raspberry pi 2 as media player

[isas123]

Blu-ray iso playback is smooth in openelec?

 

[sam9s]

Hi,

Can you dumb it down a bit please. This is what i understood.

1) I take a small ethernet cable and connect my hathway router to this?

D-Link DES-1005A 5-Port 10/100 Switch (White) - Buy D-Link DES-1005A 5-Port 10/100 Switch (White) Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in

2) then i take a 50 feet cat6 cable and connect to above switch

3) then i take another switch as above and connect this 50 feet cable to it
on first floor

4) then i take another ethernet cable and plug it from above switch to my wifi router?

this will make my first floor wifii covered with strong signals ?

I would recommend a better switch, this looks pretty ordinary for the kind of networking u planning to have ...

 

[regeHA]

Hi,

Can you dumb it down a bit please. This is what i understood.

1) I take a small ethernet cable and connect my hathway router to this?

D-Link DES-1005A 5-Port 10/100 Switch (White) - Buy D-Link DES-1005A 5-Port 10/100 Switch (White) Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in

2) then i take a 50 feet cat6 cable and connect to above switch

3) then i take another switch as above and connect this 50 feet cable to it
on first floor

4) then i take another ethernet cable and plug it from above switch to my wifi router?

this will make my first floor wifii covered with strong signals ?

It seems like a lot of work. Depending on your budget (assuming you are spending on rewiring your entire home), here is what I would recommend for you and with better results.

1. AC 3200 Wi-Fi router. Netgear is what I use.
2. RT-AC88U (RT-AC87U or similar models).
3. TP Link Archer C9 (C8 or C7). The C7 is in fact quite cheap ($80-$100 on Amazon), though it is an older model, it is an amazingly high value for money router.

Pretty much everyone of them will cover 4500 to 5000 sq ft in the 2.4 GHz range, and 2500 to 3000 sq ft in the 5 GHz range. That will cover pretty much any mid-size home even in the 5 GHz frequency.

Performance will be the same or even better than a wired network. Wi-Fi and router technology has come so far that you can keep it powered on for months or even years without any dropouts, performance degradation, overheating, etc.

PS: I don't really see the need for a network switch in a home environment.

 

[sam9s]

PS: I don't really see the need for a network switch in a home environment.

Switch is one of the major component in a Home Networking environment, when you keep most of the devices on LAN, which is what I always recommend. Only your laptop and mobile should be wifi.

 

[regeHA]

Switch is one of the major component in a Home Networking environment, when you keep most of the devices on LAN, which is what I always recommend. Only your laptop and mobile should be wifi.

In a typical home environment, what additional benefits does a network switch provide especially over a smart router with traffic management capabilities (SQM or QoS)?

I am asking in terms of a network switch creating another network. What's the benefit of having a network within a network or multiple networks in a home environment?

 

[GVRAVI]

I am not getting audio thru HDMI in raspberrypi using Volumio. I am getting audio thru 3.5 mm audio jack.

 

[regeHA]

I am not getting audio thru HDMI in raspberrypi using Volumio. I am getting audio thru 3.5 mm audio jack.

Simplest thing would be to change the cable and check.

Another option is to check how much is the power draw of the HDMI? If you have any USB devices connected to the Pi, disconnect them and check or use a self powered USB drive.

Also, you could change the image (OS) and try with a different solution.

All conjecture at this point, the only thing you can do is run diagnostics and find the solution mainly through the process of elimination. Start with a different HDMI cable and see.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

I am not getting audio thru HDMI in raspberrypi using Volumio. I am getting audio thru 3.5 mm audio jack.

Try Rune. No problems so far with HDMI audio and people say its better than Volumio.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Hi,

Can you dumb it down a bit please. This is what i understood.

1) I take a small ethernet cable and connect my hathway router to this?

D-Link DES-1005A 5-Port 10/100 Switch (White) - Buy D-Link DES-1005A 5-Port 10/100 Switch (White) Online at Low Price in India - Amazon.in

Try to get one gigabit switch instead. Something like this:

TP-LINK TL-SG1008D 8-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch - TP-LINK : Flipkart.com

I am using this personally since last 3 years and extremely happy with the performance.

2) then i take a 50 feet cat6 cable and connect to above switch

Yes. As the above mentioned switch is an unmanaged one, plug it to any port.

3) then i take another switch as above and connect this 50 feet cable to it
on first floor

Yes. get another switch like above

4) then i take another ethernet cable and plug it from above switch to my wifi router?

Yes. But given the fact that the secondary wifi router should be configured in repeater/Access Point (AP) mode

this will make my first floor wifii covered with strong signals ?

Yes. This is the solution that pros use.
Like others suggested, mobiles and laptops only should be connected via wifi. All other devices that have LAN port, should be connected to switch/router via lan cable.

Wifi is convenient for some cases. There are few disadvantages as well. So whatever you do, choose carefully.

 

[rikhav]

Did a small modification to raspberry pi

I saw a video where the digi plus board was powered directly which in turned powered the raspberry pi.
What it does is that it bypasses the fuse and power circutry of the raspberry pi

Too early to be 100 percent sure with the results. Will post my views after a proper listen


Following is the video

https://youtu.be/L83EEDbAMJI

Some very interesting changes and thankfully all on the positive side

Vocals much more natural then before
Nice decay to instruments
Overall smoothness of sound is more but not making the music lifeless
Bass is very tight now

 

[GVRAVI]

Simplest thing would be to change the cable and check.

Another option is to check how much is the power draw of the HDMI? If you have any USB devices connected to the Pi, disconnect them and check or use a self powered USB drive.

Also, you could change the image (OS) and try with a different solution.

All conjecture at this point, the only thing you can do is run diagnostics and find the solution mainly through the process of elimination. Start with a different HDMI cable and see.

Thanks for your reply, sound was coming through the 3.5 audio jack when connected to head phones but when I connected to amp, some abnormal sound was coming. I removed the power adapter and I have sourced power supply from amp. Problem of abnormal sound got solved. I realised that the culprit was power adapter. I will check with HDMI cable.

 

[GVRAVI]

Try Rune. No problems so far with HDMI audio and people say its better than Volumio.

I am planning check first with Moode, afterwards I will check Rune also. Yesterday I have checked Volumio, connecting through 3.5 audio jack to RCA of Amp. Somehow, I felt the sound quality was not impressive. Probably, I may be missing some settings.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

I am planning check first with Moode, afterwards I will check Rune also. Yesterday I have checked Volumio, connecting through 3.5 audio jack to RCA of Amp. Somehow, I felt the sound quality was not impressive. Probably, I may be missing some settings.

I am having trouble with moode HDMI Audio out. Looks like moode doesn't support audio over HDMI. Try both of them and let us know your impressions.

 

[sam9s]

In a typical home environment, what additional benefits does a network switch provide especially over a smart router with traffic management capabilities (SQM or QoS)?
I am asking in terms of a network switch creating another network. What's the benefit of having a network within a network or multiple networks in a home environment?

You cant expect to have a router inserted at every junction you expand your network. There is a reason we have switch (managed, unmanaged both).
and switch does not create another network or multiple networks, it merely extends the already existing one. Its the router with which you can create multiple networks, (independent or sub networks) whether you need it or not, depends on what kind of home network environment you are trying to create (or your home network is big enough to have one) ..... ..... and ofcourse a router can also be used as a switch, or an access point, but that defeats the purpose of it being a router .....

 

[GVRAVI]

I am having trouble with moode HDMI Audio out. Looks like moode doesn't support audio over HDMI. Try both of them and let us know your impressions.

I made a silly mistake in connecting the HDMI connections, now I am getting sound through the HDMI. The sound quality felt better through HDMI when compared to 3.5 mm jack. I have also installed moode, initially I was not getting any sound, after checking in settings I came to know that default volume levels were very low, after resetting the volume values, I am able get the sound. Regarding quality of sound, I can't say at this moment, I have listen further.

 

[arnprasad]

Depending on your budget (assuming you are spending on rewiring your entire home),

I didnt plan to spend more than 25 USD on this..the cable is 300 INR, the Switch I saw was 500 INR

 

[GVRAVI]

I tested rune. Initially it was not playing any files. Rune was recognising the files from USB. I could not find any problems in settings and connections. Finally it started responding when I changed audio output from HDMI to audio jack, again from audio jack to HDMI. Default setting was audio output from HDMI. Initial impressions are, User Interface is good in Rune, Networking settings are somewhat easy when compare to Moode and Volumio. I could not distinguish much difference in audio quality through Moode and Rune. But both are better when compare to Volumio.

 

[saikatbiswas82]

I tested rune. Initially it was not playing any files. Rune was recognising the files from USB. I could not find any problems in settings and connections. Finally it started responding when I changed audio output from HDMI to audio jack, again from audio jack to HDMI. Default setting was audio output from HDMI. Initial impressions are, User Interface is good in Rune, Networking settings are somewhat easy when compare to Moode and Volumio. I could not distinguish much difference in audio quality through Moode and Rune. But both are better when compare to Volumio.

That's great [emoji106]

 

[seal]

As I type this I am listening to music on my setup. Raspberry pi is working as a transport and its in turn fed by a media server

For me the difference is very apparent. OK, not a day night difference but after a certain level changes are only incremental.

Macro and micro dynanmics are much improved then before. Overall tonality improving a lot and sound is much more richer

I am not sure how this is achieved but for me sound is surely changed and changed for good

Thanks again Sam and regeha

Hi ,

Can you please provide some details how you managed to do it. I have minimserver running in a pc , and using bubble upnp in an android tab , I can see the minimserver and can play music in the tab itself , but the tab cant find the moode upnp in the rasp pi. I can use the moode via web browser in the tab.

Thanx in advance.

Ajit

 

[regeHA]

Hi ,

Can you please provide some details how you managed to do it. I have minimserver running in a pc , and using bubble upnp in an android tab , I can see the minimserver and can play music in the tab itself , but the tab cant find the moode upnp in the rasp pi. I can use the moode via web browser in the tab.

Thanx in advance.

Ajit

Did you enable DLNA server in moOde?

You will need to enable it in the settings and also restart moOde.