

A Retro, Not Steampunk, Media Center - gedrap
http://hackaday.com/2013/10/02/a-retro-not-steampunk-media-center/

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alphakappa
This is all around awesome. Every bit of it, right down to the power strip[1]
seems to be well-chosen to fit the aesthetic. Truly, a great mix of
engineering and artistic skills.

1\. [http://audio.toddkumpf.com/power-
strip#](http://audio.toddkumpf.com/power-strip#)

~~~
arethuza
Probably the best combination of personal engineering and artistic skills is
the work (hobby?) of Tatjana J. van Vark:

[http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/projects.html](http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/projects.html)

Some of her stuff is absolutely stunningly beautiful and wonderfully esoteric
e.g. "Mechanical Fourier Analysis and Synthesis":

[http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/harmonium/harmonium.html](http://www.tatjavanvark.nl/harmonium/harmonium.html)

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Fuzzwah
Site appears to be suffering under the load. Here's links to google cache for
a few of the pages:

concept:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:el5m9JG...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:el5m9JG8ewwJ:audio.toddkumpf.com/concept/+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

process:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9ItuTOZ...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9ItuTOZ_QhAJ:audio.toddkumpf.com/process04/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

gallery:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TekvDuj...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:TekvDujLqEwJ:audio.toddkumpf.com/gallery2/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

blog:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ir6N8bK...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ir6N8bKiULQJ:audio.toddkumpf.com/blog/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

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kaoD
I wonder how is the streamed audio being output to the speakers. As far as I
know, non-HDMI Raspberry PI's audio capabilities just suck.

~~~
jws
USB sound card

~~~
ekianjo
USB sound cards are not always of very good quality. They do transform the
signal in various ways.

I mean, if you are serious about audio, you should not even be using a Pi in
the first place.

~~~
buro9
Did you look at the speakers it has? Basically computer speakers from a cinema
type setup.

This is very clearly a project about aesthetics and solving a problem that the
individual had (integration of various audio systems - turntable + spotify),
rather than one about quality of sound.

From an aesthetic perspective this is one hell of a well done job. Everything
about it looks good. It won't sound incredible given the speakers used, so it
is not necessary for the USB sound card and Pi to also provide a sublime and
low-noise signal.

In fact one could argue that given the aesthetics, it not sounding perfect
fits the design aesthetic of the project.

~~~
ekianjo
Sure, I have no issue with that. I just wanted to clarify that USB sound cards
are sometimes very much sub-par in terms of audio quality and one should be
very careful about their choice there.

~~~
grimman
I've been looking for a good USB soundcard. Is there anything in particular
you would recommend?

~~~
dhucerbin
If you want only to listen, USB DAC is good option. Buy sabre based diy[1].
It's simple and uses great components - best reciver and best in its budget
class dac.

[1]
[http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&product...](http://hifimediy.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=107)

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state_machine
Anyone have suggestions for a good, cheap-ish, USB DAC? I use my rpi for
Airplay but the onboard DAC is not the best.

~~~
alexhawdon
Check out [http://www.raspyfi.com/](http://www.raspyfi.com/). Their aim is to
turn the RPi in to a respectable HiFi source so the DAC is a big part of this.

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gr3yh47
anyone know what the 2 tracks in the video are?

~~~
metl_lord
Yellow Bird and Vibe Vendetta off of Pretty Light's A Color Map of the Sun.

~~~
wmeredith
The band is Pretty Lights, not Pretty Light's, for anyone else trying to look
them up.

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snissn
this is sick

