Anybody who first skilled music on computer systems utilizing Winamp most likely shares a reminiscence of seeing that basic UI for the primary time. All the pieces about it was a step forward of the clunky, chunky interfaces we had been used to, and though it was presupposed to be unobtrusive, it was onerous to tear your eyes off that silky-smooth spectrum analyzer bouncing out your favourite MP3s.
Recapturing a bit of the Winamp magic is the aim of Linamp, an bodily model of the basic media participant. It reproduces the Winamp UI on a touchscreen LCD with a large facet ratio that nearly completely matches the unique structure. Behind the show is a Raspberry Pi 4 with a 32 GB SD card, with all of the vital connections introduced out to a board on the again of the case. The case itself is a deal with, because it borrows design parts from one other little bit of retro gear, the mini-rack audio programs that graced many a bookshelf within the Eighties — and powered many highschool events too, if reminiscence serves.
To recreate the case, [Rodmg] designed a sheet metallic case and had it custom-made from anodized aluminum by PCBWay. He additionally printed a bezel for the show that appears similar to the Winamp window border, full with management icons. The place the construct actually shines, although, is with the work [Rodmg] put into the software program. He matched the unique Winamp UI very intently, each by way of structure and efficiency. The pains he went to to get the spectrum analyzer working, together with a deep dive into FFT, are spectacular.
The outcomes converse for themselves on this one, and hats off to [Rodmg] for the trouble and the journey on the nostalgia practice. We don’t know if the recent announcement of Winamp’s impending open-sourcing can have a lot influence on this venture, but it surely would possibly end in a flood of recent Winamp builds.
