Category: Projects

Topping E30 Manual

pCP Team 21 January 2021 pCP 7.0.0 Projects  •

Thank you for purchasing Topping DAC E30!

E30 is a high performance DAC with USB, coaxial and optical inputs. It is compatible with up to 768kHz/32bit and DSD512. E30 is designed for full digital volume control and equipped with LED display screen. It can be used as not only a DAC but also preamplifier. We believe that high-quality E30 could bring you more fun at enjoying HIFI music.

Netbooting piCorePlayer 3.x

pCP Team 30 August 2020 pCP 6.1.0 Projects
A seemingly operational pCP player can be obtained via net booting, but only for wired Raspberry Pi 3B’s.

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Raspberry Squeezie

pCP Team 6 May 2024 pCP 1.16 Projects • Setup
Build a Squeezebox Player using a Raspberry Pi and Squeezelite, using the piCorePlayer image, which comes complete with OS and libraries.
Info

Raspberry Squeezie was one of the first tutorials describing how to put a piCorePlayer together. Unfortunately it is no longer available so I found a copy on the WayBack Machine and reproduced it here. I couldn’t find any contact details for the original author so its reproduced without permission. If anyone knows the author please let me know.

Slimmer

pCP Team 6 May 2024 pCP 9.0.0 Projects
Slimmer is a user interface controller software for Lyrion Media Server. Using Slimmer and other open source software and some hardware components you can build a high quality & low-cost network audio player with a slick user interface.

Now playing screen Main menu

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Tivoli Squeezebox Radio

pCP Team 30 August 2020 pCP 6.1.0 Projects
A Squeezebox built from a Tivoli Audio alarm speaker.

Features:

  • Tivoli Speaker and case using the original speaker and 3W output.
  • WiFi.
  • runs on battery for a whole day (more than 12h).
  • rotary and push controller for volume and play/pause.
  • separate alarm clock.
  • fully Squeezebox compatible player using a Raspberry Pi Zero and SqueezeLite.
  • very simple and power-efficient 5V design.

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Build a simple LMS server

pCP Team 8 May 2024 pCP 9.0.0 Projects
This project is to create a simple LMS server with the music library on an attached USB HDD. This is the LMS server I use every day for personal use and for testing piCorePlayer.

What was used

Hardware

Software

  • piCorePlayer 9.0.0
    • LMS

Network Diagram

graph TD Switch[8-port Network Switch] Switch --> |Ethernet cable| RPi[RPi4B - pCP LMS] RPi --- |USB cable| HDD[(USB HDD)]

Steps

Step 1 - Download pCP
Step 2 - Create SD card
Step 3 - Boot pCP
  • Insert the SD card into the Raspberry Pi.
  • Connect the Ethernet cable.
  • Connect the power cables.
  • Connect the (NTFS formatted) USB hard drive.
  • Turn the power on.
Step 4 - Determine the IP address
Step 5 - Set static IP (optional)
  • Set static IP on the DHCP sever (ie. http://192.168.1.51). The DHCP server is often on the router—see Your router manual.
Step 6 - Set player name
  • Access pCP using IP in a browser (ie. http://192.168.1.51).
  • Select [Squeezelite Settings] > “Change Squeezelite settings” > “Name of your player”.
  • Type player name.
  • Click [Save].
Step 7 - Set hostname
  • Select [Tweaks] > “pCP System Tweaks” > “Host name”.
  • Type host name.
  • Click [Save].
  • Click [OK] when requested to “Reboot piCorePlayer”.
Step 8 - Resize filesystem
  • Select [Main Page].
  • Click “Advanced operations” > [Resize FS].
  • Select “Whole SD Card”.
  • Click [Resize].
Info

piCorePlayer will now reboot a couple of times, but after a couple of minutes piCorePlayer should refresh to the [Main Page].

Standalone piCorePlayer

pCP Team 6 May 2024 pCP 9.0.0 Projects • Setup

This project outlines how to build a basic “standalone” piCorePlayer. As it is truly standalone, there is no method to control Squeezelite once the build is complete and disconnected from the network. The only method of playing music is via the LMS auto start command “randomplay tracks”. There is not even a way to start/stop tracks or adjust the volume, pretty useless but it shows the basic starting point.

Add a 1.5 inch st7789 spi display

mini11 30 June 2022 pCP 8.0.0 Projects  •  •  •
1.5 inch st7789 spi LCD display, 240×240, with piCorePlayer.

1.5 inch display

Info

This display comes with the pins unsoldered. You have to solder them yourself.

  • This display is perfect, if you want to build a small device-like player or net radio showing the title or broadcast information.
  • Together with a RPi Zero W and a HiFiBerry MiniAMP or small mono DAC/amp Audio Amp SHIM (pic below), you get a complete solution.

Audio amp shim

Mermaid

pCP Team 19 January 2022 pCP 7.0.0 Projects
Mermaid example.

Network Layout

graph TD I[Internet] ==> WR([Wifi/Router]) WR ==> X[Switch] X ==> P1[pCP Player 1] P1 --- P1S[Touch Screen] X ==> D[pCP LMS] D --- |CD| H[(USB HDD)] X ==> PC1[PC W10] PC1 --- |CD2| PC1H[(USB HDD)] PC1 --- |CD1| PC2H[(USB HDD)] WR ===> |WiFi| PC2[Ripper W10] PC2 --- |CD1| PC2H[(USB HDD)] PC2 --- |CDnew| PC3H[(INT HDD)] WR ===> |WiFi| P2[pCP Player 2] P2 --> |USB| DAC[DAC] WR ===> |WiFi| P3[pCP Player 3] P3 --- |HDMI| TV[TV Screen] WR ===> |WiFi| P4[pCP Player 4] P4 --- |HDMI| TV[TV Screen]

Mermaid markup

<div class="mermaid">
	graph TD
		I[Internet] ==>          WR([Wifi/Router])
		WR          ==>          X[Switch]
		X           ==>          P1[pCP Player 1]
		P1          ---          P1S[Touch Screen]
		X           ==>          D[pCP LMS]
		D           ---     |CD| H[(USB HDD)]
		X           ==>          PC1[PC W10]
		PC1         ---    |CD2| PC1H[(USB HDD)]
		PC1         ---    |CD1| PC2H[(USB HDD)]
		WR          ===>  |WiFi| PC2[Ripper W10]
		PC2         ---    |CD1| PC2H[(USB HDD)]
		PC2         ---  |CDnew| PC3H[(INT HDD)]
		WR          ===>  |WiFi| P2[pCP Player 2]
		P2          -->    |USB| DAC[DAC]
		WR          ===>  |WiFi| P3[pCP Player 3]
		P3          ---   |HDMI| TV[TV Screen]
		WR          ===>  |WiFi| P4[pCP Player 4]
		P4          ---   |HDMI| TV[TV Screen]
</div>

More information

The Software and Information is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of condition, uninterrupted use, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.