Topic: Raspberry Pi HiFiBerry: External Hard Drive USB to Stereo Receiver

[KenH]

I'm looking to hook up an External Hard Drive via USB to Stereo Receiver home stereo to play FLAC files.  I have a ton of shows on an external SSD, but the receiver doesn't have USB input.

There would need to be some interface to choose what to play based on playlists.

Any suggestions ?

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

Raspberry Pi + Volumio + DAC

https://www.hifiberry.com/build/documentation/setting-up-volumio-to-get-great-audio/

[flask]

Raspberry Pi + Volumio + DAC

https://www.hifiberry.com/build/documentation/setting-up-volumio-to-get-great-audio/

Exactly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUY1pOv7c1E

[heathen]

Pi is a great approach but I'll throw in an endorsement for Rune Audio: http://www.runeaudio.com/

I liked it better than Volumio, but I'm not going to sit here and rag on Volumio.  Both are good, and one of the great things about the Pi is that if you have two micro SD cards you can simply put Rune on one and Volumio on the other and try each for yourself by only swapping the card!

[KenH]

Kind of hoping not to involve a PC.  The Raspberry Pi seems like a lot of steps, which I could probably figure out, but still needs a PC.UI.
The Rune interface looks good, but still need a PC.

USB Drive > "unit" > DAC > amp.   If "unit" has say an Windows/IOS/Bluetooth interface, I could control what plays.

[kindms]

Kind of hoping not to involve a PC.  The Raspberry Pi seems like a lot of steps, which I could probably figure out, but still needs a PC.UI.
The Rune interface looks good, but still need a PC.

USB Drive > "unit" > DAC > amp.   If "unit" has say an Windows/IOS/Bluetooth interface, I could control what plays.

you can use an amazon fire device. If your amp can take HDMI or optical (first gen fire tv)

well modified to add you would need to run a computer somewhere to run the server software that will map your HDD. Like Plex or logitech

If you go with a NAS most have an audio server app installed. From there you would just need something to interface with your stereo

[flask]

Or you could upgrade your receiver to one that accepts USB

[KenH]

A lot to think about, but hey this is music we're talking about 

Might be able to just plug the USB drive to my TV and if it supports playlists (eg, grateful Dead 1973-05-20), with optical out to the receiver, it might work...  the UI would be the TV.   

If I can mount USB drive to an Amazon Fire tablet, depending on the outputs, this might work too.

Definitely tired of my Yamaha receiver though; really don't need the 7.1 stuff!

Thanks for the advice...

[heathen]

I'm confused about why you say the Pi needs a PC?  The Pi is a stand-alone unit.  You don't necessarily need any other computer. 

[KenH]

I'm confused about why you say the Pi needs a PC?  The Pi is a stand-alone unit.  You don't necessarily need any other computer.

Probably just me that's confused!      How do you select a show to play through Pi ?   Wouldn't you need some sort of user interface ?   I guess that would be Volumio or Rune, but what does that display on ?

[heathen]

I'm confused about why you say the Pi needs a PC?  The Pi is a stand-alone unit.  You don't necessarily need any other computer.

Probably just me that's confused!      How do you select a show to play through Pi ?   Wouldn't you need some sort of user interface ?   I guess that would be Volumio or Rune, but what does that display on ?

There are multiple ways.  One of the easiest is on your phone.  The UI shows up in your web browser and you can control Rune/Volumio from there.  Of course you could also use a keyboard and mouse.

When I was using my Pi for playback (it's currently being tinkered with as an eight-channel bit bucket, but I digress), I kept it inside a cabinet.  All I needed to do was bring it up in the web browser on my phone and I could control it...didn't even need to see the thing.

[KenH]

IOS phone interface would be fine.   Will have to look into that more.  Thanks!

Also, Sony Bravia apparently doesn't support FLAC playback, but I haven't tried it yet.

[kindms]

IOS phone interface would be fine.   Will have to look into that more.  Thanks!

Also, Sony Bravia apparently doesn't support FLAC playback, but I haven't tried it yet.

do you have a sony playstation or microsoft xbox ?

those would also possibly give you some options

[Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B)]

For Volumio the Pi and DAC are all you need. It's "headless" (no monitor). You will use you're phone to browse your files on a hard drive connected to the Pi.

Setting it up isn't the easiest thing ever, but if you can record a concert and convert it to FLAC's you can set up the Pi to run Volumio (or Rune).

Should cost more than $100 (not including a hard drive).

[heathen]

Should cost more than $100 (not including a hard drive).

You meant NOT more than $100, right?