VoltaStream ZERO NXP i.MX6ULL Linux Audio Board Follows Raspberry Pi Zero Form Factor

Back in 2013. Philip came with the idea of designing a development board for audio application, and after various experiments with off-the shelf Raspberry Pi boards and audio DACs,  he founded PolyVection company, and started designing the board. Forwarding to today, he has completed his work and introduced VoltaStream ZERO to the world, a board based on NXP i.MX6ULL processor with 512MB or 1GB RAM, and a choice of Texas Instruments DAC. It also follows Raspberry Pi Zero form factor, like the upcoming Banana Pi BPI-M2 Zero board. VoltaStream ZERO specifications: SoC – NXP i.MX6ULL ARM Cortex-A7 processor @ 996 MHz System Memory – 512 MB or 1 GB DDR3 Storage – micro SD card slot Audio 1x I2S for integrated DAC, 1x I2S for GPIO access, 1x S/PDIF header / TOSLINK jack Analog DAC – Texas Instruments PCM5121 (106 dB) or PCM5142 (112 dB) USB – 1x micro USB […]

Review of Allo Vana Player Linux HiFi Audio System with Max2Play, SqueezeBox and Kodi

Last month I showcased what I called “Allo Sparky Audio Kit” with a DAC board (Piano), an amplifier board (Volt), and usually hard to find  reclocker and capacitance multiplier boards (Kali & CM), all connected to Allo Sparky ARM Linux development board powered by Actions Semi S500 quad core Cortex A9 processor, and running Ubuntu 12.04. In the first post, I just described the boards, and showed how to assemble the kit, but now that I have received the user’s manual, it turns out the kit is actually called “Vana Player” and the provided Ubuntu firmware image runs Max2Play Browser based system that’s also available for Raspberry Pi and ODROID boards. Before starting the kit, you’ll need to connect speakers to Piano DAC board and/or Kali board, as well as a 19.5V power source such as a laptop power supply to connect to the CM board. I connected some USB […]

How-to Setup a DLNA/UPnP Server in Linux for Smoother Video Streaming with Kodi and Other Media Players

I’m normally playing videos from a SAMBA share installed in a Ubuntu PC to play files from Kodi in Android TV box reviews, but sometimes when I use 10/100 Ethernet, or worse WiFi local “streaming” may not be as smooth as possible. SAMBA is convenient because of access control and read write operations, but if you want to get a bit more performance, you may switch to NFS instead, or like I’ve going to show you here to a DLNA / UPnP server to stream videos locally from Kodi 16.1. There are several options, but MiniDLNA is lightweight compared to MediaTomb, so it will also run on lower end hardware like cheap ARM Linux development boards like Raspberry Pi, Orange Pi, or NanoPi NEO without taking too many resources. Installation is very easy in Debian / Ubuntu distributions, and I supposed this should also work with Windows Subsystem for Linux […]

Mini Review of Doogee Smart Cube P1 Android Projector

Doogee Smart Cube P1, or just Doogee P1, is an Android projector powered by a quad core Amlogic processor. I’ve already taken some pictures of the device, and gave it a quick try, so today, I’ll write a little more about my experience using it in standalone mode with an air mouse, as well as with an Android phone using both Miracast and DLNA. The device also supports Airplay, but I don’t think I have any compatible device, so I have not tried this mode. Doogee P1 in Standalone Mode with an Air mouse (or other wireless/USB input device) After connecting MINIX NEO A2 lite air mouse’s RF dongle to the only USB port on the device, I pressed the power button for 5 seconds to start it up, and boot is pretty fast in around 30 seconds. You’ll need to adjust the focus with the wheel button on the […]

200 EZCast LAN & Music Free Samples Up for Grab

EZCast is a technology that allows screen mirroring and expansion over WiFi or Ethernet, and based on Action Micro SoCs. The products also usually include Miracast, AirPlay, and DLNA support, and work with Android and iOS devices, as well as Windows and Mac OS computers. The company behind the products has now launched a giveaway campaign where it plans to giveaway 100 EZCast LAN (aka Tronsmart T3000) and 100 EZCast music devices until August 20th. You’ll need a Facebook or Google+ account to participate: Facebook entry: Like EZCast page Share the giveaway announcement from EZCast page on your Facebook timeline (publicly) Google+ entry: Join EZCast Google+ Community Share the giveaway announced from the EZCast Google+ community (currently pinned at the top of the community) Winners will be selected randomly each day, with their name posted on G+ or Facebook. Good luck. Thanks to VMG for the tip. Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)Jean-Luc […]

Tronsmart Introduces EZCast / Miracast Adapters with 802.11ac, Ethernet

EZcast adapters are HDMI sticks supporting Miracast, DLNA, and EZcast protocol that were launched in 2013. I tested a few with Tronsmart T1000 and Widicast EC-E2, and they did the job mostly as advertised, but suffered from lag in Android, mostly affecting games, as well as poor performance with Windows, at least with the firmware I used. Tronsmart has now launched new models including Tronsmart T1000 Plus with 802.11ac WiFi, and Tronsmart T3000 with Ethernet that should fix most of these issues. Tronsmart T1000 Plus T1000 Plus adapter specifications: SoC- Action Semi AM8251 @ 600MHz (MIPS) System memory – 128 MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 128 MB NAND Flash Video output – HDMI up to 1080p Wi-Fi – 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi with WEP, WPA and WPA2 support Standards – Miracast, Airplay, DLNA, and EZCast USB – USB port for power and connect the external USB cable with Wi-Fi module Misc […]

Giveaway Week – SoundMate WM201 Wireless Audio Streamer

All good things must come to an end, and this is the last day of Giveaway Week on CNX Software with Uyesee SoundMate WM201 wireless audio streamer that adds Wi-Fi connectivity to your speakers or old AV receiver, so that you can stream audio via EZMusic or a DLNA app in Android, iOS or, desktop computers. If you’ve ever used an EZCast dongle, the app looks just the same except it’s limited to audio streaming. I’ve tried it with an optical audio cable connected to the S/PDIF input of the device and Onkyo TX-NR636 AV receiver. It worked pretty well, as long as your device is in the same room, but if you move to another room, the connection become unreliable, and audio may cut from time to time. You can read SoundMate WM201 review for details. imply leave a comment below to enter the draw, with other rules as […]

SoundMate WM201 Wi-Fi Music Streamer (EZMusic) Review

Last year I reviewed SoundMate M2 Wi-Fi audio streamer, and Uyesee has sent me a sample of their new SoundMate WM201 powered by Actions Semi AM8253, and based on EZCast app for audio calld EZMusic (EZCast Music). SoundMate WM201 Unboxing Pictures That’s the package for the device. The device comes with two audio cables, a micro USB to USB cable for power, and “SoundMate WiFi Music Streamer” user manual. Let’s have a closer look at the tiny box. Two LEDs are located on the front for power and connection, a micro SD slot can be found on the side, and the rear panel has most of the connection: micro USB port for power, reset pinhole, optical SPDIF, 3.5mm stereo jack, and USB 2.0 host for mass storage. SoundMate WM210 Teardown Take out of four sticky rubber pad on the bottom of the case, and loosen four screws to remove the […]