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If you’ve got an old Hi-Fi or sound system with an AUX input, this project is for you. Try balenaSound, a starter project to quickly and easily add Bluetooth, Airplay and Spotify Connect and multi-room capability to an old Hi-Fi, speakers, or any other audio device using only a Raspberry Pi!

Before you start

Tutorial

Using balenaSound

Before you start

Updates

Turn your old speakers or Hi-Fi into Bluetooth, Airplay and Spotify receivers with a Raspberry Pi and this step-by-step guide. Last updated: 6th October 2020. If you’ve got an old Hi-Fi or sound system with an AUX input, this project is for you. The process is a bit different for Bose and Sonos speakers, which instead use Spotify Connect via the Spotify app to stream music, but the end result of free ad-supported music is exactly the same.

We’re continually updating this post along with the project code, you can find a log of all our updates below.

6th October 2020: Updated instructions for balenaSound v3.0
7th July 2020: Added links to official app site for docs, troubleshooting, and more.
21st May 2020: This project now supports deploy to balena - code wrangling by hand is no longer required!
10th March 2020: This project now supports multi-room audio
Updated 9th January 2020: You can now add multiple projects to the same device. Try combining balenaSound with another project -- oh the possibilities!
Updated 14th October 2019: Now works with the Raspberry Pi 4B
Updated 7th October 2019: Now supports Airplay and Spotify Connect alongside Bluetooth

Introduction

A lot of people have older and probably still great, high-quality audio systems that no longer get used, simply because they’re inconvenient. We’ve decided to address that with this very simple project we're calling balenaSound. We will show you how to build your own audio receiver which connects to the auxiliary(AUX) input of any audio device to give it modern streaming functionality. You’ll then be able to stream music to your audio setup from your phone, tablet, or laptop using Bluetooth, Airplay, or Spotify Connect.

All you need is a Raspberry Pi and a little bit of time. We’ve done all the hard work by configuring Bluetooth & the other services, and setting everything up in a repeatable format to get you up and running with minimal effort. It’s the perfect introduction if you’ve never tried a project like this before.

We’re going to guide you through setting up the Raspberry Pi, deploying the balenaSound project code onto it and then show you how to connect your audio system and get started with streaming.

Multi-room

Since version 2.0, balenaSound supports multiple, synchronized devices allowing you to build your own DIY Sonos or custom multi-room audio system. If you’ve only got one device, that still works great and as it did before. Now, you can simply flash another SD card with the same image and that device will play the same audio as your first device completely seamlessly.

As long as your devices are connected to the same WiFi network, they will automatically discover each other and synchronize audio output.

Hardware required

Raspberry Pi 4B, 3A+, 3B, 3B+, Zero W device support matrix
An SD Card (we always recommend SanDisk Extreme Pro SD cards)
Power supply
3.5mm audio cable to the input on your speakers/Hi-Fi (usually 3.5mm or RCA)
An audio system to connect
(optional) Digital-analogue-converter(DAC) HAT (e.g. Pimoroni pHAT DAC) for better audio quality. DAC support matrix

Note: the Raspberry Pi Zero cannot be used on it's own as it has no audio output. To use the Pi Zero you'll need a the optional DAC HAT to get the project working.

Software required

Software to flash an SD card (balenaEtcher)
A free balenaCloud account to setup and manage the Pi
(optionally) balenaCLI if you want to hack on your devices, work locally, etc.

Tutorial

Setup the Raspberry Pi

Once you’ve found all the hardware, we’re going to start setting up the Raspberry Pi. This project uses the Deploy to balena feature, so you'll want to set up your free account ahead of time to get the most out of this convenient method.

Click this button

Then click Create and Deploy

This will create an application with all of the balenaSound code already deployed and all of the configuration settings preset. Remember to choose the correct device type here!

Tip: If you don’t already have a balenaCloud account, clicking the deploy button will take you to the signup page, where you can make a free one. If you have a Google or Github account, you can sign in with one of those.

Alternatively, you can clone the project repo and push it to your balenaCloud application using balenaCLI.

Add a device and download the balenaOS disk image from the dashboard

Once your application has been created, you can setup and add a device within that application by clicking the 'add device' button. When you add a device you specify your device type, which is important that it matches the device you’re using, and if you are connecting to a wireless network you can set your WiFI SSID and passphrase here too.

balenaOS 2.38 or higher is required for this project

Note: we've used a Raspberry Pi 3 in the image below but be sure to select the correct device type for the device you are using!

This process creates a customized image configured for your application and device type and includes your network settings if you specified them.

Note: When you're first getting started, a development image will be most useful, as it permits a number of testing and troubleshooting features. More details on the differences between development and production images can be found here. If you're confident you can go ahead and deploy the production image straight away.

Flash your SD card with the balenaOS disk image and boot the device

Once the OS image has been downloaded, it’s time to flash your SD card. You can use balenaEtcher for this.

Once the flashing process has completed, insert your SD card into the Raspberry Pi and connect the power supply.

When the device boots for the first time, it connects to the balenaCloud dashboard, after which you’ll be able to see it listed as online and move onto the next step.

Troubleshooting: It should only take a few minutes for the new device to appear in your dashboard, If your device still hasn't shown up on your dashboard after a few minutes, something has gone wrong. There's an extensive troubleshooting guide in the documentation, with lots of information on why this could be, but if you still can't get your device online, come on over to the forums where we’ll be able to help out.

After the device appears online in the dashboard, it will start to download the balenaSound application; after a few minutes your device information screen in the dashboard should look something like this, showing the services running.

At this point you’re ready to move on, connect things up and give it a try!

Connect your speakers

Most Hi-Fi systems and powered speakers will include an auxiliary (AUX) input for connecting things such as your newly-created balenaSound device. To do this you’ll need to ensure you have the right cables. The audio output on the Raspberry Pi (and the PHAT DAC) is a 3.5mm stereo audio jack, and most AUX inputs are going to be either the same or perhaps more commonly a phono/RCA input, which are the individual red and white connectors. Therefore you’re going to need a cable to work with your setup. The AmazonBasics range is a good place to start looking, the cables are good quality without costing too much.

3.5mm to RCA cable (Amazon USA)
3.5mm to RCA cable (Amazon

Old Sonos Compatible With Spotify Free