the RPi. Leave it ALL on, ALWAYS. Simples!

My RPi, associated Paul Hynes linear PSU, and NAS box (containing all my music files) remain powered up 24/7.

Marco.

I could try that. what about the connected drive and hub though. they get fairly hot if left on permenantly. would I have to leave them on too.?

ps I have managed to write a new image of volumio to a card and got it working again. The problem was getting it on the card properly...me dumb you know

Tried to connect via putty on my pc but no luck... just gets blocked.

[guyb]

Lol... 'On', as in permanently connected to the main supply, and not switched off from the controls on Volumio. I guess you could call that 'Standby'

Marco.

LOL! I think that we are getting our wires crossed That time I was referring to permanently leaving on your amp and stuff. As in do you leave them on all the time or put them in standby each night?

[Marco]

My preamp and power amp are valve designs, so always get switched off when not in use. I would never leave any valve amps on 24/7. However, anything solid state, other than huge Class A power amps, I'd leave switched on 24/7. It will sound better that way - and last longer, too!

Marco.