Roberts Radio Squeezebox Project

markwombat · 31 Jan 2014 at 12:00

Hi all,

I've just finished renovating a 1961 Roberts radio into a Squeezebox powered by a Raspberry Pi, complete with original dials for volume and menu selection. :cool:

It syncs to another Raspberry Pi that's hooked into a Bose sound system, and a third that is connected to my Yamaha sound system in the lounge.

Full project log available at - http://plentyofgin.blogspot.co.uk

Let me know your thoughts...

randomshenans · 3 Feb 2014 at 11:55

That's awesome! Fair play

Hank_Marvin · 3 Feb 2014 at 17:19

ooo great job, had been thinking of using a pi as a player.

I see you used a usb soundcard, presume that gives much better sound than the onboard pi sound?

Caged · 3 Feb 2014 at 19:03

The onboard sound isn't a real DAC or something along those lines, it just makes high frequency digital noise. The HDMI out is obviously digital audio so if you have a receiver is a good option.

Edit: What amplifier is that using?

markwombat · 4 Feb 2014 at 14:53

Hank_Marvin said:
I see you used a usb soundcard, presume that gives much better sound than the onboard pi sound?

Indeed, I used a cheapo USB sound card from a Pi accessory site. It gives pretty good sound quality, but ultimately this radio is in our kitchen so there's always background noise from something.

Caged said:
Edit: What amplifier is that using?

As above, it's using a cheapo USB sound card, coupled with the amp / electronics from a pair of HP USB powered speakers.

I have to admit, there's an ever so slight noise on idle from the USB speakers, given that they're powered by the same hub as the Pi. But as I say, this one lives in the kitchen so the room is never silent when the radio is in use.