Author Topic: Audio Server /Headless Audio Player/ (now with Tidal HiFidelity Streaming)  (Read 93048 times)

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Offline jambam

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Got a new usb dac based on the xmos chipset and Es9023 sabre ... It has also optical and coax output  ... It's completely compatible with all my different linux layers so now I can play the whole range of hi res files from 44.1 to 192Khz

Plus it has an I2S output that  can do 384khz if you have an I2S dac

Yehey ...


XMOS ES9023 Asynchronous DAC Decoder USB to Optical Coaxial 384K 32Bit Weiliang

Offline JoeyGS

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Nice! Congrats.

Offline jambam

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It's been some time since I updated this project , for one it's functioning as is should so no need to do anything except use it and just add music to the library ..

But this early feb  I  changed to the XDA-2 dac/preamp by emotiva , one thing about it is the usb input is fully functional for all the bit rates and resolutions supported by the dac , for the XDA-1 I had to use the coax input .

So the update is from

Pogoplug (Vamp 0.4) -> usb to coax (Xmos chip) -> (coax) XDA-1 -> preamp -> Power  Amp -> Spkrs


Pogoplug (Vamp 0.6)  -> (usb) XDA-2 -> Power Amp - Spkrs


It was necessary to update to Vamp 0.6 which actually uses a different flavor of Linux (fedora) to get better compatibility w/ the USB Dac .

Vamp 0.4 did not work with the XDa-2 usb input , so with Vamp 0.6 almost any usb dac that works with a Mac w/out drivers should work with the pogoplug .

The XDA-2 with its resistor ladder volume control , also made my preamp redundant.
« Last Edit: Feb 17, 2014 at 07:18 PM by jambam »

Offline jambam

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For the software upgrade I did in the earlier post

Its unfortunate the original forum was hacked and the author has not yet restored most of the original article but this is the closes guide I could get , There are also references to other sites ... As they Say Google is your friend

http://vortexbox.org/forum/vortexbox/general/51318-install-vamp-0-6


Here's a family picture  of the various boards I have used to build my Audio players , and there are many more out there ..And the good thing is most of these are quite inexpensive < 3K




« Last Edit: Feb 17, 2014 at 07:21 PM by jambam »

Offline Tsnad

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dami mo project sir... >:D >:D  parinig.. ^-^

Offline jambam

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dami mo project sir... >:D >:D  parinig.. ^-^

Text mo lang ako pag nasa lugar ka namin , mga 10am normally libre ako

Offline sovrain

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Andami nga! Andaming di ko maintindihang gears, ;D ;D congrats sir.... O0
Marantz SR5005/PM90/SA8260
Mission Mx5/C2/1/S
Klipsch RW12D
TEAC UD-HO1|Trio TT|Asus O'play|MED1000X

Offline jambam

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Andami nga! Andaming di ko maintindihang gears, ;D ;D congrats sir.... O0

Ang mahirap ay magumpisa , at libreng oras ... Pero Pag ginusto kayang kaya yan ... :)

Offline sovrain

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Tama ka sir, kung may libreng oras ako e, gusto ko nakikinig na lang ;D....kaya di maayos ayos na maigi ang mga gears ko ;D
Marantz SR5005/PM90/SA8260
Mission Mx5/C2/1/S
Klipsch RW12D
TEAC UD-HO1|Trio TT|Asus O'play|MED1000X

Offline jambam

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Offline javauser

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I use an Asus RT n66u WiFi router. You can connect a hard drive to it, and I use it to stream audio and video throughout my house via DLNA. I also use it to download torrents without a PC.
Optoma HD33
Denon AVR-X4000
KEF R500
KEF R200C
KEF R100
KEF LS50
SVS PB12NSD
www.activelearning.ph

Offline sovrain

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Thanks for the links sir jambam
Marantz SR5005/PM90/SA8260
Mission Mx5/C2/1/S
Klipsch RW12D
TEAC UD-HO1|Trio TT|Asus O'play|MED1000X

Offline jambam

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My Digital audio streamer is over a year now , my original setup is still going strong , but  I guess it was time for an update ...

Essentially apart from the matching colors of the pogoplug and the hardisk , main changes are in the software , using Arch Linux now versus debian , also boot is now from a separate partition of the harddisk versus a flash drive.. More pictures and details once I complete the setup
« Last Edit: Jan 23, 2015 at 03:01 PM by jambam »

Offline audi

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Very nice sir, I hope I can visit you again soon for another audio listening session.

Offline JoeyGS

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Great work jambam.....

Can your new linux software handle DSD files with the pogoplug?

What are the pros and cons having to boot into the external HDD versus from the USB stick?




My Digital audio streamer is over a year now , my original setup is still going strong , but  I guess it was time for an update ...



Essentially apart from the matching colors of the pogoplug and the hardisk , main changes are in the software , using Arch Linux now versus debian , also boot is now from a separate partition of the harddisk versus a flash drive.. More pictures and details once I complete the setup

Offline jambam

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Thanks Joey ..

I am still using squeezelite which has gone thru updates , and just to quote the author


Quote
DSD playback via DOP capable DACs or via conversion to pcm. This is enabled with the -DDSD build option and requires additional LMS server patches.

Booting into the Harddisk is just more convenient and makes it look cleaner . This is because I use the pogoplug as the server and renderer .. If using only as a player I would use the flash usb .

We should update the sofware in your pogoplug sometime , if you are only using it as a player , might as well remove LMS ..

There are also a few new linux based players and claim they are optimised for audiophiles e.g... Volumnio and Rune Audio .. I'll be installing that next to my beagelbone black when I get to it

Offline JoeyGS

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Thanks for you prompt reply....

Would love to have it updated ...... and will consult you further on the LMS feature as I would like to use the pogoplug to access my music files from a remote vortexbox server and from an external hard drive connected to the pogoplug.

There is a new version of the Vortexbox Fedora (ver 2.3) and will likely update my current vortexbox music server.  It features full support for DSD and DXD files and easier management of multiple attached drives.

Nice to see you are still very active and updated! Cheers!

Thanks Joey ..

I am still using squeezelite which has gone thru updates , and just to quote the author


Booting into the Harddisk is just more convenient and makes it look cleaner . This is because I use the pogoplug as the server and renderer .. If using only as a player I would use the flash usb .

We should update the sofware in your pogoplug sometime , if you are only using it as a player , might as well remove LMS ..

There are also a few new linux based players and claim they are optimised for audiophiles e.g... Volumnio and Rune Audio .. I'll be installing that next to my beagelbone black when I get to it

Offline jambam

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Thanks for you prompt reply....

Would love to have it updated ...... and will consult you further on the LMS feature as I would like to use the pogoplug to access my music files from a remote vortexbox server and from an external hard drive connected to the pogoplug.

There is a new version of the Vortexbox Fedora (ver 2.3) and will likely update my current vortexbox music server.  It features full support for DSD and DXD files and easier management of multiple attached drives.

Nice to see you are still very active and updated! Cheers!


If you have LMS running on the pogoplug w/an external hard drive , and at the same time have LMS running
also on your vortexbox .

And both the pogoplug and the vortexbox are connected to the same network or same router if you wish

You just need to switch sources  thru the GUI or app controller and tell the pogoplug from where it will take the files to play from either from the remote vortexbox or the external HD connected to the pogoplug ... Same is true with the player in the vortexbox, if can use the files from the external harddisk of the pogoplug ..

I'll grab a screenshot to show you ...
 

« Last Edit: May 14, 2014 at 10:36 PM by jambam »

Offline JoeyGS

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Yes that's my set-up right now.....

Offline jambam

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Great ....

So I just updated an earlier diagram to put in the second audio source



Here you have the vortexbox pc and the pogoplug with external Harddisk as a source ..  But of course both of these can also be players as long as the necessary soundcard or usb Dac is connected and configured ..

In the Gui of the controller  you can set up which player is connected to which source .

The Vortexbox and Pogoplug with external Hard drive , also can serve as NAS drives , so they can also serve your movies if they are stored on the drives



Offline jambam

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Now here are the GUI grabs for multi source and multi player setup
(Remember All of these must be connected to the same network)

I am using Squeezepad controller app for the Ipad


The Sources/Servers

a:) 192.168.1.150:9000 (is the vortexbox PC) not sure why the Ip address instead of the name is displayed on this app
b:) alarm  (pogoplug with external Harddisk

The Players

1. Vortex player - the softplayer in the vortexbox pc
2. Z86's Ipad -- the plugin for the squeezepad ipad app to enable playback on the ipad
3. PogoPlug_LMS_server -- the softplayer on the Pogoplug (squeezelite) w/c is running LMS and has the external Hard disk
4. PogoPlug_player -- standalone player of a 2nd pogoplug device





Here is the snapshot of the selection menu on changing the association




After the change ( The leftmost option)

The vortexbox PC has now 3 players associated to it, namely  Pogoplug_LMS_player , Vortex Player and the IPad.

And the alarm (pogoplug with hard disk) has only the PogoPlug Player..



I hope I was able to show it clearly ... Just post if you have clarifications



Offline JoeyGS

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Great presentation jambam!

If I connect an external hard drive to my pogoplug,  is there a file/folder format structure which needs to be followed so that the music files can be seen by the player?

Offline jambam

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Thanks Joey ..

For your particular case you can start at step 2 skip 3 and 4 then do the  initial portion of step 5 of the  guide below.

In step 5 you just need to insure that you are able to have the external hard disk recognized , you can stop just right before installing LMS , as it is already installed in your USB flash drive. or if you wish you can proceed to install the latest version .



http://rustybytes.com/2011/02/16/setup-your-pogoplug-as-a-squeezebox-server/

Offline jambam

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This time lets try some MPD (Music Player Deamon) based players .. I am trying out Rune Audio , which I believe is derived from Volumio ...Both are tweeked linux based players and used with  embedded hardware like raspberry pi,cubox  .. etc



I am using the beaglebone black in my system..

Here's something I worked on just to make a proof of concept .. Its a wireless (not really portable ) player.



The black box with the open circuit board is the beaglebone black , the blue colored box is a wireless client dongle ( converted nano router)  to the right are 2 power banks , one for the wireless client and the other for the beaglebone ... It would be more compact really if I used one of the dual output power banks..

To the left of the beaglebone is a Sabre Es9023 usb dac driving an AKG550 can ... It's not the best match but it's more than usable .. The K550 even though it is quite large is efficient ,  the setup can definitely benefit from an amp.

Source is a Pogoplug with an external Harddisk , showed earlier..  Control is thru any tablet or smartphone with the required free App..

RASPBERRY PI I2S DAC: WHY THIS SOUNDS SO GOOD


In the DIY community there is a lot of activity on the raspberry Pi with a I2S connected Dac , with it you bypass usb , coax or spdif connections and hence the most direct path for digital music ..

I havent decided yet which I2S DAC to buy for the raspberry pi but maybe a PCM5102 dac as I have a number of the ES9023 around.

Below is a link if your interested to read on

http://volumio.org/raspberry-pi-i2s-dac-sounds-so-good/
« Last Edit: May 21, 2014 at 03:32 PM by jambam »

Offline jambam

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Here a commercial product that works similar to the pogoplug/Beaglebone project ..


http://www.sotm.sonore.us/SOtM1.html

Offline JoeyGS

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It's a little expensive. Do you have one?

Here a commercial product that works similar to the pogoplug/Beaglebone project ..


http://www.sotm.sonore.us/SOtM1.html

Offline jambam

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It's a little expensive. Do you have one?


Yup its expensive , but if you read about it in the other forums , hardware wise it is similar to a pogoplug with a linear power supply , software wise it's has a more refined interface , would be nice to compare the sound if I had one ...

Offline JoeyGS

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Ok. Will check with the local dealer if they have a unit for audition.

Yup its expensive , but if you read about it in the other forums , hardware wise it is similar to a pogoplug with a linear power supply , software wise it's has a more refined interface , would be nice to compare the sound if I had one ...

Offline jambam

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I found this comment post on Computer audiophile w/c reviews the SOtM sMS-100 and looks like  hardware wise a repackaged  popoplug (jives with my suspicion) , with sonic orbiter software from small green computer

It also has suggestions to get better sound off our inexpensive device..



http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/585-sotm-sms-100-mini-server-review/comments5.html#comments

Pogoplug PCB used in SMS-100, and so SMS-100 is DIY capable ( by software based on USB Flash duplication )






PogoPlug II review | Linux User & Developer - the Linux and FOSS mag for a GNU generation
« Last Edit: Jul 02, 2014 at 03:41 PM by jambam »

Offline JoeyGS

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This is good news for Pogoplug users! (including me ;D)

So you have to reprogram the Pogoplug to have the capabilities of the sms-100?