[psgarcha92]

Hey guys,
I had been looking around for a suitable Upgrade to my Source (currently a Sansa Fuze 4GB + 16GB fed to a Mini^3)
and thought about buying an iPod Classis 5.5G, diyModding it, and upgrading the storage, but then a thought came to my mind.
 
Why not take a Raspberry Pi, attach a SSD1289 based 3.2" LCD to it, Install Arch (coz its customizable, and has only the required stuff preinstalled), design a player module, connect a USB DAC to it like the Objective DAC, and an AMP, like the O2 Amp....
Then i have the ability to play 24/96 audio. I know the setup is going to be heavy, bricky, but thinking about it, it allows the user to have complete control over the selection of the DAC and the AMP components of the system. Rather than buying a player to have 24/96 playing capability, u can have this and still its going to cost lesser than the players already available in the market.
 
So what do you guys think? Can this be a Project? Can people here design Cases for this kind of a setup?
 
People have already connected a SSD1289 screen to the Raspi here, with touchscreen module functional (will have to Recheck this touchscreen thing) at http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=64&t=33679
 
Chime in with suggestions guys
Regards

 

[Broodoobob]

DIYing stuff is awesome and often a worthwhile experience, but if you're looking for bang-for-the-buck you're probably much better off buying a player off-the-shelf. The combined parts of a system like what you're describing likely will not be that cheap. More importantly, however, you'll have to spend the time to configure the software, figure out a system for hardware buttons, find a power source, find a case to fit the Pi plus all of your other hardware, etc., and time is money.
 
Also, even once you finish building it, you'll likely be overbudget and have a massive box to lug around. Companies have spent years figuring out how to make a nice-sounding audio source in a small package, and there's a reason why very few people, even audiophiles, bother with anything more than a higher-end pocket-sized audio player. Even your standard iPod has a DAC good enough to not produce any artifacts discernible to most mortals.
 
All that discouraging sense-talking aside, building things is fun. If you're really itching to build something cool, go for it. But unless you are very familiar with building large things with the Pi, don't count on it being cheaper than an equivalent off-the-shelf player.
 
Best of luck!