Multi Room Audio

[prats6989 0]

merylion, are you comfortable with raspberry pi? try logitech media server with squeezelite installed on a raspberry pi..while waiting for rocki..i did that and achieved everything you mentioned.

[Dalle1985 16]

THe problem with the RPi is the sound quality! Though it might provide the functionality you want, sound quality is appaling.

I tried to hook it up to some of my sound equipment using the shairport binary for the RPi, but I quickly pulled the plug. First of all, the RPi has a tendancy to make "Plop" noises in the speakers. This can be fixed using a workaround turning off the sound output until a few ms after playback starts. When you run an expensive speaker setup, I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach each time I hear such noises.

Secondly, the external interference is VERY high on the RPi as it doesn't have a shielded audio port and connections to the audio port. Therefore analogue output is greatly affected by noise.

Now, for a few lowend speakers in the kitchen, it might be okay. But if you like good sound quality, avoid the RPi.

[prats6989 0]

Dalle1985, yup..you are right..i do get that irritating buzzing noise every now and then..

[Guest merylion]

Hi,

Unfortunately I am not so much familiar with Raspberry

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/emoticons/default_sad.png" alt=":(" srcset="https://forum.fibaro.com/uploads/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Thats why I am looking for ready-to-use solutions. Maybe I will have to start learning this.

Thanks

Marcin

[Dalle1985 16]

Dalle1985, yup..you are right..i do get that irritating buzzing noise every now and then..

You could try to change your power supply for the rpi. It helped me limit the noise quite a bit (i used a dirt cheap 5v supply from china) but it didn't remove the static though.

[ Added: 2014-09-10, 16:04 ]

Hi,

Unfortunately I am not so much familiar with Raspberry

Please login or register to see this image.

/emoticons/default_sad.png" alt=":(" srcset="https://forum.fibaro.com/uploads/emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> Thats why I am looking for ready-to-use solutions. Maybe I will have to start learning this.

Thanks

Marcin

Hi Marcin,

Many people are often scared by the prospect of setting up a rpi, but it isn't that difficult actually. Try checking this out:

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I got that working in the first attempt (well second, but the first attempt was using a corrupted memory card) without any prior knowledge on the rpi.

[Tekvibes 7]

There's a new version of the Rpi which apparently has better sound on board.

[UrSv 6]

Which in reality is about as bad as the original one if using analog out. The RPi needs a new DAC for any practical use if not used by the HDMI port.

[Dalle1985 16]

Agree... I think that for analogue audio the rpi is more or less useless. Digital is okay because, well, it is digital. But if you want analogue audio out with proper sound quality, you need some form of shielded output. It doesn't need to be expensive, but it needs to be better than the rpi.

[Tekvibes 7]

Maybe an external audio-card via USB would do the trick?? Or go for the most inexpensive NUC. I'm quite happy with the sound of my NUC.

[UrSv 6]

Sure, a fairly cheap USB sound card is fine and there are several DAC with good quality available like HifiBerry and the Wolfson DAC.

[Dalle1985 16]

Yes - the NUC is quite alright in terms of sound quality, but it is also relatively expensive. I have a NUC2820 which is one of the lowest specs, but still, with ram and harddrive, it still was close to €200. I have six rooms with speakers in them, so that will be more than €1000 if I need to include all my speakers in this way.

The HiFi berry looks quite cool though... Could be a good solution and somewhat cheaper than a NUC.

[UrSv 6]

The HifiBerry is fine. Note that you have to make sure to order the right one for the RPi you have have as it is avalailabe for the B as well as the B+.

[Dalle1985 16]

Good to know! Thanks for that!

[UrSv 6]

And I would prefer the new version as it has some more functionality.

[Dixit Rajpara 1]

Hello all, I have a potential customer who is in love with his Bose sound system. Is there a way to do multi room audio with that?? Thank you.