I was having a side discussion with forum members and the comment that SqueezeAMP is "geeky" (at least much more than a Pi) surfaced again. It's not the first time and I think it could be good for me to address that comment and maybe have a debate here about why and what can be improved.
Although a Pi and SqueezeAMP require of course much more "personal involvement" than buying a Boom or a consumer device, I do feel that the SqueezeAMP is less geeky than a Pi for the following reasons. Please note that this is NOT AT ALL a charge against the Pi and it's great main software companion PiCorePlayer.
Now, the perception of "SqueezeAMP is geeky" might come from the confusion between the HW and the SW. The SW that runs SqueezeAMP is SqueezeliteESP32 that we are developing with @sle118. That software is built-in inside the SqueezeAMP but can be used in many different environments as well, from raw WROVER modules to A1S modules and various boards based on these. Here you can select you DAC and play with a lot of options, including and up to re-compiling the software to your taste and have a lot of flying wires to do the assembly of your choice. That is definitively geeky, but that's not, IMHO forced on you by the project, especially not by SqueezeAMP where all that is hidden, it's the tinkerer's choice :). Still, using SqueezeAMP, you can go geeky as well if you choose to but again, it's an option, it's your choice
Again, let me repeat for clarity that this is not a charge against Pi and/or PiCore. You can do much more with a Pi and I think both Pi/PiCorePlayer-SqueezeAMP/SqueezeliteESP32 serve different purposes with some overlap. I'm not saying for a second that SqueezeAMP/SqueezeliteESP32 is better than Pi//PiCorePlayer. I would just like to correct the perception that SqueezeAMP is geeky, especially much more geeky than a Pi
Let me know your thoughts
Although a Pi and SqueezeAMP require of course much more "personal involvement" than buying a Boom or a consumer device, I do feel that the SqueezeAMP is less geeky than a Pi for the following reasons. Please note that this is NOT AT ALL a charge against the Pi and it's great main software companion PiCorePlayer.
- SqueezeAMP can be used out of the box : connect any power 5-20V supply using a 2.1mm jack, connect speakers and you're good to go. SW is built-in, including OTA updates, you don't need to use a USB-to-serial programming kit to load or update it. No coding, no compiling, nothing, just power and speaker connection. When using a Pi, you need to assemble it with another board, either a codec or an amplifier. It's a board-to-board assembly. It's not complicated, but there is more to do (of course with Pi you can chose what AMP/DAC you use). With Pi, you also need to flash a SDCard
- If you want a box, then you need to do the assembly yourself for Pi and SqueezeAMP, there is no difference. The Pi has a larger choice of cases of course.
- If you want to add displays, buttons, rotary encoders, IR receivers ... then you need to tinker wires and so on in both cases, I think projects are equally "geeky". Pi offers you JiveLite and touchscreen, so a more complete UI, but that's not a "geekiness" problem.
Now, the perception of "SqueezeAMP is geeky" might come from the confusion between the HW and the SW. The SW that runs SqueezeAMP is SqueezeliteESP32 that we are developing with @sle118. That software is built-in inside the SqueezeAMP but can be used in many different environments as well, from raw WROVER modules to A1S modules and various boards based on these. Here you can select you DAC and play with a lot of options, including and up to re-compiling the software to your taste and have a lot of flying wires to do the assembly of your choice. That is definitively geeky, but that's not, IMHO forced on you by the project, especially not by SqueezeAMP where all that is hidden, it's the tinkerer's choice :). Still, using SqueezeAMP, you can go geeky as well if you choose to but again, it's an option, it's your choice
Again, let me repeat for clarity that this is not a charge against Pi and/or PiCore. You can do much more with a Pi and I think both Pi/PiCorePlayer-SqueezeAMP/SqueezeliteESP32 serve different purposes with some overlap. I'm not saying for a second that SqueezeAMP/SqueezeliteESP32 is better than Pi//PiCorePlayer. I would just like to correct the perception that SqueezeAMP is geeky, especially much more geeky than a Pi
Let me know your thoughts