http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux March 2020 LXF260 39Raspberry Pi projects
Coming to our rescue, then, are a variety of DAC
(digital analogue converter) HAT boards that enable
faithful audio reproduction for not much money. We
tested the IQaudIO DAC+ HAT, which allows glorious
24-bit 192kHz audio reproduction. It takes the digital
audio signal from the Pi via the I2S protocol and delivers
it to its own high-fidelity DAC. There are other
manufacturers too, such as HiFiBerry and Allo (which
even offers a separate reclocking unit to circumvent
oddities from resampling audio signals). Some HATs
even feature a built-in amplifier, so you can make a tiny
35 watts-per-channel boombox. We preferred the idea
of using our quality 1990s amplifiers though, and found
IQaudIO’s offering produced a sound that was most
satisfactory – except to our neighbours; they, it turns
out, do not like psytrance.
Turning your Pi into a smart audio hub is easy with
the Volumio distribution. It’s available for PCs, Pis and
other boards, grab it from https://volumio.org/get-
started. Once you’ve flashed the SD Card, fire up your
Pi and connect to the hotspot it sets up from another
device. If you’re Pi doesn’t have wireless (or has an
unsupported wireless chip), then use a cable to
connect it to your router.
Volumio has partnered with Allo to make the
NanoSound player, which is made of a Pi and one of
Allo’s high-grade DACs fitted with a custom OLED
display. It’s all housed in a nice box (available in a variety
of colours) with playback and power buttons. It also
comes with a remote control, which can even turn the Pi
on and off thanks to wake-up circuitry in the DAC board.
Pimoroni’s Pirate Audio range (https://shop.pimoroni.
com/collections/pirate-audio) is also well worthy of
your attention.Wheels of steel/silicon
Old-school music aficionados will tell you there’s
nothing like vinyl, and they’re not wrong. Vinyl has a
unique quality that’s hard to put into words. This isn’t
the place for an analogue vs vinyl debate – what we’re
wanting to get at is that a lot of DJing is done entirely
digitally now, with artificial turntables used to mimic
the tactility of traditional beatmixing, scratching and
cutting. Sadly those systems (e.g. Traktor, Pioneer CDJ/Let’s be clear, you
can’t run Steam
on the Pi. But with
the Steam Link
App, you can run it
through the Pi.XDJs) are entirely proprietary in nature. Back in LXF250
we interviewed Isle of Wight-based duo Daniel Smith
and Chris Obbard, who together make up 64 Studio.
One of the fruits of their labours is PiDeck, which brings
the magic of vinyl to the Pi.
Digital vinyl systems have been around since around
the turn of the millennium (Serato being one of the first
to market) and allow conventional decks to manipulate
the output of a digital music source. This is done
through the magic of timecode vinyl (which, no
matter how poor your taste in electronic music, is
not something you’d want to actually listen to). As the
name suggests, the vinyl is just a means of transferring
(accurate!) tempo information to the music player. Spin
the vinyl faster and the track will play faster, slow it to a
stop and the music will slow down and stop accordingly.
This all requires low latency to be of any use, as well
as a music player equipped with tempo transforms.
PiDeck has it all, and we urge you to read more about it
at http://pideck.com or check the YouTube channel at
http://www.youtube.com/c/PiDeck.STREAMING STEAMING HOT Pi
The Pi can’t run the official Steam client, but it can be used as a
Steam Link, streaming games from your main PC to your living room
TV. This function has been disappointing on previous models, but it
works tremendously well on the newest Raspberry Pi 4. A Pi running
the Steam Link app is functionally equivalent to Valve’s outdated
Steam Link hardware, only dialed up to 10: the Pi is a much more
powerful device. The app has been updated for the fourth-generation
Pi – just run sudo apt install steamlink to install it – but we’d say it
still has a little way to go. The old techniques for running it
automatically don’t yet work, so you need to keep a keyboard and
mouse connected to your Pi to launch it when the time is right, and
the current implementation is tied to H.264 streaming.
The Pi 4’s hardware makeup caps H.264 at 1080p, which means
the app isn’t able to stream games in 4K, despite the gigabit
Ethernet port being capable of handling the amount of data required.
Valve may have discontinued the hardware Steam Link, but it
continues to support the software version. There’s no reason the
streaming stack won’t get an upgrade to support H.265 in the future,
so keep an eye on it if you’re looking to exploit that new TV to its full
extent. Alternatively, Nvidia’s Shield ($149) coupled with GeForce
Now on your PC can stream 4K games over your network, and it’s a
significantly more elegant solution to get the job done.Make Pi audio great again- just attach the HAT,
connect to your amplifier
with phono (or jack)
cables to your amplifier,
and enjoy luscious sound.
3332March 0 h2rSenshSnigtom March 2020LXF260 39
Raspberry Pi projects
Coming to our rescue, then, are a variety of DAC
(digital analogue converter) HAT boards that enable
faithful audio reproduction for not much money. We
tested the IQaudIO DAC+ HAT, which allows glorious
24-bit 192kHz audio reproduction. It takes the digital
audio signal from the Pi via the I2S protocol and delivers
it to its own high-fidelity DAC. There are other
manufacturers too, such as HiFiBerry and Allo (which
even offers a separate reclocking unit to circumvent
oddities from resampling audio signals). Some HATs
even feature a built-in amplifier, so you can make a tiny
35 watts-per-channel boombox. We preferred the idea
of using our quality 1990s amplifiers though, and found
IQaudIO’s offering produced a sound that was most
satisfactory – except to our neighbours; they, it turns
out, do not like psytrance.
Turning your Pi into a smart audio hub is easy with
the Volumio distribution. It’s available for PCs, Pis and
other boards, grab it from https://volumio.org/get-
started. Once you’ve flashed the SD Card, fire up your
Pi and connect to the hotspot it sets up from another
device. If you’re Pi doesn’t have wireless (or has an
unsupported wireless chip), then use a cable to
connect it to your router.
Volumio has partnered with Allo to make the
NanoSound player, which is made of a Pi and one of
Allo’s high-grade DACs fitted with a custom OLED
display. It’s all housed in a nice box (available in a variety
of colours) with playback and power buttons. It also
comes with a remote control, which can even turn the Pi
on and off thanks to wake-up circuitry in the DAC board.
Pimoroni’s Pirate Audio range (https://shop.pimoroni.
com/collections/pirate-audio) is also well worthy of
your attention.
Wheels of steel/silicon
Old-school music aficionados will tell you there’s
nothing like vinyl, and they’re not wrong. Vinyl has a
unique quality that’s hard to put into words. This isn’t
the place for an analogue vs vinyl debate – what we’re
wanting to get at is that a lot of DJing is done entirely
digitally now, with artificial turntables used to mimic
the tactility of traditional beatmixing, scratching and
cutting. Sadly those systems (e.g. Traktor, Pioneer CDJ/
Let’s be clear, you
can’t run Steam
on the Pi. But with
the Steam Link
App, you can run it
through the Pi.XDJs) are entirely proprietary in nature. Back in LXF250
we interviewed Isle of Wight-based duo Daniel Smith
and Chris Obbard, who together make up 64 Studio.
One of the fruits of their labours is PiDeck, which brings
the magic of vinyl to the Pi.
Digital vinyl systems have been around since around
the turn of the millennium (Serato being one of the first
to market) and allow conventional decks to manipulate
the output of a digital music source. This is done
through the magic of timecode vinyl (which, no
matter how poor your taste in electronic music, is
not something you’d want to actually listen to). As the
name suggests, the vinyl is just a means of transferring
(accurate!) tempo information to the music player. Spin
the vinyl faster and the track will play faster, slow it to a
stop and the music will slow down and stop accordingly.
This all requires low latency to be of any use, as well
as a music player equipped with tempo transforms.
PiDeck has it all, and we urge you to read more about it
at http://pideck.com or check the YouTube channel at
http://www.youtube.com/c/PiDeck.STREAMINGSTEAMINGHOTPi
ThePican’truntheofficialSteamclient,butitcanbeusedasa
SteamLink,streaminggamesfromyourmainPCtoyourlivingroom
TV.Thisfunctionhasbeendisappointingonpreviousmodels,butit
workstremendouslywellonthenewestRaspberryPi4.APirunning
theSteamLinkappisfunctionallyequivalenttoValve’soutdated
SteamLinkhardware,onlydialedupto10:thePiisamuchmore
powerfuldevice.Theapphasbeenupdatedforthefourth-generation
Pi–justrunsudoaptinstallsteamlinktoinstallit–butwe’dsayit
stillhasalittlewaytogo.Theoldtechniquesforrunningit
automaticallydon’tyetwork,soyouneedtokeepakeyboardand
mouseconnectedtoyourPitolaunchitwhenthetimeisright,and
thecurrentimplementationistiedtoH.264streaming.
ThePi4’shardwaremakeupcapsH.264at1080p,whichmeans
theappisn’tabletostreamgamesin4K,despitethegigabit
Ethernetportbeingcapableofhandlingtheamountofdatarequired.
ValvemayhavediscontinuedthehardwareSteamLink,butit
continuestosupportthesoftwareversion.There’snoreasonthe
streamingstackwon’tgetanupgradetosupportH.265inthefuture,
sokeepaneyeonitifyou’relookingtoexploitthatnewTVtoitsfull
extent.Alternatively,Nvidia’sShield($149)coupledwithGeForce
NowonyourPCcanstream4Kgamesoveryournetwork,andit’sa
significantlymoreelegantsolutiontogetthejobdone.Make Pi audio great again- just attach the HAT,
connect to your amplifier
with phono (or jack)
cables to your amplifier,
and enjoy luscious sound.