{"id":2743,"date":"2014-01-29T21:33:50","date_gmt":"2014-01-29T21:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gadgets.itwriting.com\/?p=2743"},"modified":"2019-01-21T08:55:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T08:55:35","slug":"hope-for-squeezebox-as-raspberry-pi-becomes-a-streaming-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/2743-hope-for-squeezebox-as-raspberry-pi-becomes-a-streaming-player.html","title":{"rendered":"Hope for Squeezebox as Raspberry Pi becomes a streaming player"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now that Logitech has near-abandoned the Squeezebox (the one remaining player is the UE Smart Radio<\/a>, and even that is not quite a Squeezebox client unless you download different firmware), existing users may be concerned for the future of the system.<\/p>\n

Squeezebox consists of free server software which runs on a PC or NAS (Network Attached Storage) device, while the players are supplied by Logitech and controlled by a web app or smartphone\/tablet app. Although more fiddly to set up than rivals like Sonos, Squeezebox is a strong choice for multi-room audio at a modest choice, and its community has come up with solutions such as support for high-resolution audio.<\/p>\n

The latest community innovation is a project to make a Raspberry Pi into a Squeezebox client. piCorePlayer<\/a> is delivered as an image file which you can write to an SD card. Pop the card into a Raspberry Pi, supply power, and it is ready to go \u2013 meaning that you need no longer worry about getting hold of a Squeezebox player.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The OS is the MicroCore version of Tiny Core Linux<\/a>, and the player is Triode\u2019s Squeezelite<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I gave this a try. It was almost very easy: my Pi booted successfully from the piCorePlayer image and was immediately recognised by my Logitech Media Server. The player supports output to the built-in audio jack, or HDMI, or a USB DAC, or an add-on DAC for the Raspberry Pi called HifiBerry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I am using a USB DAC (Teac UD-H01) which requires a little extra configuration. I logged in to the piCorePlayer using Putty, and typed picoreplayer to display the configuration menu:<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Configuring a USB DAC is a matter of getting a list of available ALSA devices and setting the output accordingly.<\/p>\n

It worked, but oddly I found that FLAC in 16\/44.1 format played with crackling and distortion. 24-bit files played perfectly.<\/p>\n

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The only solution I have found (though it sounds counter-intuitive) is to force output to 16-bit by adding \u2013a 40::16 to the Squeezelite arguments. Everything now plays nicely, though limited to 16-bit – you are unlikely to notice much difference but it is a compromise.<\/p>\n

If you try piCorePlayer, here are a few tips. <\/p>\n

Log in with user: tc pwd: nosoup4u<\/p>\n

The Squeezelite executable is stored at:<\/p>\n

\/mnt\/mmcblk0p2\/tce<\/p>\n

and the settings scripts are in<\/p>\n

\/usr\/local\/sbin\/settings_menu.sh<\/p>\n

If you need to edit the configuration without the script, you can use vi, which is the only pre-installed editor I have found. Quick start with vi:<\/p>\n