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[400.40 --> 402.62] But I don't use it actually for Nav, you know? |
[402.78 --> 404.44] But I just use it for the police stuff. |
[404.76 --> 407.24] Apple Maps is surprisingly good these days. |
[407.36 --> 407.56] Yeah. |
[407.68 --> 409.00] I've had a... |
[409.00 --> 411.02] I'd say I've had a 90% success rate. |
[411.20 --> 411.78] That's impressive. |
[412.42 --> 415.24] I mean, I can't say that I've given up Google Maps yet. |
[415.24 --> 415.96] I want to. |
[417.00 --> 418.88] But maybe one day. |
[419.66 --> 423.72] So anyway, talking about the de-Googling side of things, I was focusing on audio for the |
[423.72 --> 424.76] last couple of weeks, really. |
[425.18 --> 426.24] And I have... |
[426.80 --> 428.48] For some reason, I've got about... |
[428.48 --> 433.12] It feels like nearly a dozen Google Home Minis dotted around this house that I got for like |
[433.12 --> 435.44] $5 offers or free or... |
[435.44 --> 439.18] I've just acquired an unbelievable number of these things over the years. |
[439.74 --> 441.46] Also, a couple of Chromecast audios. |
[441.96 --> 447.10] And so I've been using these things in home audio groups or speaker groups, I think is the |
[447.10 --> 452.90] Google phrase, to create a whole home audio solution. |
[453.74 --> 457.90] I haven't been 100% happy with it, but it's honestly just been good enough. |
[458.14 --> 460.88] And, you know, sometimes when you just want some tunes when you're in the shower or something |
[460.88 --> 465.32] like that, or just, you know, tidy in the house, you just want the same song playing everywhere. |
[465.32 --> 470.96] However, as you all know, Google are not currently Flavor of the Month with me or Chris. |
[470.96 --> 479.78] And the goal was, still is, whole home audio in sync through multiple different amplifiers |
[479.78 --> 482.46] and different speaker types and all that kind of stuff. |
[482.60 --> 490.84] And so in my family room, I have a discrete amplifier plugged into a pair of passive floor-standing |
[490.84 --> 491.54] loudspeakers. |
[492.50 --> 497.06] Downstairs, I have another one in the kitchen area. |
[497.22 --> 501.52] Again, it's just a normal amplifier, no smarts to it, no network connectivity, nothing like |
[501.52 --> 501.76] that. |
[502.48 --> 506.96] And I've really struggled to integrate these into Home Assistant and the smart home in |
[506.96 --> 507.28] general. |
[507.96 --> 510.70] And so I went on a bit of a mission this week to try and solve that. |
[510.70 --> 514.46] And a few pieces of the puzzle had to fall into place to make this happen. |
[514.56 --> 520.30] So first of all, I thought I would tackle the audio playback side of these things, because |
[520.30 --> 523.86] there's no network jack on these amplifiers. |
[524.40 --> 530.64] So I needed to use some other hardware to act as a Spotify Connect endpoint and AirPlay |
[530.64 --> 532.64] endpoint for when I'm using Plex Amp. |
[533.58 --> 538.12] And I came across a bunch of feedback from a couple of years ago when I was talking about |
[538.12 --> 542.32] doing a similar thing whilst I was drumming and allowing people in the house to listen |
[542.32 --> 546.16] to the backing track that I'm playing along to through the speakers throughout the rest of |
[546.16 --> 546.52] the house. |
[547.02 --> 549.74] I never actually acted on much of that feedback back then. |
[549.74 --> 553.08] I just sort of stuck with the Google Home thing and the Chromecast audios. |
[553.30 --> 557.68] And like I said, it sort of worked good enough, but we are where we are today. |
[558.58 --> 560.58] And so I tried a few things this week. |
[560.70 --> 564.30] One of them that's still on my to-do list that's very high up there, I just haven't |
[564.30 --> 565.98] got to it yet, is called Snapcast. |
[566.08 --> 569.32] So if you're about to write an email telling me to check out Snapcast, don't worry, I'll |
[569.32 --> 570.56] get to it next time. |
[571.32 --> 575.14] The first thing I tried was something called Pi Core Player. |
[575.14 --> 579.20] And the reason that I wanted to use this was because I've got a couple of Raspberry Pi |
[579.20 --> 580.44] sat in the drawer behind me. |
[580.62 --> 584.48] Well, actually, they're deployed now, so they're out of the drawer and actually in use, which |
[584.48 --> 585.80] is amazing. |
[586.48 --> 592.50] But Pi Core Player, primarily for me, was a vehicle to run the Spotify Connect software, |
[592.50 --> 601.88] the SharePoint software for AirPlay 1 compatibility, and something called Logitech Media Server. |
[602.34 --> 603.24] I don't know if you remember this. |
[603.28 --> 605.26] It's a really old piece of software. |
[605.38 --> 607.04] It's about 10 years old or so. |
[607.58 --> 608.80] Does it do basic DLNA? |
[608.96 --> 609.78] Is that what it does? |
[610.12 --> 615.84] Well, I think back in the day, Logitech made a piece of hardware called the Squeezebox. |
[615.96 --> 616.48] Do you remember that? |
[616.92 --> 619.10] Oh, I do remember the Squeezebox. |
[619.24 --> 619.62] Yes. |
[619.62 --> 627.32] And it was their kind of vision of what the smart home, smart media world should look |
[627.32 --> 627.58] like. |
[627.64 --> 629.56] But they were just 10 years too early with it. |
[629.60 --> 631.40] And I'm not exaggerating with that. |
[631.76 --> 635.42] No, everybody, like the whole idea was rip your CDs and get them on this thing, right? |
[635.44 --> 637.40] They were just before Spotify. |
[637.40 --> 640.14] It was before music in the cloud, really. |
[640.28 --> 640.42] Yeah. |
[640.44 --> 646.94] And you had this kind of piece of hardware that sat on a coffee table or it was like |
[646.94 --> 650.20] a small little touchscreen, almost like a tablet. |
[650.44 --> 655.48] But before touchscreens were actually any good, this media server kind of sat behind |
[655.48 --> 662.52] this thing and indexed your files and connected to internet radio was the sales pitch back |
[662.52 --> 662.76] then. |
[662.86 --> 667.32] Of course, now internet radio is Spotify and Pandora and all that other stuff. |
[667.32 --> 673.44] You know, it kind of created its own cloud in a way, which is sort of what you needed back |
[673.44 --> 674.08] then, I suppose. |
[674.24 --> 678.12] The idea, thinking about it now, is kind of a fun one. |
[678.32 --> 685.04] And if you've got one out there, you could sell it for a decent price depending on how |
[685.04 --> 686.38] good the condition is. |
[686.44 --> 686.78] What? |
[687.04 --> 687.28] Yeah. |
[687.28 --> 687.34] Yeah. |
[687.34 --> 687.98] Yeah. |
[687.98 --> 692.64] Like a decent, decent condition one's going for 400 bucks online right now. |
[692.98 --> 694.98] Because it's like a museum piece, right? |
[695.00 --> 695.56] I don't know. |
[696.02 --> 697.56] Because people love this stuff. |
[698.08 --> 699.28] I don't know what it is. |
[699.54 --> 701.06] But you know, the idea is pretty great. |
[701.12 --> 704.96] So this thing can run the indexing backend or what, Alex? |
[705.32 --> 705.88] The receiver? |
[706.32 --> 707.86] Well, so there's two things at play here. |
[707.90 --> 714.02] There's Logitech Media Server, which has been abandoned by Logitech now, as I understand |
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