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Beocreate audio input

Vitio

November 16, 2019 10:28

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Hello,

I've bought two Amp2s, two RPi3s and eventually two USB2I2Ss to replace the RPis and so far I'm loving everything about them. For the next project I've got a simple question just to make sure it works as I hope it does.

I've got a TV and a Kodi/NAS/MediaCenter setup. I want two passive loudspeakers to be able to play audio from either the TV directly or MediaCenter without manually switching the input source.

Can I use a Beocreate with the USB2I2S to accomplish that? I'd connect the TV to the Beocreate with a TOSlink and the MediaCenter with the USB cable.

 

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6 comments

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  HiFiBerry team November 18, 2019 07:01

  Hi,

  For this configuration I would recommend the Pi instead of the USB2I2S. If the "media server" is a NAS, it probably doesn't have any functionality to play back music on a USB sound card.

  Also, to program the Beocreate you need the Pi. You could program the board with a Pi and then switch to the USB2I2S. However, any additional changes you want to do require to get back to the Pi configuration as you can't program the Beocreate via USB.

  Best regards,
  Daniel

• 0
  
  Vitio November 18, 2019 08:05

  Thank you for your response. Actually the media server is an ITX board with Intel J4205 running Debian, which does various things I can't/don't want just substitute with a Pi. Right now it's running with an USBI2IS and the Amp2 just fine, I just want to add TV audio input via TOSlink.

  Can you elaborate on the programming part of the Beocreate? What do I need to program it for?

  https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/J4205-ITX/index.us.asp

  Thank you very much.

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team November 18, 2019 08:17

  Hi,

  to program the Beocreate board, you need to use DSPToolkit on the Pi:
  https://github.com/hifiberry/hifiberry-dsp
  
  This allows you to connect from SigmaStudio to the board an upload your DSP program.
  
  About your TV: Make sure it can output plain 2-channel stereo sound on TOSLink. We have seen many TVs already that can't be configured this way. They will output the original stream of the TV program. This might be AC3 or DTS encoded signals that the Beocreate board can't decode.

  Best regards,
  Daniel

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  Vitio November 18, 2019 08:48

  Good point on the TV, need to check that. If I don't want to program the board with SigmaStudio, then there is no Pi required? I'm not completely clear on how it benefits me.

• 0
  
  HiFiBerry team November 18, 2019 08:55

  Hi,

  you need to program the board. Without this, it will just run as a plain 2 channel amplifier with low volume. The Beocreate board is designed to use individual DSP programs that you need to upload to the board.
  For your use case an individual DSP program is needed as you require some functionality to switch between SPDIF input and sound from the USB interface. 
  
  Best regards,
  Daniel

• 0
  
  Vitio November 18, 2019 09:03

  OK got it. Thank you for your help.