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Post by electronumpty on Jan 27, 2021 22:15:52 GMT
Hi All All this recent Socrates R2R DAC talk has made me consider streaming to see what it is like for me and if/how I would use it if it was available to me. But I don't know a lot about network/wireless streamers so need some help in deciding what to do and spend on it if I want it. My aim is to do this as cheap as possible in the first instance to get used to it so sound quality isn't so paramount atm. It's a bit of an experiment on my part (aka - yet another wormhole  ). If I don't get on with it I can always sell it on I guess. So things I have are - 1 Spotify acct - fine for me on the phone and I like the interface so won't get anything else atm.
2 Amps, speakers etc
3 Laptop
4 Non-numptylike smartphone
5 DAC - A older Beresford something or other, normally I just use this to put films and gigs etc through the stereo. It's fine for this and I can use it for starters for proper muzak. It has 2 toslink and 2 coax inputs.
6 WiFi
So reading/looking around I see I need a streamer, but most are amps, DACs etc combined. What I would like to do is stream my Spotify through my amps etc using my phone as a controller for as cheaply as possible. I don't want to use my laptop and it needs to be wireless as the router is too far away for any cabling to be added and I can't be arsed with that.
So good burghers of Audio Addicts , What recommend ye? 
"Budget?" I hear you cry!
Dunno, say £100-150? is that doable? I could find a bit more if it made a real difference.
Cos unfortunately I have read about this new fancy thing - Novafidelity N25 and started obsessing about having one.......(one day) .. which is a bit unfortunate as it means my new mc cart budget might have to be splurged on the dark side. 
Anyway the main aim is to see if streaming suits me and my listening habits before investing too much.
Thanks folks, all comments, advice and ideas are guaranteed to be willfully ignored but fire away anyhows you never know, something might sink in 
Cheers EN
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Post by mikeyb on Jan 27, 2021 22:34:45 GMT
Chromecast Audio £30 good place to start, it uses Mini Toslink to Tosalink, if don't fancy that then a Raspberry Pi 4B 2gb or 4gb will suffice, outputting via a DAC HAT outputting Spdif to your DAC with Moode Audio ( my preferred choice ) or Volumio installed on the Pi.
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,063
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Post by Bigman80 on Jan 27, 2021 22:37:35 GMT
Hi All All this recent Socrates R2R DAC talk has made me consider streaming to see what it is like for me and if/how I would use it if it was available to me. But I don't know a lot about network/wireless streamers so need some help in deciding what to do and spend on it if I want it. My aim is to do this as cheap as possible in the first instance to get used to it so sound quality isn't so paramount atm. It's a bit of an experiment on my part (aka - yet another wormhole ). If I don't get on with it I can always sell it on I guess. So things I have are - 1 Spotify acct - fine for me on the phone and I like the interface so won't get anything else atm.
2 Amps, speakers etc
3 Laptop
4 Non-numptylike smartphone
5 DAC - A older Beresford something or other, normally I just use this to put films and gigs etc through the stereo. It's fine for this and I can use it for starters for proper muzak. It has 2 toslink and 2 coax inputs.
6 WiFi
So reading/looking around I see I need a streamer, but most are amps, DACs etc combined. What I would like to do is stream my Spotify through my amps etc using my phone as a controller for as cheaply as possible. I don't want to use my laptop and it needs to be wireless as the router is too far away for any cabling to be added and I can't be arsed with that.
So good burghers of Audio Addicts , What recommend ye?
"Budget?" I hear you cry!
Dunno, say £100-150? is that doable? I could find a bit more if it made a real difference.
Cos unfortunately I have read about this new fancy thing - Novafidelity N25 and started obsessing about having one.......(one day) .. which is a bit unfortunate as it means my new mc cart budget might have to be splurged on the dark side.
Anyway the main aim is to see if streaming suits me and my listening habits before investing too much.
Thanks folks, all comments, advice and ideas are guaranteed to be willfully ignored but fire away anyhows you never know, something might sink in
Cheers EN
Andy, If you want, Jimbo has my pecan Pi rig. If you want to loan it then I'll get him to send it down to you. No worries either way but it's a free run at HQ audio for very sensible money. It uses Volumio, which does streaming etc, or you can go via a HDD and play whatever files you have. It's very flexible, but sounds excellent. Up to you. |
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Post by electronumpty on Jan 27, 2021 22:42:51 GMT
Hi All All this recent Socrates R2R DAC talk has made me consider streaming to see what it is like for me and if/how I would use it if it was available to me. But I don't know a lot about network/wireless streamers so need some help in deciding what to do and spend on it if I want it. My aim is to do this as cheap as possible in the first instance to get used to it so sound quality isn't so paramount atm. It's a bit of an experiment on my part (aka - yet another wormhole ). If I don't get on with it I can always sell it on I guess. So things I have are - 1 Spotify acct - fine for me on the phone and I like the interface so won't get anything else atm.
2 Amps, speakers etc
3 Laptop
4 Non-numptylike smartphone
5 DAC - A older Beresford something or other, normally I just use this to put films and gigs etc through the stereo. It's fine for this and I can use it for starters for proper muzak. It has 2 toslink and 2 coax inputs.
6 WiFi
So reading/looking around I see I need a streamer, but most are amps, DACs etc combined. What I would like to do is stream my Spotify through my amps etc using my phone as a controller for as cheaply as possible. I don't want to use my laptop and it needs to be wireless as the router is too far away for any cabling to be added and I can't be arsed with that.
So good burghers of Audio Addicts , What recommend ye?
"Budget?" I hear you cry!
Dunno, say £100-150? is that doable? I could find a bit more if it made a real difference.
Cos unfortunately I have read about this new fancy thing - Novafidelity N25 and started obsessing about having one.......(one day) .. which is a bit unfortunate as it means my new mc cart budget might have to be splurged on the dark side.
Anyway the main aim is to see if streaming suits me and my listening habits before investing too much.
Thanks folks, all comments, advice and ideas are guaranteed to be willfully ignored but fire away anyhows you never know, something might sink in
Cheers EN
Andy, If you want, Jimbo has my pecan Pi rig. If you want to loan it then I'll get him to send it down to you. No worries either way but it's a free run at HQ audio for very sensible money. It uses Volumio, which does streaming etc, or you can go via a HDD and play whatever files you have. It's very flexible, but sounds excellent. Up to you. Thanks Oliver, great offer. Is that the one you had up for sale? I'll do a bit of reading around and let you know. Cheers. |
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,063
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Post by Bigman80 on Jan 27, 2021 22:50:24 GMT
Andy, If you want, Jimbo has my pecan Pi rig. If you want to loan it then I'll get him to send it down to you. No worries either way but it's a free run at HQ audio for very sensible money. It uses Volumio, which does streaming etc, or you can go via a HDD and play whatever files you have. It's very flexible, but sounds excellent. Up to you. Thanks Oliver, great offer. Is that the one you had up for sale? I'll do a bit of reading around and let you know. Cheers. It is mate, but it's not a "try and sell it" offer. I'm happy to keep it as I have set up a spot in the garage for it. |
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Post by electronumpty on Jan 27, 2021 22:55:50 GMT
Cool
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Post by electronumpty on Jan 27, 2021 23:10:49 GMT
Chromecast Audio £30 good place to start, it uses Mini Toslink to Tosalink, if don't fancy that then a Raspberry Pi 4B 2gb or 4gb will suffice, outputting via a DAC HAT outputting Spdif to your DAC with Moode Audio ( my preferred choice ) or Volumio installed on the Pi. Thanks, that looks very easy! |
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Post by firebottle on Jan 28, 2021 9:26:43 GMT
Andy I have an Rpi3 with isolator board and Allo Boss dac hat going begging.
It's got Volumio installed so ready to go.
It's doing nothing in the draw, how does £75 sound?
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Post by electronumpty on Jan 28, 2021 10:29:01 GMT
Andy I have an Rpi3 with isolator board and Allo Boss dac hat going begging. It's got Volumio installed so ready to go. It's doing nothing in the draw, how does £75 sound? Hi Alan , I don't know much about Pis at all. So have some questions if that's ok. Is it Wifi enabled? What connections does it have , coax toslink etc. Does it need a power supply? Thanks Andy |
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Post by firebottle on Jan 28, 2021 11:20:52 GMT
Hi Andy, the RPi is wi-fi enabled and has Ethernet and USB (x4) on the motherboard.
The output is L and R audio from the dac hat to go straight to your amplifier.
I will include a 5V psu that powers the Pi and dac.
You just have to enter volumio.local into the URL field on your PC and the OS is there.
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Post by jimbo on Jan 28, 2021 12:38:54 GMT
Hi Andy, the RPi is wi-fi enabled and has Ethernet and USB (x4) on the motherboard. The output is L and R audio from the dac hat to go straight to your amplifier. I will include a 5V psu that powers the Pi and dac. You just have to enter volumio.local into the URL field on your PC and the OS is there. Great set up for £75 especially with PSU included. |
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Post by mikeyb on Jan 28, 2021 12:55:43 GMT
Hi Andy, the RPi is wi-fi enabled and has Ethernet and USB (x4) on the motherboard. The output is L and R audio from the dac hat to go straight to your amplifier. I will include a 5V psu that powers the Pi and dac. You just have to enter volumio.local into the URL field on your PC and the OS is there. Great set up for £75 especially with PSU included. Yip, I used the some Pi and DAC for a couple of years, great buy. |
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Post by electronumpty on Jan 28, 2021 14:03:51 GMT
All sounds good, if the inputs are usb can you get coax/toslink to USB adapters if say I wanted to put the tv or cd through it?
cheers
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Post by electronumpty on Jan 28, 2021 15:06:21 GMT
Actually think I'll take it. thanks Alan will pm you. 🙂
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Post by electronumpty on Jan 28, 2021 20:46:57 GMT
Tempted to start a thread titled "Pimp my Pi!" now.  |
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 1, 2021 16:58:00 GMT
Ok so have plugged into the laptop with ethernet cable but how do I set up the pi on my router? Have tried connecting in putty and ethernet but puttuy does jot recognise the "raspberrypi.local" host name. Any ideas?
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Post by firebottle on Feb 1, 2021 17:00:37 GMT
I did say in an earlier post to search for volumio.local
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 1, 2021 17:06:12 GMT
Hi Alan yes and connected to laptop by ethernet it comes up, but I want to connect wirelessly so need to configure the pi to my router. Which I can't figure out how to do. Any ideas?
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,063
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 1, 2021 17:09:43 GMT
Hi Alan yes and connected to laptop by ethernet it comes up, but I want to connect wirelessly so need to configure the pi to my router. Which I can't figure out how to do. Any ideas? You will need to connect the Pi with a wire first, then you can input the WiFi password via the Network section in Volumio |
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 1, 2021 17:28:26 GMT
Thanks, something seems to be ticking away!
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 1, 2021 21:17:05 GMT
So far ,got it synced with spotify and its playing but no sound , reckon there's a secret volume button in the app somewhere!
#livinguptomyname 🤣
I get a "ding" sound from the speakers when it boots up so I know theres life in there..
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,063
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 1, 2021 22:29:18 GMT
So far ,got it synced with spotify and its playing but no sound , reckon there's a secret volume button in the app somewhere! #livinguptomyname 🤣 I get a "ding" sound from the speakers when it boots up so I know theres life in there.. Oooh, now, there is a volume setting in the menu. Check it out |
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 1, 2021 22:47:59 GMT
Did no joy, a bit frustrating this.
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Post by stevew on Feb 1, 2021 23:14:43 GMT
Did no joy, a bit frustrating this. Can be ridiculously frustrating. Often just a simple setting in the menu. ive had more than one occasion where the volume reset itself to zero. Worth persevering though just playing around in the menu. oh...and very often just going to the power section and hitting ‘restart’ produces wonders. good luck.. keep with it and post screen shots if you can. Helps people to see where you are with it |
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,063
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Post by Bigman80 on Feb 1, 2021 23:15:22 GMT
Did no joy, a bit frustrating this. Haha, welcome to computer audio. There will be one bit of the software that needs tweaking. Have you selected Allo Boss as the DAC hat? |
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 1, 2021 23:17:55 GMT
Yeah , think I might reinstall it and see if that cures it. . Daggnabit!
Btw hope thing are ok with your scans etc.
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 2, 2021 19:24:00 GMT
Ok so reinstalled and now have muzak sounds! 🙂  |
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Post by electronumpty on Feb 2, 2021 19:30:05 GMT
testing on kitchen sink rig😉  |
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Post by firebottle on Feb 2, 2021 20:53:46 GMT
Good stuff Andy.
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Post by gninnam on Feb 2, 2021 21:13:51 GMT
Well done |
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). If I don't get on with it I can always sell it on I guess. 
