Pi2 Design Idiot-Proof Ready-To-Go RPi/AES Streamer

Discussion in 'Digital: DACs, USB converters, decrapifiers' started by Michael Kelly, Jan 16, 2021.

  1. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Is it possible to have other rate indicators in addition to 44.1 and 48? For example, x2, x4, x8 lights (as in Soekris). If I'm playing 96 but it says 48 my engineer mind will explode trying to reconcile the discrepancy.
    20210223_113256.jpg
    Schiit's designs are simple but the styling really does make a difference that keeps their products from looking like DIY projects. It would be great if you could do something, but understandably you may be constrained by cost.
     
  2. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    The wm8804 driver that is at the core of our board and the alo Digi drives a pair of gpio pins that select the base clock for 44.1 or 48. The driver itself knows what bit depth and what frequency is being played. However, this information is not driven to any gpios and would therefore require a modification of that driver. Which would then have to be inserted into each of the players in order to support the LEDs and or other display. This is one of the reasons we dropped the OLED on the other product in favor of the 5-in touch screen which is compatible with the raspberry pi official touchscreen. This means all of the players support it.

    the main purpose of the smaller box is to essentially be a PI2AES in a nice case with some storage. It is not meant to go beyond the functionality of it.
     
  3. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Orange for x48, yellow for x44.1. For the legends, maybe include the x to partly address @Metro 's nervosa ;) to the extent possible with the hardware; and write as 'kHz' not 'Khz'.
     
  4. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    I used the @ because I was too lazy to make something and upload it. :p

    I meant more like:

    pi2.jpg

    Black > silver for WAF. I left the original slightly visible because now that I see it I have some thoughts...

    1) 44.1 / 48 isn’t really that interesting so removing them could be an opportunity to cut costs and clean up the front panel a bit.

    2) is USB on the front really that important?

    3) an activity light is nice in theory but a variably flashing light is much more annoying than a static one, think a darkened bedroom.

    4) unless the device is significantly heavier than a pi + pi2aes a push style power button could shift the box when trying to depress it unless you used two hands or it had super sticky feet. A toggle or rocker type switch might work better and if you could fit it on the back that would further clean up the front panel.
     
  5. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    All good stuff. My thoughts:

    1. OK, if no one really loves them and you guys did complain about how bright they were on the PI2AES!
    2. A) no room on the back and B) need it to program the eMMC on the CM4.
    3. So just a not too bright power LED?
    4. The push-button has 7 oz (200g) of force while the case alone weighs 1 lb (.44 Kg). And it will have rubber feet.
     
  6. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Totally aligned with this. Don’t care about sample rate 44 vs 48 and would rather have less LEDs. Just a dim power LED is all that’s needed IMO. If the power switch is light enough as you say, shouldn’t be an issue hopefully.
     
  7. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    cm4aes-m_front.PNG CM4AES front, Black with logo:
     
  8. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Eliminating the LEDs would resolve my engineer nervosa :p. Actually I don't even look at the light on my Pi2AES because I would look at my DAC for the rate instead.
     
  9. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    How about putting the power on the left (typical for most audiousb on the side opposite the power
    Can you move the front panel elements around a bit?

    pi2a.jpg

    The easiest thing is to make sure the logo and model make are equal distances from the mounting holes. I’m sure you just eyeballed it like I did here but it’s worth mentioning as it helps fit & finish.

    Harder is moving the power button and USB port but I think this gives it better balance and power is usually on the left for some reason.

    I left alignment lines in because you want the center line of the power button, power led and USB port to all align. I also had the power button align vertically with the logo. I’m assuming the usb port hole will be as small as is reasonable? The power and usb glyphs should likewise be aligned and the same size (like if one is 12pt the other should be as well). I kind of eyeballed the usb port middle aligned with the model name which seemed to look the best.
     
  10. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    You guys are having fun with this! I will take a look at this tomorrow. If you look at the other pictures you'll see that the inside is pretty well crammed for the size of the box I chose. Obviously I could make it bigger but that way leads to madness as there is no end to it.
     
  11. haywood

    haywood Friend

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    I didn’t see the internal layout, tight spacing for sure! If you already have everything laid out then maybe just keep the basic alignment advice in mind for any future revisions or projects.
     
  12. Yethal

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    Will the M.2 drive be PCie or SATA (or both)? Given the price difference between both types and the fact that speed advantage is irrelevant for music playback SATA support would be beneficial for most users as it would lower the cost.

    As for the OS selection, I'd add DietPi (with Allo GUI) to the list as it makes more sense than Volumio/Moode for people who want to utilize the Pi as an endpoint rather than a standalone streamer.
     
  13. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    The Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 has a single lane of PCIe. In order to get SATA we would have to add a PCIe to SATA controller. That is why we have only NVMe (PCIe).

    Since we are mostly just getting the image setup for our board it won't be a big deal to support other players such as DietPi or perhaps even OSMC (a Kodi fork).
     
  14. obsiCO

    obsiCO Thai Fish Experiment Gone Wrong

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    I know looks are secondary but I thought I should try taking a jab at this because it looks fun so here's my mockup! Taking a page from Schiit's design handbook, or at least I tried. The logo is just the P, I, and D cobbled together though lol... I vastly prefer white LED for the power light (if possible) but maybe that's just me.

    I hope I haven't derailed the thread here with my nonsense...! There's nothing else I can possibly add to the thread so I'll bow out now. :oops:

    [​IMG]
     
  15. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Thanks, I like the simplified logo. For the layout I'm leaning towards Heywood's idea. I'll need to see if I can actually sit everything that way. But, the board has not been released yet so there's still time for me to screw around with it!
     
  16. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Can I assume that the functionality and size are good? Other than someone who wanted SATA, which as I've mentioned is not very practical, seems like most of the feedback has been visual.
     
  17. Yethal

    Yethal Facebook Friend

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    Would the cost of sata controller offset the price difference between sata and pcie drives?
     
  18. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Regardless of price, there is no room for it.
     
  19. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    WAIT, WAIT, I can pop an NVME drive in here? Hot damn. @3X0 get your ass in here, this is your next streamer.
     
  20. Michael Kelly

    Michael Kelly MOT: Pi 2 Design

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    Thanks to everyone who chimed in. Awesome feedback folks! Below is what I am calling the "Heywood" layout.

    cm4aes-m_front.PNG
     

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