Electronics RaspberryPi Amp Box - UPDATE - up and running!

As always with JRS ... simple and efficient ... +rep

 

I've got tons of ideas, but not enough time, money and the mood to do much myself

 

Here is an idea I thought of.









I have the wood, and I think I have the metal or can get it very cheap.
Basically the enclosure would cost me very little and would look very sweet.

I put dividers in the inside to prevent interference.
Obviously not everything is to scale though.

Do you think that would work? The dividers would have some holes to run wires between sections.

If that wouldn't work then I could use the same plan but just 3 smaller ones.


What ya think?

 

This should be OK. Even high-end AIO-parts put everything in the same box, but they use high quality components ofc.

This for example is the interior of a $3000 Naim Uniti...



Look how tidy they even aranged the wires, so that they don't cross each other

 

Do you think dividers would even be necessary? I guess it's not much extra work to do it, so might as well?


I have some nice Oak wood which I would use for the sides and my dad can likely get the aluminum panels cut/bent at his work for very little (or free). It will look very nice I think.

Now I just need to wait a little bit till we have the money so I can buy all the parts.


For wiring, is there any special wire I should be using, or will something like this work: http://www.ebay.com/itm/4m-1007-24A...028?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43a76e8574

I've seen many people twist a pair of wires together. Looks neater, but does it add anything? and is there some areas where it shouldn't be done?

 

I would still put some kind of shielding between the parts (PSU / AMP / Pi + DAC) just to be sure. So the design you came up with is all nice and dandy.

For the wires I'd go with 0.5-1.0 mm² copper-wires, as they have the lowest impendance.

 

what gauge is that? i dont know much! lol

 

No idea what this is in gauge either. US-measurments other then inch are a blank page in my books

 

According to this: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/awg-wire-gauge-d_731.html
24awg is 0.5mm. So that wire I linked to should be perfect?

For the 120V socket to the PSU and from the PSU to the amp and Pi, should I use a thicker wire? Or does that not matter? That wire I linked to says 300V in the description.

 

I'd go with 16 AWG (1mm²) for the PSU-wires and 20 AWG (0.5mm²) for the rest. Wouldn't risk using too small diameters.

 

Use thicker wire for the socket to PSU connection and probably the power supply to amp connection but you should be fine with 24awg to the pi [citation need] (I'm not that experienced with this kind of stuff).

 

Here is the overall parts list of what I am wanting to use:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/4pcs-golden...=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item4abe07b687
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PCS-BLACK-...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item337dc7c6a0
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RJ45-Female...g_Plugs_Jacks_Wall_Plates&hash=item58992dfa6b
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-4-Pole...406?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae3811da6
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/YJ-TA2020-20...Components&hash=item2ec45dbaea#ht_2954wt_1111
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Dual-2-Po...517?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae4309fc5
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-4-Positio...611?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ae381419b
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINI-PCM270...1485244557938979477&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&
http://www.ebay.com/itm/120v-240v-U...=Laptop_Adapters_Chargers&hash=item27bf536eb8
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mini-Rocker...244?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item460c04263c
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-3-5mm-S...=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item5aea4154d2
http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-Ez-Lok-8...324?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item257a1ebb44
http://www.amazon.com/Ziotek-ZT1311...d=1360903798&sr=8-6&keywords=usb+a+to+b+6inch
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5V-2A-10W-A...467?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d478ee1b
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-4-2A-50...248?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d47900c8
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-PAIR-GOLD...mplifier_Parts_Components&hash=item43a76f5067
http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-A-male-...807?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416361fea7
http://www.amazon.com/Port-Compact-...30174&sr=8-8&keywords=startech+4+port+usb+hub

I tried to find the cheapest priced parts but still good quality.
The only parts not in that list that I will use are, the wire, the raspberry pi, and the enclosure.

Do you think there is anything I'm missing or should change?

 

Looks like it's all there.

 

Awesome.

Thanks for your help!
Now hopefully I can order it all soon!

 

Ordered the Amp, DAC, 120V Socket, 12V PSU and 5V PSU today.
Now just gotta wait the 1 - 3 weeks for it all to arrive.

Then I can atleast test it all and get rough dimensions of how big this will need to be. Then I will order the rest of the parts.

I will update once I get the parts.

 

Nice. I hope these parts work as intended

 

Great ... I just love audio projects. Count me as a faithful follower

 

Interested in this project, been looking for a new project for my Pi.

After looking at the squeezeplug site, I am curious how the Pi is controlled..

 

For on a PC there is a program called SqueezePlay

Or for smartphones there are apps like iPeng for the iPhone or Squeeze Commander and Orange Squeeze for Androids.

Right now I will just use SqueezePlay on our netbook, but hope to eventually get a Nexus 7 or just get a smartphone and use one of the Android apps.

 

Some parts have arrived!
I right now have the 12v psu wired up to the amp board testing it out.
Sounds awesome! Much better than the Lepai TA2020 amp I have.

Will post some pics yet...