Parasound P5 + Raspberry Pi 2 + RuneAudio - Will this work?

[Bootbox]

My plan is:

Install RuneAudio image on Pi 2
Connect USB hard drive full of FLAC files to Pi 2
Connect Pi 2 to my router via ethernet cable
Connect Pi 2 to my Parasound P5 preamp via USB cable
Control RuneAudio with an Android Tablet

Concerns/questions:

Do I need to have the Pi 2 on my Wi-Fi network in order to control it with the tablet? I'd prefer to not mess with Wi-Fi when my router is right there.

Will the P5 and the Pi 2 talk to each other successfully? The P5 DAC has an asynchronous USB connection, is the Pi 2 compatible?

Is there a way to make the Pi 2 see my music folders on my main PC, since they are both connected to the same router via ethernet?

Do I have to 'shutdown' the Pi 2 or can I just kill the power to it?

I don't plan to have a monitor or keyboard connected after the intial setup. If I kill power to the Pi 2, do I have to login to the RuneAudio server when I turn it all back on or can I set it up to auto logon?

Here's my shopping list, am I missing anything obvious? (I already have all the cables, an SD card reader, and a powered USB hub)

Pi 2

Wall wart power supply

Pi 2 Case

8GB microSD card

 

[ldatlof]

Do I need to have the Pi 2 on my Wi-Fi network in order to control it with the tablet? No, the Pi doesn't need to be connected to wifi. The Pi and the tablet need to be on the same network though.

Will the P5 and the Pi 2 talk to each other successfully? The P5 DAC has an asynchronous USB connection, is the Pi 2 compatible? Most likely. I have an asynchronous DAC hooked up to my Pi and it works without any problems.

Is there a way to make the Pi 2 see my music folders on my main PC, since they are both connected to the same router via ethernet? Yes. Runeaudio should be able to handle that.

Do I have to 'shutdown' the Pi 2 or can I just kill the power to it? Either way works. When you use the shutdown command the Pi is still powered on. There is no power button on the Pi. To remove power you must unplug. There is no reason to shut it off because it only uses about $5 worth of power per year. I just reboot via a cron job every week.

I don't plan to have a monitor or keyboard connected after the intial setup. If I kill power to the Pi 2, do I have to login to the RuneAudio server when I turn it all back on or can I set it up to auto logon? I don't really know but I would think you don't have to relogin. When I reboot my Pi, squeezelite, retropie and boinc all start at bootup without relogging in. I only need to login when I ssh into it via Putty.

Your shopping list looks fine but I would purchase the RPi 3 for $35 if you haven't already bought the RPi2. Improvements are built in wifi and blue tooth and a faster processor.

 

[Bootbox]

Thanks for the super helpful reply. I'm a lot more comfortable that I can pull this off now, I went ahead and ordered everything. For now, I'm sticking with the Pi 2 as RuneAudio doesn't appear to support the Pi 3.

I'm completely new to anything Linux (for example have no idea how to ssh via Putty etc) so I'm pretty set on using RuneAudio as it appears to be the most user friendly all in one solution (admittedly though, it's not the most polished front end, hopefully that gets better with time)

 

[ducati_EL34]

Thanks for the super helpful reply. I'm a lot more comfortable that I can pull this off now, I went ahead and ordered everything. For now, I'm sticking with the Pi 2 as RuneAudio doesn't appear to support the Pi 3.

I'm completely new to anything Linux (for example have no idea how to ssh via Putty etc) so I'm pretty set on using RuneAudio as it appears to be the most user friendly all in one solution (admittedly though, it's not the most polished front end, hopefully that gets better with time)

What do consider, polished? Just go to a browser and type in the IP address, and you have a nice interface that lets you select by artist, genre, or album.

I have the RPi 2 and IQaudIO DAC and love it!

 

[Bootbox]

For the perfect polished front end, album art, liner notes, band bio, etc etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly happy with the current state of RuneAudio and I'm really excited to get it running this weekend!

Can you tell me a little about your setup?

Are you running RuneAudio? What sources do you have connected and by what method? Was it easy to setup?

 

[ducati_EL34]

For the perfect polished front end, album art, liner notes, band bio, etc etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly happy with the current state of RuneAudio and I'm really excited to get it running this weekend!

Can you tell me a little about your setup?

Are you running RuneAudio? What sources do you have connected and by what method? Was it easy to setup?

I have an RPi 2, the IQaudIO DAC +. This plugs into the onboard BUS. So USB is not used. For storage, I have a USB 1TB hard disk that is connected to the RPi 2. The DAC is connected to my preamp, via RCA interconnects. I am running RuneAudio. Rune does display the album art. I do not care about the band's bio, or liner notes. Neither enhance my enjoyment of the music.


The Hard disk is powered from a USB hub, not the RPi 2. My next addition is to add another 1TB hard disk and configure the RAID driver, so my music will then be copied (and read) from both disks, providing me with a backup should a I experience a disk failure. Rune also supports NAS.

 

[Bootbox]

Very cool, thanks for that

 

[gcgst]

Thanks for the super helpful reply. I'm a lot more comfortable that I can pull this off now, I went ahead and ordered everything. For now, I'm sticking with the Pi 2 as RuneAudio doesn't appear to support the Pi 3.

I'm completely new to anything Linux (for example have no idea how to ssh via Putty etc) so I'm pretty set on using RuneAudio as it appears to be the most user friendly all in one solution (admittedly though, it's not the most polished front end, hopefully that gets better with time)

For a polished front end, install Plex Media Server on your PC and Rasplex or Plex Media Player (Plex Pass required) on your Pi 2. Another option is Logitech Media Server and Squeezelite.

 

[ldatlof]

...I'm completely new to anything Linux (for example have no idea how to ssh via Putty etc)...

Putty is a free terminal emulator. In our case, It gives you access to the the RPi's command line interface via ssh (a protocol) from another computer. Here is what it looks like when I login in to my RPi 1 A+.

Using a program like tightvncviewer will allow you to access the Pi's desktop from another computer on the network.

My setup is as follows: Dell Precision T7400 Workstation (Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS, LMS 7.9.0) > Ubee DVW326 Cable Modem/Wireless Router > RPi 2 (Squeezelite 1.7) > HRT Music Streamer II DAC > Dynaco SCA-35 > Klipsch Heresy.

 

[Bootbox]

Thanks for all the help everyone.

I got this up and running over the weekend, it was really easy and it all sounds incredible. It was super easy to setup and it's really fun to use. I'm having a blast ripping my favorite CDs to FLAC and really dig checking out the digital side of things. I think I might finally get my $10/mo worth out of Spotify too!

Some pics of my system (album here http://imgur.com/a/ihvJC)

From the top down:
Pioneer PL-630 TT with Grace F-9E
Modified Yaqin MS22b phono pre
Furman PL-8C line conditioner
Parasound P5 line pre
Parasound HCA-1500a amplifier
Polk SDA 2 speakers
Not shown: shameful wire situation to the left of my audio rack

You can see the Pi 2 in the case here, to the left of the pre. The case was super cheap and turns out to be really nice. I'm so excited at how this all turned out. Thanks again everyone.

 

[ronscat]

Your system looks really nice. I would love to hear your Polk speakers.

 

[jessbob]

WOW, way over my head I thought I was doing good using my I pod threw a rocket fish blue tooth hook up. I also have the p5 pre, hca-1500a amp and polk sda2s and love the set up. I would love to own a TT like yours. Very nice set up.