4 ms·

At the end of the day, I don't think it actually is that complicated. The narrative style makes it sound that way (since I wrote it as a culmination of trying a

At the end of the day, I don't think it actually is that complicated. The narrative style makes it sound that way (since I wrote it as a culmination of trying a few different things), but the final setup with the Pi only took about 3 hours including the patching. The two constraints that I mentioned in the post should help explain the residual complexity: I didn't want to buy any new equipment (including a Bluetooth dongle, which I don't own), and I wanted the setup to be maximally accessible to my friends and family while still working with my own computers (in different rooms). AirPlay and DLNA achieve that; Bluetooth is finnicky and wouldn't connect at the distance between my receiver and my office.

Kaibeezy 4y ago
As a person who routinely spends hours trying to save 5 minutes, I get you ;) I also hear that a lot of people like to have sound through multiple rooms and be able to control it remotely, which I don't really do. And to be fair, I sometimes hate the Bluetooth dongle, which works fine for streaming and longer albums and if I'm sitting still, but powers off annoyingly (even when plugged in) 2 minutes after the signal stops or if I dare to step out of range. I switched the dining room system over to an old iPhone with 1/8" jack (I'm hoarding those) after looking for a DAC for the iPhone and basically seeing that the onboard is not so bad. Wifi to Amazon Music, done.
dangus 4y ago
AirPlay/DNLA receivers also do exist all over Amazon, they seem to be around $60-90. I see a product for under $25 on AliExpress. The Pi with boot storage and power adapter isn't that far from that cost, plus you had to blow 3 hours of labor. I think it was a neat exercise but it was also not really the most logical constraint for the task at hand.
- woodruffw 4y ago
  It was a fun side project. I didn’t “blow” 3 hours; I enjoyed fiddling with it (so much that I wrote a blog post about it, which I also do for fun). Not everybody has to do that, much less wants to, which is perfectly fine! I don’t expect anybody else to do this, unless they want to. But if they do, they now have a resource to follow, one that’ll cost them (next to) nothing, will keep working even if it’s not in a company’s profit interest, and doesn’t involve shipping yet another doohicky over the ocean.
  - dangus 4y ago
    I understand, I don't mean to knock a solid hobby project. Still, to be pedantic, the Raspberry Pi didn't cost next to nothing ($35+PSU+boot storage) and was shipped over an ocean.
    - woodruffw 4y ago
      Right -- emphasis on yet another. This one's been sitting in my closet for at least 5 years. The PSU is a wall wart from an old phone. Of course, maybe it'll all stop working in a couple of weeks, at which point I'll break down and buy the doohicky. We'll see!

Kaibeezy 4y ago

As a person who routinely spends hours trying to save 5 minutes, I get you ;) I also hear that a lot of people like to have sound through multiple rooms and be able to control it remotely, which I don't really do. And to be fair, I sometimes hate the Bluetooth dongle, which works fine for streaming and longer albums and if I'm sitting still, but powers off annoyingly (even when plugged in) 2 minutes after the signal stops or if I dare to step out of range. I switched the dining room system over to an old iPhone with 1/8" jack (I'm hoarding those) after looking for a DAC for the iPhone and basically seeing that the onboard is not so bad. Wifi to Amazon Music, done.

dangus 4y ago

AirPlay/DNLA receivers also do exist all over Amazon, they seem to be around $60-90. I see a product for under $25 on AliExpress. The Pi with boot storage and power adapter isn't that far from that cost, plus you had to blow 3 hours of labor. I think it was a neat exercise but it was also not really the most logical constraint for the task at hand.

woodruffw 4y ago
It was a fun side project. I didn’t “blow” 3 hours; I enjoyed fiddling with it (so much that I wrote a blog post about it, which I also do for fun). Not everybody has to do that, much less wants to, which is perfectly fine! I don’t expect anybody else to do this, unless they want to. But if they do, they now have a resource to follow, one that’ll cost them (next to) nothing, will keep working even if it’s not in a company’s profit interest, and doesn’t involve shipping yet another doohicky over the ocean.
- dangus 4y ago
  I understand, I don't mean to knock a solid hobby project. Still, to be pedantic, the Raspberry Pi didn't cost next to nothing ($35+PSU+boot storage) and was shipped over an ocean.
  - woodruffw 4y ago
    Right -- emphasis on yet another. This one's been sitting in my closet for at least 5 years. The PSU is a wall wart from an old phone. Of course, maybe it'll all stop working in a couple of weeks, at which point I'll break down and buy the doohicky. We'll see!