Raspberry Pi as hifi / media server - how to control? (Can it do NAS at the same time?)

Jimbo Mahoney · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:19

Hi all,

I've just bought a Raspberry Pi and spotted that you can buy a nice RCA addon for it.

That got me thinking I could get rid of my CD player and make my hifi smaller (by just using my MP3 / iTunes collection).

However, what's the best way to control it?

I want to be able to sit on the sofa and control it somehow - presumably some sort of touchscreen would be best? Maybe a tablet? (I don't have anything other than an iPhone and an iPod touch though...)

Since I'm totally new to the world of Raspberry (I haven't got it yet!), I wondered if anyone had done something like this.

Also, I assume it could operate as a NAS at the same time? (I don't see why not?)

Meanwhile, I'll Google it...

Jimbo Mahoney · 19 Jun 2020 at 18:24

Ooh, this looks just the ticket, although I would guess that would mean I'd be running Rune, which might mean it can't also be a NAS, right?

On the other hand, this allows control from something like my old iPod Touch...

http://www.rpimusicplayer.com/

Jimbo Mahoney · 20 Jun 2020 at 11:22

Another option:

https://volumio.org/volumio-overview/

I *think* it can also operate as a NAS.

Jimbo Mahoney · 24 Jun 2020 at 14:49

.. and another:

https://moodeaudio.org/

From what I can tell, Rune (the first link) is kinda dying in terms of support, plus their forums are just spam from random internet vendors.

Looks like someone keeps an updated version going, RuneAudio+R, but the consensus seems to be that Moode or Volumio, with Moode possibly having the edge.

I've got the basics of this Raspberry thing going (given that I'm a Windows user) and have so far managed:

1) Overclock to 2 GHz (kinda pointless, but whatevs)
2) Installed a cooler (80'C -> 33'C at full load)
3) Wifi, ethernet, VNC working, so I can run it headless.
4) Installed webmin so I at least have some sort of GUI for configurations / RAID / Samba.
5) Installed Samba and got network sharing working.
6) Installed mdadm to start playing with RAID - I plan on using RAID 5 with three 1 TB USB drives.

It will be interesting to see if I can combine all this when I switch to Moode or something...

Jimbo Mahoney · 24 Jun 2020 at 16:28

Boom! RAID 5 and NAS setup and working!

This is awesome...

Jimbo Mahoney · 23 Jul 2020 at 18:36

OK getting Moode up and running was a sinch... (on another Raspberry)

Got it connected to the NAS on the other Raspberry - just waiting for the library to update... fingers crossed.

Currently listening to one of the MANY internet radio stations that Moode auto-finds.

EDIT - and that's that - NAS found and library updated!

Jimbo Mahoney · 5 Aug 2020 at 18:37

HifiBerry DAC+ Pro added and sounds sweet.

EYEREX · 16 Sep 2020 at 17:37

If your ever after a change i use picoreplayer with a 7" touch screen