[tnelmo]

I have been coveting one of those fancy desktop player type units with a large display. It started when I saw a Squeezebox Touch. I began to research them and it led me down the rabbit hole to the units costing from near a thousand USD to tens of thousands USD. Here are some of the ones that appeal to me

Well, this will never come to be. I can't afford it. I am not an audiophile. My aging ears can barely tell the difference between MP3 and FLAC. That does not, however, keep me from desiring a nice component for my stereo system.

So, being always on the cheap, I discovered the Raspberry Pi type computer boards. I've found several DIY builds with the Pi along with a DAC daughter board. There are even some attempts with a case (printed or crowd sourced) to hold the Pi 7" touch screen. The problem with this method for me is that all of the cables have to be strung across the surface or component upon which they sit. The top four pics are of those types:

The next two pics above are of DIY projects more in line with my desires - a full-sized component.. I'd like to have all of the guts, the Pi, DAC, laptop HDD or SSD, touch screen, power supplies, inside a nice case. It would be fine with me if the power cord(s) just snake out a hole in the back panel.

Finally, the last two pics above are of empty DIY amp cases that might serve well. I was thinking that I could find a local CNC tech that could cut out the face plate for the display, on/off switch, etc., to look like the professionally made servers in the first set of photos.



The cost of the Pi, DAC board, and touch screen comes to about $200 USD. The case, about $50. The CNC work - I don't know yet. I may have a HDD or SSD. The free music management software is available for the Pi touch screen. So, perhaps for approximately $300, I could have a nice-looking component that plays my ~5000 FLAC files and displays the album art on the touch screen. I believe there is a way (squeezebox software) to use a tablet to mimic the display for remote control, as a couple of the expensive units above show. I don't need the network streaming function, as my music collection doesn't change that often, and I don't stream or distribute music to other devices.

Here is a very nice build by a guy in Germany. He sells the empty case for 229 Euros.





As nice as it is, the case is too expensive for my budget. I believe that blue thing is a higher end power supply, which doesn't factor into my budget either.

The top right photo at the beginning of this post is the Bryston BDP-Pi, which uses a Raspberry Pi. The cost of the Bryston is $1,300. I'm sure it is worth it in one or more ways. It's just out of my league.

My question to you folks is, does this make sense? Am I overlooking anything that might render all this useless?
Any suggestions to improve the build, but still on the cheap?

I feel like this is a "Keeping Up Appearances" type build, you know, form over function, but I'm a simple guy.

Thanks.

 

[randytsuch]

I've been playing with Pi's with DACs recently, and IMHO they can sound good for the price.
I think custom CNC work will be expensive, and you'll find that it will be out of budget.
I'd see if you can use someone like front panel express to make a cutout for a display. They have software that's simple to use, and you create a custom front plate that they use to program their cnc machine. I'd expect that will be the lowest cost way to get something that looks good.

However, I find a headless machine works fine, using a phone or tablet to control the music. It will be a boring looking box, but easier and cheaper to build. And display and control is in your phone or whatever device, which logistically will work better.

Randy

 

[tnelmo]

I think custom CNC work will be expensive, and you'll find that it will be out of budget.

I'd see if you can use someone like front panel express to make a cutout for a display. They have software that's simple to use, and you create a custom front plate that they use to program their cnc machine. I'd expect that will be the lowest cost way to get something that looks good.

However, I find a headless machine works fine, using a phone or tablet to control the music. It will be a boring looking box, but easier and cheaper to build. And display and control is in your phone or whatever device, which logistically will work better.

Randy

You may be right about costly custom CNC work. The only reason I included it was that I saw a local ad on Craigslist with prices "starting" at $20. I haven't inquired regarding this project. Thanks for the information about front panel express -- I hadn't heard of it and will seek them out.

Having a headless unit would reduce the cost of the pi equipment by $80 (the official pi display). I think I would prefer the look of the display over the $80 savings. Either way, I'll need to purchase a used tablet for the remote control, as I'm not a smartphone user - one of the few in the country. I guess my biggest concern other than the cost creep would be the Linux stuff. I've never dealt with it. Hopefully, this project will actually make it off my wish list and into reality.

RCA makes a little two speaker unit called Internet Music System which has a removable 7" display controller. Unfortunately, reviewers say it is a horrible tablet. I mention this unit only because it would be nice if DIY technology existed to have a high quality tablet cleanly mounted into the front panel which could be removed/docked similarly.



I appreciate your input.

 

[randytsuch]

No problem

I think by the time you design a front panel, and calculate the price from front panel express with shipping, you'll find the price difference to be much more than $80. I would expect that number to double, but will be curious to see what it comes out at.

Also, you can buy a smaller case if its headless, so you'll also save a little more money there.

If you've never played with Pi's and linux before, I'd consider buying a pi3 and whatever dac hat you decide on, and figure out how to get it up and running, and play with it. There is some free software you can load into the pi which makes setup fairly simple. If you don't have a phone or tablet, you can use a PC or MAC to setup and play music.

I found Volumio pretty easy to get going, but there are others. You could also buy a pi3 with dac and software already installed from some of the dac sellers, for instance I think hifiberry offers this, but you will pay more then buying the pieces and making it work yourself.

There are lots of guides out there to help get a pi running, and pi oriented forums to ask questions at.

Randy

 

[arteom]

I would try the headless route. You can use a tablet to act as a display and remote control. The Raspberry pi running some of the popular linux builds like Volumio should interface with most any USB DAC out of the box. You are going to get a raspberry pi and a tablet anyway. I'd check out how it works/fits into your system without going all out with a fancy case.

I have one as source in my bedroom system. Very easy to setup. You burn ISO to an sd card, pop that in. Plug it into a hdmi monitor at first boot, make a few odd configurations (like network settings), then drop it into your system, can be mostly hidden. Plug into power and DAC using USB cable. Install app on phone or table (I use mpdroid), shouldn't give you too much issue as long as they are on same network. Add files to playlist, and play.

 

[tnelmo]

Thanks guys. I explored the front panel express site, downloaded their software and came up with this. Their quote was about $67 with free shipping.

On this one, I beveled the edges of the display opening. Their quote was $80, again with free shipping. I like this better.

With a little rough photoshop and some borrowed images from the net, here is my vision of the completed faceplate with button, knob, usb port, and display.

Dimensions are approximately 17" x 5.25", 2mm thick brushed aluminum. I can use the chassis of an old stereo receiver that will fit this faceplate. I would have to source the on/off button, a power board for that button, the selector knob/stem unit, and the extension usb port cable to see what an estimated cost would be.

 

[randytsuch]

Looks nice.
How are you mounting the display? Not sure if it mounts to the front, or if its mounted to the inside? If it's mounted to the inside, might be a little challenge to get it lined up with the front.

Aliexpress probably has knobs and on/off buttons.
$67 sounds like a good price, especially if it includes shipping. And they do nice work, I was very happy when I bought something from them a while ago.

You could also consider adding engraved lettering to the front. Obviously adds to the cost, but I think it gives diy projects a more professional look.
The nice thing about the software is it's easy to add stuff, and see what the cost difference is, and then delete if you decide you don't want it.

 

[tnelmo]

The display would be mounted inside. I would just build a frame for it to sit flush to the back of the front panel. Thanks again for alerting me to the front panel express site. I tried the lettering as well as a vertical groove on each side of the display (similar to, but wider, than those on the 3rd photo down in the second group of photos above), but it added about $30. I'm not sure if I'll go with that design or not.

The raspberry pi has the capability of being turned on by the lighted on/off switch, without a special power circuit board. That button is only $5. I haven't sourced the selector knob (turn to scroll, push to select) and usb extension cable yet. I said earlier I wouldn't need the wifi or Bluetooth antenna, but I'm thinking now I'll have to have something that allows the remote tablet to communicate with the raspberry pi. I'll have to look into that.

Once I figure things out and get everything sourced, I'll post the total cost for this potential build.

I appreciate your input.

 

[randytsuch]

Yeah, if you have a pi in a metal box, wifi reception may not be very good. I'd look at connecting a wifi antenna that can be outside the box. Maybe stick it on the rear of the case.
I think wifi will give you more flexibility and options over bluetooth.

Looking forward to seeing how things progress on your project.

 

[Avagreen]

Dear Sir, Very interesting Digital player.Would you have a complete Kit for sale? Hoping to hear from you soon. Thx. Peter

 

[SeEnCreaTive]

I'm in Digital Fabrication and Design currently in College.


The cost of CNC, greatly depends on what you want to do. If you just want to cut flat panels you can bolt together, don't CNC, go for waterjet. Small chassis with 4-6 panels out of 6065 wouldn't be very expensive. If you want a full 5-axis milled sculpture of a chassis, get your wallet ready.

Simplest option is cutting aluminum by hand, and drilling some holes, and 3d printing some internal mounting. (NOT from PLA). Every operation adds cost. The simple difference between chamfered edges (for instance) and not can be huge

 

[wirewiggler]

The pi / dac hat is an affordable solution that offers decent sound quality, however a really nice milled case is probably going to cost 5 or 6 times the cost of the pi dac itself, and I think at that point the money would be better spent on a superior compute / dac solution. The pi even with a good power supply still generates a fair amount of internal noise. Not to say it is not listenable I have several endpoints that use them, I just can’t see spending a ton of money on the case.