I really tried to write a concise list of questions but failed, hence the simplistic question below and the amorphous blob of background information that follows!
My questions boil down to what software should I load on to my Raspberry Pi and where and how should I store and curate my music?
My 'hifi' is a STAX headphone setup and some dynamics driven by a Topping DX3 pro via usb from my PC and bluetooth from my Macbook I may add other endpoints in the future but my flat is small and I favour quality over quantity.
I would like to un-tether the 'hifi' from my computers and eliminate the lossy Bluetooth connection so I am setting up a headless Raspberry Pi 4 to connect to the DX3 either directly by USB or optical/spdif using a Hifiberry Digi, but I'm not sure what software/OS to load on it: Moode, Rune, PiCore Player, Roon endpoint etc - I expect this will be determined by the information below. I am doing a lot research on this myself but am having dificulty narrowing down the scope of my reading as I am new to music streaming in general as well as the Raspberry Pi platform, but sufficiently technically minded to build my own hardware or write my own software if needed.
My music is currently organised on the Macbook in iTunes but I buy digital music from several sources including Bandcamp, Bleep, Amazon etc and purchase it using several different computers including the PC. I would like my music library to be centralised without having to copy files from one place to another using a USB stick. Maybe it can live on a NAS or USB storage connected directly to the Pi if this was still remotely and simply accessible for management, adding new music etc?
Ultimately the usability of my music library is important - having resolved hardware issues what really matters is the music and how I interact with it, curating playlists, ease of finding artists, songs, albums, following a musical path once I start listening so the selection of one track leads to another with minimal interuption - perhaps this aspect is something Roon promotes?
I don't currently pay for a streaming music service like spotify, but I'm not wedded to the Apple/iTunes ecosystem either, it's just something I've put up with for many years. I happen to think that actually owning music leads to curatorship in a way that the availability of the infinite via streaming does not but I may be wrong. A lot of my music is new and/or obscure (hence Bandcamp) so I'm dubious about the relevance of Tidal, Qobuz etc as I am about paying $10/month for Roon which just seems to be a player with a pretty picture and a few bells and whistles.
Help Thanks
My questions boil down to what software should I load on to my Raspberry Pi and where and how should I store and curate my music?
My 'hifi' is a STAX headphone setup and some dynamics driven by a Topping DX3 pro via usb from my PC and bluetooth from my Macbook I may add other endpoints in the future but my flat is small and I favour quality over quantity.
I would like to un-tether the 'hifi' from my computers and eliminate the lossy Bluetooth connection so I am setting up a headless Raspberry Pi 4 to connect to the DX3 either directly by USB or optical/spdif using a Hifiberry Digi, but I'm not sure what software/OS to load on it: Moode, Rune, PiCore Player, Roon endpoint etc - I expect this will be determined by the information below. I am doing a lot research on this myself but am having dificulty narrowing down the scope of my reading as I am new to music streaming in general as well as the Raspberry Pi platform, but sufficiently technically minded to build my own hardware or write my own software if needed.
My music is currently organised on the Macbook in iTunes but I buy digital music from several sources including Bandcamp, Bleep, Amazon etc and purchase it using several different computers including the PC. I would like my music library to be centralised without having to copy files from one place to another using a USB stick. Maybe it can live on a NAS or USB storage connected directly to the Pi if this was still remotely and simply accessible for management, adding new music etc?
Ultimately the usability of my music library is important - having resolved hardware issues what really matters is the music and how I interact with it, curating playlists, ease of finding artists, songs, albums, following a musical path once I start listening so the selection of one track leads to another with minimal interuption - perhaps this aspect is something Roon promotes?
I don't currently pay for a streaming music service like spotify, but I'm not wedded to the Apple/iTunes ecosystem either, it's just something I've put up with for many years. I happen to think that actually owning music leads to curatorship in a way that the availability of the infinite via streaming does not but I may be wrong. A lot of my music is new and/or obscure (hence Bandcamp) so I'm dubious about the relevance of Tidal, Qobuz etc as I am about paying $10/month for Roon which just seems to be a player with a pretty picture and a few bells and whistles.
Help Thanks
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