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Hi all,
I am currently redesigning my system for playing audiofiles on my laptop. I currently have a Firewire DAC at my desk and a long cable going to my amplifier. I am thinking of buying a new DAC (non-Firewire, since this one is mainly designed for recording and not audio playback) and I want to get rid of the long, low-voltage cable that ruins my signal.
Someone tipped me the Raspberry Pi with RaspyFi and I really dig this idea. So one of the options I am considering now is a Raspberry Pi with RaspyFi on it and an external HDD with all my music, connected to my network via a wifi-dongle so that I can control it with my laptop or smartphone. But there are still some questions I would like to have an answer to before I start this project. I am considering either the Schiit Modi DAC (which should be a great DAC!) or a Mistral DAC – but I think it will be the Schiit.
Question 1: I always rip/download music onto my laptop and at least for the time being I want to keep it that way. But then I want to synch the music on my laptop with the music on the HDD connected to the Pi. Is this possible through the network?
Question 2: Of couse I sometimes listen to other sources on my laptop, such as YouTube or Soundcloud. Is it possible to stream this from my laptop to the Pi?
Question 3: As for a power supply, a 5V 1A power supply can be found cheaply but I read that a good, stable powersupply is worth the money. I happen to have a Philips 5.6V 2.68A adapter lying around. The higher amperage should not be a problem, but the slightly higher voltage might be a problem I think. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks in advance for any help!
1-The simplest thing you can do is avoid the HD, and make a share of your files on the laptop, you then read them from network, as it was a NAS
2-You can use airplay, but I don't know if its possible to stream directly from your browser
3- Voltage should stay between 4,75 and 5,25 Vdc, you can blow your Pi when giving it 5,6. You could add a diode (or 2 to be safe) but you should know what you are doing…
Thanks for the quick replies.
1) I would like for the Raspyfi to have it's own storage so that I can play music without setting up my laptop. If I would use the HDD of my laptop as NAS, I could just as easily connect a DAC directly to my laptop and control my laptop with my phone (which is actually my alternative), but then the whole idea of a streamer that I like so much is gone. The idea is that maybe in the future I would also use the Raspyfi to download my music while I am at the university.
2) Indeed, I noticed that Raspyfi supports AirPlay. I'm digging into this a little further since I have a Windows 7 laptop and Android smartphone. Would be neat if I could get this to work. That also means that if I cannot get a suitable hdd for the Raspyfi yet I can already stream my music from my laptop.
3) I've had the basics of electricity. The Philips is 5.6Vdc. Why do you suggest one or two diodes? My thought was a resistor placed in series with the Pi to decrease the voltage. But calculating the resistance for this is difficult since the Pi does not use constant amperage I think.
@icai
Thanks for the tip. With Airfoil it is possible to send all audio (also programs that do not have Airplay built in) to an Airplay device. This was exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately it costs $25,-, but I will definitely consider it!
How does this exactly work with Airplay? Do I have to switch the Pi from hdd to Airplay via the remote interface? For example when I'm listening to music directly from the Pi's hdd and I want to watch a video on my laptop?
1- This is preferrable if you want to keep your laptop off. Using airplay is not so audiophile, and surely taking your files via network and playing them on raspyfi will result in better sonic performances than using airplay or your laptop as player.
3- Told you diodes because they make a voltage drop of circa 0,3 volts each, so you can have 5 volts out. Using resistor, as you said, is feasible only if you know the exact amount of current the pi draws, and since its variable (ranges from 300mA to 700mA, more if you have more devices connected) could result in damaging the board for overvoltage or undervoltage.
Thanks for the response Admin.
1) I agree, so I plan on using an external hdd with the Pi. Question remains, can I synch it with my laptop over the network?
3) I didn't know diodes also result in a voltage drop. Before I'm going to use this adapter I'm going to check with friends and family whether they happen to have a 5Vdc 1A adapter lying around. But otherwise this will be a good alternative, I know some people who are way more into this so they'll probably be able to help me out.
Edit: I already found a small circuit with a LM317 linear voltage regulator and 2 resistors and also designs with potmeters for more flexibility. These circuites are designed for non-constant current devices (such as the Pi). Such a circuit would cost me less than 5 euros to make. It would be ideal if I could use this Philips adapter, because I think it's stable (it's meant for their LivinColour with powerleds) and because it's 2.5A I can power both the Pi and my USB-hub with it. But apparantly, if the adapter is regulated within just adding 2 diodes would do the trick (or, if I could open it I could regulate the voltage myself).
Okay, I just sold the entire old bunch (DAC, recording gear) so I am at the point where I can actually start buying things. (yay! 
)
I already found that it is possible to access a harddisc connected to the Pi via the network, but running this service (Samba) apparently decreases audio performance. Too bad, but if I can still hook up the disc to my laptop (RaspyFi does support NTFS-disks, right?) I can synch that way. A little more effort, but maybe in the future it will be possible to synch via the network. Or download directly onto the Pi.
As for the power supply, I am thinking of buying this one: https://www.modmypi.com/raspberry-pi-accessories/other-peripherals/New-Link-4-Port-USB-Hub-(USB-2.0-with-Mains-Adaptor)
I already asked about that one in the other topic, I am curious about your opinions on it.
So one question remains: how does switching from playing on the Pi to using Airplay work?
We can add a samba share for USB hdd… To let you easily manage your files… However NTFS is supported, so you can go this way…
As for the Hub, it is definetely interesting , I sugget it
First you should stop playback then start airplay and vice versa
Thanks for you response. What do you mean by "we can add a Samba share"? Is that something that will be featured in coming versions of RaspyFi?
Anyway, I just ordered everything this morning:
Raspberry Pi model B
8 gb SDHC Class 10 card
Edimax WiFi dongle
ModMyPi psu/usb-hub
Schiit Modi DAC
All of this should arrive within a week and of course I am excited to get started!
As for the hdd, I read somewhere else on the forum that fat32 has better performance so I'll format to that instead of NTFS. Audio does not require 4Gb+ filesize and, if in the future I want to play videos on it, I won't use 1080p (my TV is an oldie). Anyway, I have a 200Gb harddisk waiting for me at a friend's place. Until I've picked that up and put it in a case I'll stream via Airplay. Gives me some time to figure out Airfoil and Airplay.
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