Logitech SqueezeBox replacement for under $30

[azinck3]

Sync seems pretty decent with my Boom and Transporter :-)

How good is "pretty decent"? As good as the sync between your Boom and Transporter? In my experience even a slight sync problem can make sync unusable.

[MarcelG]

I've been trying to find a Pogoplug POGOP21 (POGO-E02) but it seems those devices are also EOL...?
All I can find are Pogoplug Pro's or the newer (and more expensive) V3/V4 Pogoplugs.
Is VAMP compatible with those devices ?

Alternatively I may jump on the Raspberry Pi train, and hope the USB audio issues will be solved in the near future. A model B V2 (512MB) with 4GB SD card and black/white/transparent case and powersupply is available here in NL for € 66. (http://sossolutions.nl/product.php?id_product=9324226)
If I leave out the case, and make a nice wooden case out of a cigar box and add a USB DAC while I'm at it I think I'm all set for less than € 75
Installing Squeezelite on top of XBMC or OpenElec should not be too hard, I guess.

[jziegler]

Another cheap soultion

I've got another cheap solution up and running (although with squeezeslave currently, rather than squeezelite). I purchased an MK802+ Android HDMI stick, Installed Ubuntu on it (https://www.miniand.com/forums/forums/2/topics/1), plugged in a USB audio interface (a cheap CMedia one), and get it working. I did have some driver issues, and had to compile some custom modules, but that is a one time thing. Linux runs off of a micro SD card on this box, which would make it simple to have an image created with the right driver and software already setup. All that would be needed for setup is the wireless network configuration (which does need an HDMI display and USB keyboard/mouse).

This is where I got my MK802+:

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/In-Stock-MK802--New-Version-Android-4-0-Mini-PC-IPTV-Smart-TV-Box--Allwinner-A10-DDR3-1GB-RAM-4GB-ROM--Better-Than-MK802-307558.html

Lots of other places also have them, but there are "fakes" out there too. I ordered one from amazon.com (3rd party vendor), and it wouldn't book Linux form the SD card. It appeared to be a different CPU.

There are lots of cheap ARM devices like this comping out of China, and making a custom board would not be all that hard.

[ftlight]

I posted thiis via the email interface on Saturday, but I see that the email -> forum connection is broken again, so I'll repeat my comments here.

Great project! I ordered the components right after I read this post (PogoPlug and USB DAC). The PogoPlug arrived first, so I did the software install immediately, then finished the setup when the DAC was delivered.

VAMP showed up immediately as a player on LMS and iPeng, and it works the same as any headless player.

Perhaps I should sell my Duet...

--
Bill

[paulster]

This looks great, and you certainly can't beat the price!

Three questions about it though:

1. Does it support full-speed async USB DACs without a hub, or is it another one of these devices that does?
2. Does is support MOG when you're running a local LMS installation, or is that one of the services that is blocked?
3. Has anybody tested it with an M2Tech hiFace 2 USB-SPDIF interface?

[epoch1970]

How good is "pretty decent"? As good as the sync between your Boom and Transporter? In my experience even a slight sync problem can make sync unusable.

According to my tests I'd say it performs fine enough for synching across 2 separate rooms. But not exactly enough for 2 sources in the same room.

YMMV according to the pc platform you're using, of course.

(my platform is a pc engines alix. More $150 than $30. Best results so far w/ linux kernel 2.6 preempt 1000Hz, perhaps I can get rt-preempt to actually improve results.)

[garym]

According to my tests I'd say it performs fine enough for synching across 2 separate rooms. But not exactly enough for 2 sources in the same room.

that's too bad. I have one situation where there are two players easily heard within the same large room so less than perfect synch would be bad. I have no issues with the current use of SB Hardware players and perfect synch.

[paulster]

This looks great, and you certainly can't beat the price!

Three questions about it though:

1. Does it support full-speed async USB DACs without a hub, or is it another one of these devices that does?
2. Does is support MOG when you're running a local LMS installation, or is that one of the services that is blocked?
3. Has anybody tested it with an M2Tech hiFace 2 USB-SPDIF interface?

I'm going to add a fourth question since sync is being discussed:
4. What's the sync like across multiple VAMP boxes? For instance if I replace my Logitech hardware with a number of these, will they remain in sync like the hardware players do, or can the (obviously different) latency between these and the hardware players be dialled in to get a decent sync with the Logitech players?

[azinck3]

I'm going to add a fourth question since sync is being discussed:
4. What's the sync like across multiple VAMP boxes? For instance if I replace my Logitech hardware with a number of these, will they remain in sync like the hardware players do, or can the (obviously different) latency between these and the hardware players be dialled in to get a decent sync with the Logitech players?

Have you seen the last few posts? epoch1970 answered this a few posts above yours.

[paulster]

No, he didn't.

He said it was good but not perfect compared to the Logitech hardware. But he didn't say whether he'd tried tweaking the latency for this player to get it perfect and whether it would then drift, and also said nothing about whether two or more VAMPs will retain perfect sync between them.

The hardware players have a resync mechanism built in, and so it would be interesting to know whether the software player also has this.

[Triode]

No, he didn't.

He said it was good but not perfect compared to the Logitech hardware. But he didn't say whether he'd tried tweaking the latency for this player to get it perfect and whether it would then drift, and also said nothing about whether two or more VAMPs will retain perfect sync between them.

The hardware players have a resync mechanism built in, and so it would be interesting to know whether the software player also has this.

Squeezelite implements the resync mechanism. The variation between hardware means there is more variability between the delay the hardware reports to the software. I've not looked at doing any tuning in this area though.

[paulster]

Squeezelite implements the resync mechanism. The variation between hardware means there is more variability between the delay the hardware reports to the software. I've not looked at doing any tuning in this area though.

That's great. Does that mean on identical hardware (i.e. two PogoPlugs running SqueezeLite) the sync should be pretty much on a par with what the hardware devices would offer then?

[Triode]

That's great. Does that mean on identical hardware (i.e. two PogoPlugs running SqueezeLite) the sync should be pretty much on a par with what the hardware devices would offer then?

Not necessarily - the problem is the accuracy of the hardware reporting latency. Don't discount it though - I'm not saying its inaccurate, just that I can't comment on an unknown set of hardware.

[MarcelG]

Received my Pogoplug.....Pro...

So, I got the Pogoplug. However, I didn't get the P02, I got the Pro...the P01.
And because of that (and mostly because I no nothing about linux....) I could not follow through with the instruction you posted on vortexbox.com, as I ran into issues with installing the ./install_uboot_mtd0.sh part....
So, instead of just ignoring the errors and warnings, I went ahead and installed Arch Linux on it, so that's what I currently have running on it. I think it also installed something similar to the uboot boot manager thing, as I can now boot off into Arch Linux from a memorystick. So, there's a start.

But now, I'm completely clueless as to the next steps.

I guess I should get audio working (install ALSA ?)
And finally I should also Squeezelite...again, how?

Anyone have an idea where to get a 2 hour crashcourse in (Arch) Linux ("For those occasions when all you have is a SSH terminal, and a great plan to spent those late hours....")
I feel like an absolute newbie...as if it where the day back in 1985 when as a 7year old I got my hands on my very own Sharp MZ-721 for the first time, completely clueless but oh so intrigued by the blinking cursor.

[agillis]

The p01 has a different processor so it's march harder to get anything working on it. You could hack around on it or just go buy a P02 for $20.