Let's talk digital!

[ranjeetrain]

Guide to Digital Audio - Two Computer setup (Part I)

Thanks for your reminders. Just been a tad busy. Starting with this again... apologies for the delay!

I am gonna go over "the Two-computer setup " topic from scratch. I would be using Daphile for illustration, which I found several notches better sounding than off the shelf Windows and popular Linux distros.
​

Daphile is an Operating System for music only purposes. I have worked with Daphile author/lead developer Kimio on off-and-on basis and the understanding I have of Daphile as of my last interaction is that Daphile would be targeted to be licensed as a firmware. Daphile is available for free download as of now at Daphile Digital Music Convenience for Audiophiles and invites testers to install and test.

I downloaded Daphile and gave it a spin. After trying out Daphile I can say its a poor mans alternate to JPlay. People who want to experience the benefits of a two-computer playback are encouraged to try Daphile, which is free as of now. An FM who has probably used paid versions of JRiver/JPlay has heard Daphile in my system and was impressed. I am sure most people who dont use very high end system will be mighty pleased with Daphile. (Save for quirks that are often a part and parcel of Linux based software).

Some facts before I jump into showing how to use Daphile.

(1) Daphile is a music only OS. That is, it will only do one thing, play music. The computer on which Daphile is running becomes unusable for any other purpose (such as using it as a download client). Technically speaking, it cant be used as a singular frugal install without rendering a system useless for other purposes.

(2) Daphile is a headless OS. That is, the computer on which Daphile is running cant use any IO devices. That is, using a full scale desktop/loptop is a waste of resource to run Daphile. Daphile doesnt need/use a keyboard/mouse for its purpose. The best devices for running Daphile are low-power, low-voltage devices such as Raspberry.

(3) Since Daphile is a headless OS, you must use another device (a computer/tablet) to control it. Daphile is only controllable through a web interface. Any device which is capable of running a browser with HTML 4 support can access Daphile. Any and every access to a Daphile running device is only through a web-client. That is, both administration and user access is through the same user interface.

(4) So far I have only tested Daphile with x86/x64 devices. Chances are that it can work with other hardware architecture as well.

(5) An important piece of information which should be documented but is not: If Daphile is running on a device with a display, the resolution of the display should be a minimum of 1024x768. However, Daphile author is constantly working on various aspects and this might have changed in newer releases. Bottomline is that: The device running Daphile must have a standard display resolution and must have a minimum resolution. For current release the minimum resolution (perhaps) is 800x600. If you need to run a Daphile on a device with a non-standard display or a display not meeting the minimum resolution criteria, you must tweak it. I'll cover that as a part of advance configuration of Daphile.

(6) More details can be had from the Daphile site. I am not repeating the information already present on the Daphile site. Some specifics will be covered soon in this tutorial.
​

***********************************************
Stuff you will need:
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Now that we have covered the basics, lets see how to run Daphile as music only OS on a standard desktop/laptop. To be able to try it you will need to have the following:

(1) A computer for downloading Daphile distribution binary. This computer can be running any OS that allows you to follow the steps given in this tutorial. In this tutorial I will show you how to do it on Microsoft Windows (Hey, the CEO is a desi guy now, quit hating the MS, will ya).

(2) An Internet connection. The size of download is about 200 MB. Any connection including a 3G connection on phone should do for such a small download.

(3) A USB flash drive. Minimum required is 256 MB. But a 4GB or higher is recommended. With a slightly high capacity (say 32GB drive, you can actually have a good working music system running off a USB drive).

(4) A computer to run Daphile. You many use the same computer as the one in step 1, but you will need two computers (devices) in total to run Daphile in any configuration. If you want to use the same computer to run Daphile, you will need another device such a Smartphone with a Browser and Wi-Fi, or a Tablet with Wi-Fi.

This computer must be able to boot from a USB drive. 1 GHz or faster processor with 1 GB or more RAM is recommended. It must also have an Ethernet port or on-board Wi-Fi.

(5) A controller computer. This controller computer (or smart phone or tablet) just needs to be able to run a Web browser over Wi-Fi. See above, you can choose any two devices for any of the two roles so long as the device where you intend to run Daphile is based on an x86/x64 processor.

(6) A NAS, if you intend to play your music from a NAS. You can also use any computer sharing your music collection. Daphile supports multiple file sharing protocol, hence, you can access a shared folder hosted by most OSs. However, this equipment is optional. To test drive Daphile, you dont need this.

(7) A Router with DHCP capability and two or more unused LAN ports or Wi-Fi capable of supporting two-three more devices.

(8) Ethernet cables, if you intend to have a wired connection. Ethernet cables are optional. You can also use a wireless connection but connection will not be as good as a wired connection, even with the cheapest of cables. However, if you do want to access your music from a NAS device, a wired connection is very highly recommended.​

Once you have everything together you are ready to go. There would be four parts of this tutorial:

(1) Installation of Daphile
(2) Running Daphile
(3) Simple configuration
(4) Advanced configuration​

To begin with I will only do the part I and II. I will do the part III and IV only if there are questions around it.



***********************************************
Part I: Steps to install Daphile
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Now that you have everything in place lets proceed for the test drive. By following this tutorial you will be able to Install Daphile in a most simplistic two-computer setup and see whether you can hear a difference. My guess is you will. But hey, dont take my words for it. Give it a try.

[Before you proceed: Make sure you have backed up all your required data before trying anything mentioned in this tutorial. I have only listed the steps I have tried and worked for me, and I am making my best effort to document the process as accurately as humanly possible. But any damages arising out of use/misuse of this tutorial would solely be your responsibility.]

Step 1.1 Download the Daphile distribution binary from Daphile site. The site always has the latest distro available for download. As of today the latest release 14.02 is available for direct download here: 32-bit, 64-bit. If you are not sure which version to download, download the 32-bit version.

Make a folder named Daphile in you C drive. Save the downloaded file in C:\Daphile.

[Important note: Please make sure you have an appropriate anti-virus program installed on your machine. This program is not created by me, nor do I guarantee its virus/malware free upon completion of download. Practice due caution while using programs downloaded from Internet.]

Step 1.2 Download the Universal USB Installer by clicking here. Save the downloaded file in C:\Daphile.

Step 1.3 Insert the USB drive in an empty slot. [Make sure you have backed up any important data from the USB drive, as all the data on this drive will be lost].

Step 1.4 Follow the steps given in the graphics in the sidebar. Wait patiently as the computer formats the USB drive and installs Daphile on it. Close all open program when the process is complete.

[IMG2]http://images14.fotki.com/v384/photos/3/3269643/12997447/CreateDaphileUSBLQ1-vi.png[/IMG2]
[IMG2]http://images108.fotki.com/v1629/photos/3/3269643/12997447/CreateDaphileUSBLQ2-vi.png[/IMG2]

































With this part I of this tutorial is complete. Your USB drive is ready to run Daphile.


​

 

[ranjeetrain]

Guide to Digital Audio - Two Computer setup (Part II)

Running Daphile can be slightly tricky. No worries, to follow this guide much technical knowledge is not required. Just read carefully and follow the steps.

***********************************************
Running Daphile
***********************************************

Step 2.1 Prepare the network environment

Step 2.1.1 Start the router you intend to use for running Daphile. Make sure DHCP is enabled on the router. Also, the router must have at least one LAN port free, to allow a wired connection to the Daphile computer.

Step 2.1.2 Connect the Daphile computer to the router using a LAN cable of appropriate length.

* Any decent cable will do so long as it meets the CAT 5 specifications. If you don't know what the CAT 5 specification is most likely you don't need to bother knowing about it. Buy any decent LAN cable from the local store and it will work flawlessly.

** If your computer, router, and other devices such as your NAS device are all Gigabit capable, it may make sense to use CAT 6 cables.



Step 2.2 Run Daphile

[IMG2]http://images16.fotki.com/v369/photos/3/3269643/12997447/Daphile02-vi.jpg[/IMG2]
Step 2.2.1 Take the computer you want to run Daphile on.

* This computer must be able to boot from a USB drive.
** 1 GHz or faster processor with 1 GB or more RAM is recommended.
*** It must also have an Ethernet port or on-board Wi-Fi.

Step 2.2.2 If it's running already, insert the Daphile USB that you created in Part I of this tutorial and restart the computer.

Step 2.2.3 You should get what is called the "Syslinux bootloader". Don't worry, you don't need to understand what that means in order to be able to run Daphile. [No action is due on your part here.]

* If upon restarting the computer it boots as usual, it's either not capable of booting from USB or not configured to do so. See the diagnostic section at the end of this tutorial.

Step 2.2.4 Syslinux loader should automatically load Daphile now and transfer control to it. At this moment, depending on the speed of the computer, you may see various messages. Till this point no action is due on your part. Wait till you see the Daphile Logo with the message that reads: "Ready to use...".

* If you don't see this message, jump to the diagnostic section at the end of this tutorial.

If your screen resembles the image on the side, congratulations, you have run Daphile successfully.

Now on to accessing the Daphile and get it to play your music for you.

















Step 2.3 Playing music through Daphile

Step 2.3.1 Accessing Daphile: Half the battle in running Daphile is being able to access it. If you are able to do it, you will be able to run it rather easily even if you are not too computer savvy. Just basic knowledge of Internet surfing is required. Essentially, using Daphile is like using any Internet site to play music online.

To access Daphile, take out the device you want to access Daphile from. It can be another computer (Desktop/Laptop) or a Tablet or a Smartphone. Basically anything that can run a Web browser capable of running HTML 4 will do.

Connect this device to the same network Daphile is running on, either through a wired or a wireless connection. As usual the wired connection is more reliable. However, wireless is not going to impact the SQ at all, as this connection is merely for accessing the UI of Daphile, and in no way is related to any aspect of the playback quality. However, a wireless connection's performance is subject to some general criteria. Some of them are: Number of simultaneously connected hosts, distance from the wireless AP and the type of objects inbetween, the strength of wireless transmitter, the sensitivity of the receiver device and so on.

Rule of thumb: Use wired connection as far as possible, leaving wireless option only for occasions where wired will make things difficult.

Wait for the devices to establish a connection successfully to the network.

Step 2.3.1 Open the web browser in the device and type in the URL bar: "http://daphile"

If everything went right, Daphile UI will load and the screen will resemble the below screen. If you see the below screen, congratulations, you have just shaken hand with Daphile.

Hello Daphile!

[IMG2]http://images15.fotki.com/v1626/photos/3/3269643/12997447/DaphileUI01-vi.png[/IMG2]

 

[thx911]

Re: Guide to Digital Audio - Two Computer setup (Part I)

using a full scale desktop/loptop is a waste of resource to run Daphile. Daphile doesnt need/use a keyboard/mouse for its purpose. The best devices for running Daphile are low-power, low-voltage devices such as Raspberry.

Thank you for this wonderful post, great job done; what options do we have for a low-power, low voltage raspberry equivalent in X86 architecture? have seen the NCU/Celeron, Galileo and a AMD boards but nothing close to Raspberry on X86? any idea on this type of x86 harware?

 

[koushik]

Have you checked the option of Beaglebone Black? It is strong than Rasbpi in terms of RAM and processing power.

 

[ranjeetrain]

x86 based SoCs for Daphile

Thank you for this wonderful post, great job done; what options do we have for a low-power, low voltage raspberry equivalent in X86 architecture? have seen the NCU/Celeron, Galileo and a AMD boards but nothing close to Raspberry on X86? any idea on this type of x86 harware?

Guys at Intel are not the type who are blissfully ignorant of market trends. Raspberry success has made clear SoC market is sizeable.

Intel Releases $99 Minnowboard Max, An Open-Source Single-Board Computer | TechCrunch

Here are some shopping leads:

• ECM-BYT, Intel Celeron/Atom Soc 3.5 Single Board Computer SBC, Dual View, 5 USB, Mini PCIe, Built-in Touch Screen, USB 3.0
• MinnowBoard Distributor | Mouser
• ECX810 Intel EP80579 SOC Single Board Computer, Taiwan Manufacturer - Ibase

 

[rsud]

Happy New Year Everyone!

Those who know me know that I am a hard core digital guy. There is only one way in which I have played my music in last two decades, the digital way. 2014, a new year, and a year of anticipations at that. What a better way to begin this year than by sharing how I have been getting a lot from digital by investing just a little?

Firstly I thought of just making this thread a thread about "My computer transport". Because that's the part which will be most relevant for most people interested in this thread. Other parts of my setup (and my methods) may or may not interest others. But this is a part everyone can relate to. And by everyone I mean, everyone who has tasted digital and is constantly trying to get more. Everyone who has been reading about digital but falls short of venturing into it because of his non-tech-savvy nature. Everyone who has always been in analogue, but wants to start into digital. Everyone who is firmly into digital and yet wants to improve upon what he is getting. Most importantly, this thread is for everyone who wants to get more by investing less.

This thread, however, is not for digital vs analogue discussions. This is for discussing how to get more, how to get best out of digital, not about how it compares against analogue.

Here in this thread I would be sharing most of the things in as plain-English as possible. That is, I will try not to make it a thread for IT geeks, but for everyone. With the help of this thread, everyone can try digital audio and everyone can hear the difference.

Truth be told, I had wanted to start such a thread a long long time ago. But I had been seeing a lot of negativity about digital (not only here, but everywhere). But now that more and more people are getting into digital ( actually getting into it big time) and looking for reliable source of information on digital, I have decided to finally start such a thread. Consider it my new year gift

Background: Before I begin, I want to set a background against which I would be sharing my experiences here. In last two decades in my digital journey I have used 5+ disc spinners, 5+ desktops, 8+ laptops, 5+ tablets, 6+ portable devices, 3 media players as source. All in the name of experiments and endeavor to get the most out of my digital collection.

My current collection of gear that I use for digital playback are:

(1) A Bufallo NAS running SMB, AFP and FTP (was also running DLNA but shutdown due to performance reason).
(2) An Apple MacMini with i5 processor, 8 GB RAM.
(3) An HP ProBook 6530 notebook.
(4) An HP Mini 210 VT netbook.
(5) A desktop (not in use anymore, but retained for comparison's sake)
(6) 3 Tablets/Smartphones as controller devices.
(7) 5 routers and switches. Not all are used at once, but I have tried them all in order to achieve the maximum performance, before settling down on my current configuration.

Result? Well, all that list of equipment and blah is very good. But here comes the most important question. How does it sound?

In one word, divine! In two words, pure + pristine. In more words - well, I should actually leave it for others to describe as owners tend to be biased. However, to give a slight hint, recently I dedicated some time to hear some really high end setups. And my transport sounds ridiculously good compared to source in the range of Rs. 5-8 Lacs. In fact I would buy any transport immediately if it sounds better and is available under Rs 2 Lacs.

Back to the transport: there are three goals in my hifi endeavor: (1) Economical (2) Natural sounding (3) Simple. There can be better sounding sources out there, but none will be as economical and simple as a transport you can make one for yourself following this thread. Let me begin by posting some screenshots of my transport in action.


[IMG2]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2864/11826314503_f8a5046881_o.gif[/IMG2]

As you can see in this pic, the computer (my test machine) has a very entry-level specification by current standards. And if I can convert this into a pristine sounding transport, everyone else can, including you.






























Some more screenshots:

[IMG2]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5507/11826314493_2c02606aac_o.gif[/IMG2]
[IMG2]farm8.staticflickr.com/7454/11826314273_da6097e14a_o.gif[/IMG2]
[IMG2]http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2828/11826314083_144932d741_o.gif[/IMG2]












































































As you can see, it's quite a lot of customization resulting in an an unusually efficient performance. I will be sharing the know-how and the steps how you can turn your machine into an equally efficient music PC as well. Since this is going to be a long typing and a lot of screenshots, I will do it in steps.

Thanks for riding the digital express with me.

Curious to note that there is no DAC or playback equipment in your list. How are you listening? Direct digital injection, perhaps?

None of the pics load for me, perhaps that's the gap.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Guide to Digital Audio - Two Computer setup (Part III)

If things have gone right, you are up and running with Daphile. But if they haven't and you are still not able to run it (your screen looks different than the graphics I have illustrated), not to worry, I am going to add a diagnostic section at the end of this tutorial, which will address some common issues. I am not discussing all negative possibilities in the main article because it will derail the content flow.

Assuming that things have gone well so far, you should see the screen as in this graphics. If that's the case you have Daphile up and running and very little ground is left to be covered. Under ideal circumstances, getting Daphile to play the first track for you is not too far. Let's cover the remaining distance and get Daphile to sing for us.



***********************************************
Daphile: Basic configuration
***********************************************

Step 3.1 Need to configure music collection

[IMG2]http://images15.fotki.com/v1624/photos/3/3269643/12997447/DaphileUI01bb-vi.png[/IMG2] Things have gone well so far, but still you can't play any music through Daphile, for the simple reason that the Daphile doesn't yet know where to find the music to play. (Remember that Daphile is running off a USB drive and it has no idea where your music lies). So far it should show "0 albums with 0 songs by 0 artists" in it's collection. It's time to add some music to Daphile collection.

Daphile is pre-configured to look for a partition called "Music" on the media where it is running from (in our case, a USB drive). But since we didn't configure our live Daphile boot media that way, Daphile doesn't yet have any media known to it for playback. I will cover this part later under advanced configuration if required. Here I will describe how to configure Daphile to access your existing media library.










[IMG2]http://images51.fotki.com/v303/photos/3/3269643/12997447/DaphileUI02b-vi.png[/IMG2]Step 3.2 Configuring storage: Daphile is capable of accessing media from all major storage types, viz Fixed HDDs (internal hard drives in computer), Removable storages (such as USB flash drives, USB hard drives, SD cards, MicroSD cards) as well as Network Attached Storage, Shared network drives.

To configure storage to get music into Daphile media library:


[1] Click "Settings" on the menu on the left sidebar.
[2] Scroll down to "Storages" section.
[3] You will find all recognized storage devices listed under three categories; "Internal drives", "USB drives", and "Network drives".
[4] Any partition on a recognized storage device is listed as individually configurable volume.
[5]There are three settings for each of recognized storage devices.

[5a] "Use" - Tick this box to make this volume available to by Daphile.
[5b] "RW" - Tick this box if you want Daphile to modify the volume (usually with tag info from Internet).
[5c] "Share" - Tick this box to allow Daphile make this folder available as a Network share. (Daphile can share folders over SMB protocol.)​

[6] After making all the selections, scroll down and click "Save & Restart".
[7] Daphile will start building the media library upon restarting.
[8] Click the "Play" button at the top in the right half of the UI to start playing your music when Daphile is up and running with your media library in place.

Take a drink, sit back and bask in the glory of Two-computer setup, all for free.

And don't forget to post back your impressions here. I am sure most of you would come back saying "Wow, what a difference".


​

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Step 2.3.1 Open the web browser in the device and type in the URL bar: "http://daphile"

How will that work? How will your "controlling" machine/phone/tablet translate that to the IP address that Daphile got from the DHCP?

(I imagine you did it, and it did work! I am very rusty on this stuff, and might be missing something obvious!)

PS... that screen really reminds me of the Logitech Media Server (once called Squeezebox Server)!

 

[ranjeetrain]

Curious to note that there is no DAC or playback equipment in your list. How are you listening? Direct digital injection, perhaps?

None of the pics load for me, perhaps that's the gap.

Perhaps you missed some parts. You may want to go through the thread again.

This thread is about "Optimizing computer based playback". I have covered the ground in quite some detail.

The topic here is - how to push the capabilities of a computer to it's max, by tweaking.

A tweaked computer will do the same thing as a stock computer, except do it better. It's won't eliminate the need of other hardware such as DAC. Even with a tweaked computer you will need everything that you would otherwise need.

 

[ranjeetrain]

How will that work? How will your "controlling" machine/phone/tablet translate that to the IP address that Daphile got from the DHCP?

(I imagine you did it, and it did work! I am very rusty on this stuff, and might be missing something obvious!)

Well, a proper technical explanation would be long winded, so here is the easy explanation.

Most DHCP servers register the devices with a hostname if supplied by the host at the handshake time. When you send a hostname to the router, it looks up it's hostname table in the memory and routes the packets to the right host. In a way, a router works as a mini-micro DNS server.

PS... that screen really reminds me of the Logitech Media Server (once called Squeezebox Server)!

Spot on Thad, good eyes! Daphile does use LMS as a "core component".

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I have a Squeezbox! In that case, would be a straight squeezebox drop-in replacement, with LMS running on another machine, just like we do with the squeezebox?

When you send a hostname to the router, it looks up it's hostname table in the memory and routes the packets to the right host. In a way, a router works as a mini-micro DNS server.

Oh. Well, it obviously works, as it works for you! But for me, the router is never a DNS server at all ...but then, I have this strange liking for things like static addresses and local caching DNS server, which might not be typical.

 

[Nikhil]

Ranjeetrain,

Just want to clarify something - with the Daphile setup, are you completely ditching Windows? Or are you suggesting a two PC setup with the Control PC running Windows and the Audio PC (Connected to the DAC/Audio Setup) running Daphile?

If you are suggesting a complete Daphile setup then this is a completely different direction and should not be categorized as a computer tweak. Even with the two computer setup this is a pretty radical change of direction.

Regards.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

with the Control PC running Windows

It doesn't matter what the "control" PC runs. It's just a web interface. It doesn't even have to be a PC. "two-pc setup" is a bit of an exaggeration.

It could be a one-PC setup, but, from what I gather, Daphile doesn't come with a desktop and web browser, ie Ranjeet says it is headless.

But, looked at another way, with the music stored on an NAS of some sort, it could then be called a three-computer setup.

I haven't looked any further into it than Ranjeet's posts, but it seems to have a lot in common with Squeezebox. I wouldn't be surprised if it would work with LMS running on another computer, with storage on that computer --- in the same way that some of us run Squeezebox. SB is a linux computer, so that is a two- (or more) computer setup, but with models that can be controlled from their own screen (Touch) and have storage attached, then it is a one-computer setup.

Squeezebox can be controlled from a phone or a tablet too.

It's not so radical.

 

[ranjeetrain]

I have a Squeezbox! In that case, would be a straight squeezebox drop-in replacement, with LMS running on another machine, just like we do with the squeezebox?

Well, there is a difference. I never owned a Squeezebox, so what I say here is based on best I know about Squeezebox.

In case of a Squeezebox, the Squeezebox is a "Player". It consists of a LMS client (hardware based) + a DAC. In case of Daphile, the "main computer" is the LMS + DAC. Control PC is just a tool to access it.

In case of a Squeezebox, you are tied to the in-built DAC. In case of Daphile, you can plug-n-play DACs of your choice. You can change them monthly, daily, hourly or after each track.

And finally, the way Daphile trumps Squeezebox is that - It can simultaneously play multiple tracks on multiple DACs. So if you have 3 spare USB ports on the "main computer", you can play all 3 DACs simultaneously.

A great little tool to do A/B/C/D among DACs, no?

Oh. Well, it obviously works, as it works for you! But for me, the router is never a DNS server at all ...but then, I have this strange liking for things like static addresses and local caching DNS server, which might not be typical.

As someone with decades of IT experience, it is hardly unexpected of you to be using static addresses and all.

And you are not alone. In real life scenario, I also bind mac addresses to specific numbers. By using a non-standard set of IPs/Subnet mask and by eliminating dependency on DHCP server I make my own life somewhat easier as well as life of the neighborhood hacker (trying to sniff around for "open wireless APs" and stuff) somewhat harder.

If you notice this pic, there is a little blue thing tethered to the Ethernet port of the computer directly with the help of a 3-inch long DIY LAN cable. This is not my standard workhorse router. I have two little TP-Link devices kept spare for research work; this tiny blue Router cum AP cum 3G dialer cum Bridge, and a little 4-port switch. My main routers are mostly configured as a mix of static + DHCP.

Back to your question:

If you have your router handing down preconfigured IPs, then things are even easier for you. Just type http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx as configured in your router for the mac address of the computer running Daphile.

As a matter of fact, the very first time I ran Daphile, even I didn't know I could just call it by hostname. Firstly I logged into my router. Checked the list of attached devices and there I found Daphile sitting pretty feeling happy. First time I also called it by IP, but subsequently by hostname.

Ranjeetrain,

Just want to clarify something - with the Daphile setup, are you completely ditching Windows? Or are you suggesting a two PC setup with the Control PC running Windows and the Audio PC (Connected to the DAC/Audio Setup) running Daphile?

If you are suggesting a complete Daphile setup then this is a completely different direction and should not be categorized as a computer tweak. Even with the two computer setup this is a pretty radical change of direction.

Regards.

Nikhil, you are missing something. There is no change in the direction whatsoever. The main PC running Daphile runs off a live flash-disk. The existing computer, the data thereof, the OS thereof, remains 100% untouched.

It's a 100% FREE stuff for any and everyone to try and hear the difference. To try Daphile you just need to spend your time. There are no other prices to pay whatsoever.

As for the client computer, again, you are missing the line completely. The control PC doesn't even need to be a PC. It can be anything with a HTML 4 capable browser. It can be a Desktop/Laptop/Tablet/Smartphone/anything. It can be running ANY OS; Windows/UNIX/Linux/Android/iOS/Symbian/WebOS/PalmOS/just name it.

So there is no change of direction anywhere. Just plug and play for free.

It doesn't matter what the "control" PC runs. It's just a web interface. It doesn't even have to be a PC. "two-pc setup" is a bit of an exaggeration.

It could be a one-PC setup, but, from what I gather, Daphile doesn't come with a desktop and web browser, ie Ranjeet says it is headless.

But, looked at another way, with the music stored on an NAS of some sort, it could then be called a three-computer setup.

I haven't looked any further into it than Ranjeet's posts, but it seems to have a lot in common with Squeezebox. I wouldn't be surprised if it would work with LMS running on another computer, with storage on that computer --- in the same way that some of us run Squeezebox. SB is a linux computer, so that is a two- (or more) computer setup, but with models that can be controlled from their own screen (Touch) and have storage attached, then it is a one-computer setup.

Squeezebox can be controlled from a phone or a tablet too.

It's not so radical.

Almost there!

Except for the differences listed above, it is quite similar (more powerful here).

Daphile can of course be run with a whole gamut of devices including NAS etc.

 

[blackscorpio]

I have been following the thread don't have specific inputs but have been researching on the different raspberry pi builds avaliable, here are few things:

Daphile: Daphile is based on the open source Squeezebox Server, SqueezePlay and Linux.
Features
Headless music server OS
Bitperfect and gapless playback of common audio formats up to 192kHz/24bit
Supports native DSD playback with DSD-over-PCM
Automatic configuration of music player for each audio device
Multiplayer support (eg. multiple USB DACs)
CD ripping with AccurateRip verification, automatic metadata tagging and cover art
Supports external file servers as music source (CIFS, NFS, sshfs & ftp)
Easy configuration and installation through the web interface
WiFi hotspot support (if compatible hardware exists)
Software update via web interface
Whole system image ISO-file is below 200MB



SqueezePlug: another build available for music playback on Rasp Pi.

RaspyFi: Now Volumio
Volumio is an operating system for embedded computers. This means that if you install Volumio on one of the supported Devices, they will become an Audiophile Music Player, designed to be ready to play and to sound with the best quality possible for such devices.

I have tried Volumio, it also looks like taken out little parts from squeezebox server.

RuneAudio: RuneAudio - Embedded Hi-Fi music player
Features:
Easy to install and use
A custom built, optimized and small footprint Linux-based OS (RuneOS)
Runs on a variety of embedded platforms
Works with almost every model of USB DAC in commerce
Bitperfect and gapless playback of common audio formats (FLAC, WAVE, MP3, AAC, ALAC, etc.)
Supports native DSD playback with DSD-over-PCM
Playback from network drives (over CIFS and NFS protocols) and USB drives (FAT32, NTFS, HFS+)
Playback of web radio streams
Airplay support (via Shairport)
Built-in web interface (RuneUI) for playback and setup control
Can be controlled from a lot of third party clients (desktop and mobile)
Supports USB Audio Class 2
Optimized to reduce SD card wearing

I have tried only Volumio so far. Will soon try the Daphile and RuneAudio.

Hope I am not hijacking the thread.

 

[blackscorpio]

Well, there is a difference. I never owned a Squeezebox, so what I say here is based on best I know about Squeezebox.

In case of a Squeezebox, the Squeezebox is a "Player". It consists of a LMS client (hardware based) + a DAC. In case of Daphile, the "main computer" is the LMS + DAC. Control PC is just a tool to access it.

In case of a Squeezebox, you are tied to the in-built DAC. In case of Daphile, you can plug-n-play DACs of your choice. You can change them monthly, daily, hourly or after each track.

And finally, the way Daphile trumps Squeezebox is that - It can simultaneously play multiple tracks on multiple DACs. So if you have 3 spare USB ports on the "main computer", you can play all 3 DACs simultaneously.

A great little tool to do A/B/C/D among DACs, no?

A squeezebox Touch is a Client + Server + DAC + Controller, a all in one box.

Yes, you can use external DACs with the touch.

Touch, can be a music server, serving content other touch or other LMS clients on PCs. I am not sure about simultaneous play to multiple clients.

Olive One is very close to the SBT, but they changed it to not to have the RCA outs, I am not sure how much of a difference it makes but it marks difference between SBT and One.

Olive One is very promising for a very minimalist setup, with 35W amps included and storage support, you just need an ONE and a pair of speakers for a quick play.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Well, there is a difference. I never owned a Squeezebox, so what I say here is based on best I know about Squeezebox.

Due to Logitech's vandalism, all talk of Squeezeboxes could be said to be academic --- until the ideal alternative comes along to kill the silly second-hand prices. Apologies to Squeezebox investors!

In case of a Squeezebox, the Squeezebox is a "Player". It consists of a LMS client (hardware based) + a DAC. In case of Daphile, the "main computer" is the LMS + DAC. Control PC is just a tool to access it.

It depends on the model. LMS really is a media server, taking the music and sending it across your network to the Squeezebox, as well as providing the control functions. When I use my Duet, my LMS front end is running on my PC, its music database is on my PC, and the music itself is also on my PC. Even when I use the Duet remote, or my Android phone, to control the Duet, the LMS server must be running.

With the Touch, they included both parts in the same box.

In case of a Squeezebox, you are tied to the in-built DAC. In case of Daphile, you can plug-n-play DACs of your choice. You can change them monthly, daily, hourly or after each track.

Even my Duet has a digital out but just one (and no USB, of course) not...

And finally, the way Daphile trumps Squeezebox is that - It can simultaneously play multiple tracks on multiple DACs. So if you have 3 spare USB ports on the "main computer", you can play all 3 DACs simultaneously.

Neat.

A great little tool to do A/B/C/D among DACs, no?

Certainly

My ideal method of playing music from a computer to a hifi remains analogue out from a good soundcard. And I wish anyone who says you "can't" do this because of "noise" to play me that noise!

--- it requires the PC and the hifi to be close. It requires that good sound card. It patently lacks facilities such as multi-room play. And anyway, having a great analogue connection doesn't mean one can't also play with all the networking possibilities. We can do it all!

As someone with decades of IT experience, it is hardly unexpected of you to be using static addresses and all.

My hosts file, simply, was part of my inventory control!

Some of my comments already covered by Blackscorpio. The list of alternatives is useful. In a way, I'd love to experiment in this field too, but I seem to have become headfier, so time and cash is spent entirely on that these days. Added to which, I have a working SB so am not spurred by need.

A big thanks to you for doing the work and writing up the results and the excellent tutorial

 

[ranjeetrain]

I have tried only Volumio so far. Will soon try the Daphile and RuneAudio.

Hope I am not hijacking the thread.

Nope, you're not. Please do post your impressions when you are done with it.

A big thanks to you for doing the work and writing up the results and the excellent tutorial

I'll put an end to Squeezebox Vs Daphile for the simple reason that it's somewhat apples vs oranges. Despite similarities, they are very different. As different as one being a hardware player the other software.

I do hope some people actually try and post back their experiences.

Usually I don't post casual impressions. I do a thorough research and make sure I write in plain English for maximum people's benefit. Unless people try and post back I don't get to know how useful the article was to them.

 

[Cnu]

I have tried several times but unable to connect via tab, the screen on my laptop shows ready, now use the web interface. I did wired connection but still the browser didn't show up UI. Also pressed f1 during start up and entered ip address and other details too.

 

[ranjeetrain]

I have tried several times but unable to connect via tab, the screen on my laptop shows ready, now use the web interface. I did wired connection but still the browser didn't show up UI. Also pressed f1 during start up and entered ip address and other details too.

Yes, getting to the Daphile web interface can be tricky sometimes. Let me see where the issue could be.

(1) When you see the "ready, now use the web interface", what is the type of your connection? Are you using a wired connection as suggested?

(2) What is the make and model of your router?

(3) Have you done any configuration on your router? Or is it working with all the default settings?

(4) In your Tab, have you activated WiFi? Have you checked by going to the settings that the Tab is actually connected to the same network as Daphile computer? Or is it connected to some other network?

Find out the above and post back. It should not be that difficult to get to the Daphile UI.