Palate Cleanser Music and Minecraft

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Palate Cleanser: Turning a Brix Mini PC into a Minecraft Server & Music Player

Work has been really busy since the new year, so my allocated training time has had to give way to more critical tasks. The test lab project has been on hold for now, however, I’ve still been doing some tinkering in my spare time. I took a short break from the lab and decided to work on a personal project. I picked up a Gigabyte Brix off eBay for about £60, a small form-factor PC, and decided to repurpose it. Instead of running Windows 10, I installed Ubuntu Server, which matched the default OS of my Raspberry Pis and NAS, keeping everything consistent across my setup.

Here’s a quick rundown of what I did.

Setting Up the Minecraft Server

  1. Installed Ubuntu Server – replacing the preinstalled Windows 10.
  2. Installed Docker & Portainer – to manage containers easily.
  3. Set up a Minecraft Docker container – now the whole family can join and play together.

With the Minecraft server running, I had a compact and power-efficient game server. I’ll also be thinking about other game servers to run in containers, since there’s still plenty of headroom on the Brix.

Expanding into a Music Streaming Hub

I originally wanted to put the Brix in the cupboard with my Raspberry Pis and NAS, but I ran out of network ports in there. So, I placed it on a shelf on top of my Topping VX1 USB DAC/amp. The Topping VX1 is a compact Class-D amplifier with a built-in USB DAC, which I primarily use to power my PC audio setup.

It’s connected to a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 8.1s, which I picked up off eBay about 10 years ago. After the purchase, the seller messaged me, saying they had bought them with their first pay cheque and, in some way, had passed on some sentimental value with them. I replied, telling them I’d give them a new life as PC monitors and they have been used for this ever since. The bright yellow Kevlar cones and turn Millennium aesthetic still look great and sound fantastic, even after all these years.

That gave me an idea—why not use the Brix for hi-fi music streaming as well?

Music Setup

For streaming music, I used a combination of software tools to get everything working smoothly:

  • MPC (Music Player Client): A command-line client for MPD (Music Player Daemon), allowing remote control of audio playback.
  • MPD (Music Player Daemon): An open-source music server that plays local files, network shares, and online radio.
  • Libraspot: A Spotify Connect client that lets me stream Spotify directly through the Brix.
  • VLC: While I don’t use VLC to play anything directly, having it installed provides extra codecs, which means MPD can handle anything I throw at it.
  • Docker (for initial setup): I originally ran everything in containers but later moved the audio apps to the host for better stability.
  • PulseAudio: A sound server that manages audio across multiple applications. I switched to this after ALSA in Docker kept crashing.

One of the best parts? The Brix is totally headless, with only power, LAN, and USB cables attached—everything else is controlled remotely from my phone. Whether it's managing music playback, switching between sources, or even handling the Minecraft server, I can do it all without needing a keyboard or monitor connected to the Brix.

Switching Between Sources

To make things even more convenient, I decided to switch the Topping amp between my PC and the Brix using a mechanical push-button printer-sharing switch. Since the Topping VX1 uses a USB-B cable like a printer, this industrial-looking switch lets me toggle between the two systems effortlessly—kind of industrial, but it does the job. Now I can choose between gaming on the PC or streaming music through the Brix without having to swap cables.

Now the Brix can

  • Run a Minecraft server for family gaming.
  • Stream Spotify (remotely controlled via Libraspot).
  • Play hi-fi FLAC files and CD rips stored on the NAS.
  • Stream radio stations.

If you have an old mini PC lying around or can pick one up cheaply, this is a great way to put it to good use. This Brix, which I bought for about £60, has turned into a multifunctional gaming and music hub, and it’s been a fun little project along the way.



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