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shairport-sync/README.md
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2014-04-30 21:11:16 +01:00

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ShairPort 2.0

Shairport 2.0 is a pretty big rewrite of Shairport 1.0 by James Laird. It is very experimental, and only works with Linux and ALSA.

What it is

This program emulates an AirPort Express for the purpose of streaming music from iTunes and compatible iPods and iPhones. It implements a server for the Apple RAOP protocol. ShairPort does not support AirPlay v2 (video and photo streaming).

What's new in Shairport 2.0

Synchronisation.

(1) Shairport 2.0 sets a delay (a "latency") from when music is sent by iTunes to when it is played in the Shairport audio device. The duration of the latency can be set to match the delay through other iTunes output devices, (including other Shairplay 2.0 devices). Latency is actively kept at the set level, so synchronisation is actively maintained.

(2) Shairport 2.0 is developed for ALSA, so is ALSA and Linux only.

(3) Lots of little changes, e.g. volume control profile, muting, autotools build control...

Status

Shairport 2.0 is working on Raspberry Pi and Linksys NSLU2, both using OpenWrt. It works on an Ubuntu laptop. It works well with built-in audio and with a variety of USB-connected Amplifiers and DACs.

Shairport 2.0 DOES NOT WORK WITH RASPIAN. It runs, but it's very glitchy. This seems to be a known problem with Raspian. On the other hand, Shairport 2.0 runs well on the exact same hardware but using OpenWrt in place of Raspian.

Shairport 2.0 runs on Ubuntu inside VMWare Fusion on a Mac, but syncronisation is off when using the built-in emulated soundcard.

Please note that Shairport 2.0 only works with the ALSA back end. You can compile the other back ends in as you wish, but it will not work properly with them. Maybe someday...

Build Requirements

Required:

  • OpenSSL
  • Avahi
  • ALSA

Debian users can get the basics with apt-get install libssl-dev libavahi-client-dev libasound2-dev