lmccauley
Prominent Member
Building a Raspberry Pi Squeezebox Player for £100
Introduction
A few years ago, I decided I wanted to be able to access all my music around the house. I looked at the options, and liked the look of the Logitech Radio and Touch devices, and Media Server software – originally known as Squeezebox. So, I ripped all my CDs as FLAC and stored them on a RAID5 array on a HP Microserver, installed Logitech Media Server (LMS) and bought a couple of Logitech Radios. I also downloaded the Orange Squeeze app for my Android phone, and used that most of the time to control the radios. This worked great, but when I looked for a Touch to plug into my main hi-fi I discovered that Logitech had discontinued the whole line. Recently, I’d been looking again at options for a streamer to plug into my hi-fi, and I discovered SqueezePlug & Max2Play software for the Raspberry Pi, and a high quality DAC made by Iqaudio. They also made a case, which I thought looked smart.
Assumptions
From Amazon (£43.38):
Instructions
Download the NOOBS-Image of SqueezePlug & Max2Play for the Raspberry Pi from Download the Max2Play Image for Raspberry Pi and Odroid | Max2Play
Follow the INSTRUCTIONS-README.txt file to install the image onto your SD micro card.
Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi.
Download the instructions on fitting the Pi-DAC+ card to the Raspberry Pi from http://www.iqaudio.com/downloads/IQaudIO.pdf
Attach the Pi-DAC+ card to the Raspberry Pi.
Note – use the 4 x 5mm PCB standoffs from the Pi-CASE+ instead of the screws supplied with the Pi-DAC+ for the bottom of the Raspberry Pi.
Plug the Raspberry Pi into a monitor using HDMI. You shouldn’t need to use a keyboard. You don’t strictly need the monitor, but it’s nice to see the progress on screen.
Connect the power supply.
Wait for it to load – about 20 minutes.
From a PC on the same network, go to http://max2play. You can make a number of config changes from this web page, including enabling/disabling the Squeeze player, and rebooting the Raspberry Pi.
Shutdown the Raspberry Pi using Max2Play (i.e. http://max2play).
Fit the Raspberry Pi and DAC into the case using the instructions you downloaded from IQaudio earlier.
Final Connection Steps
Connect the Raspberry Pi to your hi-fi amplifier using analogue connectors (from the Pi-DAC+).
Connect to the network.
Connect the power supply.
And that should be it. In the Logitech Media Server web page, or Orange Squeeze app, set the volume to 100, and use your hi-fi amplifier volume control.
Introduction
A few years ago, I decided I wanted to be able to access all my music around the house. I looked at the options, and liked the look of the Logitech Radio and Touch devices, and Media Server software – originally known as Squeezebox. So, I ripped all my CDs as FLAC and stored them on a RAID5 array on a HP Microserver, installed Logitech Media Server (LMS) and bought a couple of Logitech Radios. I also downloaded the Orange Squeeze app for my Android phone, and used that most of the time to control the radios. This worked great, but when I looked for a Touch to plug into my main hi-fi I discovered that Logitech had discontinued the whole line. Recently, I’d been looking again at options for a streamer to plug into my hi-fi, and I discovered SqueezePlug & Max2Play software for the Raspberry Pi, and a high quality DAC made by Iqaudio. They also made a case, which I thought looked smart.
Assumptions
- You have Logitech Media Server installed and running already. If not, you can download it from My Media - Welcome to mysqueezebox.com!
- You will be connecting the Raspberry Pi to the network using cables – you can buy a wi-fi dongle, but I didn’t look into that as I prefer to use cable where possible.
From Amazon (£43.38):
- Raspberry Pi 2 Model B Desktop
- Raspberry Pi Model B+ OFFICIAL 5V 2A Multi National Power adapter
- Kingston Technology 16 GB microSDHC Class 10 Flash Card with SD card adapter
- IQaudio Pi-DAC+ Full-HD audio card
- IQaudio Pi-CASE for DAC+
- SqueezePlug & Max2Play for the Raspberry Pi from Download the Max2Play Image for Raspberry Pi and Odroid | Max2Play
- SD card formatting tool: SD Formatter for Windows Download - SD Association
Instructions
Download the NOOBS-Image of SqueezePlug & Max2Play for the Raspberry Pi from Download the Max2Play Image for Raspberry Pi and Odroid | Max2Play
Follow the INSTRUCTIONS-README.txt file to install the image onto your SD micro card.
Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi.
Download the instructions on fitting the Pi-DAC+ card to the Raspberry Pi from http://www.iqaudio.com/downloads/IQaudIO.pdf
Attach the Pi-DAC+ card to the Raspberry Pi.
Note – use the 4 x 5mm PCB standoffs from the Pi-CASE+ instead of the screws supplied with the Pi-DAC+ for the bottom of the Raspberry Pi.
Plug the Raspberry Pi into a monitor using HDMI. You shouldn’t need to use a keyboard. You don’t strictly need the monitor, but it’s nice to see the progress on screen.
Connect the power supply.
Wait for it to load – about 20 minutes.
From a PC on the same network, go to http://max2play. You can make a number of config changes from this web page, including enabling/disabling the Squeeze player, and rebooting the Raspberry Pi.
- Choose the AUDIOPLAYER tab.
- Make sure that Autostart Squeezelight is ticked.
- Click Edit Advanced Options.
- Set the Soundcard to “default - IQaudioDAC”.
- Choose the SETTINGS / REBOOT tab.
- Change the player name, if required (I changed mine to “Lounge”).
- Click Save Settings.
- Click Reboot.
Shutdown the Raspberry Pi using Max2Play (i.e. http://max2play).
Fit the Raspberry Pi and DAC into the case using the instructions you downloaded from IQaudio earlier.
Final Connection Steps
Connect the Raspberry Pi to your hi-fi amplifier using analogue connectors (from the Pi-DAC+).
Connect to the network.
Connect the power supply.
And that should be it. In the Logitech Media Server web page, or Orange Squeeze app, set the volume to 100, and use your hi-fi amplifier volume control.