Is Volumio the best 'streamer freeware'?

[ahofer]

ahofer, I think you misunderstood- the screenshots you posted are from Roon. I was speaking about saving a track in LMS or Roon, but accessing that track from another app, e.g., Android auto or the Spotify app from the Play store.

That’s why I said “the other way”. But at least in the case of my situation, I can access the same playlist in both places.

 

[Stickler1]

Genre works well if you spend the time tagging correctly. Playing by folder (down to album) and genre gives you many more options for listening sessions. I tried Moode, don't like it. PiCore or custom Volumio (Pro-Ject and miniDSP) for me. The custom builds play Qobuz and Tidal for free. miniDSP plays free Pandora plus other plug-ins.

 

[quatmo]

I have shared the LMSrAudio project based on several open-source codes in my GitHub repository here: https://github.com/lovehifi/lmsraudio. I don't understand why my previous post was deleted?

 

[somebodyelse]

I have shared the LMSrAudio project based on several open-source codes in my GitHub repository here: https://github.com/lovehifi/lmsraudio. I don't understand why my previous post was deleted?

Except the repo doesn't contain any code or releases - why not?

 

[quatmo]

I have created it into a file called rAudioLMS-64bit.IMG for users to easily flash onto their SD cards. Additionally, I have included SSH notes containing root user credentials and password for anyone to review, access the source code, and have full permissions to modify it for their specific needs.

The download link is attached in my repository.

 

[driblo]

Which RaspberryPi players/servers are best suited for large local libraries - fast searching (200k+ songs), good tag display and sorting, streaming of DSD and other hires audio to external DAC?
Streaming from online sources is not important to me.

 

[somebodyelse]

Usual advice is try them until you find one that suits you as people disagree about what constitutes 'good' in UI design, or what features are necessary. I expect LMS would fit the bill, whether on piCorePLayer or another option. The Material Skin plugin will make it look more modern, and there are plugins for custom tag handling if the built in behaviour is missing something you need.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Which RaspberryPi players/servers are best suited for large local libraries - fast searching (200k+ songs), good tag display and sorting, streaming of DSD and other hires audio to external DAC?
Streaming from online sources is not important to me.

I use Moode with an 80 K + file library. It works fine. I don't use tags though. I organize my music by directory/file. Volumio supports DLNA and has the advantage of not needing to build an MPD database when you install it. LMS is also a good choice for fast installation and config.

 

[quatmo]

I used Raspberry Pi 4 with both 4GB and 8GB RAM configurations, along with Volumio and Logitech Media Server (LMS), to manage a music library of over 14,000 albums (exceeding 150,000 songs). Volumio performed significantly better than LMS, particularly in terms of data management and search speed.

However, Volumio's biggest hurdle is the requirement for meticulously organized music files. These files must not contain special characters like #, %, &, etc., and must have no corrupt data or zero-byte files. Any such issues can lead to Volumio stalling during scanning. The 8GB RAM version will help you scan music data faster.

Corrupted files, easily detectable by Foobar2000, are a common culprit (Volumio stop scan).

 

[driblo]

It seems that a lot of installing and tinkering is ahead of me!
Currently testing LMS on QNAP NAS, will try to connect it to Topping DX3 Pro+.
Will wait for Pi5 for dedicated player, it can add NVMe SSDs; and it will be good for 4K video also.

Something like this for the case, they will probably have the cases with LED screens for Pi5 too.
https://kksb-cases.com/products/kksb-raspberry-pi-5-case-space-for-cooler-hats-and-add-on-boards
https://kksb-cases.com/products/kksb-raspberry-pi-4b-7-inch-touch-screen-case

 

[driblo]

After waiting for microHDMI cables and SD card reader for almost a month, finally got all the equipment and started testing.
I tried some streamers and players, limiting first setup only to local library on USB drive. I will not go into too much detail, but it proved more challenging than I expected.

1. Volumio's current release is quirky AF and I spent most of the time tinkering with it. Has problem with adding USB drive, keeping scanned library (randomly resets items in library to none), stops scanning at songs with various UTF characters in name, it has performance issues with scanned part (couple thousands) of library of 100000 songs. Also looses connection to DAC and stops playback randomly, plugins are erroring like crazy... you name it, you have it. Too bad, it looks elegant, but it is as far from stable solution as you can get.
2. Debian server with MPD and still not picked up frontend - lots of tinkering involved, but I like this the best. Got it to keep library, at least. Possible longterm solution, since I will try to install RetroPie on the same machine. Problem is building Volumio UI (Node 10 is ancient and throws bunch of errors), Cantata and most UI's are either not suitable for my use case(remote desktop/web/mobile) or are very rudimentary. Nothing even close to user experience of MusicBee or even jRiver. Which MPD frontend could be good alternative to Volumio UI?
3. jRiver - its server is not pure headless, actually has to bring up x11 session to start. Suboptimal solution, also not free.
4. mOode - stil has no release for Raspberry Pi 5, so really have nothing to say. Will try it when they make it.

Raspberry Pi 5 is still fresh platform and I hope that situation with software will get better, right now it is big adventure and time sink.

 

[ManuCV]

Volumio's current release is quirky AF and I spent most of the time tinkering with it. Has problem with adding USB drive, keeping scanned library (randomly resets items in library to none), stops scanning at songs with various UTF characters in name, it has performance issues with scanned part (couple thousands) of library of 100000 songs. Also looses connection to DAC and stops playback randomly, plugins are erroring like crazy... you name it, you have it. Too bad, it looks elegant, but it is as far from stable solution as you can get.

I use Volumio on a Rpi 4 for several years and rarely had issues. You do need to have a tidy library, that's right, but that should be on you and not on Volumio.
Use mp3tag to tidy up those names and it should be fine.

Or maybe those issues are from the Rpi 5 build, can't say. But for sure that does not occur on the Rpi 4 if the installation and library are in good order.

 

[ahofer]

At this point Roon ROCK should run on pi. Not holding my breath.

 

[Tom C]

Have you given LMS a go?

 

[Dennis_FL]

Ropiee is my choice. It has DLNA (JRiver), Airplay 1 & 2 (Apple), Squeezelite, Spotify Connect, HQplayer, Plexamp, and it’s a Roon endpoint.

I have a hat on the Pi for Toslink output and can easily output any of the above via USB or optical.

pretty bulletproof as well. I haven’t tried it on RP5 yet. Maybe this weekend. I’ve also tried DietPi, and volumino with no issues on RP4 and 3

 

[driblo]

I use Volumio on a Rpi 4 for several years and rarely had issues. You do need to have a tidy library, that's right, but that should be on you and not on Volumio.
Use mp3tag to tidy up those names and it should be fine.

Or maybe those issues are from the Rpi 5 build, can't say. But for sure that does not occur on the Rpi 4 if the installation and library are in good order.

It is probably Rpi5 issue, it is not very usable right now.

Have you given LMS a go?

Will try it, cause MPD can be hard to config.
Still haven't decided what will I use.

 

[Tom C]

Such software choices are personal, and people seem to feel pretty strongly about what they like and don’t like. So my choice is neither here nor there for somebody else, but I’ll mention that after trying most of the usual suspects, I settled on piCorePlayer as the all around best. It’s not available for RaspberryPi 5 yet, so not currently an option. I got my pi5 board earlier this week, microSD card came the next day. When the power supply showed up, turned out to be UK plug. Arrgghh. Yes, it was in the order description, but kinda cryptic. Frustrated I didn’t notice it. Oh well, got black anyway. Only US plug availability is in white, at the moment. Plug adaptor is supposed to come today, so I can finally fire it up. Since I can’t get my preferred yet, I’ll run raspbianOS with LMS. If LMS/piCorePlayer were not available, I’d go with Kodi. Kodi’s disadvantage imo is that is doesn’t support headless as well as LMS. Yes, Kodi will do it, but it can be more klunky, and when folks complain, the devs don’t seem to put a high priority on running headless operation.
I like JRiver, but think it’s best on a full blown desktop. Tried it last on a pi4, and found the interface it to be laggy and slow.

 

[Dennis_FL]

Such software choices are personal, and people seem to feel pretty strongly about what they like and don’t like. So my choice is neither here nor there for somebody else, but I’ll mention that after trying most of the usual suspects, I settled on piCorePlayer as the all around best. It’s not available for RaspberryPi 5 yet, so not currently an option. I got my pi5 board earlier this week, microSD card came the next day. When the power supply showed up, turned out to be UK plug. Arrgghh. Yes, it was in the order description, but kinda cryptic. Frustrated I didn’t notice it. Oh well, got black anyway. Only US plug availability is in white, at the moment. Plug adaptor is supposed to come today, so I can finally fire it up. Since I can’t get my preferred yet, I’ll run raspbianOS with LMS. If LMS/piCorePlayer were not available, I’d go with Kodi. Kodi’s disadvantage imo is that is doesn’t support headless as well as LMS. Yes, Kodi will do it, but it can be more klunky, and when folks complain, the devs don’t seem to put a high priority on running headless operation.
I like JRiver, but think it’s best on a full blown desktop. Tried it last on a pi4, and found the interface it to be laggy and slow.

Did you try JRiver on a headless Pi4? I use VNC to access my Pi's but also some Mac Minis and laptops and they are all a little laggy. But, yes, Jriver on a Pi is laggy.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

After waiting for microHDMI cables and SD card reader for almost a month, finally got all the equipment and started testing.
I tried some streamers and players, limiting first setup only to local library on USB drive. I will not go into too much detail, but it proved more challenging than I expected.

1. Volumio's current release is quirky AF and I spent most of the time tinkering with it. Has problem with adding USB drive, keeping scanned library (randomly resets items in library to none), stops scanning at songs with various UTF characters in name, it has performance issues with scanned part (couple thousands) of library of 100000 songs. Also looses connection to DAC and stops playback randomly, plugins are erroring like crazy... you name it, you have it. Too bad, it looks elegant, but it is as far from stable solution as you can get.
2. Debian server with MPD and still not picked up frontend - lots of tinkering involved, but I like this the best. Got it to keep library, at least. Possible longterm solution, since I will try to install RetroPie on the same machine. Problem is building Volumio UI (Node 10 is ancient and throws bunch of errors), Cantata and most UI's are either not suitable for my use case(remote desktop/web/mobile) or are very rudimentary. Nothing even close to user experience of MusicBee or even jRiver. Which MPD frontend could be good alternative to Volumio UI?
3. jRiver - its server is not pure headless, actually has to bring up x11 session to start. Suboptimal solution, also not free.
4. mOode - stil has no release for Raspberry Pi 5, so really have nothing to say. Will try it when they make it.

Raspberry Pi 5 is still fresh platform and I hope that situation with software will get better, right now it is big adventure and time sink.

Just got a Pi 5. I'm running the Raspberry Pi OS. I've installed Squeezelite and gmediarender with MPD. Both work. I use Squeezer on Android as a front end for LMS/Squeezelite and BubbleUPNP as a front end for gmediarender. I haven't tried Moode or Volumio but I'm thinking about experimenting with dual boot so I can use the Pi OS and a dedicated audio OS on the same box. I've had no problems with either LMS or DLNA renderer mode. I've used them with local music on my NAS and Qobuz. If it matters, I haven't been pleased with Volumio for several years because of their move toward a freemium model. My local library has 90K files--a lot of classical so a "song" count doesn't work. With Volumio I've used it in DLNA client mode because it doesn't require building an MPD database. I'd suggest Moode if you want a dedicated OS solution. AFAlK it works with the Pi 5. It's compatible with Bookworm. It's completely free and open source. It has more possible tweaks than most people will ever use. The support forum is very active. The head developer will respond to questions rapidly.

 

[Tom C]

Did you try JRiver on a headless Pi4? I use VNC to access my Pi's but also some Mac Minis and laptops and they are all a little laggy. But, yes, Jriver on a Pi is laggy.

I did. As far as I can tell, headless is one of the things that slows a pi down when running Buster (the OS of the time). It seemed to expect a hard wire monitor as the primary, and headless as a secondary monitor, because it wanted you to set a screen size, instead of scaling to what you were using. At least, that’s how it seemed to me. Maybe I just never mastered it, because once I had piCorePlayer, I never looked back.
I run JRiver on a MacMini, with a windows PC as file server (not media server). You have to mount the network drive, then, on the Mac, but once you do, it’s smooth sailing. That’s why I got the pi5, so I can use it instead of the Windows PC as the file server, which is on all the time.