[HN Gopher] Spotify Box
___________________________________________________________________
Spotify Box
Author : belter
Score : 67 points
Date : 2021-09-22 20:39 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (evanhailey.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (evanhailey.com)
| briandoll wrote:
| I was wondering what the advantage is to building something like
| this, compared to just using a bluetooth adapter that connects
| via RCA cables (like this box does).
|
| I suppose one advantage is that if you walk far away from your
| stereo, you can loose bluetooth connection and drop audio, where
| this device has it's own WiFi connection and pulls Spotify audio
| directly, and is just manually controlled via your phone.
| wodenokoto wrote:
| Also, music doesn't stop if you visit a webpage with an
| autoplaying video or open an app that plays audio.
| jareklupinski wrote:
| and an Ethernet jack for even more reliability :)
| polpo wrote:
| It also means your phone's battery is not draining while you're
| playing music. I use spotifyd on a Raspberry Pi and it's pretty
| wonderful.
| hammock wrote:
| It's Chromecast Audio, but for Spotify.
| extr wrote:
| Still can't believe they stopped manufacturing these. Such a
| perfect and cheap solution to the same problem as OP:
| streaming audio over WiFi to a "dumb" speaker.
| apecat wrote:
| The tradeoff seems to be that
|
| * Bluetooth offers limited range and uses more battery, and is
| usually interrupted if someone calls, but supports any
| application that can play sound.
|
| * Spotify Connect is its own Spotify client and downloads the
| audio stream from Spotify which allows freedom to roam. But the
| implementation is indeed limited to Spotify and doesn't support
| niceties like volume normalization or nerdy details like
| crossfade (and perhaps not gapless playback)
| mustacheemperor wrote:
| Bluetooth is inherently lossy/compressed, whereas Spotify
| Connect directly streams 320kbps to the client device. I'm not
| sure how much that advantage is negated on a device with such a
| cheap DAC, but cheap DACs can be good. Bluetooth audio is
| always going to have some quality compromises, and it looks
| like this device is intended for a component stereo setup where
| quality matters.
|
| Worth noting streaming Spotify over Chromecast (like on a
| chromecast audio) is oddly enough limited to 256 kbps AAC. The
| TV chromecast devices support Spotify Connect, I guess because
| they boot the full app GUI.
| deeblering4 wrote:
| If you are in the apple ecosystem an airport express provides a
| similar feature set (airplay to analog stero line out) and can
| output to multiple airports (in different rooms) simultaneously.
|
| Granted its not as headless. a iDevice (or airplay compatible
| source) needs to be running.
|
| I have analog stereos in a few rooms and the airport express
| provides a nice way for anyone in the house to cast music from
| whatever app they like. and with modern iOS you can even output
| to different zones for different apps.
|
| The airport expresses are roughly $50 a pop, less if you are
| patient.
| bjelkeman-again wrote:
| Shame they don't sell Airport Express anymore.
| srgpqt wrote:
| They are often sold used for 10$ to 30$ on ebay and other
| sites.
| DenseComet wrote:
| Wow this is a super impressive project. I was originally
| expecting a device built around a Raspberry Pi, but this is a
| completely custom designed linux board!
| NGRhodes wrote:
| And a nicely detailed writeup.
| yepthatsreality wrote:
| I wish Pandora's APIs were more open. There's a library for their
| radio feature[0] but no API for their music subscription service.
|
| [0] https://6xq.net/pianobar/
| mikewave wrote:
| For anyone else who wants to do this, just set up the absolutely
| amazing Volumio on your RPi or any other computer.
|
| https://volumio.org/
|
| The web app is great for use in your house, the Spotify plugin is
| first class - it's supported as a target in your Spotify app, or
| you can browse straight from the webapp, which means even a guest
| on your wifi can easily pop on and help pick the music.
| lostgame wrote:
| I was not aware there was an OSS Spotify client before reading
| this article.
|
| That's neat!
| celim307 wrote:
| Would a chrome cast audio work? Or is it not high fidelity enough
| ddrmaxgt37 wrote:
| It should work. I have one outputting digital to my hi-fi via
| TOSLINK.
| bigtones wrote:
| A $30 Raspberry Pi with free Volumio serves the same purpose for
| me, and I can attach a DAC hat to the top of the Pi for high
| fidelity audio - but this looks so much better with it's
| beautiful wood finish.
| mikewave wrote:
| Any recommendations for the DAC? I'm using a USB sound card
| right now on my Volumio Pi but haven't been thrilled about it.
| What I really want is SPDIF coaxial or optical output, on the
| cheap.
| feelepxyz wrote:
| I've been using a HifiBerry DAC (DAC+ DSP) with a RBP and
| their HifiBerry OS which comes with a bunch of streaming
| services built in, the DSP DAC also allows you to upload a
| profile to adjust for room acoustics.
| Klonoar wrote:
| Since it uses spotifyd, this only works with Premium accounts
| right?
|
| Very cool project otherwise, love the end result.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2021-09-22 23:00 UTC)