A Raspberry Pi as a music server

[GeorgeWalk]

I was a Volumio user, but now I have switched to piCorePlayer easier to use, more features, and fewer bugs.

 

[Silver1omo]

I use Volumio, but with the LMS Server and Squeezelite player plugins installed. Really easy to set up and better than standard Volumio IMHO. Volumio has drivers for my usb WiFi dongle (unlike Moode) so that also 'just works'. Sound is great into Topping E30. I'm using pi 4b

Any particular reason not to use the on board wifi?

 

[GeorgeWalk]

I just use the onboard WiFi. No problems.

 

[Pep2020]

Any particular reason not to use the on board wifi?

I was getting networking issues. Not sure if the metal case (heat sink passive cooling) effects the signal. Much better with usb WiFi dongle.

 

[somebodyelse]

Any particular reason not to use the on board wifi?

Internal bluetooth and wifi used not to work properly together, so if you wanted both you had to use a dongle for one or other. Not sure if it's still a problem.

 

[Silver1omo]

OK, I think it should work if you keep the wifi in 5Ghz, as BT is in 2.4Ghz.

 

[GeorgeWalk]

I use the internal WiFi and Blutooth on RPI with no problems.

 

[TheWalkman]

Any particular reason not to use the on board wifi?

I use the internal WiFi on some Volumio servers, Ethernet in others, depending on the location in my house.

From an academic standpoint, I prefer wired since, theoretically, there should be better performance over the gig network in my home. Ironically, I find the 5ghz WiFi faster than Ethernet due to the usb limitations of the pi3s.

Either way, wired, 2.4 gHz or 5 gHz, from pi zeros to Pi 3s, they have no problem streaming at 320kbps.

 

[Silver1omo]

I prefer wired, but also use wireless.
Currently I use onboard wifi (5GHz) and onboard BT in my 3B+.
So I was legitimately curious as to why he is using a USB dongle.

 

[Sukie]

I prefer wired, but also use wireless.
Currently I use onboard wifi (5GHz) and onboard BT in my 3B+.
So I was legitimately curious as to why he is using a USB dongle.

One more vote for ethernet preference (on RPi4).

On an old router (now replaced) my wifi signal could drop out and so I switched to an ethernet connection. I've got a new router now and don't suffer from the same issues, but I instinctively prefer wired where possible.

 

[drerd]

Hello guys ,

I was thinking to make also a music server with a Raspberry Pi4 b , but i read that is has a lot of jitter on the USB output .
I would like to connect it to a Topping E30 Dac via USB .

Are there any measurements regarding USB noise ? Can this be fixed by supplying RPI with a linear power supply and the DAC with another one ? I read that under-clocking can also help in reduce the jitter and the temperature of the RPI , did somebody do it ?


I would like to make a streamer that resembles Logitech zqueesebox touch , a RPI connected to a 7 or 10 inch touchscreen , with IR input for remote control , a HDD connected to a powered usb unit and then connected to RPI . The RPI will play the music from the HDD , and also from Spotify/ Tidal .

I would like to program the IR remote control for changing/pausing the song , flac/radio source, and navigating the menues.
The IR remote is the most important part of the system as I don`t want to control the RPI with my phone , too much hassle , I will use the phone for other stuff.

It will be more ergonomic to program the Remote Control of the amplifier in order to control the full system with it . The remote will set the amplifier volume , on/off state , and the rest of the buttons will control the RPI .

 

[Aldoszx]

The usb from RPi4 has no problems related to jitter. I am using this setup, RPi4 to E30 ans it sounds fantastic.
For your needs, you can use piCorePlayer to have a Squeezebox clone. It offers everything you need: Logitec Media Server, touch screen connection, posibillity to use IR remote. I’am also using such kind of setup.

 

[Sukie]

I was thinking to make also a music server with a Raspberry Pi4 b , but i read that is has a lot of jitter on the USB output .
I would like to connect it to a Topping E30 Dac via USB.

I run an RPi 4 connected via USB to Topping D50s DAC. No problems with jitter at all.

The RPi3 had certain issues with USB, but only when using ethernet connection for streaming.

 

[Nango]

Indeed.

I bought a secondhand MSI 135 10" netbook at the weekend, for £17. It's got a 60GB SSD and 2GB of RAM, running Win7 Ultimate.

I installed MusicBee, and it will happily act as a DLNA server, or DLNA controller. In the latter case, it takes about 5% CPU casting to my DLNA renderers around the house, from my NAS file server. I also installed BubbleUPnP Server, which will create a proxy DLNA renderer to re-cast to Chromecast Audio devices and groups.

I also have an RPi running Volumio, accessing the NAS.

I also have a £35 Android media box connected to the TV, running BubbleUPnP, that can also at as a full DLNA suite (DMS, DMC, DMR).

The NAS also provides a DLNA server. As can any of the Windows PCs around the house. In fact, I explicitly had to disable the Windows Media Server service on the netbook, as I've got too many servers appearing on my network, and I only really need one: the NAS....

Oh, and my router has a USB port on it. If I connect a HDD to it, it will create a file server and a DLNA mdia server from that disk... That's probably the cheapest file/media server option you've got, and routers are usually 24/7, or, if on a time control, your servers will go down when your router goes down; and you wouldn't be able to access a 24/7 server without a router...

Does your Router NAS handle Flac? My Fritz.Box doesn't, otherwise it would be the killer solution indeed.

 

[somebodyelse]

The RPi3 had certain issues with USB, but only when using ethernet connection for streaming.

I wish people would stop spreading that rubbish The Pi <=3 does have a potential issue with pops on the USB audio. It's NOT caused by using the ethernet connection, although it can make it worse / more likely. The software you're using makes a big difference to how likely you are to run into it. PiCorePlayer doesn't trigger it at all in my experience, while Volumio can, and BruteFIR is a reliable trigger for me. Pin brutefir to a single cpu core and it stops. You can check out the Raspbian kernel bug report for the technical details - in short it's weird and the exact cause hasn't been found - indeed there are indications that there's actually more than one cause with the same symptom.

 

[TheWalkman]

I wish someone would explain/ rationalize / pontificate on how a digital (USB) stream can have jitter. Doesn’t make sense at all. An analog music stream coming off a DAC might present jitter but it seems the USB stream is either intact or not (and if it isn’t intact the digital data is resent TO the DAC.)

I listened to a certain Youtuber named Hans X who goes on and on about jitter and cheap power supplies. I bought an expensive, switched power supply ($90) for a Pi streamer and my ears can’t hear one iota of difference between that and the same streamer with a $5 supply.

Perhaps equipping my streamer with $500 RCA virgin copper, Mystery cables would make this jitter more apparent..... /s

 

[Sukie]

I wish people would stop spreading that rubbish The Pi <=3 does have a potential issue with pops on the USB audio..

You're quite right. I was giving a short hand version that was so short hand that it was inaccurate.

As you say, ethernet connection has an impact, but the issue is more to do with USB functionality. Problem was solved with RPi4 (as far as I know).

 

[Silver1omo]

Hello guys ,

I would like to make a streamer that resembles Logitech zqueesebox touch , a RPI connected to a 7 or 10 inch touchscreen , with IR input for remote control , a HDD connected to a powered usb unit and then connected to RPI . The RPI will play the music from the HDD , and also from Spotify/ Tidal .

I would like to program the IR remote control for changing/pausing the song , flac/radio source, and navigating the menues.
The IR remote is the most important part of the system as I don`t want to control the RPI with my phone , too much hassle , I will use the phone for other stuff.

It will be more ergonomic to program the Remote Control of the amplifier in order to control the full system with it . The remote will set the amplifier volume , on/off state , and the rest of the buttons will control the RPI .

Picoreplayer has all that, you can connect the official pi 7 inch screen and an ir receiver.
You can also connect a ssd and run LMS from the same PI.

 

[Silver1omo]

You just need to install jivelite for the screen and lirc for the ir. With lirc it uses the same commands as the old squeezebox devices, so almost all universal remotes should work.

 

[Sukie]

I wish someone would explain/ rationalize / pontificate on how a digital (USB) stream can have jitter. Doesn’t make sense at all. An analog music stream coming off a DAC might present jitter but it seems the USB stream is either intact or not (and if it isn’t intact the digital data is resent TO the DAC.)

I listened to a certain Youtuber named Hans X who goes on and on about jitter and cheap power supplies. I bought an expensive, switched power supply ($90) for a Pi streamer and my ears can’t hear one iota of difference between that and the same streamer with a $5 supply.

Perhaps equipping my streamer with $500 RCA virgin copper, Mystery cables would make this jitter more apparent..... /s

Jitter is to do with variation in time between data packets arriving. This can lead to packet loss. If you had a problem with it, you'd know about it (choppy audio etc.).

Expensive powers supplies will often be marketed as something that will improve audio quality, but I've yet to see any measurable evidence that they do.