Raspberry Pi-based Head Unit

[Naxin]

You can always look at something like the Pi3 with the HiFiBerry DAC's. Ive used the Pi3 and DAC+ to do a multi media system in businesses with great success with something like RuneAudio. Could also look at the Digi+ for that optical connection to the DSP.

Thanks. I did some research on these devices, there's also the Audiophonics DAC Sabre V3 and the MamoBerry DAC all compatible with the Raspberry Pi that seem pretty good. I wanted to add as well, that the Allo Piano 2.1 that I meantioned apparently doesn't rate as well, but is cheaper.

Hans Beekhuyzen on Youtube does reviews on almost all of these. My conclusion is that the Allo Boss DAC is cream of the crop, with ,one advantage being that you can power the DAC chip completely seperately from the Pi (via USB-C) in the 1.2 revision of the chip, which apparently can have massive impact with the right power supply.

 

[Naxin]

I managed to buy a Audison Bit.One in fantastic condition second hand today for $300 AUD. In US car audio economics that's about $150 USD, I'm very happy!

Hope mentioned the Audison DSPs briefly, i would be interested in hearing more opinions on the bit one. I understand one of its limitations is it has a graphical equaliser, as opposed to Parametric. Truthfully the delay tuning and high quality DAC inside is the most valuable thing to me.

Now that I've got a DSP, next step is getting an SPDIF hat for the Pi.

One challenge I've realised in this project is that to run high quality audio software such as RuneAudio on the Pi, it actually needs a custom OS entirely dedicated in a sense to that one application and it needs to be headless (no screen). This kinda ***** because the plan was that the Pi was supposed to be driving a whole dashboard with a touchscreen, not just a music player.

The only solution I can see is to introduce another Pi to the mix. Or if I do that now that one of the Pi's is a fully contained Audio decoding box I need to rethink the use of a Pi here. Maybe a micro-controller built more for this purpose?

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

You can get touch screens for the Pi's or use the HDMI output to a small 8" screen.

 

[Naxin]

You can get touch screens for the Pi's or use the HDMI output to a small 8" screen.

Yeh man, I've ordered a 7" touch screen from eBay (largest I could find). A couple of variants you could buy, I picked up a 1024x600 screen, but the lower res are more common.

Bought a right angle hdmi adapter in case as the port is on the side, haven't really found a suitable right angle Micro USB (for the touch interface/power).

My understanding is you can't use Rune Audio with a screen from the same Pi. I.e. it acts as a headless server and you need a separate client. Do you have a different experience?

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

The BitOne is a nice piece, and you got an excellent price! 

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Yeh man, I've ordered a 7" touch screen from eBay (largest I could find). A couple of variants you could buy, I picked up a 1024x600 screen, but the lower res are more common.

Bought a right angle hdmi adapter in case as the port is on the side, haven't really found a suitable right angle Micro USB (for the touch interface/power).

My understanding is you can't use Rune Audio with a screen from the same Pi. I.e. it acts as a headless server and you need a separate client. Do you have a different experience?

I have never tried a Pi with a touch screen and Rune. My guess is because of the GPIO boards being in use that may be true. However, they do have a cell phone app so you dont need a touch screen as you can use a smart phone. .

 

[youdoofus]

I have never tried a Pi with a touch screen and Rune. My guess is because of the GPIO boards being in use that may be true. However, they do have a cell phone app so you dont need a touch screen as you can use a smart phone. .

i saw @whitedragon551 posting on something and immediately thought to myself "uh oh, who is in trouble this time?" HAHAHAHA!!!!

 

[BroncosNeverDie]

I just wanted to quickly throw in my knowledge into this as I've done some research about PIs in cars because I'm looking at doing the same thing. Thing is, the DAC on the PI is absolutely garbage, the output sound you'll get is not even worth listening to so the first step is to find a good DAC that goes ON the PI. The one I'm looking at is the ApplePi, as it's considered one of the best out there, especially for the money. 

Furthermore, the output voltage of the sound car of the Pi is around 2.4V I think, while I was told I'd need around 4V signal. Now, I'm an EE major, currently still in college and while I do not know THAT much about car audio and all that, what I would imagine I'd have to do is set the gain on the amplifier completely different than if I were running a standard head unit.

Also, one of the biggest detterents for me not doing this is that I'd lose radio. I never listen to it but in case of emergencies it plays a useful role. So I'm not all that sure yet. But if you end up doing this project, PLEASE let me know, I'd love to know how it goes! Godspeed man!

 

[BroncosNeverDie]

I managed to buy a Audison Bit.One in fantastic condition second hand today for $300 AUD. In US car audio economics that's about $150 USD, I'm very happy!

Hope mentioned the Audison DSPs briefly, i would be interested in hearing more opinions on the bit one. I understand one of its limitations is it has a graphical equaliser, as opposed to Parametric. Truthfully the delay tuning and high quality DAC inside is the most valuable thing to me.

Now that I've got a DSP, next step is getting an SPDIF hat for the Pi.

One challenge I've realised in this project is that to run high quality audio software such as RuneAudio on the Pi, it actually needs a custom OS entirely dedicated in a sense to that one application and it needs to be headless (no screen). This kinda ***** because the plan was that the Pi was supposed to be driving a whole dashboard with a touchscreen, not just a music player.

The only solution I can see is to introduce another Pi to the mix. Or if I do that now that one of the Pi's is a fully contained Audio decoding box I need to rethink the use of a Pi here. Maybe a micro-controller built more for this purpose?

I'd just like to add something to this too since you're hitting the EXACT obsticles I was hitting. I think some music players for the Pi are standalone, meaning you can only run them and nothing else. However, there are some really high quality ones (Volumio if I recall correctly), that can be installed on top of Raspbian, and open up in a web browser on your Pi. I already own a Raspberry Pi 3 with the 7" touchscreen display. I was gonna go for the music player + backup camera combo with mine, seeing as I drive a 1994 Bronco, God knows I need one hahahaha. In any case, it seems like we share the same goal. I know jack about coding but I do a lot of hardware, so this thread is absolutely fantastic. 

 

[Naxin]

I'd just like to add something to this too since you're hitting the EXACT obsticles I was hitting. I think some music players for the Pi are standalone, meaning you can only run them and nothing else. However, there are some really high quality ones (Volumio if I recall correctly), that can be installed on top of Raspbian, and open up in a web browser on your Pi. I already own a Raspberry Pi 3 with the 7" touchscreen display. I was gonna go for the music player + backup camera combo with mine, seeing as I drive a 1994 Bronco, God knows I need one hahahaha. In any case, it seems like we share the same goal. I know jack about coding but I do a lot of hardware, so this thread is absolutely fantastic. 

Thanks for the heads up man. I've heard about Volumio, but I think I assumed it was standalone like RuneAudio. I'll do some more research, it sounds perfect.

As I mentioned at the start I'd love to open source this project so others can enjoy the benefit.

Actually I have indeed started the project, I've been a bit quiet because it's an immense amount of work. Mainly just installing all my aftermarket gear to the stock car with a DSP lol. I would never do this for a living but God the end result is always worth it.

I don't know whether to post a build log after I'm done or keep rinsing this thread haha. Actually if you wanted send me a DM and we can share in detail how exactly we are doing our various projects, might help us both.

 

[BroncosNeverDie]

Thanks for the heads up man. I've heard about Volumio, but I think I assumed it was standalone like RuneAudio. I'll do some more research, it sounds perfect.

As I mentioned at the start I'd love to open source this project so others can enjoy the benefit.

Actually I have indeed started the project, I've been a bit quiet because it's an immense amount of work. Mainly just installing all my aftermarket gear to the stock car with a DSP lol. I would never do this for a living but God the end result is always worth it.

I don't know whether to post a build log after I'm done or keep rinsing this thread haha. Actually if you wanted send me a DM and we can share in detail how exactly we are doing our various projects, might help us both.

Sure thing, I'll DM you once I get some free time. School year just started for me and I have a lot of work. One thing that I'll throw in here, is that the output of any Pi DAC is usually single channel, not multi-channel like a standard head unit. 

 

[whitedragon551 5,000+ posts]

Thanks for the heads up man. I've heard about Volumio, but I think I assumed it was standalone like RuneAudio. I'll do some more research, it sounds perfect.

As I mentioned at the start I'd love to open source this project so others can enjoy the benefit.

Actually I have indeed started the project, I've been a bit quiet because it's an immense amount of work. Mainly just installing all my aftermarket gear to the stock car with a DSP lol. I would never do this for a living but God the end result is always worth it.

I don't know whether to post a build log after I'm done or keep rinsing this thread haha. Actually if you wanted send me a DM and we can share in detail how exactly we are doing our various projects, might help us both.

Volumio can be installed standalone like RuneAudio. I have used both. For awhile Volumio development was stopped and RuneAudio picked up in its place. You can get the standalone version here: https://volumio.org/get-started