Home Media Center powered by Raspberry Pi and dual MAX98357A DAC
Designed by Sonocotta in Poland
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What is it? The Raspberry Pi Home Media Center is a compact and neatly designed hardware project that combines the power of the Raspberry Pi Zero board and the Hi-Fi audio capabilities of the Analog …
Read More…The Raspberry Pi Home Media Center is a compact and neatly designed hardware project that combines the power of the Raspberry Pi Zero board and the Hi-Fi audio capabilities of the Analog Devices MAX98357A DAC. This versatile media center provides a customizable and fully open-source hardware platform for home entertainment.
With a minimalistic but functional design inspired by commercial audio gear, it offers a seamless user experience. It aimed to support Volumio, Mopidy, or any custom firmware you may come up with.
I did few audio projects in the past, some using ESP32, some using larger Orange Pi and Raspberry Pi devices. Each has its pros and cons, and each iteration I'm trying to focus on the details that were working best for me, while actually using them.
What is special about the Raspberry eco-system is of course its community support. Being a not-so-strong software developer, I often have to rely on the work that other people did and baked into the base Raspbian image. Attaching a DAC, Ethernet, and IR reader is as simple as adding 3 lines into config.txt
file. All the device tree definitions, kernel drivers, and dependency packages are already in place, believe it or not.
Sure, compared to the ESP32 platform it is not as lightweight. It requires more power, it takes some time to boot. But when it comes to rapid development, there is nothing like the Raspberry Pi.
Loud Raspberry Pi uses a dual MAX98357 HiFi DAC with a built-in highly efficient D-class amp to deliver 3 to 5W of music power directly to your speakers. It is not too loud, but it is very simple to use and fun to play with. It powers from a standard USB-C power source, like a phone charger, etc.
HiFi Raspberry Media Center | HiFi Raspberry Hat | HiFi-Plus Raspberry Hat (coming soon) | Loud Raspberry Media Center | Loud Raspberry Hat | Louder Raspberry Media Center | Louder Raspberry Hat | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Image | |||||||
DAC | Single PCM5100A 32bit Stereo DAC | Dual PCM5100A 32bit Stereo DAC | Dual PCM5100A 32bit Stereo DAC working with TPA3110D2 D-Class amp | Dual I2S DAC MAX98357 with built in D-Class amp | Quadruple I2S DAC MAX98357 with built in D-Class amp | Stereo I2S DAC TAS5805M with built in D-Class amp | Stereo I2S DAC TAS5805M with built in D-Class amp |
Output | 2.1 VRMS Line level output -100 dB typical noise level | 2x 2.1 VRMS Line level output -100 dB typical noise level | 4x 25W (8Ω, 1% THD+N) at 22V; 4x 22W (4Ω, 1% THD+N) at 16V 2x 40W (4Ω, 1% THD+N) at 20V | 2x 3W (8Ω); 2x 5W (4Ω) | 4x 3W (8Ω); 4x 5W (4Ω) | 2x 22W (8Ω, 1% THD+N); 2x 32W (4Ω, 1% THD+N) at 20V 1x 45W (4Ω, 1% THD+N) at 20V | 2x 32W (8Ω, 1% THD+N) at 24V 1x 55W (4Ω, 1% THD+N) at 24V |
RGB LED | yes | none | none | yes | none | yes | none |
IR input | yes | header only | none | yes | none | yes | header only |
External relay driver | yes | none | none | no | none | yes | none |
Onboard Serial Bridge | yes | none | none | yes | none | yes | none |
Ethernet | Wiznet W5500 SPI Ethernet | none | none | Wiznet W5500 SPI Ethernet | none | Wiznet W5500 SPI Ethernet | none |
Powers from | 5V USB-C power adapter (up to 1 A) Triple LP5907 3.3 V Ultra-Low-Noise LDO | 5V from the host 5x LP5907 3.3 V Ultra-Low-Noise LDO | 8..26V from external sourcepowering host (up to 3A cont.) | 5V USB-C power adapter (up to 3 A) | 5V from the host (up to 4A) or 5V from screw connector (powering host) | 65W USB-C PD power adapter (25W/45W with limited power) | 7..28V from external sourcepowering host (up to 3A cont.) |
Mechanical dimensions (WxHxD) | 88mm x 38mm x 100mm | 65mm x 30mm x 15mm | 70mm x 61mm x 20mm | 88mm x 38mm x 100mm | 65mm x 30mm x 20mm | 88mm x 38mm x 100mm | 65mm x 56mm x 20mm |
I2S CLK | I2S DATA | I2S WS | DAC EN | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Raspberry Pi Zero | 18 | 21 | 19 | 4 |
SPI CLK | SPI MOSI | SPI MISO | LAN RES | LAN CS | LAN INT | WS2812 RGB LED | RELAY EN | IR INPUT | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Raspberry Pi Zero | 11 | 10 | 9 | 24 | 8 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 23 |
You need nothing more than an SD-CARD with a Raspbian image and USB-C power brick. You can use any distribution you like. The only change you need to make to enable hardware is to add 3 lines to the /boot/config.txt
dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=23
dtoverlay=w5500
dtoverlay=max98357a,sdmode-pin=4
Front | Back | PCB |
---|---|---|
Please visit the hardware section of the project repo for board schematics and PCB designs. Note that PCBs are shared as multi-layer PDFs as well as Gerber archives.
According to the manufacturer Raspberry Pi Zero requires at least 1 Amp of 5V line, and each of the Loud Raspberry DAC needs at least 1 Amp extra. With the total budget requirement of 3 Amps, it is within specs for a non-PD USB-C 5V power line. I've decided not to use USB-PD for The Loud model. Just make sure your power adapter is capable of 3 Amps (or keep a reasonable volume if it is not)
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Most of the packages are sent the next business day in the morning CET time. Delivery time varies wildly, but typically it is 1-2 weeks within EU and 3-4 weeks outside EU due to delays in customs. If the package does not show up after 8 weeks, please reach out for a replacement or refund.
Currently, Poczta Polska does not ship to Israel, and a few more countries due to a lack of airline operations. As soon as they will lift the restrictions, I'll restore shipments.
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