[onefatsurfer]

OK I have it set up as a player through my Fiio E10, but I'm having some issues at the moment with poor audio quality.  When I get this all figured out, I'm going to build another one from scratch (I ordered another raspberry pi yesterday) and I'll post on here step by step how to do it.  It's very doable, there's just something screwy with my USB audio. 

 

[onefatsurfer]

I am still having these issues.  I think it has something to do with the actual hardware of the Raspberry Pi.  I'm going to try one more thing and if that doesn't work, I'll use the Pi solely as a media server hidden away in a closet somewhere, and I'll try using an android stick for the same intended purpose.

 

[C3IQ]

Hello,
  I've been floating around Head Fi and the internet building and computer and audio system for my office.  This led me to build a listening station for my better half:
 

1. Little Dot III
2. AKG K-701
3. SMSL SD-1955+
4. Squeezebox Duet remote control (extravagant when a smart phone would do the same thing)
5. Raspberry PI

 
I've forgotten all of the steps to get good audio from the Pi but there are two things:
 
o blacklist the on board audio: /etc/modules (comment out snd-bcm2835)
o My command line:
 
/usr/local/bin/squeezeslave-1.2-381 -v off --mac 00:00:00:00:0a:0b -R 192.168.0.3 --latency 1000 >/tmp/sq.log 2>&1 &
 
which I put in /etc/rc.local
 
The '-v off' switches off the software volume control allowing bit perfect sound mapped to the quality of the DAC.
 
My /etc/asound.conf :
 
pcm.mmap0 {
    type mmap_emul;
    slave {
      pcm "hw:0,0";
    }
}

pcm.!default {
  type plug;
  slave {
    pcm mmap0;
  }
}
 
may be relevant but I need to investigate that a bit more.
 
[edit] Having the Duet remote too close to the Little Dot introduces some noise!
 
I'm smiling now as I listen to Muddy Water's Folk Singer.
 
There is a slight pop at the beginning of a track.  This, apparently, is because of the DAC's chip selecting the correct mode.  Other's are talking about HDMI sound but I don't know how to access that without a TV/monitor in the way.
 
I hope this is useful and thanks for helping me to spend a small fortune on audio.
 
Owen.

 

[mboerma]

Hi Owen, 
 
Just starting to look into this. Did you also see this thread?
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/631355/raspberry-pi-dac-for-headless-audio-player
 
It would be great if you could give some more pointers to how to get to the stage where you are now?
 
I would like to use the RPI as a headless computer hooked up to my DAC, using a Samba share to get the music from. It would be great if it could output 24/96 from Flac files. Do you know/think this is possible?
 
Thanks,
Maarten

 

[onefatsurfer]

I've pretty much given up on using the Pi as a playback device.  I purchased an android 4.1 stick that I'm going to try using.  If that doesn't work fairly easily, I'll go back to the pi and keep trying to get that to work.  For now, my frustration has gotten the better of me.

 

[wakibaki]

@ofs
 
That's pretty much where I ended up.
 
For anyone else...
 
 
What I need is a straightforward set of instructions with no missing details on how to go from a RPi + blank SD card + generic USB DAC to a system where you can load a (16/44k1) .wav file onto the SD card and play it back over the USB with no pops, clicks, audio hash or interruptions whatsoever.
 
Headless is not required, I'll treat that as a separate issue and get to it when I've got it working with a monitor.
 
I'd prefer to be able to access my NAS, but again I'll treat that as a separate issue.
 
As of October 2012 this issue was still being discussed as unresolved on the RPi forum in the highest ranked thread on google. Discussion has died out with the continued failure to resolve the issue.
 
Until such time as I discover simple instructions on how to make this most basic of setups work reliably, I'm forced to continue to regard the RPi as unsuitable for this application.
 
No smartphones, squeezebox or other hardware please, the whole point is cheap, and do-able with equipment already on hand. RPi, SD card, DAC (that works under Windoze), monitor, keyboard, mouse. It should be possible to make this happen, but so far, no joy. Thus far I'm out a lot of hours of work and I've got no inclination to waste any more time. Hell, I already solved this by putting everything on a USB stick as MP3s and plugging it into the TV. Instant jukebox with remote. My only preference would be to make it access my NAS so I don't have to put new tracks onto the USB stick. It's only curiosity that keeps me going with the RPI, I even have another use for it now.
 
w

 

[onefatsurfer]

Quote:

@ofs
 
That's pretty much where I ended up.
 
For anyone else...
 
 
What I need is a straightforward set of instructions with no missing details on how to go from a RPi + blank SD card + generic USB DAC to a system where you can load a (16/44k1) .wav file onto the SD card and play it back over the USB with no pops, clicks, audio hash or interruptions whatsoever.
 
Headless is not required, I'll treat that as a separate issue and get to it when I've got it working with a monitor.
 
I'd prefer to be able to access my NAS, but again I'll treat that as a separate issue.
 
As of October 2012 this issue was still being discussed as unresolved on the RPi forum in the highest ranked thread on google. Discussion has died out with the continued failure to resolve the issue.
 
Until such time as I discover simple instructions on how to make this most basic of setups work reliably, I'm forced to continue to regard the RPi as unsuitable for this application.
 
No smartphones, squeezebox or other hardware please, the whole point is cheap, and do-able with equipment already on hand. RPi, SD card, DAC (that works under Windoze), monitor, keyboard, mouse. It should be possible to make this happen, but so far, no joy. Thus far I'm out a lot of hours of work and I've got no inclination to waste any more time. Hell, I already solved this by putting everything on a USB stick as MP3s and plugging it into the TV. Instant jukebox with remote. My only preference would be to make it access my NAS so I don't have to put new tracks onto the USB stick. It's only curiosity that keeps me going with the RPI, I even have another use for it now.
 
w

Your desire is very easy to do using Squeezeplug software http://www.squeezeplug.de  .  The issue that I ran into is with pops and clicks using my USB DAC/AMP (a Fiio E10) but most people in the squeezeplug thread have no problems with their USB audio since they're using a dirt cheap DAC.  For some reason, raspberry pi doesn't like the Fiio.. My plan for this was to use an ODAC but I am not willing to invest the $100 to buy one until I get my E10 working.  If you install Logitech Media Server on your NAS, you will be able to access the music on your NAS.  If you use a cheap DAC as recommended on the raspberry pi wiki, you shouldn't have many problems.  It's not a cakewalk right out of the box, but it should work.  The new version of squeezeplug (version 6) is much more intuitive than the older version.

 

[wakibaki]

Your desire is very easy to do

 
If I only had a dollar for every time I heard this.
 

The issue that I ran into is with pops and clicks using my USB DAC

 
 


Thanks, but I notice yours doesn't work...
 
 
The issue I ran unto is pops and clicks using my USB DAC. As I have stated numerous times. I've got no desire to spend another 10 or 20 hours ferreting through a bunch of ill-documented rigmarole to end up with pops and clicks.
 
When yours works, come back and tell me how you did it.
 
w
 
It's not a Fiio, it's a Behringer, which uses one of the commonest DACs, the [size=small]TI PCM2902. If it can't make this work out of the box, it's a waste of time.[/size]

 

[onefatsurfer]

I'm not trying to make it work anymore. I'm getting an android stick and trying to set it up with that.

 

[wakibaki]

Android stick. Hadn't seen those. Cool.
 
I already got my wife's Nexus 7 playing audio off the NAS, so it should be a snap with an android stick.
 
w

 

[onefatsurfer]

Quote:

Android stick. Hadn't seen those. Cool.
 
I already got my wife's Nexus 7 playing audio off the NAS, so it should be a snap with an android stick.
 
w

You have to use one that has Android 4.1, if I've done my research correctly.  This is the one I bought.  I'll post a new thread with my results and PM it to you when I get it working.:
 
http://www.amazon.com/MK808-Android-Rockchip-RK3066-Cortex-A9/dp/B009OX22B4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357614221&sr=8-1&keywords=mk+808

 

[Threeek]

I also had pops, clicks and digital noise using Squeezeplug on my R-Pi. I had the same problem with both an ODAC and then with my HDP.
 
In the end I'm afraid I gave up trying to use the R-Pi, and got a Shuttle XS36V and installed Ubuntu on it to use as my bedside streamer. Possibly overkill, but it works perfectly as a headless streamer driven from the Logitech remote.
 
I'd be very interested to hear how people get on with using an Android stick with an external DAC - I hope it goes well.

 

[onefatsurfer]

Good to know it doesn't work with the ODAC either. I think it's a core driver issue, but I'm done with it. Hopefully, the android stick will recognize the ODAC and all I'll have to do is pay $5 for SqueezePlayer and that's it. Wishful thinking,I know. Hopefully by next week the android stick will be here and I can test.

I also had pops, clicks and digital noise using Squeezeplug on my R-Pi. I had the same problem with both an ODAC and then with my HDP.

In the end I'm afraid I gave up trying to use the R-Pi, and got a Shuttle XS36V and installed Ubuntu on it to use as my bedside streamer. Possibly overkill, but it works perfectly as a headless streamer driven from the Logitech remote.

 
I'd be very interested to hear how people get on with using an Android stick with an external DAC - I hope it goes well.

 

[smopoim86]

For the people that are getting popping. Are you connecting the DAC through a powered USB hub? I could see there being power issues if it is not.  
 
IIRC the NIC is on the usb bus as well. Does the popping happen when played from the SD card?

 

[wakibaki]

Yes and yes.
 
I had to return the first Pi I got because of it's unreliability, it kept throwing error messages during boot, different error messages each time, sometimes pages of them followed by a failure to produce a command prompt. To try to resolve the problems I was having I bought a second USB PSU, and tried a second powered USB hub. When neither of these fixed the problem in any combination I returned the PI to RS. The replacement didn't have those particular problems.
 
I am trying (have tried) to get MPD to play tracks from the SD card, I figured that was the place to start, as simple as possible. I even created a continuous tone in Audacity and tried to play that. Always the pops and clicks, sometimes the output just stopped happening at all.
 
I'm using the Pi at the moment as a remote desktop to access another machine under the table (to write this), because the video card in the Win box won't run this monitor at 1920*1080, and it makes PCB layout (and other things) a pain because circles appear as ovals. Using the Pi I can get full HD resolution and access any computer in the house, it's good for that, the refresh is surprisingly quick, and I only lose the occasional mouse click.
 
Going to get an android stick like ofs I think, even though I don't need it.
 
w