Raspberry Pi Hardware Setup for Vinyl Streaming to HomePods

In our first post, we introduced why combining your beloved vinyl collection with Apple HomePods is an incredible way to experience analog sound with modern convenience. Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves and dive into the details, starting with choosing and setting up your Raspberry Pi hardware—the heart of this project.

Choosing the Right Raspberry Pi and Audio Hardware

To ensure smooth streaming, great audio quality, and reliable performance, you’ll need specific hardware:

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B: Offers robust processing power, ideal for handling audio streaming.
HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro: Provides high-quality analog audio input/output—perfect for capturing vinyl audio clearly.
MicroSD Card (32GB+): Stores the operating system, software, and settings.
Official Raspberry Pi USB-C Power Supply: Ensures stable and sufficient power.
Ethernet cable or Wi-Fi access: Network connection for streaming audio wirelessly.

Why HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro?

The HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro captures the rich, detailed analog sound from your turntable and ensures the output remains pristine and clear. It offers professional-quality analog-digital conversion, making it ideal for vinyl audio applications.

Setting Up Raspberry Pi OS (32-bit Lite)

We’ll use Raspberry Pi OS Lite (32-bit) because it provides excellent compatibility and stability with our software stack.

Step-by-step OS Installation:

Download Raspberry Pi Imager from Raspberry Pi’s official website.
Flash Raspberry Pi OS:

Select Raspberry Pi OS Lite (32-bit).
Choose your MicroSD card.
Click Write to flash the OS.

Enable SSH and Wi-Fi (optional but recommended):

In Raspberry Pi Imager, click the gear icon.
Enable SSH and set your preferred username/password.
Configure Wi-Fi credentials if not using Ethernet.

Initial Raspberry Pi Configuration

After booting your Raspberry Pi:

Login via SSH:

ssh username@raspberrypi.local

System Update, Clean Packages & Update EEPROM version:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo reboot

sudo apt autoremove -y
sudo apt clean

sudo rpi-eeprom-update        # Check current EEPROM version
sudo rpi-eeprom-update -a     # Apply latest stable
sudo reboot

Connecting HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro to Raspberry Pi

Physical Connection

Shut down your Raspberry Pi safely:

sudo shutdown now

Attach the HiFiBerry DAC+ADC Pro HAT securely onto the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins.
Connect your turntable audio output to the HiFiBerry input jacks.
Power up your Raspberry Pi again.

Enable HiFiBerry via Configuration

Edit the Raspberry Pi boot configuration file:

sudo nano /boot/firmware/config.txt

Add or modify these lines:

dtparam=audio=off
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d,audio=off

Add this section:
# For Hifiberry
hdmi_ignore_edid_audio=1 # Raspberry Pi 5 Only, don't add this line on a Pi 4
dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplusadcpro,slave,leds_off=false

Disable internal audio to avoid conflicts (Raspberry Pi 4 Only):

echo "blacklist snd_bcm2835" | sudo tee -a /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-blacklist.conf

Disable internal audio to avoid conflicts (Raspberry Pi 5 Only):

Edit /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt

sudo nano /boot/firmware/cmdline.txt

This file contains one single line, so be careful not to break it. At the end of the line, append this:

snd_hdmi_lpe_audio.enable=0

For example, your line might look like:

console=serial0,115200 console=tty1 root=LABEL=writable rootfstype=ext4 elevator=deadline fsck.repair=yes rootwait quiet splash snd_hdmi_lpe_audio.enable=0

Use Raspi-config to make needed changes:

sudo raspi-config

Select Update to check for any updates.
Navigate to System Options → Hostname. Choose something descriptive, like vinylpi in case you didn’t set that when you created the image or decide you want to change it now
Set the audio output, navigate to Set audio output -> System Settings -> S2 Audio -> Hifiberry
And if you want to use it, set Enable SPI/I2C

Reboot to apply changes:

sudo reboot

Verify HiFiBerry Detection:

Check if HiFiBerry is recognized correctly:

aplay -l

You should see your HiFiBerry device clearly listed. On a raspberry Pi 5 you will still also see the HDMI Device listed as device 0 and the HifiBerry is device 1, this is expected. Also if you are using the newer version 2 of the Hifiberry card, change to dtoverlay=hifiberry-dacplusadcpro to dtoverlay=hifiberry-dac2pro

What’s Next?

Your Raspberry Pi and audio hardware are now configured and ready. In our next post, we’ll dive deeper into configuring ALSA, the audio management software, to ensure flawless, high-quality vinyl streaming.

Next post: February 29, 2024, HiFiBerry Configuration for Optimal Audio