PiDeck

What?

PiDeck is digital music played old school.

To use a PiDeck, plug in a USB stick containing audio files, select the track you want, and play the control record just as if it was analogue. That's all it does, the DJ skills are up to you. Pull out the USB stick and the next DJ can take over. We wanted to make a system which was simple, accessible and fun. It's the Joy of Decks.™

PiDeck is an open source hardware and Free Software project retro-fitting the Raspberry Pi onto a turntable. The software is based on the armhf (ARM Hard Float) port of Debian GNU/Linux stable (jessie) and xwax. This software is built into a custom single-purpose distribution (using PDK), which you can hack on, or just download and put on a micro SD card for your own Pi.

Why?

Digital vinyl systems are useful because they save you carrying heavy boxes of rare and valuable vinyl from place to place. However, laptop-based digital vinyl systems are kind of complicated, often proprietary and incompatible, and require a lot of cables to be switched between DJ sets. Laptops are also hard to share between DJs, which makes turntablism less accessible for the people who are just starting out. We're going to fix that.

How?

You will need:

1. A recent Raspberry Pi (only Pi 3 model B tested so far) and power supply. First generation Raspberry Pi's are not supported, sorry
2. Touchscreen (single-touch is enough), or a HDMI monitor and keyboard
3. Stereo, full-duplex I²S or USB soundcard with a phono input stage, or line input and an external pre-amp, soundcard must be supported by ALSA
4. Micro SD card for the software, at least 2GB in size, and an adaptor to flash it with
5. Control vinyl, Serato CV02 pressing or later recommended
6. USB stick containing your favourite music. FLAC format is recommended (16-bit 44100Hz format tested)
7. Non-automatic record player that can hold speed, with a clean, sharp stylus. It helps scratching if the headshell and arm are adjusted correctly
8. Slipmat, made from felt or neoprene
9. Sheet of wax paper from the kitchen drawer, to go under the slipmat
10. A beverage-proof case would be good. We're still working on that.

This is a DIY project, no warranty is given or implied :-)

When?

Today. Download PiDeck and go nuts!

Say hello?

Please contact us about bugs and suggestions by creating GitHub issues on the PiDeck repository, opt-in to our PiDeck newsletter, or email daniel at 64studio.com for all other enquiries. We love pull requests.