External Speaker

KiboOst · January 12, 2020, 7:35pm

Guess we could share what speaker we use we our setups.

Of course, there is the cheap Mono Enclosed Speaker - 3W 4 Ohm. Nice and cheap for testing, but sound is really poor.

Personnally, I tried different bluetooth and usb speaker and finnally I use the same on all snips master/satellites and rhasspy test config. I have them plugged in respeaker 2 mic hat jack.

Creative Metallix.

https://en.creative.com/p/speakers/creative-metallix
Once plug, it never goes to stand-bye, so you can always send TTS on it even after hours of inactivity.

If you go for a bluetooth/usb speaker, you must check that you can turn off auto-off / stand-bye feature. This feature is compulsory in Europe but not all have a way to disable it.

I also have my snips master set with equal ALSA plugin : https://github.com/KiboOst/SNIPS-Tips/tree/master/snips_equal
Didn’t tried it yet with rhasspy, as even picoTTS sound correct with the metallix.

Sikk · January 12, 2020, 9:09pm

Good Idea,

I went the cheap way just for testing, and tried my luck with this one: https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07FQHRVWZ/
It’s connected to the audio jack of the Pi 3 and it works fine and sounds pretty well (for its price). Also it doesnt go to standby.

The only thing is this very gentle hiss / random noise while there is no audio output (don’t know the correct terms for how to describe it, or what causes this)
(Maybe someone knows how to get rid of this? )

frkos · January 12, 2020, 9:30pm

I have nothing interesting - just cheap aux speakers hidden in a shelf with Rpi

010-photo-base
http://www.sven.fi/en/catalog/multimedia_2.0/120.htm

And the only sound they generate is feedback from rhasspy
For multimedia I’m using HDMI connected TV and its audio

FredTheFrog · January 12, 2020, 10:02pm

I’m using a Jabra Speak 410 mic/speaker combo. The audio output is very good The microphone works very well with Kaldi, but not so well with pocketsphinx.

schnopsi · January 13, 2020, 10:04am

I’m quite sure, this is because of the horrible analog audio out of all Raspberrys.

adrianofoschi · January 14, 2020, 10:48pm

I’m using respeaker v2.0 usb microphone for raspberry.
I’m searching too for an active speaker to match with microphone…

Sgt_Freeze · April 10, 2020, 12:57pm

Hey @FredTheFrog
I’m trying to set up Rhasspy with Jabra speak as well. The mic seems to work, but how did you set up the speaker? I can’t seem to get any sound out of it?
Then again there are about 30 different lines to choose from in the drop-down menu in the webinterface. So perhaps I keep picking the wrong one?

Pittermaennchen · April 10, 2020, 6:06pm

I only have speakers where it is not possible to disable the standby-mode. And that is a huge downside in using my Rhasspy.

But I have a JBL Flip 3, once connected via bluetooth, it does not turn off.

So do you have any suggestions how to permanently connect my Raspberry Pi 4-Audio-Output via Bluetooth?

FredTheFrog · April 11, 2020, 8:52am

.asoundrc ALSA configuration file

pcm.jabra {
    type hw
    card 1
    device 0
    rate 48000
}

ctl.jabra {
    type hw
    card 1
}

pcm.!sysdefault {
  type asym
  playback.pcm {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "jabra"
  }
  capture.pcm {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "hw:1,0"
  }
}

pcm.!default {
  type asym
  playback.pcm {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "jabra"
  }
  capture.pcm {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "hw:1,0"
  }
}

Rhasspy audio settings:

Use aplay directly (ALSA)
sysdefault:CARD=USB: Default Audio Device

/etc/udev/rules.d/10-usb-sound.rules

SUBSYSTEM=="sound", ATTRS{idVendor}=="2886", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0018", ATTRS{product}=="ReSpeaker 4 Mic Array (UAC1.0)", SYMLINK+="sndUAC10"
SUBSYSTEM=="sound", ATTRS{idVendor}=="0b0e", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0412", ATTRS{product}=="Jabra SPEAK 410 USB", SYMLINK+="sndJabra410"

3issa · April 29, 2020, 1:25pm

Hi everyone,

This thread is a good idea. Here is my setup :

A cheap bluetooth speaker found in the officedepot near my home. I found a way to shove a raspberry zero and a respeaker 2-mics in it and to control the led driver, an unknown BT1628. I didn’t manage to find datasheet for this chip so I had to take out my logic analyzer.

I use Rhasspy 2.4 in daily life but should migrate to 2.5 very soon.

Thanks a lot for this software. I found your work really amazing.

3issa · April 29, 2020, 1:26pm

Picture of the back…

Pittermaennchen · May 3, 2020, 11:22pm

Wow! How did you do this?

I still didn’t manage to (permanently) connect my Raspberry Pi 4 (with Rhasspy running on it) to my Bluetooth speaker (JBL Flip 3)

rolyan_trauts · May 4, 2020, 5:27am

I have been using snapcast recently and its pretty damn awesome but hardware wise a bit of DiY.
As wifi latency adjusted speakers with mics seemed like a good idea.

Been playing with quite a bit of hardware and its actually amazing what you get do with few $.

Run off 24vDC its just over 40watt max and $4 pretty damn good.
Speaker wise it seems there is always a local cost effective approx 30watt 8cm full range cone for a little over $10.
Here in the UK.

https://www.visaton.de/en/products/fullrange-systems/frs-8-4-ohm

Given up on the zero as software AEC is sort of essential but Pi3A+ is just as good value.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/processor-microcontroller-development-kits/1811853

Been using them with the Respeaker 2mic but the drivers suck real bad so playing with some usb soundcards and aliexpress mic modules.
The Pi audio output generally sucks and has no input and going across cards for playback/capture kills attempts at software aec.

But its not external speaker its speakers latency corrected by snapchat that even has a google play app for the volume.
I have figured you can pipe snapchat mic through a loopback and its then just a normal but remote alsa sink.

I did get a better amp Sure electronic as it has mute and standbye which I am turning off after boot and play but was going to do a service if nothing active my gpio to keep standbye off what drop low.
I got this at first and it is better than the el cheapo $4 module but not that much just has standbye.

Board is really good quality but dunno as the el cheapo is pretty good also.

I have one of these to test as it does have standbye which stops pops and clicks as these things reboot.

Sort of in the middle, plus standby but the quality of them all is pretty good for a satellite speaker and in a pair they fair whack out some volume.

Snapcast pulls it altogether though and can not rave enough about it.

I got one of these for just over $10 and BT5 a2dp send & recieve but the mic is a bit lack lustre.
Haven’t found a budget speaker/mic that is satisfactory for Rhasspy purpose as always something lacking with them.

For size the speaker is mighty though.

Been using sections of 4"/5" water pipe and ordering acrylic discs cut to size from ebay and sealing with epoxy.
The pipe is real heavy duty and dense and makes quite a good and tidy puck design.

3issa · May 4, 2020, 5:43am

This only hardware stuff…

This device is not a bluetooth speaker anymore. I have removed everything inside except the speaker and needed to modify the enclosure with a dremel.

The raspberry pi zero is at the back of the enclosure and the respeaker 2-mics on the top front. They are connected with dupont cables. The speaker is plugged to the JST socket and the PCB with the LED connected to GPIO of the raspberry (3 pins used for SP interface).

Pep · December 11, 2020, 7:57pm

JGKK · December 11, 2020, 8:45pm

I build one for my base from spare parts I had. A speaker I had lying around, a adafruit mono amplifier board and some left over thin plywood from another project. The speaker is powered via micro usb and the amplifier board is connected to a gpio on the pi that is my base so I can turn the speaker off from nodered as it has a very low hiss when it’s constantly on. So I only turn the amp on if I actually need to play sound.

It’s not the best looking and a bit diy but the sound is surprisingly clear and loud enough for a 30 square meter room. The wiring is a bit all over the place as I originally switched the amp on and off with a wemos d1 mini over mqtt but now that it’s directly connected to the pi it’s not necessary anymore.

Johannes

rolyan_trauts · December 12, 2020, 4:54am

I got some 80’s Kenwood Bookshelf speakers off ebay for £20 75watt a side and great jap made quality.

The idea is to have snapcast and and amp on the back so they are media/tv & voice AI
I have some 24v 100 watt amps that the reality is about 42watt per side.

The amp boards will just be mounted on the back as free air is much better than a no vent speaker cabinet and to be honest don’t want to butcher but actually see no need.
I have to get so longer wall mounts though as current ones just fit but can not angle as I would wish.

Think they are 80’s not sure to be honest but weigh a ton for size and sound really great for what they are.

If you don’t want to use snapcast there is also https://www.mysqueezebox.com/download
https://github.com/sle118/squeezelite-esp32 as starting to dig the cost and functionality of esp32.

Wifi speakers via esp32 and aliexpress amp are not prohibitively expensive still fiddling to create wifi mics but also again relatively cheap and have so really great advantages.

rolyan_trauts · December 13, 2020, 2:35am

Also with speakers you can buy in the uk about 30 watt is a sweet spot for reasonable volume and quality and response characteristics.

I tried 2x speakers and was impressed with both and as for enclosures you might want to give it a try as spent some time with lateral thought on enclosures.

First the Balanced Mode Radiator (BMR) from https://www.tectonicaudiolabs.com/ which is a weird speaker specifically designed for puck type applications.
I worked out plastic water pipe makes a really good and cheap engineering material and one of these can be mounted top or bottom facing and the space in front of the cone can be really small approx 10mm before sounding muffled.
I shoved them on the scale as they are aprox the same size but boy the weight of the technonic for size is truly astounding hence why I shoved them on a scale.

The second a visatron of half the price and we are really cheap here £6 but also produce a great sound and volume for size.
Its actually louder than the visatron but my tests on bottom / top mounted speakers with frontal obstruction meant the tectonic was much better in smaller spaces 10mm vs approx 30mm for the vsi

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/speaker-drivers/8765297/
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/speaker-drivers/4318686/

Speakers seem to be a local product and vary in price but in the UK those visaton £6 speakers are hard to beat 4 ohm to work wit 24 volt 30-50 watt psu’s and amps.
The techtonic is worth a try if you going to try and minimise your puck height and is shielded but also you can do that at enclosure level.

4"-5" water pipe makes a really good dense enclosure that you can just vinyl wrap and the hardest part is just sawing a square short length.
You can sort of hack away and cover later with vinyl.

I still found it hard work hence why I came to the conclusion why not get some bookshelf speakers and mount my boards on the back in free air as it has a lot of advantages is so much easier and with some bargain hunting also low cost.

You will have to test the tectonic as they are strange and only advantageous in confined obstructed space, have huge magnets as they do move a whole radiator rather than a much lighter cone but the difference in preference is likely they will be only used for confined non standard enclosures as that is where they excel.
A 10p piece is 24.5mm.