Best OS/server to stream Tidal/Qobuz via Raspberry PI

[audiophile_gal]

Holy smokes! I appreciate all of the rapid responses - I was not expecting this many helpful replies. Thank you all!

I should clarify that the end goal is to have these be headless Pi4 players. I used the Desktop version of Raspberry Pi OS because I am lazy and didn't want to run into issues remoting in with SSH.

To get Tidal on RPi, very easy.


https://github.com/shawaj/HiTide


As for Roon too expensive...I used to think like you. Why spends money when you already have Tidal? Well, after trying it I'm hooked. It lets me explore other artists (it automatically play songs with same genre for you) and has its own EQ. Do I have to have it? No. Does it nice to have? YES.

Roon is much more expensive than Plex and does not have the capability to stream over WAN nor does it help organize my significant collection of movies and TV shows. Just can't justify the cost with these considerations.

https://gentooplayer.com/

(MPD, myMPD, Minimserver, Squeezelite(R2), LMS, Roon, Spotify Connect, upmpdcli, bubbleupnp and many more. Also great support from the dev)


https://archphile.org/ (as spartan as it gets..)

Both look intriguing but it looks like they do not support other repositories (where Plex Media Player would be sourced from). Maybe I am missing something?

I'm using mpd with ALSA output to a USB DAC and there's no resampling going on. The config is pretty simple. However, my music player has no desktop OS and that may be your problem.


Just a guess but it may come with Pulse Audio setup to mix audio from the various possible desktop apps.

Ah so it's Pulse Audio that does the mixing. This reddit post indicates that you can disable resampling - would this mean that Pulse Audio is not doing anything to the audio stream other than directing it to the ALSA driver? Linux does not handle audio intuitively....

 

[somebodyelse]

To get Tidal on RPi, very easy.

https://github.com/shawaj/HiTide

As for Roon too expensive...I used to think like you. Why spends money when you already have Tidal? Well, after trying it I'm hooked. It lets me explore other artists (it automatically play songs with same genre for you) and has its own EQ. Do I have to have it? No. Does it nice to have? YES.

I've posted before about why I think that installer is a bad idea.

 

[quattr0]

I've posted before about why I think that installer is a bad idea.

Well, to each of his/her own I guess. I used to package Linux distribution, including submitting security hole to SecurityFocus (are they still around) ages ago. I use Github from someone i don't know all the time...If you know what you're doing, it's obvious.

But towarding OP, I could see your concern.

 

[quattr0]

Both look intriguing but it looks like they do not support other repositories (where Plex Media Player would be sourced from). Maybe I am missing something?

Of course you could. You could "emerge" in case of GentooPlayer all day long. Archphile should be the same if it's based on ArchLinux.

 

[Beershaun]

I am a long time lurker (first post!) and have a unique set of needs for my music server. I pay for and use Plex on a daily basis for both music (FLAC) and movies/TV. My Plex music server runs off a Raspberry Pi4 8GB (Ubuntu MATE) and I regularly stream both on my internal network and over the internet. Since I already pay for Plex and require remote streaming Roon is not an option (plus it is incredibly expensive). Additionally, I am hoping to get this setup on a Pi for myself so I can also image it, flash it on another microSD card, and send to my dad for his much more expensive speaker system.

I am trying to figure out how to easily stream both Tidal (might migrate to Spotify Hi-Fi when it launches) and Plex to my bedroom setup for my HD800S. I bought a Pi4 2GB thinking that I would run RaspPlex but it was a massive flop due to the lack updates in 4 years. I tried running LibreELEC with the Plex addon and that also was a flop, being incompatible with the Plexamp app on my phone and iPad.

My current solution seems like it will work but be fairly difficult. I have installed Plex Media Player onto the Pi4 2GB running Raspberry Pi OS with Desktop and plan to install Spotify Connect, Airplay, and DLNA packages. Unfortunately (difficult part), there are not a lot of guides online on how to tell ALSA/MPD not to mess with the audio stream, as by default it either down-samples or up-samples the stream. I am comfortable with the terminal and nano/text editors but I am unsure what commands or edits to make this work. I am open to other solutions but was hoping to make this really simple to use after being setup as my dad is not known for his technical prowess.

Also, while the CCA is an attractive option I don't like Google being in my home more than it has to be and the lack of gapless playback is a deal-killer since most of my music is classical and soundtrack.

Hi,
The easiest way to stream your Plex media library or Tidal to your bedroom endpoint is the Bubble upnp app on an android device. it's a upnp/DLNA control point. It can send your local media server library to any upnp endpoint and supports cloud streaming services like Tidal, Qobuz, and streaming from your cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

The RPi4 can output via USB to your DAC if that’s your preferred way to connect, but you aren’t locked into USB.

There are quite a few I2S daughter cards available for the RPi that do an excellent job of producing a SPIDF or Toslink audio output, if you’d rather go that route. ...

Again, it isn’t necessary to go this route, but it’s an option if you’d rather have SPIDF or Toslink signals, or if you are concerned about the RPi’s electrical noise over USB or it’s jitter.

Picking up on an older comment I noticed while reading through this thread...

Most of the time, the route of adding an I2S RPi HAT for S/PDIF or AES output is proposed due to concerns about USB audio quality; which in turn, was primarily specific to pre-RPi4 models (as others had noted).

But, an alternative benefit is when your DAC supports multiple inputs — you can connect the RPi+ w/ HAT to the S/PDIF or AES input, and keep the USB port available for audio connection from a PC, Mac, laptop, tablet, etc.

 

[DomieMic65]

Both look intriguing but it looks like they do not support other repositories (where Plex Media Player would be sourced from). Maybe I am missing something?

Unfortunately I can not help you with PLEX but they support upnp and for sure in the case of Gentooplayer you can run bubleupnp in order to create an open home server and so you do not have to use the mobile device in the path of the stream

 

[PaulZH]

RopieeeXL: OpenHome with UPnP/DLNA, Librespot (Spotify), HQPlayer NAA, Squeezelite, Roon...
RopieeeXL Adding Tidal Connect
Setup instructions: https://github.com/lovehifi/Tidal-Connect-RopieeeXL

RopieeeXL is not adding Tidal Connect. See https://community.roonlabs.com/t/illegal-integration-of-tidal-connect/152165/2

 

[hugo86e]

RopieeeXL is not adding Tidal Connect. See https://community.roonlabs.com/t/illegal-integration-of-tidal-connect/152165/2

Thanks for the info.

I am also a Qobuz user running piCorePlayer/LMS with Material Skin on my RPI3b+. Quite surprised only a few people recommended this option which is very nice and free! Much better than MoOode in my opinion for iOS uas I really don’t like ugly mconnect .
For those who don’t like Material Skin, you can’t still use iPENG ($9 only for the app) which is nicely design.

Of course Roon/Ropieee is probably the best option but definitely not the cheapest

 

[somebodyelse]

RopieeeXL is not adding Tidal Connect. See https://community.roonlabs.com/t/illegal-integration-of-tidal-connect/152165/2

They're certainly not going to add it by including a binary pulled from a proprietary firmware image like that example - it would be a copyright violation and would risk their whole project. If a legal open implementation appears they'll probably include it, but that requires either reverse engineering of the protocol or someone working with Tidal. Volumio had a similar issue when someone posted instructions for using that binary with Volumio. To some extent it was worse for them - they were already working with Tidal so there was a risk of poisoning that relationship too. I don't think it's clear yet whether their Tidal Connect implementation will be open or redistributable, or tied to a paid version.

 

[wkloppen]

New Volumio release incooperating official Tidal connect support allowing you to either use the Volumio or the Tidal app or desktop client to control your music streams on the RPI.

 

[hugo86e]

New Volumio release incooperating official Tidal connect support allowing you to either use the Volumio or the Tidal app or desktop client to control your music streams on the RPI.

Cool move from Volumio but one will still need a MQA capable DAC or integrated amp to benefit all of Tidal MQA files

 

[ctakim]

Cool move from Volumio but one will still need a MQA capable DAC or integrated amp to benefit all of Tidal MQA files

Incoming!!! Keeping my head down!!

 

[TabCam]

Holy smokes! I appreciate all of the rapid responses - I was not expecting this many helpful replies. Thank you all!

I should clarify that the end goal is to have these be headless Pi4 players. I used the Desktop version of Raspberry Pi OS because I am lazy and didn't want to run into issues remoting in with SSH.

Roon is much more expensive than Plex and does not have the capability to stream over WAN nor does it help organize my significant collection of movies and TV shows. Just can't justify the cost with these considerations.

As far as I know Roon also indexes your local files.
...

Ah so it's Pulse Audio that does the mixing. This reddit post indicates that you can disable resampling - would this mean that Pulse Audio is not doing anything to the audio stream other than directing it to the ALSA driver? Linux does not handle audio intuitively....

Would like to know how to do that too, up until now I do not use the NVidia Shield due to the resampling.

Cool move from Volumio but one will still need a MQA capable DAC or integrated amp to benefit all of Tidal MQA files

Is that the non paid version and does it now pay gapless? That was my reason a few years ago to move to PiCorPlayer. Still have mot found a player with as much support for various streaming services. Tidal and Qobuz integrated but no Amazon Music (HD) yet unfortunately. Bought a BlueSound Node 2i but then it turned out that Amazon Music is mot in HD in the Netherlands yet.

 

[birkbott]

I’m not sure why I haven’t been able to find an answer to this but maybe someone here will know.

I currently use a Bluesound Node 2i and log into Qobuz via the BluOS app on my iPhone X.

How can I replicate this using an RPi4? I’ve read about Volumio and Moode but it’s unclear to me if in either case I’m streaming from my Qobuz account via the RPi4 or if I’m streaming from my phone to the RPi4.

I would like to avoid a subscription and have heard that Moode sounds better but still unclear on exactly how to implement.

 

[DomieMic65]

If you use Qobuz plug-in for LMS / Squeezelite (piCoreplayer, Gentooplayer etc) you 100% stream to the RPi

 

[Theriverlethe]

I’m not sure why I haven’t been able to find an answer to this but maybe someone here will know.

I currently use a Bluesound Node 2i and log into Qobuz via the BluOS app on my iPhone X.

How can I replicate this using an RPi4? I’ve read about Volumio and Moode but it’s unclear to me if in either case I’m streaming from my Qobuz account via the RPi4 or if I’m streaming from my phone to the RPi4.

I would like to avoid a subscription and have heard that Moode sounds better but still unclear on exactly how to implement.

You should really ignore anyone who makes unsupported, irrational claims like "Moode sounds better than Volumio" but at least in this case it's free.

 

[birkbott]

You should really ignore anyone who makes unsupported, irrational claims like "Moode sounds better than Volumio" but at least in this case it's free.

Yeah fair enough.

I’m leaning toward picoreolayer but I can’t find anywhere that says if it plays Qobuz at the native resolution. It also seems very complicated to set up but I’m willing to give it a shot.

I plan to go from the pi to a Schiit Modi 3+ via USB

 

[somebodyelse]

I’m leaning toward picoreolayer but I can’t find anywhere that says if it plays Qobuz at the native resolution. It also seems very complicated to set up but I’m willing to give it a shot.

It should play in whatever resolution Qobuz sends unless either it can't (say because the DAC doesn't support it) or you've configured it not to for some reason (DSP, you've decided to use sox to resample everything to another rate etc.) The Modi 3 should support anything they're likely to send, and I doubt you'll be doing any config changes like that to begin with.

If you're willing to give it a shot you'll probably be ok, at least from what I remember of the documentation. Start with Getting Started the follow the Install Logitech Media Server howto. I may be taking things for granted though, as I've been using it for years. If you have trouble you can ask here, or on the squeezebox forum thread. Whether it's to your taste is another matter - I usually suggest trying each of the usual suspects on a different SD card to see which suits you best.

 

[birkbott]

It should play in whatever resolution Qobuz sends unless either it can't (say because the DAC doesn't support it) or you've configured it not to for some reason (DSP, you've decided to use sox to resample everything to another rate etc.) The Modi 3 should support anything they're likely to send, and I doubt you'll be doing any config changes like that to begin with.

If you're willing to give it a shot you'll probably be ok, at least from what I remember of the documentation. Start with Getting Started the follow the Install Logitech Media Server howto. I may be taking things for granted though, as I've been using it for years. If you have trouble you can ask here, or on the squeezebox forum thread. Whether it's to your taste is another matter - I usually suggest trying each of the usual suspects on a different SD card to see which suits you best.

So I got my RP4 yesterday and successfully installed picoreplayer and LMS as per the instructions on the site. It was actually way easier than I thought it would be. I got iPeng in my phone and successfully accessed the Qobuz plugin so I think I’m ready to go. Only problem is my DAC doesn’t get here until Friday so I have to wait to fully test it then.

Somewhere along the way I saw a setting for quality and set it to the highest resolution possible.

Do we think it matters whether I use the USB 3 or USB 2 ports?