 Can a 30 euro credit card sized computer reproduce serious hi-fi? Does it need anything else to do so? And is it easy to set up? All questions that were posed to me over the last months. Let's answer these questions and more using the Raspberry Pi. Nowadays there are many credit card sized computers and some of them are more powerful than the Raspberry Pi. But the Pi is by far the best supported. They are very handy with Linux, the operating system that is mainly used in this type of computers. Be adventurous, if not, stick to the Raspberry Pi. For normal music reproduction the Raspberry Pi 2B and 3B are well suited. The current 2B version 1.2 lacks radios for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi which is good for the sound and less if you need either. The 3B is fitted with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The 2B costs slightly under 40 euros, the three slightly above. Then you need a microSD card, this is a tiny memory card that acts as the hardest of the Raspberry Pi and you later have to copy the program on to it. Don't be frightened, it's really a piece of Pi, a cake. Depending on the size and the speed it will set you back 5 to 10 euros. Next you will need a sound card. The Raspberry Pi does have an audio output but that sounds horrible. There are five ways to go. Use the HDMI to a AV receiver, use an external sound card, a so called DA converter, connected over USB to the Pi, use a sound card mounted on the Pi that outputs the digital signal, the so called SPDIF signal to a digital input on your stereo, a sound card mounted on the Pi that does a digital to analog conversion or the sound card mounted on the Pi that not only converts the digital signal to analog but also contains a simple amplifier so you can connect your loudspeakers directly to it. The best quality can be achieved with the SPDIF option, provided your stereo has digital input and does the conversion properly. The best is HDMI and third is the digital to analog conversion done by the sound card if you choose a quality sound card. They vary from 30 to 130 euros but it is difficult to say what you will need since it depends on your stereo and how critical you are. Sound cards with integrated amplifiers provide a relatively low quality, although when combined with 200 euro speakers, better than many Bluetooth speakers. Using the external sound card over USB is limited by pollution of the USB connection caused by the Raspberry Pi. No problem for the cheaper options but not really suited for better ones. So we are adding up 40 plus 5 plus 30 euros makes 75 euros for the cheapest option or 40 plus 10 plus 130 for the top notch sound card with digital to analog conversion adding up to 180 euros. And we are not there yet. For we need at least a simple power supply and a simple housing, both costing a tenner. So the simplest version will set you back 95 euros, the top notch version 200 euros. Only 10 euros costing power supply does have a negative effect on the sound. That's ok for the low cost option but the top notch option the extra money paid for the sound card would be a bad investment. A proper power supply would set you back about 90 euros. See the link to the review of power supplies. A really good power supply would even cost 250 euros but let's go for the 90 euros version. Now we are at 280 euros, that's already more than the TOEFL round felt connector. See the review, the link is in the show notes. If sound quality versus money is the only factor, only the combination of a Raspberry Pi with an SPDIF card and a proper power supply is a winner at about 150 euros. But then your stereo has to have a digital input free or you have to add a separate DA converter. As said, this does potentially offer the best sound but you might wonder what's making the Raspberry Pi attractive as a music player. Of course, to some putting a Raspberry Pi player together is just fun, to others the apparently low price does it. A remark I frequently hear is I use that 30 euro credit card sized computer for my music. You know better now, although some McAliver times might be able to spare a bit by making their own housing and power supply. Then it's not about the money but out being a happy DIYer. And that's fine, for most the appeal of the Raspberry Pi as a music player will lay in the versatility. You can have the Pi emulator squeeze box, play over airplay, be a rune ready endpoint or just a standalone player controlled by your smartphone or tablet. And you can do it all with the same hardware. Simply change the microSD card for one containing other software and you're set. There are some caveats though. Like the Windows hardware of old, drivers are essential and not all sound cards are supported by all software. So check that before you start. That leads to the question what software to choose and how much it will cost. As with all software there's far more available than I have experience with. But I do have experience with several types of player software. Let's start with using the Raspberry Pi as a standalone player. Most software will be based on the standard Linux music player called MusicPlayerDemon, NPD for short. A programmer just uses the NPD and builds a user interface around it. My favorite program using this approach is Volumio. When you install it and set it up for use with your sound card, you only have to add a storage device containing music. That can be a memory stick or a hard disk connected to the Pi over USB or a shared volume on a network, like on your PC or NAS. You can operate Volumio from an internet browser on a PC, smartphone or tablet. The Raspberry Pi itself does not need to have a monitor, keyboard and mouse connected. For both iOS and Android devices you could also use an app that is NPD compatible and there are many of them, with names like M-Pod, M-Pad, Cobble NPD, NPD Lux, re-NPD... you get the idea. Comparable programs are for instance Rune Audio and Mood Audio Player. Another approach is to use the Raspberry Pi only as an output device and have the catalog managed by another computer or by a NAS. Very popular is the Logitech Media Server program that does the cataloging, while the Raspberry Pi is sent audio and metadata. The Logitech Media Server, LMS for short, has been developed for the Squeezebox renderers so you have to use a Squeezebox emulation program on the Raspberry Pi. A good example is PiCore Player that was used in the review of the Audiophonics RaspTouch. In that case the LMS can be controlled from the touchscreen of the RaspTouch but also using a browser or smartphone and tablet app, like with Volumio. Any Squeezebox compatible app will work. Alternatives are SqueezePlayer and SqueezeLight. The least attractive way, at least for me, to use the Raspberry Pi for music reproduction is DNLA, an archaic protocol made up by the big consumer electronics companies to view videos, photos and music over the network a quarter of a century ago. It's slow, doesn't support gapless playback and knows all kinds of implementations, including a number under the UPMP-AV name. Therefore I have no recent experience using DNLA. The most attractive way to use the Raspberry Pi is as a Roon endpoint. See the link to the review for more on Roon. When the Roon image is written to the microSD card it is almost fully controlled using the Roon control app on your computer, tablet or smartphone. Given the price of Roon it is highly unlikely that it will be used with the Raspberry Pi as main system but here it's ideal for the study garage, kitchen or other less critical application. In general all player software is free, although there are some that cost a little money. The programs I mentioned are all free and work like a chime, including the Roon Bridge software, but with Roon you have to subscribe to use the server software, €120 a year or €500 for a lifetime subscription. The Raspberry Pi's mention have a 20 pin extension connector for connecting extra boards like a sound card. To install a sound card you first screw on the spacers that should come with your sound card, then carefully push the sound card on the extension connector and finish up by fixing it using the supplied nuts. If you also have ordered a housing, which you should, follow the instructions that came with it and mount the Raspberry Pi in the housing. The next thing you should do is download the so called image of the player you have selected. This must be done on your Windows computer or Mac. An image is the content of a hard disk, or in this case a microSD, that acts as a boot drive for the Raspberry Pi. This file will have a name that ends on .img. Windows users now have to download Win32 Disk Imager, Mac users should download PiWriter. Links to both are in the show notes. Install this program and run it. Now you have to stick the microSD card in your computer. Some computers have a slot for microSD, if not you should have an adapter to full size SD or USB depending on your computer. These adapters are available from the same source you get your microSD card from. Win32 Disk Imager or PiWriter will ask you what SD card to use, then what image to use and ask you if the copying can be started. After a few minutes the program will report it has finished. Take the microSD card out of the computer and stick it in the card holder on the Raspberry Pi. Connect the power supply to the Raspberry Pi and wait for it to boot. Depending on the player chosen you might have to start the browser and type in a name, like volumio.local, to get the user interface. Sometimes you need to type the IP address of the computer that indexes the music followed by colon 9000. For instance 192.168.0.12 colon 9000. If you use an app to control it, you might have to point the app to the server software or the Raspberry Pi. To know what to do exactly, see the website of the player software. A review of volumio player is already online, see the link below this video in YouTube. Other players mentioned will follow here. So if you want to stay informed, subscribe to this channel or follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. See the show notes for the links. If you have a question, post it below this video, but please don't ask me for buying advice. See my About Questions video to find out why. If you like this video, please consider supporting the channel through Patreon and see super exclusive videos too. Just one dollar a month will do. The link is in the show notes. And don't forget to tell your friends on the web about this channel. I am Hans Beekhuyzen, thank you for watching and see you in the next show or on theHBproject.com. And whatever you do, enjoy the music.