# hybrid carputer media player more media player



## bilbo6209 (Oct 12, 2015)

I saw a post by DGBrown and I am going to be building more of a media player then a Car PC but being that it is a Rasperry Pi2 it is capable of a lot more so I thought I would throw it out here to see if anyone had other thoughts or suggestions.

Hopefully DGBrown joins in here too so we can both share our experiences building the devices.

What I will be purchasing is this;
--HiFiBerry DIGI+ 
--at least one durable USB hard drive 
--USB Wifi adaptor, not 100% sure what one yet
--Rotor 7" Quad Core 8GB HD tablet or newest Amazon fire tablet 
--Cable matters super speed USB 3.0 Y-cable (to power HD) 
--Mausberry Circuits 3amp Supply/Switch 
--SqueezePlug/Max2Play image for Raspberry PI 2 

I am in the early stages, I have a R-pi2, license for Squuzeplug/max2play, and the HiFiBerry digi+ has been shipped. I also have a few USB hard drives to play with for now. 

What I plan on doing is building the R-PI in the house and getting the software bulletproof before even thinking of bringing it out to the car!!! I want/need to make sure it is easily controlled without all kinds of extra BS that will be distracting and cause an accident.

What I am hoping to accomplish is to have the R-PI/digi+ connected to the DSP I will be installing in the spring via digital connection, the R-PI will be acting as a wifi access point for the tablet (or passengers phones) and will host a web interface as part of the squeezeplug software package to allow you to pick songs/playlists etc that will be played through the audio system directly through the digital output to the DSP.

The extra power adapters etc will allow the R-Pi to be powered on and off when the car is powered on and off. 

This will be a bit of a slow build but I will keep it updated as I go along.


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## NealfromNZ (Sep 3, 2013)

Kodi OS also looks interesting. Thinking of using a pi to replace my netbook based carpc. Also check out the latest Announcing new DAC's: HiFime 9018 series sabre based USB doc. Better DAC and than most hi end car audio HU's. But a bit of a waste to use it for optical duties. But an easy way to go .


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## mfenske (Feb 7, 2006)

I might actually try something similar to this. I've got the Rpi2 running Kodi and it works great (using in the house at the moment)and bought the Mausberry circuit. I may try to use the wifi to use Yatse to control the Pi or perhaps a touchscreen instead. Seems like a good option though.


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## bilbo6209 (Oct 12, 2015)

Well the hifiberry arrived today, so I will be installing Squeezeplug on hopefully after helping my parents tomorrow afternoon. 

Once I have Squeezeplug installed and configured I will hook it up to my home stereo with a USB drive filled with FLAC files and will start playing.


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## 4thseason (Mar 31, 2013)

bilbo

I'd suggest you check this out RuneAudio - Embedded Hi-Fi music player It's a solid platform with an active community and is constantly being refined and updated. It sounds like exactly what you're looking for I've been using it since my first single core pi and it really works well.


B~


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## porscheman (Jan 1, 2012)

i like this one better, haven't had as big of issues making my setup run with it
https://volumio.org/


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## craiggus365 (Apr 5, 2009)

Have you tried Kodi on the home computer?
It has some great features, the stream to android is cool too.
Even better than that is Plex, if video streaming is your forte. (it downsamples high bitrate files to make them watchable remotely over wifi - ie on any network, not just on your home network, anywhere.)


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## bilbo6209 (Oct 12, 2015)

craiggus365 said:


> Have you tried Kodi on the home computer?
> It has some great features, the stream to android is cool too.
> Even better than that is Plex, if video streaming is your forte. (it downsamples high bitrate files to make them watchable remotely over wifi - ie on any network, not just on your home network, anywhere.)


Oh yes I have an android box behind every TV, a shared database, and a shared library on my file server at home  Kodk is great. Apparently the Squeezeplug has Kodi loaded also, I have been crazy busy with other house projects and haven't had the chance to get the R-pi set up yet but I hope to have time tomorrow after rebuilding my VM server and cleaning up the garage after having it tied up way too long doing a bunch of needed maintenance on my car (previous owner delayed it not me, I have only owned the car for 2.5 months lol) 

Bill


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## 4thseason (Mar 31, 2013)

porscheman said:


> i like this one better, haven't had as big of issues making my setup run with it
> https://volumio.org/






While I have nothing bad to say about Volumio, as a matter of fact I used it before Rune and after the two developers made the slipt while developing Raspifi.

I ultimately chose Rune as it's developer was the coder for the raspifi which Volumio just re branded as its own- and ACX the coder decided to start over with a whole new player based on Arch linux focusing on staying with bit-perfect play using all new code and through its support and community has been updating and modding it to make it better at a growing rate. Thought the interfaces look very similar I think that's about where it ends.

If you're interested check out this explanation-


About RuneAudio and Volumio : General discussion RuneAudio Forum
As for Kodi I know that it is possible to use ALSA for bit perfect play but never had luck with it having problems as soon as it switches formats and reverts back to Pulse Audio which certainly is not bit perfect which I assume we are all shooting for in our 2 Channel listening..

I'm in no way involved with Rune and I too have had my share of challenges getting it to play nice with my 2TB attached music server and even more so in the House with a Nas but again their community is proactive in helping all users even non-linux people like myself. 

B~


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## bilbo6209 (Oct 12, 2015)

Well here's my latest update.

I found Engineering(DIY) and kinda fell in love with the Kodi Skin, I have been a big fan of Kodi/XBMC for many years...

So my build so far is the following;
1 Raspberry Pi 2
1. HiFi Berry digi +
1. RTL2832U USB FM Tuner taht I intend on tying into the cars factory antenna
1. GlobalSat BU-353-S4 USB GPS Receiver
1. 7"inch 1280x800 N070ICG-LD1 N070ICG-LD4 
1. 7-Inch-USB-interface-capacitive-touch-screen designed for the screen
1. Mausberry 3A CAR SUPPLY / SWITCH to safely turn the R-Pi off and On
At least 2 hard drives, not 100% sure on what yet 

I have 1 larger portable drives I am using for testing (1.5tb laptop sized drives). 

I have received everything except the screen and touch panel but they are on order  

I was hoping to have everything in hand and hooked up on the house for a couple weeks before installing in the car with a new DSP, but I just found out in 3 weeks I get to have neck/spine surgery and between being out of work for at least 2 to 3 weeks for recovery, and my deductible, and finding out that the transmission is going out on my car  ($3000+ repair, but my 2003 Audi S6 is still worth well over $15000 so its well worth putting in a transmission  ) I'm guessing my upgrades will be waiting a few month at least  

But on the plus side this will give me plenty of time to figure out the monitor mounting etc,


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## ryanougrad (Jan 31, 2016)

bilbo6209 said:


> Well here's my latest update.
> 
> I found Engineering(DIY) and kinda fell in love with the Kodi Skin, I have been a big fan of Kodi/XBMC for many years...
> 
> ...


Wow. Nice list. I might have to give this a try. Perfect for my needs.


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## ryanougrad (Jan 31, 2016)

Just thinking this over. How are you planning to power the screen? I read a tutorial online for putting a raspberry in your car and it mentioned the screen needs to be powered separate from the Raspberry. Is the plan to use a convertor of some sort for the screen? I see the 3 volt plug to the Raspberry.


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## bilbo6209 (Oct 12, 2015)

ryanougrad said:


> Just thinking this over. How are you planning to power the screen? I read a tutorial online for putting a raspberry in your car and it mentioned the screen needs to be powered separate from the Raspberry. Is the plan to use a convertor of some sort for the screen? I see the 3 volt plug to the Raspberry.


I need to look at what exactly the screen needs, I could possibly power it off the Mausberry adaptor along with the R-Pi, other wise there are more than enough 12 to 5v converters out there and I would power it off of an ignition controlled circuit. 

I am reading on the forums for the skin and someone already has a R-Pi*3* and has already updated the kernel to have support fro touch screens, so it looks like we might be able to do the R-Pi3 in this setup also.

To keep things simple I am most likely going to buy or build self powered USB drives, this will prevent any odd issues of the drives pulling too much power from the Pi ETC
drive cages kind of like these http://www.amazon.com/MiniPro-trade...8-11&keywords=powered+usb+drive+enclosure+2.5 

I still need to play with drive size to see if large drives (1.5 to 2tb or larger) have fast enough access etc (my current car stereo takes about 2 minutes to index a 2tb drive before you can access it) If larger drives work well then I would most likely end up with 2 larger drives, if larger drives have slower access times then I will have to put a few smaller ones on a hub ( I have about 1.5TB or more of Audio currently and about 500gb or more of Audio Books. 

I can't wait to get this in the car!


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## ryanougrad (Jan 31, 2016)

I'm not too worried about HD size. I will probably run a USB to an easily accessible spot like the glovebox or under the drivers seat so that I can update music on the hard drive frequently. The thing I need to sort out is how this will play with a DSP, particularly Helix Pro or Helix P Six. Neither version of Helix accepts an optical signal under 1khz or more than 96khz, so sending Pandora, Radio etc over optical won't work out. I assume I can stream via bluetooth to Helix. Just have to check how Helix handles switching. Also if the Raspberry can be configured so I can switch outputs b/t Bluetooth and optical. 

Also, what is the plan for mounting/installing this?

*edit: With the Director control it seems I can control Helix switching. This looks really promising.


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## bilbo6209 (Oct 12, 2015)

ryanougrad said:


> I'm not too worried about HD size. I will probably run a USB to an easily accessible spot like the glovebox or under the drivers seat so that I can update music on the hard drive frequently. The thing I need to sort out is how this will play with a DSP, particularly Helix Pro or Helix P Six. Neither version of Helix accepts an optical signal under 1khz or more than 96khz, so sending Pandora, Radio etc over optical won't work out. I assume I can stream via bluetooth to Helix. Just have to check how Helix handles switching. Also if the Raspberry can be configured so I can switch outputs b/t Bluetooth and optical.
> 
> Also, what is the plan for mounting/installing this?
> 
> *edit: With the Director control it seems I can control Helix switching. This looks really promising.


I'm still shopping for my DSP, but it wont be for a few months at least  till I'm able to bend my neck again after surgery at least.

I'm not sure yet on the DSP but I'm looking heavily at the Mini-DSP, the one that is REALLY interesting to me is the new Rainbow but I want to hear some hands on reviews of it before I throw $700++ at it. Before I do buy one I want to make sure it matches up with the output of the Digi+ 

I am planning on pulling my existing double din radio out of the car and putting the Pi and all the required cards in its place and then mounting the touch screen in the place of the Double Din face (I am still waiting for the screen to get here so I haven't played with mounting options yet)

I too am thinking of running the USBs to the glove box, I will most likely do 2 physical drives and have an empty plug for a USB stick also. 

I will be going 2 way active fronts with an older set of Morels, and a rear stage (not 100% sure how i want to do it yet) because I go have rear passengers in my car fairly frequently. All i need is a DSP to add into my existing system and I can swap teh radio for the Pi, and then I will need 6 to 8 channels @ around 100wrms @ 4ohm to do the car 100% to my plan  and then who knows what I will do in the future LOL it all depends on how deep i want to go down the rabbit hole LOL

OH on the forums for the CarPc skin, there is also a add-on that brings in OBD info to the skin, I might add that on also.


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## ryanougrad (Jan 31, 2016)

bilbo6209 said:


> I'm still shopping for my DSP, but it wont be for a few months at least  till I'm able to bend my neck again after surgery at least.
> 
> I'm not sure yet on the DSP but I'm looking heavily at the Mini-DSP, the one that is REALLY interesting to me is the new Rainbow but I want to hear some hands on reviews of it before I throw $700++ at it. Before I do buy one I want to make sure it matches up with the output of the Digi+
> 
> ...


What forum are you finding the skin, is it called CarPC?


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## ryanougrad (Jan 31, 2016)

It seems Raspberry has an official screen for the Pi https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/the-eagerly-awaited-raspberry-pi-display/ and they sorted out the power issues.


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## bilbo6209 (Oct 12, 2015)

I wanted something with a resolution that was higher than 800x480 that's why I went with a different screen. 

The DIY forum linked above is the one I am referring to, the skin is called CarPc 

The screen got here today so Im really hoping the touch portion gets here pretty soon too. Then I will put it all together and start playing


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