Hi - just came upon this forum and Zynthian in general. Very interesting and looks like some dedicated people have done great work! I am interested in synthesis so I may undertake a Zynthian project soon.
A while ago, I constructed a Raspberry Pi-based audio player with a touch screen using piCorePlayer software. I used an Allo Boss D/A and an Allo isolator for low noise. While the application may not be of interest to people here, the hardware might be.
Here are a few pictures. I used a Hammond extruded aluminum case and fabricated a backing plate to mount the Raspberry Pi touch screen. The bamboo bezel was obtained from Amazon. The top is removed to show the inner workings.
It occurred to me that I could flash an SD card with Zynthian code and experiment using this setup.
Great.
Let us know, what you had to do to get the Allo Boss working.
I can add the configuration to the webconf when it works.
And the drivers have to be included in the image.
Switch is AC (mains) on/off. Not quite visible is a line fuse holder. Many builders these days don’t want to be concerned with mains voltages - it is not safe to muck around with unless you know what you are doing. In my case, I was an electronics engineer so very comfortable with it and aware of safety issues with wiring, grounding, etc.
One approach to incorporating encoders could be to extend that shiny aluminum backing plate out to the sides, but unfortunately, that would leave the encoders exposed behind the panel. Perhaps a better idea, although more ambitious, would be to create a cnc-milled (or 3d printed) front panel with built-in display bezel and channels on the back for the encoder wires.
Another builder in the piCorePlayer forum built a fantastic box using this approach and it looks great:
