Replace aging Dell DARs

[bha@offsite.com]

I am an early adopter, picked up 6 Dell DARs back in 2001 (thanks to Jeff Mock and many others making this really work), and LMS (under various names) from 2003 or so.
Now, slowly but surely the DARs are breaking, but I like the platform and I like reasonable quality and passive speakers (none of those powered PC desktop speakers for me).
Headless is fine for me, don't need the remote.

I did buy an AudioCast @ audiocast.io, small, low cost, no amp, quality is only fair.

I am now thinking Pi Zero W, with a good DAC like the miniBoss Zero @ allo.com/sparky/miniboss-rpi-zero.html, and some amp, maybe a TPA3116D2 board with a solid 24v power brick and a DC Buck for 5v for the Pi Zero.

I did a test and put piCorePlayer on a PiZeroW with a Google AIY Voice Bonnet and it was really easy (almost just worked, after a little alsamixer jiggling) using the small onboard amp, or line out to a real amp and speakers.

I did look at the great work done on Squeezelite-ESP32 @ github.com/philippe44/squeezelite-esp32 by philippe_44 and others. But with the Pi Zero, DAC phats, and amps I have a little more choice on both the HW and SW to hack around. If I want a display I can add it. If I want IR remote I can add it, etc.

I think this gets me a full replacement (including case and power brick) for under US$90 (including shipping and tax) with some assembly required.

Thoughts?

BHA

[SpiderJon]

I am an early adopter, picked up 6 Dell DARs back in 2001...

Tangential to offering any thoughts, but what's a Dell DAR? :-)

[Paul Webster]

Tangential to offering any thoughts, but what's a Dell DAR? :-)

Digital Audio Receiver - early 2000s
https://www.automatedhome.co.uk/revi...er-review.html

[bpa]

Digital Audio Receiver - early 2000s
https://www.automatedhome.co.uk/revi...er-review.html

A Dell rebadged Rio Receiver https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Receiver

Pi replacement would be most cost effective. Basic h/w is cheap - ancillaries adds to the costs such as right box, choice of display, physical buttons etc.

[Paul Webster]

Which had alternative software to turn it into a Squeezebox
https://web.archive.org/web/20130724...rg.uk/slimrio/

[Apesbrain]

Thoughts?

The Raspberry Pi is a fine solution and well supported here. You might consider one of the DAC/amp HAT boards offered by HiFiBerry and others.

[bha@offsite.com]

Yes, perfect. Today in the mail came a new Pi Zero W, and a miniBoss Zero https://allo.com/sparky/miniboss-rpi-zero.html with a little plastic case.

I put piCorePlayer on an SD, set the wifi on the SD, booted up the PI Zero W, selected Allo Boss from the Audio dropdown saved, rebooted, and - MUSIC!

It just could not be easier! Thanks again to the piCorePlayer team.

Next up I am waiting for a TPA3116D2 board amp, a solid 20v power brick, and a DC Buck to provide 5v for the Pi Zero and miniBoss.

--
BHA