Dollar store computer audio system...
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker. But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me. I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing.
I always go to Dollarama before I go to Canadian Tire. I swear, you can find pretty good deals at Dollarama, even better than Value Village. Which is sad, because Value Village used to be cheap and gave that "treasure hunting" experience. -- On 2025-04-07 22:47, Colin McGregor via talk wrote:
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker.
But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me.
I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing. --- Post to this mailing listtalk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing listhttps://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
William Park via talk wrote on 2025-04-07 20:12:
Value Village used to be cheap and gave that "treasure hunting" experience.
Oof, what happened to the thrift stores where one could grab a cheap second monitor or other doodads is criminal. For many humourous examples, https://reddit.com/r/thriftgrift show *so* many examples of dollar store items, with price tags still on, being sold at thrift stores for a *higher* price. Not to mention the dirty, broken items - it's shameful.
I I imagine that is still possible, say at the salvation army stores. The challenge there though, at least speaking personally, is learning if the item is actually working. while it might have been the person helping me, more than once I was sold damaged electronics. On Mon, 7 Apr 2025, Ron via talk wrote:
William Park via talk wrote on 2025-04-07 20:12:
Value Village used to be cheap and gave that "treasure hunting" experience.
Oof, what happened to the thrift stores where one could grab a cheap second monitor or other doodads is criminal.
For many humourous examples, https://reddit.com/r/thriftgrift show *so* many examples of dollar store items, with price tags still on, being sold at thrift stores for a *higher* price.
Not to mention the dirty, broken items - it's shameful.
--- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
On 2025-04-07 23:12, William Park via talk wrote:
I always go to Dollarama before I go to Canadian Tire. I swear, you can find pretty good deals at Dollarama, even better than Value Village.
Value Village was better before it was sold or bought out. I'm now sure which it was. The current owners are treating like a business where they are out to make money. I once bought a 15" monitor from them for around $15 or $20. Don't remember which. Monitor works great and sits on a shelf that is beside my workroom table and is connected to a Raspberry Pi. I no longer support VV. It is actually easier for me to get to one of two Dollarama stores which are each a short walk from home. -- Cheers! Kevin. https://www.patreon.com/KevinCozens | "Nerds make the shiny things that | distract the mouth-breathers, and Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172 | that's why we're powerful" #include <disclaimer/favourite> | --Chris Hardwick
On Tue, 8 Apr 2025 18:13:58 -0400 Kevin Cozens via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
On 2025-04-07 23:12, William Park via talk wrote:
I always go to Dollarama before I go to Canadian Tire. I swear, you can find pretty good deals at Dollarama, even better than Value Village. Value Village was better before it was sold or bought out. I'm now sure which it was. The current owners are treating like a business where they are out to make money. I once bought a 15" monitor from them for around $15 or $20. Don't remember which. Monitor works great and sits on a shelf that is beside my workroom table and is connected to a Raspberry Pi. I no longer support VV. It is actually easier for me to get to one of two Dollarama stores which are each a short walk from home.
Personally I buy from here: https://login.aliexpress.com It is cheap, effective and the one time in 100 times I did not receive my shipment, I received a full credit AND the shipment. I have not used this when in .ca but I see no reason why it would be different? maybe you guys, gals and others can enlighten me :)
My value village (Bloor Lansdowne) has closed and it is a major disruption to my life. I've depended on it for so much since I moved to toronto. They opened one a bit west to replace but it sucks. Only women's clothes/shoes NO men's. NO housewares except few textiles. NO furniture. NO electronics. NO books. NO multimedia. And NO human cashiers, just self scanners which I (yes pointlessly) boycott anyway. Last weekend I set up a router as a WAP with openWRT. It was $10 at VV last year. So I can have WiFi in my whole unit. Where else can I get a $10 open source router? And sometimes you could get a good deal on power bars. $5-12 vs $20-80 retail. I also got a display there for $15 or so. I think that's the most I ever paid for a display. The others I found on the curb or they otherwise floated into my life. Recently when someone was looking for a specific older modem I would have suggested VV because they always had previous gen modems. But I don't know any other locations that have as much electronics as my dearly departed Bloor & Lansdowne (RIP). I wonder where all that stuff is being redirected to. International markets? "Recycling"? But since COVID they really restricted their return policy. On things like electronics especially. You used to be able to take things home and test them out. It's good we were all kept safe from getting COVID from a defective table lamp. If were looking for something that is mission critical and/or a higher price than you are willing to burn, you'd have to bring whatever would be needed to test. I brought batteries when I wanted a wall clock. Hard to go to the Sal. They are such a nasty organization. Decade upon decade of bad behaviors. Sure there are humans but much of the time they are forced unpaid labor. Is there a word for that? Hard to believe in 2025 the thrift shop concept is being destroyed. Shouldn't it be promulgated by all the deprivation in context of consumer excess? I do not understand the world. All the above said, dollarama is a different solution to a different need. By the way I have bought 1 cheap old PC and a couple peripherals from www.freegeektoronto.org . I'd give them a rec for whatever it is worth. On April 8, 2025 6:13:58 PM EDT, Kevin Cozens via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
On 2025-04-07 23:12, William Park via talk wrote:
I always go to Dollarama before I go to Canadian Tire. I swear, you can find pretty good deals at Dollarama, even better than Value Village.
Value Village was better before it was sold or bought out. I'm now sure which it was. The current owners are treating like a business where they are out to make money. I once bought a 15" monitor from them for around $15 or $20. Don't remember which. Monitor works great and sits on a shelf that is beside my workroom table and is connected to a Raspberry Pi. I no longer support VV. It is actually easier for me to get to one of two Dollarama stores which are each a short walk from home.
oh..I so feel your pain and echo this post! I got a pair of JVC headphones at the bloor / lansdown location for $6. They are, or were the best sounding headphones I have ever owned, safe for my brain injury too. they have a short, it truly made me cry, since I am told repair cafe wise they cannot be fixed. truly terrific Panasonic radio / cd/ tape player too! Honestly? given how popular and beloved that location was, I cannot imagine why it was closed..they did not want for business I am certain. And, yes on the new location, only went their once and found it lacking, in every important way by comparison. As for where the items are going, might they be now at the location in North York? Likewise I agree on sal. Visited looking for a turn table, was offered one that had loose parts on the inside. Bought a Walkman that was broken, was not able to test it like the turntable. I cannot understand why you would put broken items on sale anywhere. Writing about those JVC gems made me a bit weepy..I miss that vv spot too. Karen On Thu, 10 Apr 2025, bitmap via talk wrote:
My value village (Bloor Lansdowne) has closed and it is a major disruption to my life. I've depended on it for so much since I moved to toronto. They opened one a bit west to replace but it sucks. Only women's clothes/shoes NO men's. NO housewares except few textiles. NO furniture. NO electronics. NO books. NO multimedia. And NO human cashiers, just self scanners which I (yes pointlessly) boycott anyway.
Last weekend I set up a router as a WAP with openWRT. It was $10 at VV last year. So I can have WiFi in my whole unit. Where else can I get a $10 open source router? And sometimes you could get a good deal on power bars. $5-12 vs $20-80 retail. I also got a display there for $15 or so. I think that's the most I ever paid for a display. The others I found on the curb or they otherwise floated into my life.
Recently when someone was looking for a specific older modem I would have suggested VV because they always had previous gen modems. But I don't know any other locations that have as much electronics as my dearly departed Bloor & Lansdowne (RIP).
I wonder where all that stuff is being redirected to. International markets? "Recycling"?
But since COVID they really restricted their return policy. On things like electronics especially. You used to be able to take things home and test them out. It's good we were all kept safe from getting COVID from a defective table lamp. If were looking for something that is mission critical and/or a higher price than you are willing to burn, you'd have to bring whatever would be needed to test. I brought batteries when I wanted a wall clock.
Hard to go to the Sal. They are such a nasty organization. Decade upon decade of bad behaviors. Sure there are humans but much of the time they are forced unpaid labor. Is there a word for that?
Hard to believe in 2025 the thrift shop concept is being destroyed. Shouldn't it be promulgated by all the deprivation in context of consumer excess? I do not understand the world.
All the above said, dollarama is a different solution to a different need.
By the way I have bought 1 cheap old PC and a couple peripherals from www.freegeektoronto.org . I'd give them a rec for whatever it is worth.
On April 8, 2025 6:13:58 PM EDT, Kevin Cozens via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
On 2025-04-07 23:12, William Park via talk wrote:
I always go to Dollarama before I go to Canadian Tire. I swear, you can find pretty good deals at Dollarama, even better than Value Village.
Value Village was better before it was sold or bought out. I'm now sure which it was. The current owners are treating like a business where they are out to make money. I once bought a 15" monitor from them for around $15 or $20. Don't remember which. Monitor works great and sits on a shelf that is beside my workroom table and is connected to a Raspberry Pi. I no longer support VV. It is actually easier for me to get to one of two Dollarama stores which are each a short walk from home.
Which location did you visit? Not sure about the speaker, but those cables will come in handy at some point I am sure. Makes me miss Radio shack. On Mon, 7 Apr 2025, Colin McGregor via talk wrote:
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker.
But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me.
I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
In the last few weeks I've been into ... more Dollarama stores than I want to admit to... All seemed to more-or-less have all the items I noted. To explain, all seemed to have at least one type of 3.5 mm male to 3.5 mm male audio cable, but at some shops it was a coiled cable, at some it was a straight cable, the length and color of the cables varied, but none of the shops seem to have all types of audio cable. Likewise I have seen the USB A to USB C adapter in multiple colours, black, gold, or silver, but not all shops with all colours, with the same story for the speaker (not all colours at all stores). On Tue, Apr 8, 2025 at 12:13 AM Karen Lewellen <klewellen@shellworld.net> wrote:
Which location did you visit? Not sure about the speaker, but those cables will come in handy at some point I am sure. Makes me miss Radio shack.
On Mon, 7 Apr 2025, Colin McGregor via talk wrote:
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker.
But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me.
I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
The cheapest non-trivial thing from Apple: <https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MW2Q3AM/A/usb-c-to-35mm-headphone-jack-adapter> This is cheaper than a USB-C to Lightning adapter by a factor of 4! I think that this is intended to stop the folks who miss th 3.4mm connector on the iPhone and iPad from complaining too much.
On Tue, 8 Apr 2025 07:00:37 -0400 (EDT) "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
The cheapest non-trivial thing from Apple: <https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MW2Q3AM/A/usb-c-to-35mm-headphone-jack-adapter> This is cheaper than a USB-C to Lightning adapter by a factor of 4! I think that this is intended to stop the folks who miss th 3.4mm connector on the iPhone and iPad from complaining too much.
imo, Apple's philosophy and business methods are bad. Does not matter if they give stuff away, I will not want it :( anyway, just my 2c
Let me see, I live in an area where there are two Dollarama stores within a 15 minute walk. So, for $10 I could order a USB C to audio adapter from Apple and have free next day shipping. Or, I could buy it for under $5 at Dollarama and have it next hour at my home... Easy choice in my books :-) . On Tue, Apr 8, 2025 at 7:00 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
The cheapest non-trivial thing from Apple: <https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MW2Q3AM/A/usb-c-to-35mm-headphone-jack-adapter>
This is cheaper than a USB-C to Lightning adapter by a factor of 4!
I think that this is intended to stop the folks who miss th 3.4mm connector on the iPhone and iPad from complaining too much. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
Yes, especially if you still own wired earpods On Tue, 8 Apr 2025, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
The cheapest non-trivial thing from Apple: <https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MW2Q3AM/A/usb-c-to-35mm-headphone-jack-adapter>
This is cheaper than a USB-C to Lightning adapter by a factor of 4!
I think that this is intended to stop the folks who miss th 3.4mm connector on the iPhone and iPad from complaining too much. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
that same usb-c to audio adapter is available on ebay, starting at $1 postpaid from china...maybe only before Wednesday... https://www.ebay.com/itm/356745815157 or $2.28 from USA https://www.ebay.com/itm/114329396582 or a USB-A full sound card, mic & speaker jacks, volume control, mute buttons for mic & speaker, under $2.50, though this declares itself as rear channels, I think you can modify configuration files to swap with it front speakers, right? https://www.ebay.com/itm/12400111904 or, for front channels, $6 https://www.ebay.com/itm/156840918549 Carey
On 04/07/2025 9:47 PM CDT Colin McGregor via talk <talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker.
But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me.
I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing. --- Post to this mailing list talk@gtalug.org Unsubscribe from this mailing list https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
Small follow-up to the following, yesterday I was in one of the Dollarama stores near my home (close to Yonge & Eglinton). They had some "Tech 1" (Dollarama house brand I assume) $5 Bluetooth speakers (roughly 8.5 cm x 7 cm x 3.5 cm) that I have not seen before. These Bluetooth speakers have a feature not noted on the packaging, a 3.5mm female audio jack, so could be used with the set-up noted below. On the positive about this $5 speaker, it does come with a built in rechargeable battery that according to the instructions will run this at 50% volume for 3-4 hours. It does come with a short USB A to USB C charging cable. It does have an FM radio tuner built in. The instructions are trilingual (English / French / Spanish), (but the text size is a bit small). There is a small cord loop on the speaker which I assume was meant to be used with a carabiner so you could clip this speaker to a backpack / belt / etc. for music / etc. on the go. On the negative about this $5 speaker, the controls are flat black buttons on a flat black background, so in dim light or for the vision impaired, well the power button is larger than the other buttons and can be felt but good luck telling which of the other buttons is which. Operation of the speaker in FM radio mode ... seems less than intuitive. You are on your own for audio cable(s), but for a few $ extra Dollerama could get you sorted out there. As previously noted I am not an audiophile, so I can't really comment on how good / bad this speaker is other than to note it sounds fine to me. Still, if you are looking for low cost, possibly so-so quality audio for a computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, this is at least worth considering. On Mon, Apr 7, 2025 at 10:47 PM Colin McGregor <colin.mc151@gmail.com> wrote:
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker.
But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me.
I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing.
Bluetooth/3.5mm speaker and FM radio, for $5? Can you email me a picture, Colin? On 2025-08-17 16:23, Colin McGregor via Talk wrote:
Small follow-up to the following, yesterday I was in one of the Dollarama stores near my home (close to Yonge & Eglinton). They had some "Tech 1" (Dollarama house brand I assume) $5 Bluetooth speakers (roughly 8.5 cm x 7 cm x 3.5 cm) that I have not seen before. These Bluetooth speakers have a feature not noted on the packaging, a 3.5mm female audio jack, so could be used with the set-up noted below.
On the positive about this $5 speaker, it does come with a built in rechargeable battery that according to the instructions will run this at 50% volume for 3-4 hours. It does come with a short USB A to USB C charging cable. It does have an FM radio tuner built in. The instructions are trilingual (English / French / Spanish), (but the text size is a bit small). There is a small cord loop on the speaker which I assume was meant to be used with a carabiner so you could clip this speaker to a backpack / belt / etc. for music / etc. on the go.
On the negative about this $5 speaker, the controls are flat black buttons on a flat black background, so in dim light or for the vision impaired, well the power button is larger than the other buttons and can be felt but good luck telling which of the other buttons is which. Operation of the speaker in FM radio mode ... seems less than intuitive. You are on your own for audio cable(s), but for a few $ extra Dollerama could get you sorted out there.
As previously noted I am not an audiophile, so I can't really comment on how good / bad this speaker is other than to note it sounds fine to me.
Still, if you are looking for low cost, possibly so-so quality audio for a computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, this is at least worth considering.
On Mon, Apr 7, 2025 at 10:47 PM Colin McGregor <colin.mc151@gmail.com> wrote:
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker.
But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me.
I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing.
------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/UD2JHAA...
Done... On Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 7:39 PM William Park <opengeometry@yahoo.ca> wrote:
Bluetooth/3.5mm speaker and FM radio, for $5? Can you email me a picture, Colin?
On 2025-08-17 16:23, Colin McGregor via Talk wrote:
Small follow-up to the following, yesterday I was in one of the Dollarama stores near my home (close to Yonge & Eglinton). They had some "Tech 1" (Dollarama house brand I assume) $5 Bluetooth speakers (roughly 8.5 cm x 7 cm x 3.5 cm) that I have not seen before. These Bluetooth speakers have a feature not noted on the packaging, a 3.5mm female audio jack, so could be used with the set-up noted below.
On the positive about this $5 speaker, it does come with a built in rechargeable battery that according to the instructions will run this at 50% volume for 3-4 hours. It does come with a short USB A to USB C charging cable. It does have an FM radio tuner built in. The instructions are trilingual (English / French / Spanish), (but the text size is a bit small). There is a small cord loop on the speaker which I assume was meant to be used with a carabiner so you could clip this speaker to a backpack / belt / etc. for music / etc. on the go.
On the negative about this $5 speaker, the controls are flat black buttons on a flat black background, so in dim light or for the vision impaired, well the power button is larger than the other buttons and can be felt but good luck telling which of the other buttons is which. Operation of the speaker in FM radio mode ... seems less than intuitive. You are on your own for audio cable(s), but for a few $ extra Dollerama could get you sorted out there.
As previously noted I am not an audiophile, so I can't really comment on how good / bad this speaker is other than to note it sounds fine to me.
Still, if you are looking for low cost, possibly so-so quality audio for a computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, this is at least worth considering.
On Mon, Apr 7, 2025 at 10:47 PM Colin McGregor <colin.mc151@gmail.com> wrote:
A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker.
But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me.
I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing.
------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/UD2JHAA...
On Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 4:24 PM Colin McGregor via Talk < talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote: Still, if you are looking for low cost, possibly so-so quality audio for a
computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, this is at least worth considering.
Is the Raspberry Pi still a thing? I suggest its moment has come and gone. It has growth to date but I suggest that this is as good as it's going to be. A Pi 5 16GB board alone costs upwards of $175. That's more than an off-lease Dell with an i7 and a 1TB hard disk. Once you add the case, cooling, storage and power supply you're firmly into the world of Beelink and GMKtec for a brand new system. Less RAM (non-upgradeable) can save a few dollars, but what's the point? As for the supposed angel benefits of the RPi Foundation being non-profit, piffle on that. When I was involved with a nonprofit trying to establish a partnership with them some years ago they turned out to be absolute arrogant pricks to work with; more cult leaders than community supporters. Commercial competitors were far more eager to collaborate. At this point it seems to me that anyone using an RPi who isn't taking advantage of the GPIO header is something of a masochist, bearing all the continuing limitations of the ARM SBC ecosystem with little comparative benefit in return. I say this as the owner of two PIs that appreciated their role in creating the category, but that moment is past. - Evan
I see different use cases for Raspberry Pi. Rather than a "cheaper" replacement for a desktop/notebook computer, I see them being used to build from scratch new IoTs. For example, mobile off-grid sensors that have built-in capability to run predictive analytics while off-grid. I see these applications in Oil and Gas, Ag and forestry etc. Re: founders' personalities -- sadly seems to be a trait among many founders and its not just limited to tech. cheers Sam On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 10:49 AM Evan Leibovitch via Talk < talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
On Sun, Aug 17, 2025 at 4:24 PM Colin McGregor via Talk < talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
Still, if you are looking for low cost, possibly so-so quality audio for
a computer, such as a Raspberry Pi, this is at least worth considering.
Is the Raspberry Pi still a thing? I suggest its moment has come and gone. It has growth to date but I suggest that this is as good as it's going to be.
A Pi 5 16GB board alone costs upwards of $175. That's more than an off-lease Dell with an i7 and a 1TB hard disk. Once you add the case, cooling, storage and power supply you're firmly into the world of Beelink and GMKtec for a brand new system. Less RAM (non-upgradeable) can save a few dollars, but what's the point?
As for the supposed angel benefits of the RPi Foundation being non-profit, piffle on that. When I was involved with a nonprofit trying to establish a partnership with them some years ago they turned out to be absolute arrogant pricks to work with; more cult leaders than community supporters. Commercial competitors were far more eager to collaborate.
At this point it seems to me that anyone using an RPi who isn't taking advantage of the GPIO header is something of a masochist, bearing all the continuing limitations of the ARM SBC ecosystem with little comparative benefit in return. I say this as the owner of two PIs that appreciated their role in creating the category, but that moment is past.
- Evan
------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/T6M5R4A...
On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 2:32 PM Samuel Kaharabata <skaharabata@gmail.com> wrote:
I see different use cases for Raspberry Pi.
In this context, "Raspberry Pi" refers to a category, not a specific product. Over the years a healthy category of small, Linux-running, ARM-based SBCs has emerged. Now there are numerous entries <https://itsfoss.com/raspberry-pi-alternatives/> in this category, from a $33 mini SBC <https://www.mouser.ca/ProductDetail/Onion/OM-O2P/?qs=j%252B1pi9TdxUZwq9NawX9MnA%3D%3D> to the $300 Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano <https://www.amazon.ca/NVIDIA-Jetson-Orin-Nano-Developer/dp/B0BZJTQ5YP>, including entries from Asus and a variety of fruit-based names. Even the tiny Zero has more than a dozen alternatives <https://itsfoss.com/raspberry-pi-zero-alternatives/>. Full credit is due to the Raspberry Pi Foundation for creating the category. But if the desire is for a base for IoT devices there are entries that are far better value and more likely sized to your needs. - Evan
On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM Evan Leibovitch via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org> wrote:
On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 2:32 PM Samuel Kaharabata <skaharabata@gmail.com> wrote:
I see different use cases for Raspberry Pi.
In this context, "Raspberry Pi" refers to a category, not a specific product. Over the years a healthy category of small, Linux-running, ARM-based SBCs has emerged. Now there are numerous entries in this category, from a $33 mini SBC to the $300 Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano, including entries from Asus and a variety of fruit-based names. Even the tiny Zero has more than a dozen alternatives.
Full credit is due to the Raspberry Pi Foundation for creating the category. But if the desire is for a base for IoT devices there are entries that are far better value and more likely sized to your needs.
Greetings mr Evan Your last sentence is of great interest to me. (" . . . fir a base if IoT devices there are entries that are far better value . . . ." If you would care to elucidate - - please? Regards
If you would care to elucidate - - please?
Sorry, but I haven't elucidated in years. Health issue. I have, OTOH, been known to embed links in my messages to provide detail for what I've said. - Evan
I left this field long ago, when I realized it's scam to clear inventories. For those of interested in getting into it, just select vendor who will release/support OS for their board. During my time, there were 3 vendors: - Odroid - BeagleBone [Black] - Raspberry Pi There are more now, it seems. On 2025-08-18 17:32, Evan Leibovitch via Talk wrote:
On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 2:32 PM Samuel Kaharabata <skaharabata@gmail.com <mailto:skaharabata@gmail.com>> wrote:
I see different use cases for Raspberry Pi.
In this context, "Raspberry Pi" refers to a category, not a specific product. Over the years a healthy category of small, Linux-running, ARM- based SBCs has emerged. Now there are numerous entries <https:// itsfoss.com/raspberry-pi-alternatives/> in this category, from a $33 mini SBC <https://www.mouser.ca/ProductDetail/Onion/OM-O2P/? qs=j%252B1pi9TdxUZwq9NawX9MnA%3D%3D> to the $300 Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano <https://www.amazon.ca/NVIDIA-Jetson-Orin-Nano-Developer/dp/B0BZJTQ5YP>, including entries from Asus and a variety of fruit-based names. Even the tiny Zero has more than a dozen alternatives <https://itsfoss.com/ raspberry-pi-zero-alternatives/>.
Full credit is due to the Raspberry Pi Foundation for creating the category. But if the desire is for a base for IoT devices there are entries that are far better value and more likely sized to your needs.
- Evan
------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/VZZZNT4...
On 2025-08-18 19:37, William Park via Talk wrote:
For those of interested in getting into it, just select vendor who will release/support OS for their board. During my time, there were 3 vendors: - Odroid - BeagleBone [Black] - Raspberry Pi There are more now, it seems.
Many more. There is also Banana Pi, Orange Pi, and Nano Pi to name three that come to mind. -- Cheers! Kevin. https://www.patreon.com/KevinCozens | "Nerds make the shiny things that | distract the mouth-breathers, and Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172 | that's why we're powerful" #include <disclaimer/favourite> | --Chris Hardwick
From: Evan Leibovitch via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org>
At this point it seems to me that anyone using an RPi who isn't taking advantage of the GPIO header is something of a masochist, bearing all the continuing limitations of the ARM SBC ecosystem with little comparative benefit in return.
The idea that a Raspberry Pi might make a good desktop computer is no longer reasonable. That goal came from us, the enthusiasts. Not the project itself. We kept urging that new models include more RAM, more CPU, faster I/O (USB 3, Ultra HD HDMI, gigabit ethernet, PCIe). Some of these forced active cooling. Each of these increased the price and, as you say, banged up against refurbed conventional PC. The pi still seems useful: - for teaching / learning - for little servers - for edge devices, limited by your imagination Alone amongst the ARM SBCs, the Raspberry Pi has a critical mass of software support, community, and a guarantee of long support. (Part of the cost of a Pi comes from ARM licensing fees. The original RPi 1 core took a very few cents for licensing. The RPi 5 core costs serious money. You can see that in the price of RK3588 boards too. <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005841939948.html>)
D. Hugh Redelmeier via Talk said on Tue, 19 Aug 2025 01:26:52 -0400 (EDT)
The pi still seems useful:
- for teaching / learning
- for little servers
- for edge devices, limited by your imagination
If you can hook them to two or three Ethernet ports, they can make an excellent, very frugal router/firewall. I think now they're also good enough to use as MythTV encoders and decoders. SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com
On 2025-08-19 01:49, Steve Litt via Talk wrote:
D. Hugh Redelmeier via Talk said on Tue, 19 Aug 2025 01:26:52 -0400 (EDT)
The pi still seems useful:
- for teaching / learning
- for little servers
- for edge devices, limited by your imagination
If you can hook them to two or three Ethernet ports, they can make an excellent, very frugal router/firewall.
I think now they're also good enough to use as MythTV encoders and decoders.
SteveT
Steve Litt
------------------------------------ Description: GTALUG Talk Unsubscribe via Talk-unsubscribe@lists.gtalug.org Start a new thread: talk@lists.gtalug.org This message archived at https://lists.gtalug.org/archives/list/talk@lists.gtalug.org/message/KFLY37O...
I tried both the pi v3 and v4 at running mythtv frontends (i.e your decoders) and were unhappy with the performance. I use them instead in a few places around the home hosting our music collection mounted via NFS over wired/wireless, and played by MPD. They work great for that. I use the android mpdroid or malp apps to browse the collection on each mpd instance and play music. -- Michael Galea
On Mon, Aug 18, 2025 at 10:48:21AM -0400, Evan Leibovitch via Talk wrote:
Is the Raspberry Pi still a thing? I suggest its moment has come and gone. It has growth to date but I suggest that this is as good as it's going to be.
A Pi 5 16GB board alone costs upwards of $175. That's more than an off-lease Dell with an i7 and a 1TB hard disk. Once you add the case, cooling, storage and power supply you're firmly into the world of Beelink and GMKtec for a brand new system. Less RAM (non-upgradeable) can save a few dollars, but what's the point?
As for the supposed angel benefits of the RPi Foundation being non-profit, piffle on that. When I was involved with a nonprofit trying to establish a partnership with them some years ago they turned out to be absolute arrogant pricks to work with; more cult leaders than community supporters. Commercial competitors were far more eager to collaborate.
At this point it seems to me that anyone using an RPi who isn't taking advantage of the GPIO header is something of a masochist, bearing all the continuing limitations of the ARM SBC ecosystem with little comparative benefit in return. I say this as the owner of two PIs that appreciated their role in creating the category, but that moment is past.
Certainly if you don't need gpio then there are probably other options that make more sense. If you just want a power efficient thing to run a bit of code on, they are still pretty neat. The newer ones have gotten much more power hungry and expensive though. I don't own anything newer than a pi 3 though. -- Len Sorensen
Lennart Sorensen wrote:
[ ... ] If you just want a power efficient thing to run a bit of code on, they are still pretty neat.
I finally retired my Pi desktop. Powered from a wall-wart 5V supply they are very vulnerable to power bumps. So that desktop has become a Thinkpad. There's still a Pi here loaded up with guitarix and USB ADCs for that kind of thing, and a headless 3B+ working as a cloud server on the LAN. The 3B+, IMO, hits a sweet spot for computing and low power.
participants (16)
-
ac -
bitmap -
CAREY SCHUG -
Colin McGregor -
D. Hugh Redelmeier -
Evan Leibovitch -
Karen Lewellen -
Kevin Cozens -
Lennart Sorensen -
Michael Galea -
mwilson＠Vex.Net -
o1bigtenor -
Ron -
Samuel Kaharabata -
Steve Litt -
William Park