The goal is to stream music from my Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB to my Sonos system without using a Sonos Connect, Sonos Port, or Sonos Amp. The instructions should work for any USB turntable or USB soundcard.

Setup

The first step is to setup Raspbian on a headless Raspberry Pi. Download the Raspbian Lite image without a desktop and install it as described in the official installation instructions. Then configure Wi-Fi without display and keyboard and enable SSH. After that, check the Raspberry Pi’s IP address on our router and connect via SSH. Update the system and don’t forget to change the default password.

While connected to the Raspberry Pi, connect the turntable via USB. With dmesg you should see that the turntable gets recognized as a new audio device:

[  109.913070] usb 1-1.5: new full-speed USB device number 5 using dwc_otg
[  110.065147] usb 1-1.5: New USB device found, idVendor=08bb, idProduct=29c0, bcdDevice= 1.00
[  110.065165] usb 1-1.5: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[  110.065181] usb 1-1.5: Product: USB AUDIO  CODEC
[  110.065192] usb 1-1.5: Manufacturer: BurrBrown from Texas Instruments
[  110.084469] input: BurrBrown from Texas Instruments USB AUDIO  CODEC as /devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.5/1-1.5:1.3/0003:08BB:29C0.0001/input/input0
[  110.153545] hid-generic 0003:08BB:29C0.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.00 Device [BurrBrown from Texas Instruments USB AUDIO  CODEC] on usb-3f980000.usb-1.5/input3
[  110.309854] usbcore: registered new interface driver snd-usb-audio

Identify the device number with arecord -l. The output should look like

**** List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices ****
card 1: CODEC [USB AUDIO  CODEC], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

which will tell you the turntable is subdevice #0 of card #1 (referred to as plughw:1,0 in the configuration below).

Configure Icecast2 and DarkIce

Now install the necessary software packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install darkice icecast2

During the installation, a prompt will ask you to configure Icecast2. Select yes, keep localhost as the hostname, and enter relay and administration passwords.

Using superuser privileges, create the DarkIce configuration file /etc/darkice.cfg with the following contents:

[general]
duration        = 0             # 0 = forever
bufferSecs      = 1             # buffer in seconds
reconnect       = yes
realtime        = yes

[input]
device          = plughw:1,0    # Soundcard device for the audio input
sampleRate      = 44100         # 44.1 kHz sample rate
bitsPerSample   = 16            # 16 bits
channel         = 2             # 2 = stereo

[icecast2-0]
bitrateMode     = cbr           # cbr = constant bit rate
format          = mp3
bitrate         = 320           # bitrate
server          = localhost
port            = 8000          # port of the Icecast2 server
password        = hackme        # password for the Icecast2 server
mountPoint      = turntable.mp3 # mount point on the Icecast2 server
name            = Turntable
description     = Turntable Audio Stream via USB

More details about the DarkIce configuration file can be found in the Debian manpages.

Start Icecast2 and DarkIce

Start the Icecast2 service and enable autostart:

sudo systemctl enable icecast2.service
sudo service icecast2 start

Create the file /etc/systemd/system/darkice1.service using superuser privileges:

[Unit]
Description=DarkIce audio streamer
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/darkice -c /etc/darkice.cfg
StandardOutput=inherit
StandardError=inherit
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Start the DarkIce service and enable autostart:

sudo systemctl enable darkice1.service
sudo service darkice1 status

In the following I assume that your Raspberry Pi has the IP address 192.168.1.33, replace the IP with yours. Check the Icecast2 server status by visiting http://192.168.1.33:8000 in your browser.

You can listen to the actual audio stream at http://192.168.1.33:8000/turntable.mp3 in your browser. You should be able to hear the music of your turntable.

Configure Sonos

First you need TuneIn added as a music service in your Sonos (TuneIn doesn’t require an account). Then add the Icecast2 stream as a radio station by clicking Radio by TuneIn → My Radio Stations → Add New Radio Station. Add the streaming URL http://192.168.1.33:8000/turntable.mp3 and pick a station name like “Turntable”.

Play the new radio station at Radio by TuneIn → My Radio Stations → Turntable. There is unfortunately no autoplay as you would have with a Sonos line-in device.

More detailed instructions can be found in Sonos’ support page.