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DIY Streamer

MCH

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Yes, this is a real possibility on the RPi 4. The earlier RPi had a messed up implementation of the USB controller chip or something, and was not suitable for jitter-free streaming.
Hi tcpip, i have heard that several times, but besides some people having some specific issues with the pi 3, I have not found any confirmation. Do you know of any source of information (measurements or whatever) on the subject? Thanks
 

tcpip

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Hi tcpip, i have heard that several times, but besides some people having some specific issues with the pi 3, I have not found any confirmation. Do you know of any source of information (measurements or whatever) on the subject? Thanks
No, I am sorry, but I too have only anecdotal evidence.
 

somebodyelse

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Hi tcpip, i have heard that several times, but besides some people having some specific issues with the pi 3, I have not found any confirmation. Do you know of any source of information (measurements or whatever) on the subject? Thanks
Short version - under certain circumstances the earlier Pi models (<4) take too long to send the next chunk of audio data to the DAC which can result in an audible click or pop depending on how the DAC handles this situation. How often this happens, or whether it happens at all, depends on a combination of factors which makes it difficult to predict. Other USB devices like mass storage or the wired network interface can increase the chances. High sample rates and bit depths increase the chances. Certain software can increase the chances enormously - BruteFIR being a notable example, unless you pin its process to a single cpu core. I've never run into it when running piCorePlayer. With Volumio I only hit it when running the brutefir plugin, but one of the volumio devs reports it under other conditions in the github issue below. The forum post has some more low level detail.
https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/issues/2215
https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=239388&sid=15c478aa813102f36119926b494bf6d1

The USB-C port on the Pi 4 (and the native USB interface on the CM4 I think), use the same controller as the earlier Pi models so may have the same issue.
 
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starfly

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It's been a few months since I last posted an update, and it's been slow going.

But I'm getting close to a final product, and very pleased with the results so far :)

20220205_094835.jpg
 

tcpip

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My 2 cents... :)

I am very happy with the solution below....

Does this have an HDMI output? Can I load LibreElec on it and play video as well as audio?

I've been looking at other RPi based streamers too, which have been integrated with excellent DACs (there is the Allo Boss2 and the RaspDAC models from Audiophonics) but as far as I can make out, none of them support an HDMI output and let me play video as well as audio. I don't know why it is deemed necessary to suppress the existing video feature playback of the Pi.

I'm using a Pi 3 with a Hifiberry Digi HAT, in a case from Hifiberry. I feed it to an external DAC. This solution allows all the Pi ports to emerge from the box, therefore I have HDMI output. I run LibreElec and I can watch all my stored movies from my NAS. The visuals go to my TV and the audio to my DAC.
 
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starfly

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Does this have an HDMI output? Can I load LibreElec on it and play video as well as audio?

I've been looking at other RPi based streamers too, which have been integrated with excellent DACs (there is the Allo Boss2 and the RaspDAC models from Audiophonics) but as far as I can make out, none of them support an HDMI output and let me play video as well as audio. I don't know why it is deemed necessary to suppress the existing video feature playback of the Pi.

I'm using a Pi 3 with a Hifiberry Digi HAT, in a case from Hifiberry. I feed it to an external DAC. This solution allows all the Pi ports to emerge from the box, therefore I have HDMI output. I run LibreElec and I can watch all my stored movies from my NAS. The visuals go to my TV and the audio to my DAC.

You can try to do a custom case with a HDMI extension that can be panel mounted.
 
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starfly

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Alright, the build is finished and all desired functionality works:
- Hard power button (toggles 12V DC input)
- Soft power button, will send shutdown command to Rpi4, and can then also turn it back on (as long as Hard power is still on)
- 7" Touchscreen that displays album art, track info, and playback control
- Playback + Volume buttons, which are a bit redundant with the touchscreen, but I prefer physical buttons anyway :)
- Dual 12V Trigger functionality, that will turn on my power amp as well as toggle my input switch box I built (in another thread around here)
- Master volume control in the back to set the maximum output for the DAC, and then use software volume control for controlling output during playback. Thus allows me to control volume from my phone, and also means I don't accidentally blow up my speakers :)
- Using 2 buck converters to step down 12VDC to 9VDC for the DAC (Orchardaudio Pecan Pi DAC), and 5VDC for the 7" display + Rpi.
- All running on Volumio 3.

It's a bit of a wire mess, most of it from the pushbuttons connected to GPIO pins on the Rpi4.

@orchardaudio Finally putting your DAC to good use :)

20220209_114725.jpg


20220209_114745.jpg


Very pleased with this build :)
 
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kcajjones

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Alright, the build is finished and all desired functionality works:
- Hard power button (toggles 12V DC input)
- Soft power button, will send shutdown command to Rpi4, and can then also turn it back on (as long as Hard power is still on)
- 7" Touchscreen that displays album art, track info, and playback control
- Playback + Volume buttons, which are a bit redundant with the touchscreen, but I prefer physical buttons anyway :)
- Dual 12V Trigger functionality, that will turn on my power amp as well as toggle my input switch box I built (in another thread around here)
- Master volume control in the back to set the maximum output for the DAC, and then use software volume control for controlling output during playback. Thus allows me to control volume from my phone, and also means I don't accidentally blow up my speakers :)
- Using 2 buck converters to step down 12VDC to 9VDC for the DAC (Orchardaudio Pecan Pi DAC), and 5VDC for the 7" display + Rpi.
- All running on Volumio 3.

It's a bit of a wire mess, most of it from the pushbuttons connected to GPIO pins on the Rpi4.

@orchardaudio Finally putting your DAC to good use :)

View attachment 185458

View attachment 185459

Very pleased with this build :)
This looks fantastic!
I'm curious, how did you design your 12v trigger out?
 

orchardaudio

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Alright, the build is finished and all desired functionality works:
- Hard power button (toggles 12V DC input)
- Soft power button, will send shutdown command to Rpi4, and can then also turn it back on (as long as Hard power is still on)
- 7" Touchscreen that displays album art, track info, and playback control
- Playback + Volume buttons, which are a bit redundant with the touchscreen, but I prefer physical buttons anyway :)
- Dual 12V Trigger functionality, that will turn on my power amp as well as toggle my input switch box I built (in another thread around here)
- Master volume control in the back to set the maximum output for the DAC, and then use software volume control for controlling output during playback. Thus allows me to control volume from my phone, and also means I don't accidentally blow up my speakers :)
- Using 2 buck converters to step down 12VDC to 9VDC for the DAC (Orchardaudio Pecan Pi DAC), and 5VDC for the 7" display + Rpi.
- All running on Volumio 3.

It's a bit of a wire mess, most of it from the pushbuttons connected to GPIO pins on the Rpi4.

@orchardaudio Finally putting your DAC to good use :)

View attachment 185458

View attachment 185459

Very pleased with this build :)
Very nice.
 
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starfly

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This looks fantastic!
I'm curious, how did you design your 12v trigger out?

Volumio 3 has a plugin ("amp power", or something like that) you can use to trigger one of the GPIO pins on the Rpi. This sends a certain voltage (I forgot exactly which pins I used) to a relay I added inside the case, which in turn closes a 12V circuit, sending 12V to my poweramp and audio input switcher. Fairly simple, really.

This is why I designed the case to use an external 12 VDC power supply, and then step it down to the right voltage for all the other components. But this same 12VDC gets sent to the trigger outs once the relay is triggered.
 

NiagaraPete

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Nice job.
 
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