#RaspberryPi 4 Music Player w/ Analog Controls

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[Bryan-egej]

This project is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[romelanthonysbismonte]

This looks like the media player they would have installed on the International Space Station. I would be very interested in seeing you build the Mark 2 of this machine with a smooth fader motion and a conductive handle. The "dim/mute" switch is a great addition. Thanks for the cool project.

[ArtsyEngineering]

Wow, the seek is such an ice touch here! Awesome build!

[SianaGearz]

The way it works in mixing consoles is that they sense directly through any usual plastic and rubber, this is just how sensitive the touch circuit is calibrated.

As to making something at home without metal fabrication that would increase sensitivity and bring the conductive touch surface closer to the finger... well my first instinct would be to 3D print and paint over it with a car rear glass defrost repair fluid, which is silver based paint, which costs about 7€ and is also sold as "Kemo L100 Conductive Silver" through electronics parts and kit distributors. It is remarkably finicky to work with, it needs to be shaken about twice a minute, if it separates, you can get bad patches which still look alright but with barely any conductivity. It also isn't necessarily long term durable to touch, so it should be painted over. I also don't have experience in how it interacts with print layer lines, as i only applied it over smooth surfaces that i primed and sanded prior.

One idea i have read somewhere but not tested is to create graphite conductive paint out of clear acrylic paint and 1:1 graphite. It's probably less conductive than silver paint, but should be fairly durable. I know there is "wire glue" which is fundamentally similar, but it isn't necessarily better, and when i bought one once, it was expensive and was completely dried up and ruined straight from the store shelf, so i'm not going to make that mistake again. Also maybe using less acrylic and adding some water, isopropanol or Windex as thinner could be an improvement.

I imagine graphite can be mixed into resin to make conductive cast items, but i have not been successful with epoxy - if you were to add a sufficient amount to be conductive, it becomes too thick and impossible to work with, so i think a formulation is possible, but i don't have the right material yet.

There is conductive 3D printing filament, seems to make more sense than painting, but i don't think i can try it, because the upfront expense is too high at 70€ and i will end up with a big roll of material that i cannot ever sensibly use up.

[awofman]

For the button, you could 3D print one and cover it with foil, or drill a hole and run a wire through it to a metal front surface.

[jbotnik]

I’d like to know more about the seeker component. Was that purchased, salvaged, made?

[ychesnokov]

That's a great project! I was looking for something like that (hardware controls for Vulumio) to use on my own project of converting a vintage tape deck into a multimedia player (the main elements would be just like yours - Raspberry Pi 4B + 4 inch capacitive screen + buttons + a DAC card). I am wondering whether you can control more player functions if you add more buttons (e. g. Shuffle On/Off
, Repeat Togle, Navigation Back/Fwd)? Also, is that possible to use the same controls running other players, e.g. Tidal app on android?

[MWMTex]

Very nice indeed! Is there a place to get the wiring instructions for the hardware once I purchase the parts?

[pinkandDamaged]

Where can I find those awesome tracks!

[johncullen]

Thanks for the great project. Is there a link to check out the code required and wiring schematics? I’d like to try building this but also with some buttons and an RFID card system to play specific tracks and playlists. I love the ‘tactility’ as you say and would love to build a music player for my family that even my youngins can use.

[wric]

Hmm, i think a easier way of going about it is with raspi gaming consoles out there. Which takes care of interface and controls. Just need some diy programming scripts to get it through voluminio, add pi2aes and you got a audiophile streamer that rivals thousands.

[djjameswyld]

Want one.. :) so cool.... love the fader... maybe print blue arrow (cover/button)? pointing towards the volume so the arrow moves across the player would stand out more than the silver?

[queleric]

Very nice project.
But i have a question about your third hand soldering station.
Where do you buy it ?
Thanks

[noriko]

thinking of making this for my car. would it be possible to add a triggered rear view cam to this?

[akeeperoftheword]

That is such a cool build, keep up the good work.

[questionablecommands]

For the fader, I'd first try printer filament that is impregnated with metal. I think proto-pasta even has one they advertise as conductive. If that fails, I think I might try stripping the paint off of a small binder clip and plug the open sides with epoxy (although keeping the clip both removable and conductive might might take a couple of attempts).

[croixtucker]

Why would you make a music player so large?

[GVon]

You know what would be cool? If the slider can move with a servo motor to show the real-time position in the track but still be able to slide it back and forth to skip manually. Auto reset to left side when the next song starts.

[kaosthecosmicreviewer]

was thinking of building something similar to this but I just need it to play sound effects, it also needs plenty of momentary buttons

[OsoPolarClone]

The adafruit capacitive touch board. How was it used in the project?