Hi -
New to the site and new to streaming audio, but I've been into hifi since the late '60s. Currently I'm setting up a semi-vintage system for the office, with a NAD 7140 (donated by a generous friend!) and Paradigm 3SE's, using ChromeCast Audio (CCA) as the source playing either Spotify or my own music.
To try out local streaming, I set up Windows 10 MediaPlayer to stream FLAC files (16/44 and 24/96) from my pc to the Chromecast Audio, controlling playback with BubbleUpnp on an Android phone and tablet, all connected via wifi to my home network. This setup works great but I'd like to eliminate the PC.
I considered plugging a USB drive full of FLAC files into my Xfinity router which has a USB port, but lots of forum posts seem to indicate the cable companies have turned off this port. I also don't think I want to buy a NAS drive with ethernet connection to the router unless It's cheaper than the approach below, since I only need 64GB and don't need redundancy.
So the plan is to set up a Raspberry Pi 3 to replace the PC, with the Pi hard wired (ethernet) to my Xfinity router, and with a 64GB USB stick full of FLAC files at 16/44 and 24/96 plugged into the Pi. The Pi hopefully will be able to stream at least two different audio files concurrently to at least two CCA's, but if multiple streams complicate things too much I can live without. I don't want a DAC on the Pi - I'll use multiple CCA's since I'm happy with both the analog and digital sound quality from it. After lots of time scouring the forums without figuring out how to set this up (but wow I've learned lots of new acronyms!) I decided to pose the questions directly to the experts who have done it already -
1. Am I correct thinking the only hardware I need is a Pi, the power brick, a microSd card for the OS, a USB stick for the FLAC files, and maybe a case? (Pi needs to be "headless")
2. What software should I put on the Pi to do this job?
3. Is there an app better than BubbleUpnp for the android phone or tablet?
Thanks in advance - I know I'm not the only person wanting to do exactly this with the hardware mentioned.
New to the site and new to streaming audio, but I've been into hifi since the late '60s. Currently I'm setting up a semi-vintage system for the office, with a NAD 7140 (donated by a generous friend!) and Paradigm 3SE's, using ChromeCast Audio (CCA) as the source playing either Spotify or my own music.
To try out local streaming, I set up Windows 10 MediaPlayer to stream FLAC files (16/44 and 24/96) from my pc to the Chromecast Audio, controlling playback with BubbleUpnp on an Android phone and tablet, all connected via wifi to my home network. This setup works great but I'd like to eliminate the PC.
I considered plugging a USB drive full of FLAC files into my Xfinity router which has a USB port, but lots of forum posts seem to indicate the cable companies have turned off this port. I also don't think I want to buy a NAS drive with ethernet connection to the router unless It's cheaper than the approach below, since I only need 64GB and don't need redundancy.
So the plan is to set up a Raspberry Pi 3 to replace the PC, with the Pi hard wired (ethernet) to my Xfinity router, and with a 64GB USB stick full of FLAC files at 16/44 and 24/96 plugged into the Pi. The Pi hopefully will be able to stream at least two different audio files concurrently to at least two CCA's, but if multiple streams complicate things too much I can live without. I don't want a DAC on the Pi - I'll use multiple CCA's since I'm happy with both the analog and digital sound quality from it. After lots of time scouring the forums without figuring out how to set this up (but wow I've learned lots of new acronyms!) I decided to pose the questions directly to the experts who have done it already -
1. Am I correct thinking the only hardware I need is a Pi, the power brick, a microSd card for the OS, a USB stick for the FLAC files, and maybe a case? (Pi needs to be "headless")
2. What software should I put on the Pi to do this job?
3. Is there an app better than BubbleUpnp for the android phone or tablet?
Thanks in advance - I know I'm not the only person wanting to do exactly this with the hardware mentioned.