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Portable Computer Audio


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Using a Raspberry Pi as a computer audio device is nothing new under the sun however it never occurred to me to do this. I have an R Pi I use as a wifi hot spot on business trips. Pulls internet in via a 3G dongle and hot spots out through a wifi dongle. Works great. So from 8 to 5 its a wifi brick and after 5 I drop a Squeezeplug SD card in and hook a HiFiMEDIY DAC up and listen to Pandora and Spotify via LogitechMediaServer. Truly portable and sounds great as well. I much prefer using this to the laptop in the hotel room.

 

I've used a Pi for years in this role at home but never considered using my wifi brick as a music server. Just always viewed it as a one trick pony not to be messed with.

pihotspot3.jpg

2014-07-11 18.29.38.jpg

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That is very nice! Thank you for sharing, especially adding the photos...how do you control the player? Via iPhone/Android app? Also, what kind of headphones are those? I've begun traveling with noise canceling headphones (Harman Kardon) and it has been very helpful on the plane and in some hotel rooms. Great idea!

 

Best,

John

Positive emotions enhance our musical experiences.

 

Synology DS213+ NAS -> Auralic Vega w/Linear Power Supply -> Auralic Vega DAC (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> XLR -> Auralic Taurus Pre -> XLR -> Pass Labs XA-30.5 power amplifier (on 4" maple and 4 Stillpoints) -> Hawthorne Audio Reference K2 Speakers in MTM configuration (Symposium Jr HD rollerball isolation) and Hawthorne Audio Bass Augmentation Baffles (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> Bi-amped w/ two Rythmic OB plate amps) -> Extensive Room Treatments (x2 SRL Acoustics Prime 37 diffusion plus key absorption and extensive bass trapping) and Pi Audio Uberbuss' for the front end and amplification

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That is very nice! Thank you for sharing, especially adding the photos...how do you control the player? Via iPhone/Android app? Also, what kind of headphones are those? I've begun traveling with noise canceling headphones (Harman Kardon) and it has been very helpful on the plane and in some hotel rooms. Great idea!

 

Best,

John

 

John......Yes the Raspberry Pi Squeezeplug can be controlled via web browser or via app. I use iPeng on IOS and Squeezebox on Android.

 

Headphones are Sony MDR-V6. I usually travel with Bose QC-15 however this time I thought I'd bring a more musical set of cans on my trip. I'm not regretting it. MDR-V6 are a tad less mobile but worth it.

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That sounds like a great travel setup! Thanks for the details. And yes, I agree that some trips deserve a better set of cans...you can usually tell that is the case if you have a bit more free time than the normal work trip (at least for me)!

 

Best,

John

Positive emotions enhance our musical experiences.

 

Synology DS213+ NAS -> Auralic Vega w/Linear Power Supply -> Auralic Vega DAC (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> XLR -> Auralic Taurus Pre -> XLR -> Pass Labs XA-30.5 power amplifier (on 4" maple and 4 Stillpoints) -> Hawthorne Audio Reference K2 Speakers in MTM configuration (Symposium Jr HD rollerball isolation) and Hawthorne Audio Bass Augmentation Baffles (Symposium Jr rollerball isolation) -> Bi-amped w/ two Rythmic OB plate amps) -> Extensive Room Treatments (x2 SRL Acoustics Prime 37 diffusion plus key absorption and extensive bass trapping) and Pi Audio Uberbuss' for the front end and amplification

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Yes, thanks for sharing. Can you provide a bit more detail? For example, it sounds like you're running a music player application on the Pi, but where is the music itself coming from? Do you also store music files on the Pi or . . . ? And where is the LMS software + Pandora or Spotify running? On another machine in the room (your laptop, perhaps?) How does the music actually get into the Pi? Wi-Fi?

 

Sorry to be so nosy ;) I travel a lot myself and am always trying to enhance my travel kit.

John Walker - IT Executive

Headphone - SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet > mRendu Roon endpoint > Topping D90 > Topping A90d > Dan Clark Expanse / HiFiMan H6SE v2 / HiFiman Arya Stealth

Home Theater / Music -SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable HDMI > Denon X3700h > Anthem Amp for front channels > Revel F208-based 5.2.4 Atmos speaker system

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While not the same, I use my HTC One (M8) to store and play music. I have a set up like this...

 

Phone>USB Audio Player Pro App>Audioquest Dragonfly>phones or powered speekers

 

This lets me play 24/96 files as 24/96 and really sounds good.

 

P1010528_zps786fef39.jpg

I have found you an argument; I am not obliged to find you any understanding – Samuel Johnson

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While not the same, I use my HTC One (M8) to store and play music. I have a set up like this...

 

Phone>USB Audio Player Pro App>Audioquest Dragonfly>phones or powered speekers

 

This lets me play 24/96 files as 24/96 and really sounds good.

 

P1010528_zps786fef39.jpg

 

My current setup is very much like this, except I use my iPad instead of my iPhone.

 

I'm very interested, though, in more portable storage and / or streaming. I'm thinking about investing in a portable DLNA drive with 2TB of disk space, so I can have my music with me (would also serve as an additional offsite backup if I keep it up-to-date). I also have access to Spotify and Qobuz, so should be "covered" ;)

John Walker - IT Executive

Headphone - SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet > mRendu Roon endpoint > Topping D90 > Topping A90d > Dan Clark Expanse / HiFiMan H6SE v2 / HiFiman Arya Stealth

Home Theater / Music -SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable HDMI > Denon X3700h > Anthem Amp for front channels > Revel F208-based 5.2.4 Atmos speaker system

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Yes, thanks for sharing. Can you provide a bit more detail? For example, it sounds like you're running a music player application on the Pi, but where is the music itself coming from? Do you also store music files on the Pi or . . . ? And where is the LMS software + Pandora or Spotify running? On another machine in the room (your laptop, perhaps?) How does the music actually get into the Pi? Wi-Fi?

 

Sorry to be so nosy ;) I travel a lot myself and am always trying to enhance my travel kit.

 

John.....I use a linux distribution called Squeezeplug. With it you can install LogitechMediaServer and Squeezelite player. With LMS you can install apps like Spotify and Pandora and TuneIn Radio and stream them right to the device via wifi or ethernet. Everything is on the Raspberry Pi.

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John.....I use a linux distribution called Squeezeplug. With it you can install LogitechMediaServer and Squeezelite player. With LMS you can install apps like Spotify and Pandora and TuneIn Radio and stream them right to the device via wifi or ethernet. Everything is on the Raspberry Pi.

 

Thanks for the details - sounds like a fun project! I'll have to check it out.

John Walker - IT Executive

Headphone - SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable Ethernet > mRendu Roon endpoint > Topping D90 > Topping A90d > Dan Clark Expanse / HiFiMan H6SE v2 / HiFiman Arya Stealth

Home Theater / Music -SonicTransporter i9 running Roon Server > Netgear Orbi > Blue Jeans Cable HDMI > Denon X3700h > Anthem Amp for front channels > Revel F208-based 5.2.4 Atmos speaker system

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John.....if you ever do try this check out my web page tutorial. Not all inclusive and maybe not the purest or best way to do this but my way and it works.

 

squeezeplug7

 

I brought a proper headphone amp and iPod with me which sounds amazing (Fiio E12DIY + iPod 5th generation) however there is no concern with battery charging with the Raspberry Pi music server and again I can repurpose the Pi during the day to do other stuff. Heck you can run a web server or Cloud server or other business related items as well.

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Picoreplayer is even easier for nitwits like me that need a GUI.

John.....if you ever do try this check out my web page tutorial. Not all inclusive and maybe not the purest or best way to do this but my way and it works.

 

squeezeplug7

 

I brought a proper headphone amp and iPod with me which sounds amazing (Fiio E12DIY + iPod 5th generation) however there is no concern with battery charging with the Raspberry Pi music server and again I can repurpose the Pi during the day to do other stuff. Heck you can run a web server or Cloud server or other business related items as well.

Forrest:

Win10 i9 9900KS/GTX1060 HQPlayer4>Win10 NAA

DSD>Pavel's DSC2.6>Bent Audio TAP>

Parasound JC1>"Naked" Quad ESL63/Tannoy PS350B subs<100Hz

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