I Don’t Need You, But I Want You
This Raspberry Pi-powered streaming music player is a blast from the past that only does one thing, but does it with style.
All-in-one devices like smartphones have taken over the functions of what used to be many discrete devices. Alarm clocks, GPS navigation units, dedicated music players, cameras, and even desktop calendars are rapidly going the way of the dodo bird. From the standpoint of portability, connectivity, convenience, and even environmental protection this is a good thing. But there is undeniably also something that is lost.
Gone are the days when a beautiful stereo was the centerpiece of a room’s entertainment system. The little black rectangle that has taken its place just does not have the same appeal. No buttons to click, no knobs to turn, no aesthetic appeal. It is, in a word, blah. We have replaced style with pure function.
Many people are feeling that this is not an entirely good direction to continue in, which has led lots of hardware hackers to build dedicated devices to perform a function that is no longer necessary, but is very much desired. Nik Reitmann’s Streaming Audio Player fits perfectly into this category. Is it 2005 all over again? Who needs a toaster-sized box that does nothing but play music. No one needs it, but that is of course not the point.
The audio player has a slick-looking 3D-printed case that looks great on an end table or dresser, and it has clicky buttons and a dial to control it, rather than the unsatisfying, standard-feeling user interface found on touchscreens today. A large display shows the name of the song that is being played along with the album’s artwork.
Inside, the device is powered by a Raspberry Pi running the piCorePlayer audio system, which in turn leverages Squeezelite. An Arduino was also brought into the mix to act as a remote control for adjusting volume levels. A remotely-controlled relay is wired to the display such that it can be completely powered down when not in use.
The details are a bit scant in the project write-up at this time, so it may be difficult for a beginner to reproduce, but if you were born with a soldering iron and keyboard in your hands, you should be able to hack your own Streaming Audio Player together without too much trouble. Now if only someone could get this device running Winamp, that would really whip the llama’s … well, if you know, you know.