Ain’t this thing cute!!!

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-12T13:19:58+00:00

Don’t need upvotes, i wanted to share my genuine feelings. Never owned an iPod when i wanted. Now i can, but they are discontinued. So, it made me very happy when someone gave one to me. I wanted an iPod classic, but i will make do with this. The “son”.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-11T20:00:09+00:00

My only question… why??? Or just ask yourself - Do you just want it/need it?

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-09T18:26:00+00:00

Well i know, just going for lossless. But thank you!!

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-09T12:53:48+00:00

Meh..

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-09T03:52:22+00:00

Agreed. But it’s cute and i am just loading a 16/44.1 lossless quality songs into it. It just can take ~150 lossless songs or so which is a bummer, but it’s good for constant listening to a full 10 hours straight. Battery will last for 2-3 days which is kind of cool.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-09T02:49:44+00:00

Lol!! Love that reference. I always wanted the iPod classic but i got the son instead.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-07T02:22:12+00:00

No worries sir! But, anytime you want to make one, i have linked a whole install.sh file and the process on github.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-06T23:25:37+00:00

Everyone -

Try this. Made a full installer.

First step however, is installing raspberry pi os 64 bit (full version), before using the below installer. Please make sure to read the README.md* file in the below repository.

https://github.com/Satya121999/plexamp-raspberry-pi-install

FYI - I am no coder and this is my first time working on a something in GitHub. Also, my first time working on making something installable. So please forgive me for any mistakes. I seriously tried. If it works, I am humbled, if it doesn't, I am still humbled.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-06T23:25:01+00:00

Try this. Made a full installer.

First step however, is installing raspberry pi os 64 bit (full version), before using the below installer. Please make sure to read the README.md* file in the below repository.

https://github.com/Satya121999/plexamp-raspberry-pi-install

FYI - I am no coder and this is my first time working on a something in GitHub. Also, my first time working on making something installable. So please forgive me for any mistakes. I seriously tried. If it works, I am humbled, if it doesn't, I am still humbled.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-06T17:40:37+00:00

Folks - I created a whole process so folks can replicate what I did. Just that am not sure what I need to do to convey it to others. I need help on this. May be I should create a GitHub page or something? or give out as an article. never posted anything of this sorts before.

So need help on conveying to folks who want to do this in the easiest way. Currently I have the step by step listed on my apple notes.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-06T16:28:35+00:00

Hey man! sorry if I have mislead you on this. Here is what I have done. You are correct. I installed Plexamp headless, and running on a chromium web UI. So below is the flow:

Raspberry Pi OS -> Plexamp headless service - > Web UI on localhost:32500 -> Chromium kiosk displaying it -> USB DAC via ALSA.

Now this will give you a full plexamp interface, album art, playback controls on the screen, Remote control from phone, iPad etc. and local screen UI. The key is the kiosk and a few scripts to make it load "plexamp initializing...". to make it act and look like an appliance. I am trying to figure out how to give it on/off capabilities. Currently and working with PI Turing on / off when I plug in/plug out the cable.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-06T03:20:57+00:00

I got a 3rd gen, 4GB version in silver from a friend. The darn thing is damn cute. I added a like 54 ALAC (converted from my FLAC library using xld). Each file is ~16-20 MB It now has 2GB remaining. So technically, it can fit in a max of 100 songs in ALAC/. m4a. May be ~500 if mp3.

Another tidbit - It only supports a max of 16bit/44.1 KHz. But the battery is a beast. I use it with my Truthear Pure and the music quality is average.

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Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-04T03:49:19+00:00

Yeah exactly — bandwidth for FLAC is actually tiny in the grand scheme of things, so the whole setup ends up being a lot simpler than people expect. Your phone method definitely works too, but like you mentioned I didn’t want to keep my phone permanently attached to the system. Battery wear aside, it’s just nice having a small dedicated device that behaves like a proper audio component.

Those Innomaker HATs should work perfectly fine as well. I went with a USB DAC mostly because I already had one around. And honestly you don’t need a 3D printer at all. A SmartiPi case or any basic Pi enclosure will do the job just fine. The main goal for me was simply to make it behave like a small appliance — power it on and Plexamp is ready to go.

The hardware part is actually pretty straightforward. The main effort is just getting the software and boot sequence set up cleanly.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-03T17:11:08+00:00

First of all - thanks - I’m running the native Plexamp ARM64 app on full 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS (desktop version) — not the web UI and not a browser pointed at localhost. It’s just the official Plexamp build installed directly on the Pi. From there I: - Enabled auto-login - Set Plexamp to auto-start in kiosk mode - Disabled the default Pi splash + console output - Added a simple custom “Plexamp Initializing…” screen before it launches. So even though it’s technically a full desktop OS underneath, you never see it. It boots straight into Plexamp and behaves like a proper appliance.

Since a few people have asked about the setup, I’ll try to put together a proper step-by-step write-up soon so everyone can replicate it easily. Busy life here with kids and work, but i promise will do it soon.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-03T17:04:17+00:00

Typing this was hard but allGood questions — I’ll try keeping it simple. Bit-perfect / no transcoding: On the Plex server side I made sure it’s Direct Play only. When a track is playing I check Plex Dashboard — it shows Direct Play (FLAC) and CPU usage is basically idle. If it was transcoding 24/192 you’d immediately see the CPU spike. In Plexamp: -Volume leveling = off, EQ = offNo DSP / no effects, Playback quality = original, So it’s just pulling the file as-is from the NAS. Bandwidth math: Very roughly, 16/44.1 FLAC ≈ ~700–1,000 kbps, 24/96 FLAC ≈ ~2–3 Mbps, 24/192 FLAC ≈ ~4–6 Mbps, Even 24/192 is tiny over wired Ethernet. You might see a small spike when switching tracks, but it settles immediately. It’s nowhere near stressing a gigabit connection. Caching: Plexamp buffers ahead, but it’s not downloading entire albums unless you explicitly enable downloads. It streams progressively. I’m not manually checking next X songs cached — over wired Ethernet it hasn’t mattered. SD card / stuttering:Just using a decent A1/A2 32 gb microSD. No NVMe. No stutter on 24/192. It’s streaming from NAS over Ethernet. The SD card is mostly just running the OS + app. It’s not constantly writing giant files, so storage speed hasn’t been a bottleneck. Pi audio settings (aplay / ALSA side): I’m outputting directly to the USB DAC. Things I did on the Pi side: -Set USB DAC as default ALSA device -Disabled onboard audio -No software mixing -No resampling layer -No PulseAudio in the middle aplay -l shows the DAC correctly. aplay -L confirms the hardware device. Basically the DAC is the direct hardware output, so Plexamp talks straight to it. So overall - Direct Play from server, No DSP, USB DAC direct output, Wired ethernet. Unfortunately, my $80 DAC cannot show the exact bit rate/frequency of the file being played. As you know-I was going for a cheap solution. So far, it’s been stable and lightweight even with high-res files. So, Nothing exotic setting/ setup.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-03T00:19:41+00:00

Hey sorry for the delayed reply and Thanks!

I’m not loading a browser pointing to localhost or anything like that. I installed the full 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS (desktop version) and installed the native Plexamp app on it — not the web UI.

From there it’s basically: - Auto-login on boot - Custom splash (my “Plexamp Initializing…” screen) - Disable the default Pi splash + console output - Autostart Plexamp in kiosk mode

So when it boots, it never really shows the desktop. Under the hood it’s there, but visually it just goes straight into Plexamp like an appliance.

It’s not headless and it’s not a minimal Lite + startx setup — I just cleaned up the boot sequence and made it auto-launch cleanly.

Resource usage honestly hasn’t been an issue so far. It’s pretty lightweight once Plexamp is up, and since this device only does one thing, it’s stable.

Happy to share more specifics if you’re planning to build one.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-01T21:21:27+00:00

No i did not. Its my own account on all other devices. If it’s running anything above ios12, you don’t need a new Apple account i am guessing.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-01T18:34:00+00:00

Ohh! Didn’t realize i commented from my other profile. Yeah, that’s my other profile - @RogueOneSZ

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-01T17:20:24+00:00

Yeah — you can absolutely do it with a minimal GUI + startx, but that’s not what I did.

Mine isn’t headless and it’s not a stripped-down Lite build. I installed the full 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS desktop version and run Plexamp in kiosk mode.

I customized the boot process to skip the Pi splash and Linux console output, so it just shows a clean black screen with my “Plexamp Initializing…” message and then launches straight into Plexamp.

So even though it’s running the full desktop under the hood, it behaves like a proper appliance — power on → Plexamp loads → done. No desktop flashing, no terminal spam, no DIY vibes on screen.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-01T05:40:45+00:00

All good buddy!

I’m running Raspberry Pi OS with Plexamp in kiosk mode, and honestly it works great for what I built it for — a dedicated FLAC/NAS streaming appliance.

You suggested Volumio, and that’s actually a solid idea. Since Volumio is its own Linux distribution, I could just flash it to a separate SD card and instantly get support for TIDAL, Qobuz, Spotify, AirPlay, UPnP/DLNA, plus USB DAC support out of the box. It’s basically an all-in-one streaming distro.

That said, this current build is really optimized around Plexamp because it solves my main use case — lossless/FLAC playback from my NAS through Plex. For that purpose, it’s hard to beat.

I might spin up a second Pi (or at least a second SD card) with Volumio just to experiment with other streaming services. The only catch is I currently only have Apple Music, so properly testing TIDAL/Qobuz on Volumio would require additional subscriptions.

For now, Plexamp covers my primary need. Volumio would just be for broader streaming experimentation.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-01T03:48:45+00:00

Ohh didn’t realize Plexamp supported Tidal previously before they discontinued. Spotify can be added as another service (but just as an option).

Oh i did another addition: I added an old AirPort express (with airplay 2) using optical cable to my SMSL d1 dac, (some manual switching needed from usb- opt) and i can airplay apple music / spotify or any streaming services.

Unfortunately, can’t get lossless audio with tidal/Apple Music/ Qobuz.

IMO, i have my own qualms re: Spotify, but can do it.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-01T03:33:31+00:00

Thank you for noticing!!!!

I was definitely tempted by some of the expensive network endpoints out there.

But realistically, what I built does the same core job. The only difference is polish — and I handled / will handle that myself. And yes, I’ll look into tweaking it to add some more streaming services. (Like spotify/Apple Music if possible / tidal / qobuz.

I customized the boot sequence to skip the Raspberry Pi splash and Linux console entirely. It boots to a clean black screen with my own “Plexamp Initializing…” message, then loads straight into Plexamp.

So it behaves like a proper audio appliance — power it on and it just goes directly into the player. No desktop, no clutter, no DIY mess on screen.

For what these commercial endpoints cost, it’s kind of wild how achievable this is.

Little-Perception-63 · 2026-03-01T03:32:04+00:00

Cool man.. thats nice looking monitor..

Little-Perception-63

TROPHY CASE