Pi MusicBox (via http://www.woutervanwijk.nl/pimusicbox/)
Do you consistently find yourself listening to music while tinkering around with your new-fangled Raspberry Pi? Well if you’re not sure what is next on your list of Pi projects, this might just tickle your inner ear and inner maker fancy. Apparently, many Pi users have reported difficulties in getting their hardware to jam out as a remote Spotify server - until now. The makers of Pi MusicBox have developed a bootable image that will give users remote access to the Spotify library with added AirTunes support.
The project is based on the Mopidy music server, which can play music from a local hard drive and from Spotify while allowing users to mix and match both sources to create new playlists. The Pi Musicbox is a great way for Spotify premium subscribers to begin transforming their Pis into a media streaming machine with the added convenience of remote-controlled WiFi streaming options. The makers of the music box do however warn users right off the bat that the Pi’s analog port is on the low-quality side of the sound spectrum - so, the use of an external USB soundcard is highly recommended.
To get the software working, users will need to load the 800MB program onto a 2GB SD card. This is followed by a little bit of Unix editing to store the user’s WiFi and Spotify credentials on the image. Any UPnP Media Renderers or MPD client can be used with the Musicbox software, giving users flexibility as to how they would like to remotely control their Pi; in this case, UPnP and MPD clients essentially act as the remote control for accessing the music library, while the the Pi Musicbox server acts as the mediator between the user and the music files. Once the card is loaded onto the Pi and all necessary audio cables are connected, users can point their browser or music client on their PC or smartphone to the Pi Musicbox address and begin enjoying the Pi music streaming experience.
One last thing: the makers of Pi Musicbox warn users not to use their software outside of a firewall. No security features have been integrated as of yet.
Enjoy streaming tunes from your new Pi media powerhouse.
C
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