Idea For Music/entertainment System

[AjW]

Here are the details of my Music/Entertainment system.

 

It may give people some ideas about what is possible. If you enjoy gadgets and projects then this is possibly for you. I am not going to give a blow-by-blow account of setting it up unless you want me to?

 

My system is based around a Raspberry PI (RPI) running a program called Kodi. I have an external hard drive with all my videos/music/photos on. An RPI is a small computer than you buy (about £35) and setup to do whatever you like. This system...

 

- Uses a single 12v DC socket

- Sucks no more than 2 Amps

- Allows me to play music through some speakers

- Allows me listen to music on my phone, or on my laptop so I can lie in bed

- Allows me to watch videos from the hard drive on the TV. Or on the laptop or on my phone (more lying in bed)

- Allows me to watch iPlayer / Youtube on my TV

- control music/ video playback from a small portable keyboard, or from my phone, or from my laptop.

- My laptop, phone and the RPI are not connected by cables.

- It all sits on a shelf and takes up no more space than about a 1 litre carton of juice

- It costs more than a 1 litre carton of juice but less than my posh mate's weekly big shop.

 

To setup a similar system you will need;

A Raspberry PI, a powered USB Hub, a Wifi dongle, a remote keyboard/mouse, a micro SD card, an external hard drive, some cables and a DC power supply. You can get most of this stuff from ModMyPi.com and Maplins. It should cost about £75-£100. The most expensive thing will be the hard drive.

 

Setup

Plug all the USB stuff into the USB hub

Plug the Hub into the Pi

Plug the speakers to the Pi

Plug the Pi to the TV using HDMI

Turn on TV

Plug DC power supply into boat, and connect to Pi

Install Kodi on the Pi

 

TV

You do need a TV to setup the system. But once it is set up you can do away with the TV and just use your smartphone to control the system (play/stop/volume/select album/song etc). If you do not have a TV you can use a laptop running an SSH program such as puTTY and port into the PI to remote configure. If you did not understand that last sentence then you probably have better social skills than me and are out using them right now.

 

Network

I have a mobile broadband account with EE. I have an Osprey wifi router than came with the account (10GB/month/£15). This allows me to network all my devices together (phone / media system / laptop) without cables. This also allows me access to Youtube/iPlayer on the TV. I could get Netflix if I wanted to. I do have to keep an eye on data use. This is not difficult. I work from home(boat) so need an internet connection anyway.

 

Sound

I use two x-mini speakers (they come up cheap at Tesocs now and then). They are wired together and recharge from the USB hub). I'm going to get something with a bit more oompf. Like this;http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00L66B6XM?psc=1. I have some spare car speakers that shall be employed.

 

I should also add that the other advantage of this setup is that my wife can access her music whilst I access mine. So she can be in the lounge listening to rubbish stuff and I can be in the engine room listening to awesome stuff through my phone. This is a step to marital bliss.

Edited June 21, 2015 by AjW

[eightacre]

Thanks for bringing Kodi to my attention.

 

My current system involves a small 12v amp, similar to this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-CH-500W-Hi-Fi-Stereo-Audio-Amplifier-AMP-Car-Motorcycle-Boat-Home-mp3-iPod-/331520546569?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4d302a1709

.... connected to a couple of car speakers and an ipod.

 

I do have a spare pi, so I am considering using it in a similar fashion.

[Doodlebug]

Sounds impressive.

 

We opted for a 240v system (partly for safety since the inverter should detect any faults). We also use philips hue lighting which can adapt the lights to suit the music/film.

 

I wanted to look into RPI or Arduino to monitor systems on the boat. Electric water etc but am yet to find time to work it all out.

[Jess--]

another similar option but geared more towards video would be Plex.

 

around the house here I have a central server with a massive video / audio library (just under 5tb)

the library is accessed by Plex and XBMC / Kodi depending on the device being used to view.

 

one advantage with plex is that it will transcode video on the fly to a suitable format for the viewing device & connection type, this means I can watch part of something at home in full HD and then watch the rest on my phone while sat on the boat using a 3g connection

[eightacre]

Doodlebug: I have built a remote monitor using an Arduino, if you are interested.

[DaveP]

I have a similar setup on the boat using a pi with kodi; but with a dual tv tuner as well. For remote control I use 'Yatse' on my phone and tablet.

[DHutch]

Seemed these 12/24v amps are really quite good.

 

Presumably the reason for using a Pi is that is used less power than a nettop/laptop would, and can access more music than a portable Mp3 player?

 

 

Daniel

[spadefoot]

Surely the most important bit of kit is the actual speakers. The amp is obviously important too but secondary to the speakers. That Tripath amp from amazon is very good but is very sensitive to voltage, any more than about 14.5-15volts will destroy it instantly, be careful with boat voltages. Car speakers are brilliant...in a car.

[DHutch]

Also very true. Not sure is we are now high jacking the thread, but I am currently wondering what to do next.

 

I have a pair of Whalfdale 9.1 bookcase speaker in my bedroom at home and they are excellent, parents now have a pair wall mounted in their living room, but they just a bit big to hide in a narrowboat unless it was designed around them which ours is not.

 

What as such is wrong with car speakers? Some get quite overpriced, and they are typically lower impedance, but I think another thread suggested this was not a big an issue as it could be, and compared to loose 'HiFi' speakers some of the car audio kit is positivally barginous...

 

Where to draw the line?

 

 

Daniel

[spadefoot]

Car speakers have pros & cons.

Pro: they are tough and designed to operate in a harsh environment compared to house speakers. This makes them good for a boat.

Con: they are designed to work in a small noisy cabin consisting of sofas and glass, this would make them good for a plush bathroom with the taps running; they have very low sensitivity which means you need to feed them a lot of watts to achieve a reasonable volume level, this uses a lot of amps (current).

If you want to listen to music inside your pramhood or wheelhouse whilst cruising, then car speakers probably best.

The Wharfedales, or any other half-decent bookshelf speakers, should be far superior in sound quality & use less power to drive them which means fewer amphours from your battery bank.

For listening to music in your saloon or bedroom with the engine off, hi-fi speakers every time.

[cuthound]

Surely the most important bit of kit is the actual speakers. The amp is obviously important too but secondary to the speakers. That Tripath amp from amazon is very good but is very sensitive to voltage, any more than about 14.5-15volts will destroy it instantly, be careful with boat voltages. Car speakers are brilliant...in a car.

All parts of a good sound system are equally important. Think garbage in, garbage out.

 

For the best sound quality from any given system you should try to match the source, amp and speaker combination.

[larkshall]

Daniel, given what has been said about the pros and cons of car speakers, why not consider getting hold of a Wharfedale publication they did a few years back on Speaker enclosure and design. Had lots of unusual ideas in that, including speakers in drain pipse custom enclosures etc etc. If you want I have the book at my lockup you are welcome if you want.

[spadefoot]

All parts of a good sound system are equally important. Think garbage in, garbage out.

 

For the best sound quality from any given system you should try to match the source, amp and speaker combination.

Also includes the listening environment, placing of the listening chair, even the music itself. Most people aren't that critical though.

An average set-up played through shitty speakers will sound shitty. An average set-up through average speakers will sound, well, average, but luckily that's good enough for most folk (that's people not folk music).

I believe that "matching" is only critical for people with critical ears, most off-the-shelf stuff will match adequately enough for most people.