A Raspberry Pi as a music server

[JoachimStrobel]

In Germany, it is not legal to break an encryption System, such as DVD. However, a non-encrypted media, such as CD, can be copied. CD by Definition (Red-Book) has no encryption, so anything sold as CD can be copied for privat purposes, which can be up to 7 copies.

 

[maltux]

I use a raspberry pi 3 with the hifiberry hat. The raspberry pi is set up with Rune (https://www.runeaudio.com/). Free and opensource. I built a FeeNAS server that sits in my office and the music is stored on that. The pi receives the music via wifi and is controlled by the android app on my phone. The hardest part was setting up a music share on my FreeNAS. I have no issues with sound quality.

 

[TheWalkman]

I’ve just built several Pi Zero - Volumio servers and am loving them. I now have Zero streamers based on a hifiberry, boom and AlloMini that all seem to work well.

My favorite, though, is using a Zero with an Apple USB-C dongle (thanks to Amirm’s great dongle review on this site!)

Rather than streaming from my NAS, I decided to load the Volumio image and music library (~250 albums) onto a Samsung Pro Endurance, 64 gig SD card, leaving plenty of room to spare.

Though I have a spare pi 3 and 4, the Zeros are super efficient, small and fast enough to do the job. To my aging ears, they all seem to sound about the same but the small form factor of the Apple-Zero is simply too cool.

 

[maltux]

I’ve just built several Pi Zero - Volumio servers and am loving them. I now have Zero streamers based on a hifiberry, boom and AlloMini that all seem to work well.

....very nice. I stream from my home-built FreeNAS as it is always running in my Den. I like your implementation. To my ears the hifiberry is good enough for my ears. I remember hearing a clear difference between a ceramic and magnetic phono cartridge in the 70's and knowing I had to have the later. Not sure what all the fuss is now a days with people hearing and talking about so much BS. I am older now and my hearing is not what it was when I was younger. I am an o'l curmudgeon now I guess.

 

[TheWalkman]

I’m with you Maltux.

When I listen to Hans Beekhuyzen rant about switched power supplies or Steve Gutenberg pontificate about things - both being much older than I - it seems they must have spectacular hearing because it all sounds darned good to me.

With great audio sources like these Pi streamers and cheap Class D amps, I’m finding that it’s fun to crank up the old favorites from the seventies or eighties, all now far clearer and more precise than the old cassettes or scratchy LPs we listened to back in college days. And how pleasant it is, listening and feeling the beat.

The kids today, stuck to their iPhones, don’t appreciate what it was like hear and to feel the music emanating from the old JBLs or even 901’s driven by a big, hot, Macintosh amp. Ah the good old days.

I hope I never lose my love of experiencing clean, loud music.

Here’s to being a curmudgeon!

Cheers!

 

[TheWalkman]

Here's another Pi Zero music server build that simply amazes me. This is a tiny, optical (Toslink) music server with wired OR wireless options. This self contained package holds my entire music library of over 250 CD's. Total investment is less than $75. How cool is that?

This build is based on a PI Zero W and the JustBoom Digi Zero pHAT. For fun, I added the ethernet dongle which really seems to speed up responsiveness. Normal wireless speed is 72 MB; the wired is showing 100MB. As with my other Zeros, I'm using a Samsung Pro Endurance 64gb SD card to store Volumio and my music library on the card.

Ironically, I'm often streaming radio stations and Pandora on the streamers more than I'm actually listening to my own music library. Volumio's interface seems as good or better than using my phone or iPad for streaming.

 

[m8o]

Hoping this hasn't been shared. This was a good resource; not only music server but media server too:

https://circuitdigest.com/article/top-media-server-software-for-music-streaming-on-raspberry-pi

 

[JRM_PT]

I'm really making plans to build a RPi based music server.
My system is great but I'd like to add some quality streaming capabilities to it and start building a lossless music collection.
Right now I run a Sony (moded) CDP-590 into a Prima Luna ProLogue 2 (also moded for lower THD and higher dynamic range) and Visonik Revo 4 speakers. On another PL input a Garrard 125SB and Cambridge Audio Azur 640p Pre take care of the vinyl reproduction.
PS4 (my dvd/BlueRay player) is connected by HDMI to the TV that has an internal DAC, and the TV audio line out to the Prima Luna.
I've decide to buy a Topping E30 DAC to connect the RPi 4 (USB), the PS4 (toslink) and the TV digital audio out (Coax). It will be a much cleaner and flexible Setup.
I've decided to go DIY on some parts because I like to do it when possible. So the RPi case will be designed and built by me. I'll recycle some parts I have idle, like a 500GB external HDD, some heatsinks and old smartphone wallwarts.
The first question is: which of the RPi 4 1GB, 2GB or 4GB RAM version should I buy? I know it's just a few Euro difference but sometimes there are limited availability of some versions.
A lot more questions will come, for sure.
@OP: if you don't feel happy with this hijacking of your thread, I'll open a new one, but I think it's better to have a longer thread about the same issue than tons of similar threads.

 

[FooYatChong]

My Pi4-4GB with Raspbian and JRiver never exceeds 750 MB RAM usage.

 

[JRM_PT]

My Pi4-4GB with Raspbian and JRiver never exceeds 750 MB RAM usage.

Thanks. I think I'll go for the cheaper 2GB version and add a small OLED display just to know the song and artista without having to look on the phone.

 

[JoachimStrobel]

I try this here again: How can I connect an Apple USB-DAC to the R4´s USB port running Volumio? It is reported as HID by the system and hence does not see music..

 

[TheWalkman]

I try this here again: How can I connect an Apple USB-DAC to the R4´s USB port running Volumio? It is reported as HID by the system and hence does not see music..

I try this here again: How can I connect an Apple USB-DAC to the R4´s USB port running Volumio? It is reported as HID by the system and hence does not see music..

JoachimStrobel,

It's simple: use a usb to usb A to usb c adaptor and plug these into the pi (see my post #83 above). Go to the settings option in Volumio and look for Playback options. Turn off i2s DAC. You should see USBC to 3.5mm Headphone Jack A under Output Device. (You may need to reboot your pi after you first connect the Apple DAC for it to be recognized. Plug your amp or headhphones into the Apple DAC and you should be ready to play music.

 

[JoachimStrobel]

JoachimStrobel,

It's simple: use a usb to usb A to usb c adaptor and plug these into the pi (see my post #83 above). Go to the settings option in Volumio and look for Playback options. Turn off i2s DAC. You should see USBC to 3.5mm Headphone Jack A under Output Device. (You may need to reboot your pi after you first connect the Apple DAC for it to be recognized. Plug your amp or headhphones into the Apple DAC and you should be ready to play music.

Works. I guess I did not connect the headphone jack before rebooting and the dongle was smart enough to recognize that nothing was connected. Now all is good. Thanks.

 

[JRM_PT]

Project definition is going faster than I thought:
Raspberry Pi4 2GB, as headless units don't need the extra memory. If it does, somewhere in the future, I'll upgrade the entire unit to the RPi 5 our 6 for about the same price premium I'd have to pay now.
Original Raspberry 15W PSU;
Small 1,3" 128x64 oled display
Heat sinks from the scrap pile (I have a lot with a choice of size and colours );
A ply wood box (with some leftover pieces from previous projects), to add a touch of class on top of the DAC (Topping E30) and near the Prima Luna;
iomega HDD 500GB (USB 2.0 and a little bit noisy because of the 7200rpm; it also requires it's own 12V PSU). If I find it inadequate, I can sreplace it with a newer unit (WD MyPassport USB 3.0).
32GB micro sd for the OS (I think I'll upgrade my phone 32GB to a 64GB card and then format and reuse the 32 in the RPi)
Cables I'll use and reuse from the tons I have at home...
I just miss a huge thing: which OS and software for streaming. I'm lost in all the distributions and options (Volumio, Rune, Roon, Plex...). I'm not a software expert. I can run an installation and do some parametrization but not something too big.

 

[tw99]

If you have a couple of SD cards, it's easy to try the various software options until you find one you like. Personally I would pick PiCorePlayer, as that gives you access to the whole open source Logitech Media Server ecosystem. You can run LMS on the player itself if you don't have somewhere else to run it.

 

[JRM_PT]

I like open source software (just as much as I hate this new subscription model of having access to software). I'll check the pros and cons of LMS very soon.

 

[somebodyelse]

I second @tw99's suggestion - try the options to see which works for you. piCorePlayer and LMS work for me too, but it doesn't do it for everyone.

 

[JRM_PT]

LMS works with flac and wav. That is nice.
I wonder if I should add some ups to the RPi.

 

[somebodyelse]

LMS works with flac and wav. That is nice.
I wonder if I should add some ups to the RPi.

So long as you take backups of the important stuff I wouldn't worry too much. PiCorePlayer has its core read into RAM on boot and only writes out when you save config or apply upgrades, so corruption on loss of power is very rare. The LMS database is quick to rebuild, and your music is rarely written to so also unlikely to be corrupted.

 

[TheWalkman]

So long as you take backups of the important stuff I wouldn't worry too much. PiCorePlayer has its core read into RAM on boot and only writes out when you save config or apply upgrades, so corruption on loss of power is very rare. The LMS database is quick to rebuild, and your music is rarely written to so also unlikely to be corrupted.

I keep my Volumio image and music library on a high endurance SD card and backup the entire image to a spare hard drive. Works great. I wouldn’t over think it.