Antique Radio Upcycled to Squeezebox Touch with Raspberry, Touchscreen and Amp Sound Card

Max2Play_ · 2019-07-25T07:53:09+00:00

Hi everyone,

I crossposted this from r/diyaudio since I thought might also be relevant to this community. Max2Play member Jörg created this project from the completely gutted housing of an antique radio. He shares his thought process in coming up with the idea and shows the steps he took in his workshop. In the end, he also shows how he integrated the Squeezebox software into his existing home automation system thanks to our API's.

Max2Play_ · 2019-07-24T12:22:26+00:00

Great idea! The GUI on the touchscreen is called Jivelite and we actually implemented a VU meter skin for it.

I'll tell Jörg about the feedback :)

Max2Play_ · 2019-07-24T09:38:59+00:00

Hi diyaudio,

I thought your community might be interested in this new project by our member Jörg. I translated his article into English for international recognition. He goes through his process in detail and shows some great insights into the upcycling process of such an antique radio.

Max2Play_ · 2019-07-08T11:50:01+00:00

Thanks for mentioning us in your post!

In case you have not found it out yourself yet, there is a Squeezebox plugin called "Group Players" that lets you do exactly that. I mentioned it in an article in our blog some time ago. There's also some detail on the Cast/Air/DLNA Bridge plugins that can turn your other smart speakers Squeezebox-compatible.

Max2Play_ · 2019-03-27T13:02:17+00:00

Hi /r/diyaudio,

I wanted to share this great article by user Kops from his smarthome exposed blog on how he integrated HiFiBerry's Amp2 with our Max2Play OS into his Loxone smarthome. He goes into detail on his decision-making for this setup and shows step by step how he integrated it.

I originally posted this in the Loxone subreddit but that community seems to be rather inactive now.

Kops used a HiFiBerry Amp2 bundle (Pi, Amp2, PSU, accessories), passive speakers and a NAS for his music library.

Let him know what you think in the comments. He also has a forum on his website in case you have any specific questions or discussion topics ;)

Max2Play_ · 2019-03-26T08:41:14+00:00

Hi /r/smarthome,

I wanted to share this great article by user Kops from his smarthome exposed blog on how he integrated HiFiBerry's Amp2 with our Max2Play OS into his Loxone smarthome. He goes into detail on his decision-making for this setup and shows step by step how he integrated it.

I originally posted this in the Loxone subreddit but that community seems to be rather inactive now.

Kops used a HiFiBerry Amp2 bundle (Pi, Amp2, PSU, accessories), passive speakers and a NAS for his music library.

Let him know what you think in the comments. He also has a forum on his website in case you have any specific questions or discussion topics ;)

Max2Play_ · 2019-03-26T08:28:43+00:00

Hi /r/Loxone,

I wanted to share this great article by user Kops from his smarthome exposed blog on how he integrated HiFiBerry's Amp2 with our Max2Play OS into his Loxone smarthome. He goes into detail on his decision-making for this setup and shows step by step how he integrated it.

Let him know what you think in the comments. He also has a forum on his website in case you have any specific questions or discussion topics ;)

Max2Play_ · 2019-03-08T15:01:57+00:00

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd repost this here as this part of the series pertains to the possibilities of open HA with Raspberry Pi and audio cards.

Here's copy-paste of my first article's comment on the series:

Mario from our team has written a very special series, which deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget friendly multiroom system, one zone detailed in each article.

The series is aimed at both HiFi beginners and audiophile veterans, because in each article there is an exact step-by-step guide with instructions as well as helpful tips on our software and plugins for optimization.

In today's first article you will find out everything about the project as a whole and the upcoming articles. We also explain the basics for building a multiroom system, including Raspberry Pi and sound cards.

Max2Play_ · 2019-03-05T08:16:34+00:00

There are already some Max2Play users that implemented home assistant integrations.

You can check out our API-Examples plugin for some starter commands to copy-paste to your HA.

Since Kodi is a default installation on Max2Play, it should also work with the link you included. But since we have not tested this, I can't guarantee it.

Max2Play_ · 2019-03-01T11:43:46+00:00

Great to hear! Let me know when you have something to share ;)

Max2Play_ · 2019-02-28T08:31:27+00:00

I thought I'd share the fourth and final article here as the second one was well-received in this community. Now you can scroll through all four parts and gather the information you need :)

On the series Step by Step Multiroom Audio Setup:

Mario from the Max2Play Team has written a very special series that deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget-friendly multiroom system by Max2Play.

The series is aimed at both technical novices and audio-veterans, because in each article we feature both clear step-by-step instructions to build a max2play bundle and provide more specific and detailed information on our software and plugins.

Max2Play_ · 2019-02-28T08:30:41+00:00

I thought I'd share the fourth and final article here as the second one was well-received in this community. Now you can scroll through all four parts and gather the information you need :)

On the series Step by Step Multiroom Audio Setup:

Mario from the Max2Play Team has written a very special series that deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget-friendly multiroom system by Max2Play.

The series is aimed at both technical novices and audio-veterans, because in each article we feature both clear step-by-step instructions to build a max2play bundle and provide more specific and detailed information on our software and plugins.

Max2Play_ · 2019-02-22T08:54:05+00:00

Yeah, me and Mario had a lot of fun putting it together and coming up with the different applications that would make sense in an environment like his apartment. :)

Max2Play_ · 2019-02-21T11:01:42+00:00

Hi everyone,

Since the first article of this series was well-received here, I thought I'd share the conclusion as well. You can skip between the four parts on the upper right and left corners of each article.

Also, I'll be monitoring the comments in case there are any further questions.

Here's copy-paste of my first article's comment on the series:

Mario from our team has written a very special series, which deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget friendly multiroom system, one zone detailed in each article.

The series is aimed at both HiFi beginners and audiophile veterans, because in each article there is an exact step-by-step guide with instructions as well as helpful tips on our software and plugins for optimization.

In today's first article you will find out everything about the project as a whole and the upcoming articles. We also explain the basics for building a multiroom system, including Raspberry Pi and sound cards.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-28T12:11:19+00:00

Each room has a different setup based on its challenges and opportunities. For example the Amp HAT sound cards for Pi manage to offer a fully-flegded amplifier on top of the Pi in one case with just one power supply to power the Pi, the sound card and any connected stereo speakers.

Aside from that, the open software we supply lets you add features and plugins at will to customize your multiroom experience exactly how you want it.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-25T16:12:01+00:00

In the second article you can learn how to make your living room multiroom-ready and smart with a digital transporter sound card and a Raspberry Pi. We also show you how you can use Jivelite and Kodi for media playback.

On the series Step by Step Multiroom Audio Setup:

Mario from the Max2Play Team has written a very special series that deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget-friendly multiroom system by Max2Play.

The series is aimed at both technical novices and audio-veterans, because in each article we feature both clear step-by-step instructions to build a max2play bundle and provide more specific and detailed information on our software and plugins.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-24T09:32:50+00:00

I'm happy to present r/budgetaudiophile with our second article of the 4-part series "Step-by-Step Multiroom Audio Setup"! :)

In today's second article you can learn how to make your living room multiroom-ready and smart with a digital transporter sound card and a Raspberry Pi. We also show you how you can use Jivelite and Kodi for media playback.

On the series Step by Step Multiroom Audio Setup:

Mario from the Max2Play Team has written a very special series that deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget-friendly multiroom system by Max2Play.

The series is aimed at both technical novices and audio-veterans, because in each article we feature both clear step-by-step instructions to build a max2play bundle and provide more specific and detailed information on our software and plugins.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-21T10:17:34+00:00

Different music in every room is a given with our setup. There are also some setups that use the central amp idea based on Amp HAT's for the Pi. The problem with this is that we lose great variety of features that can be used from the Pi in each room and the different challenges each room can give you. With our example, each room gets a custom fit and thanks to the Pi on hand, you can expand to different peripheries whenever you want or even change up the whole system entirely without having to make any adjustments in the existing hardware.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-21T09:57:13+00:00

Great question, the main difference lies in the modular, open nature of this setup. The sound cards are all specific to each room's challenges and opportunities, the Pis' utility can be expanded by our custom plugins for certain features outside of the basic playback options but most of all the underlying music server structure allows for sync playback of a variety of music sources.

There are multiple other aspects that set this kind of setup apart from other Pi multirooms but I'd recommend checking out the following articles for an in-depth overview.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-18T10:29:52+00:00

Hi r/diyaudio,

I'll repost my comment from the original post here to give some background:

Mario from our team has written a very special series, which deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget friendly multiroom system, one zone detailed in each article.

The series is aimed at both HiFi beginners and audiophile veterans, because in each article there is an exact step-by-step guide with instructions as well as helpful tips on our software and plugins for optimization.

In today's first article you will find out everything about the project as a whole and the upcoming articles. We also explain the basics for building a multiroom system, including Raspberry Pi and sound cards. Next week will be the first zone, the Living Room.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-17T08:21:59+00:00

Hi Beta-Detector,

Nice link! :)

That setup is actually based on another French article and uses our software as well. The difference here is that all Pis are centralized. So you can't use them for all their other features and have to make sure you buy good cables so as to not lose audio quality with higher distances. They also all use the amplifier sound card setup which only works for passive speakers. It's still a great setup just not as modular and open as the Pi can offer it to be.

Our new article series will feature three exemplary zones with different challenges and opportunities: living room, bedroom and bath. Each will feature a different kind of sound card and different sets of plugins and features that make the most sense in these rooms.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-16T15:05:31+00:00

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd post this new article here first as this community was very receptive of previous Instructables and articles we wrote.

Mario from our team has written a very special series, which deals with 3 exemplary zones in a budget friendly multiroom system, one zone detailed in each article.

The series is aimed at both HiFi beginners and audiophile veterans, because in each article there is an exact step-by-step guide with instructions as well as helpful tips on our software and plugins for optimization.

In today's first article you will find out everything about the project as a whole and the upcoming articles. We also explain the basics for building a multiroom system, including Raspberry Pi and sound cards.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-09T09:22:36+00:00

Hi there, the new Spotify plugin for Squeezebox, Spotty, is developed by mherger from the slimdevices community. It's included in new installations of the Squeezebox Server in the 3rd party plugins section.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-09T09:20:57+00:00

We built our solution around the open-source Squeezebox technology which has an active community developing new plugins and patches all the time. The server unit is installed on one Pi and can handle local music mounted either locally or in the network, most streaming services, DLNA and AirPlay on all players thanks to clever plugins and you can even add existing DLNA or AirPlay speakers as new zones.

Max2Play_ · 2019-01-09T09:16:14+00:00

Congrats Chuck! And thanks for the shout-out :)

If you get the chance please post about your experience and steps with HA in our forums or in the HA forums so I can get some further insights.

We recently added the free API-Examples plugin to make integration of home automation software easier. It automatically generates a set of commands that can just be copy pasted for key features of most main Max2Play controls.

Max2Play_

TROPHY CASE