raspberry pi 2 as media player

[regeHA]

foobar upnp component is already installed (both browser and control point), thats how it sees Moode, but does not see CC, which is understandable as CC does not work that way. I dont use my phone as much as I am on my laptop, working researching, so I need quickest way to stream audio to my AudioEngine A5+, the moment I come across a song or wanna listen to any song from either of my app, spotify,foobar or subsonic (these 3 are my main apps that I use to listen to music from my laptop) and none supports CCA. On Mobile I use DS Audio (Synology) subsonic or spotify again and yes there DS Audio and Spotify supports CCA, but also DLNA so over all DLNA wins in this regard, hence preferred preference .... ..Plus I use mobile to listen to music when I am on the go anyhow, there rules are different ...

I haven't used Foobar in a long time, at least not since moving to the Raspberry Pi and MinimServer. In a way you can say the PC/laptop have stopped being the source or media player for a long time at least specific to audio.

I do however still use the PC/HTPC for all video especially with madVR.

Recently I have started discovering apps on Windows 10, apps specific to both audio and video like iHeartRadio, Spotify, TuneIn Radio, as well as Netflix, Crackle, Hulu, etc. Might even end up being a simplistic approach/setup in the coming days for media consumption.

 

[sam9s]

I haven't used Foobar in a long time, at least not since moving to the Raspberry Pi and MinimServer. In a way you can say the PC/laptop have stopped being the source or media player for a long time at least specific to audio.

I do however still use the PC/HTPC for all video especially with madVR.

Recently I have started discovering apps on Windows 10, apps specific to both audio and video like iHeartRadio, Spotify, TuneIn Radio, as well as Netflix, Crackle, Hulu, etc. Might even end up being a simplistic approach/setup in the coming days for media consumption.

My Laptop is not the source for my songs, just the medium, source is my NAS, all songs are on NAS, laptop is just the control point (it can be with foobar, DS Audio, subsonic, LMS, jriver ....etc ect. ) I am also using Rpi Moode only as the renderer.(to actually listen songs via it) FooBar/jriver are just used as the control point to pick music from NAS (via UPnP server running on Synology) and push it to Rpi running Moode via UPnP.

My Laptop is no HTPC or any media playback device, its my regular research laptop, I dont listen to songs or watch movies on it. It just acts as a control point. Even for youtube on my laptop I push it to chromecast connected to my TV.

For movies and TV series and pictures, I have my NUC with Kodi connected to my bedroom TV. For Netflix, HULU, AMAZON Videos and all other video streaming I have my Roku 3.. . My Home theater has my original HTPC with GT440 GPU.. running Kodi again.

Hope now it will be clear for all what my home media architecture is.

Regards
Sammy

 

[sam9s]

Ok that still holds if i have the default dumb airtel modem plus router combo?Damn, used to remove the adsl line when i really used samba

I have never used these stupid combos of modem and router, i doubt that could be the reason, but u never know. I would always recomend for good home network experience and better architecture to have modem and router separate. Infact I dont even like to have router as wifi (but thats just me.) My chain of home networking is like this ....

Modem (Hathway -> DHCP)) + Modem (Airtel -> ADSL) === > Router (plain router no wifi), from router then to goes to ......
===> Access point one downstairs in bedroom for all wifi needs
===> Switch 1 downstairs for All LAN connection, like synology, Rpi etc
===> Access point two Upstairs In my HomeTheater again for wifi
===> Switch 2 upstairs for all LAN connection like AVR, BD player. HTPC etc

Modem does whats its suppose to do. Router again does what its suppose to do, (except the wifi part) switch again does whats its suppose to do.... and the wifi part is taken care of by my two access points ......

But this setup might be too much for regular user. For regular stuff, just have a modem connected to a wifi router and done with it ...

 

[regeHA]

My Laptop is not the source for my songs, just the medium, source is my NAS, all songs are on NAS, laptop is just the control point (its can be with foobar, DS Audio, subsonic, LMS, jriver ....etc ect. ) I am also using Rpi Moode only as the renderer.(to actually listen songs via it) FooBar/jriver are just used as the control point to pick music from NAS (via UPnP server running on synology) and push it to Rpi running Moode via UPnP.

My Laptop is no HTPC or any media playback device, its my regular research laptop, I dont listen to songs or watch movies on it. It just acts as a control point. Even for youtube on my laptop I push it to chromecaste connected to my TV.

For movies and TV series and pictures, I have my NUC with Kodi connected to my bedroom TV. For Netflix, HULU, AMAZON Videos and all other video streaming I have my Roku 3.. . My Home theater has my original HTPC with GT440 GPU.. running Kodi again.

Hope now it will be clear for all what my home media architecture is.

Regards
Sammy

A 40K control point

I suppose not really far off the mark for the rest of us, most smartphones and tablets are in the 30K or more price range these days anyways.

I have a similar setup with a NAS, but don't use a PC or laptop as a control point. Only limited to mobiles and tablets.

The only exception is my HTPC which runs both Kodi and PotPlayer plus madVR, and works for both online streaming as well as local streaming.

Kodi works differently from something like Plex so no installation for a NAS are available unlike Plex which runs on my Synology. Also, a NAS does not work as a video output device with GPU. If that had been the case, I'd be tempted to dispense with the HTPC and stream to the AVR/TV with an endpoint.

 

[sam9s]

A 40K control point

I suppose not really far off the mark for the rest of us, most smartphones and tablets are in the 30K or more price range these days anyways.

I have a similar setup with a NAS, but don't use a PC or laptop as a control point. Only limited to mobiles and tablets.

The only exception is my HTPC which runs both Kodi and PotPlayer plus madVR, and works for both online streaming as well as local streaming.

Kodi works differently from something like Plex so no installation for a NAS are available unlike Plex which runs on my Synology. Also, a NAS does not work as a video output device with GPU. If that had been the case, I'd be tempted to dispense with the HTPC and stream to the AVR/TV with an endpoint.

I don't understand what you mean by 40K control point,.... I didn't spend 40K to get a laptop to use it as control point ....lolzzz :lol: if thats what you mean. I am always on my laptop as I said earlier, for my research, and everything I do regarding computers, reading experimenting, so it obviously makes sense that I use it to push/control music via it, much the similar way it acts as the control point to control my NAS (web interface) control/manage my ESXi server, (running PLEX. LMS, Tonido and 10 other necessary application/Tools.) and control everything on my Home Network. Getting the point. My laptop is a control point for EVERYTHING, since that is what I am sitting on most of the time of my day....

I have upgraded my ESXi as well to a more server oriented hardware like XEON and server grade Mobo and added new features, will open a new thread soon to share that as well ....

 

[regeHA]

I don't understand what you mean by 40K control point,.... I didn't spend 40K to get a laptop to use it as control point ....lolzzz :lol: if thats what you mean. I am always on my laptop as I said earlier, for my research, and everything I do regarding computers, reading experimenting, so it obviously makes sense that I use it to push/control music via it, much the similar way it acts as the control point to control my NAS (web interface) control/manage my ESXi server, (running PLEX. LMS, Tonido and 10 other necessary application/Tools.) and control everything on my Home Network. Getting the point. My laptop is a control point for EVERYTHING, since that is what I am sitting on most of the time of my day....

I have upgraded my ESXi as well to a more server oriented hardware like XEON and server grade Mobo and added new features, will open a new thread soon to share that as well ....

The confusion is because you are speaking from the perspective of someone who uses their laptop for other things and also for work at home.

In my scenario, the PC and laptop would be strictly for browsing and email (easily achieved with a smartphone or tablet) and obviously media consumption.

I don't really work at home or from home. You are lucky being able to work from home (I'm assuming that based on your comments above).

 

[sam9s]

The confusion is because you are speaking from the perspective of someone who uses their laptop for other things and also for work at home.

In my scenario, the PC and laptop would be strictly for browsing and email (easily achieved with a smartphone or tablet) and obviously media consumption.

I don't really work at home or from home. You are lucky being able to work from home (I'm assuming that based on your comments above).

I dont entirely work from home, but yes 1-2 days from home is acceptable, plus this is not my work laptop, my work laptop is only for office activities. It only has few relevant apps like Office, Outlook for mails and a VPN to connect to client network, thats it. (All the official files and documents are on Google drive backed up and in sync with my NAS). Office laptop is also switched on always, but is kept in one corner; lid closed and I access it via RDP from my main Home laptop.(if need to be). All the experiments and research and reading (lots of), I keep doing is my personal hobby/passion. which is what I use my personal laptop for ...

 

[Appys]

I have never used these stupid combos of modem and router, i doubt that could be the reason, but u never know. I would always recomend for good home network experience and better architecture to have modem and router separate.

But this setup might be too much for regular user. For regular stuff, just have a modem connected to a wifi router and done with it ...

Maybe that explains it, will look for a change then

 

[hydra]

The Raspberry Pi 3B/Hifiberry Digi+/MoOde/HDPlex LPSU player is running well, and it has replaced my PC/JRMC/HDPlex LPSU as my main music source.

Finished Unit (with the HifiberryDigi+ metal case):

Setup
I pull music into the player via wired ethernet. I have a 2TB WD Passport drive connected directly to a TPLink WiFi Router via USB on the Router, that acts like a network storage. MoOde sees the drive folder as an SMB share and indexes the music in it into the MoOde library. I have assigned a static IP to the RPi in the router settings.

I initially used the MoOde interface to play music via an iPad, but I'm too used to seeing and choosing my music visually via CD art, so I'm now using mPad on the iPad to see and play the music. It is a bit clunky as far as album art goes (not all of the folder.jpg gets indexed), but it works very well for my purposes, and it looks good too. I also use Mupeace on my Android phone in case I want to use it to control the player. The iPad app is leaps and bounds better.

Since I got a friend here also to get the Rpi3 + HifiberryDigi+ combo, I was able to compare the following combinations:

Comparison 1 (Power Supply)
A1. Rpi, HifiBerryDigi+ powered by an ipad power Adapter
A2. Rpi, HifiBerryDigi+ powered by the official Stontronics power adapter.
A3. Rpi, HifiBerryDigi+ powered by a HDPlex LPSU

B1. Rpi, HifiBerryDigi+ with power mod powered by an ipad power Adapter
B2. Rpi, HifiBerryDigi+ with power mod powered by the official Stontronics power adapter.
B3. Rpi, HifiBerryDigi+ with power mod powered by by a HDPlex LPSU.

All comparisons are extremely subjective (non-blind), one after the other and not at-the-same-time/A-B. And in some cases, the comparisons were not done at the same time.

A3 > A1 > A2.
B3 > B1 > B2.

B3 > A3 (but not by a very huge margin).
B3 > A2 (night and day! A2 sounds significantly harsh in comparison)
B3 > B1 (improvement is clear, but maybe not worth the extra for a non-finicky listener).

(Note: ">" = "better than")

I'm not mentioning all the possibilities here, but the gold standard for me is the B3 combo. And the relatively (emphasis on relatively) least best sounding is the A2 combo. Let me say that even the A2 combo sounds quite good, and the sound quality it produces is in no way bad for the money, and I would very well have lived with it happily if I did not already have the HDPlex LPSU or the iPad adapter already with me. (I might have definitely planned for an iFi iPower or something like that down the line, though).

I'm currently on MoOde 2.7, and to me it somehow sounds a bit better (smoother highs and mids) than the v2.6 I started with, but with the many changes over the last month, I wouldn't be completely sure about this.

Comparison 2 (RPi vs Music PC)
I switched on my Music PC (also powered by the HDPlex LPSU) with JRMC and an iFi iLink USB to SPDIF converter after about a month of listened exclusively to the RPi player. Both work as different sources on the same DAC, so it was easy to switch between the two live, while music is playing. Again, I compared them sighted, but I'd wager that I could identify between the two blind. I prefer the RPi player (with the HDPlex Power) over the Music PC by a large margin. The basic character of music reproduction is substantially different between the two sources.

The RPi has very distinct layering of instruments and sharp imaging front to back in the soundstage. The width of the stage is identical, but the RPi has truly 3D front to back imaging, while the Music PC has far less stage depth and definition within the stage. The RPi definitely has a faster and somewhat louder bass response, and far better detail and attack. The MusicPC sounds a bit too subdued and polite now, compared to the RPi.

The only aspect of the Music PC that I prefer over the RPi is the far superior file handling of JRMC. JRMC handles tags (esp. for WAV files), album art, and cue sheets far far better than MoOde (or mPad) does. My tagging is handled perfectly in JRMC, but some of the music shows up rather weirdly tagged in MoOde and mPad (mPad is an improvement over the MoOde library). But considering that I don't have to switch on my TV (i use it as a monitor for the Music PC) or use a mouse/keyboard to listen to music with the RPi, I'm happy with what I'm getting from the RPi/MoOde.

Special thanks to Rikhav again, for putting up with my constant badgering, and for being an awesome friend!

 

[sam9s]

^^ I dont understand power mod? whats that? .. also I might need your help in getting my pi as well setup the same way, with HifiBerryDigi+ and HD plex PSU, you know where to source and how all to setup all, hope you won't mind guiding me on all this ..

 

[sam9s]

The only aspect of the Music PC that I prefer over the RPi is the far superior file handling of JRMC. JRMC handles tags (esp. for WAV files), album art, and cue sheets far far better than MoOde (or mPad) does. My tagging is handled perfectly in JRMC, but some of the music shows up rather weirdly tagged in MoOde and mPad (mPad is an improvement over the MoOde library). But considering that I don't have to switch on my TV (i use it as a monitor for the Music PC) or use a mouse/keyboard to listen to music with the RPi, I'm happy with what I'm getting from the RPi/MoOde.

Special thanks to Rikhav again, for putting up with my constant badgering, and for being an awesome friend!

Why dont you use jriver as a controller, so that would give you all the power of jriver for ur all album art and tags and all, and just push the music to Pi from jriver over UPnP, this way the superiority of file handling of jriver stays along with the quality of music since it anyhow is being played by Rpi and HiFiBerry DAC.

 

[hydra]

^^ I dont understand power mod? whats that? .. also I might need your help in getting my pi as well setup the same way, with HifiBerryDigi+ and HD plex PSU, you know where to source and how all to setup all, hope you won't mind guiding me on all this ..

Digi+ Power Mod: Sam, there's a mod on the HifiBerry Digi+ board that can be done (soldering skills required) that will power the two boards from the HifiBerry Digi+. This helps bypass some of the components on the RPi board, and it does work to make the combo sound better. On the mod: Simple mod for RaspberryPi and HifiBerry DAC / Digi - plus various others ;-) - Audio Chews (second mod in the video, and described in the text). I did not do the mod on this board myself. I got the board from someone who had already applied it.

HDPlex PSU: HDPLEX Fanless Linear Power Supply for PC Audio and CE device
I'd bought this earlier last year (or in late 2014) for the PC. This is a bit overkill for just the Raspberry Pi Player. It has multiple outputs, so it can power 4 devices at the same time.

My HDPlex unit, being an older unit, necessitated that I order two converters for the jack at the end of the HDPlex's 5V output cable so I could use it to power something with microUSB input, and a USB input (If powering via the Raspberry Pi, I need a microUSB jack, and the modded HifiBerry Digi+ I have needs a USB jack to power it). This and this.

The current HDPlex cable bundle comes with a USB 3.1 socket in its back, so you can use a USB 3 male to microUSB cable (if you already have one). Or you will need a different converter from the one I used, as the barrel in this bundle is 2.5mm (not 2.1mm, like in my old PSU).

Alternate power supplies (better, if you'll use it only with the RPi): Teradak or the iFi iPower. You'll have to choose the 5V version. The iFi iPower is pretty popular, and supposedly measures a lower noise floor than even a typical Linear PSU. The iPower also apparently comes with a whole bunch of converters, so it will cover most input types (other than the Pi also).

Hifiberry Digi+: https://www.hifiberry.com/digiplus/
Steel case for RPi and Digi+: https://www.hifiberry.com/product/steel-case-for-hifiberry-digi-black/ (Not really necessary. They have other cheaper alternatives, and you can go naked also, heh heh. The Steel case apparently attenuates the WiFi signal from the built-in WiFi of the RPi 3B).

My current RPi setup:

Power input path: Wall outlet --> HDPlex PSU's 5V/2.5A output ---> 5.5/2.1mm barrel to USB adapter ---> Power input of Hifiberry Digi+
Output Path: Digital Coaxial output of Hifiberry Digi+ ---> Digital Coaxial Cable ---> Digital Coaxial input of Rega DAC.

Music comes into the RPi 3B via wired network, from a HDD attached to the Router. This HDD is set up as a NAS Source in MoOde 2.7 in the Pi.

I'm sure there's nothing much I can teach you! But I'll be glad to share whatever details you want about the setup.

 

[hydra]

Why dont you use jriver as a controller, so that would give you all the power of jriver for ur all album art and tags and all, and just push the music to Pi from jriver over UPnP, this way the superiority of file handling of jriver stays along with the quality of music since it anyhow is being played by Rpi and HiFiBerry DAC.

I'm very tempted to do this, and it would cross off the only gripe I have right now. It would also keep the server/renderer/control entities separate. But this would add a bit of complexity in the sense that I would have to keep one PC with JRMC on it running on the network while I listen to music with the Pi. I have a Celeron NUC in my office, and I was very, very tempted to bring it home to do just this, but right now, I want minimum complexity, in terms of minimum things to switch on.

The MusicPC is now doing movie duty, and it has always been sandboxed and kept off all networks (so no antivirus). I want to keep it that way, at least for a bit, in case I want to go back to it for some reason. I will later consider putting it on the network as a server with JRMC on it later (and still use it for movies), as it is also powered by the same HDPlex, so there's at the very least one less outlet to use, and it shares the same power source anyway.

 

[sam9s]

Thank you so much Hydra for details explanation, I read all, but I am sure when I sit with actual hardware I might need you help again, if there is not much of a difference between A3 and B3, I think I should go with A3 right that would not require any soldering and all, even though I have done it, but would still prefer not to .... what do you say...

 

[Hassan Khani]

Unfortunately Mpad has a specific issue with Album Art. For few albums it shows wrong artwork. The developer of Mpad is not responsive and shows no interest in fixing such issues. I am now using Mpdroid on android tab and it works fine. My library contains 3000+ albums and Mpdroid handles it well.

 

[sam9s]

^^ are these the remote for controlling MPD client we are talking about here. Whats wrong with ever popular mupeace

 

[saikatbiswas82]

Unfortunately Mpad has a specific issue with Album Art. For few albums it shows wrong artwork. The developer of Mpad is not responsive and shows no interest in fixing such issues. I am now using Mpdroid on android tab and it works fine. My library contains 3000+ albums and Mpdroid handles it well.

In case of album art, MPD in Rune Audio works flawlessly. It has issues in Moode.
In fact, I've asked Tim Curtis (creator of Moode) regarding this problem. He was not able to figure it out as well.
BTW, this review is based on response received from Tim a couple of months back.

The issue of album art is not lying with Mpdroid, rather its the problem with the OS that we have been using for audio.

 

[hydra]

Thank you so much Hydra for details explanation, I read all, but I am sure when I sit with actual hardware I might need you help again, if there is not much of a difference between A3 and B3, I think I should go with A3 right that would not require any soldering and all, even though I have done it, but would still prefer not to .... what do you say...

No problem, Sam! BTW, I'm using an RPi 3B. I'm sure the others will also work fine, but there might be issues with powering up USB DACs or drives (which I guess you will not be using anyway).

The soldering business is to be done on the Hifiberry Digi+ board. The regular Hifiberry Digi+ sounds quite good without the mod and with a Linear PSU, so you don't have to do it right away for good results.

You might also consider an Uptone USB Regen with a USB DAC (if you use one) instead of the HifiBerry Digi+, as many people have been saying this also works well.

Unfortunately Mpad has a specific issue with Album Art. For few albums it shows wrong artwork. The developer of Mpad is not responsive and shows no interest in fixing such issues. I am now using Mpdroid on android tab and it works fine. My library contains 3000+ albums and Mpdroid handles it well.

Yeah, I've heard quite a few people mention this about the album art handling. It even messes up a lot of my tagging (and I'm an OCD music tagger). I'd have used something else with the iPad, but mPad ticks off most of the other boxes that I need ticked. I don't use an Andriod Tablet, or I'd definitely have given Mpdriod a spin.

^^ are these the remote for controlling MPD client we are talking about here. Whats wrong with ever popular mupeace

MUpeace is good, and I use it with my Android phone. It works well in the browse mode of selecting music, but I don't very much like they way they use different names for genres and artist and such. It is mostly geared for western classical use (tag and categorization and search wise), so I won't complain there. I prefer the larger screen of the iPad as my main control, though.

In case of album art, MPD in Rune Audio works flawlessly. It has issues in Moode.
In fact, I've asked Tim Curtis (creator of Moode) regarding this problem. He was not able to figure it out as well.
BTW, this review is based on response received from Tim a couple of months back.

The issue of album art is not lying with Mpdroid, rather its the problem with the OS that we have been using for audio.

Yes, I did suspect this was the case. I think Tim has said that these aspects are not yet in his priority list, but he will get around to better album art and cue sheet treatment soon. He had mentioned a slight workaround in terms of choosing the music in cue sheets just a few days back on diyaudio. I shouldn't complain really, as I really like how MoOde sounds, and how well it works in every other way. Tim is also super responsive to bug fixing requests and most feature requests.

 

[Appys]

I have never used these stupid combos of modem and router, i doubt that could be the reason, but u never know. I would always recomend for good home network experience and better architecture to have modem and router separate.

For regular stuff, just have a modem connected to a wifi router and done with it ...

Maybe Off topic
@Sam,turns out I am not alone in being screwd like this
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/1uoobz
Since you have me inclined to buy a WIFI router and convert the airtel box to just a modem now. But before I jump in do I need to do any special settings here(bridge mode etc etc).What I would have done as a noob is
a) Disable wifi AP on the airtel box
b)Take the internet via RJ 45 and plug it into the new wifi router
c) Connect the pi to the router via cable and other devices via WiFi

Now if then I use Samba or UPnP/Airplay would airtel never know since the local flow of data would not pass via their box and just my router? just want it to be foolproof as TRAI isnt as enforcing on Airtel in India and it can still dupe us.

 

[rikhav]

I might have missed something but what has Airtel got to do with whatever you share in your private network, even if you use their supplied router too?

Are you worried about copyright and piracy issues ?