Squeezebox Touch -- Modifications

marce · 2013-05-15 1:16 pm

There is only signals transmitted with standard Ethernet, through as Phofman said an isolation transformer and common mode chokes. Also how the interface is laid out and where all the relevant components go (transformer, caps, usually ESD protection diodes etc) are all designed to create an interface that works whatever it is plugged into, and an important aspect of this is avoiding noise, from either side of the connection, so I would not worry.

vzs · 2013-05-17 6:06 pm

Hi Soundchek,

I'm asking your help installing Squeezelite on a SB Touch with USB Amanero Combo384.

So far I installed EDO plugin and got sound through Amanero USB into my DAC up to 192Khz.

I downloaded squeezelite-armv6 and your script (from Squeeze-me-lite Appendix 2 - your site) and configured LOCALETHERNETPORT, SERVERIP but have problems with setting AUDIOIF because squeezelite -l lists only "null" so the connected USB soundcard is not recognized by squeezelite.

Am I missing a configuration step so squeezelite can see my USB DAC?

Thanks,
Zsolt

l.e. just found the squeezelite thread on slimdevices...

soundcheck · 2013-05-17 6:57 pm

Type

cat /proc/asound/cards

that'll show you the recognized devices.

If you see the USB DAC

you can configure it according to ALSA terminology

hw:0,0

for DAC 0

hw:1,0

with squeezlite

forget that -l option.

You might also install one of Triodes tweaked kernels on top of EDO.

Good luck

vzs · 2013-05-17 10:09 pm

Got it working, partially... as it still has the "head". If jive is killed then the Touch restarts in 4-5 seconds. Any idea why?
I use version 7.7.2 - if this info is of any use.

I'm also aiming to stream at 352.8Khz - through SoX upsampling - and this seems to work if I connect the Amanero Combo384 to the PC which hosts the Logitechmediaserver and a Squeezelite (tried on Windows 7) but when Squeezelite is on Touch (probably anything then localhost) it does not upsample only up to 192Khz.

I remember you said that for 352.8/384K Logitechmediaserver has to be patched. How is this patching done?

Thanks.

soundcheck · 2013-05-18 12:14 pm

Hi.

The watchdog kicks in if you kill jive. That's why the Touch restarts.

You need to disable (comment out) the watchdog in /etc/init.d/rcS

The Touch has a pretty poor usb implementation. I doubt that you're
getting fun with your super HiRez stuff.

Cheers

vzs · 2013-05-18 1:53 pm

Any idea how to patch Logitecmediaserver to stream up to 384K? Thx.

soundcheck · 2013-05-20 8:41 am

vzs said:
Any idea how to patch Logitecmediaserver to stream up to 384K? Thx.

Try google.

I guess I won't ever use 384khz material.

vzs · 2013-05-21 9:39 am

soundcheck said:
Try google.

I guess I won't ever use 384khz material.

Directly me neither, 90% of my music is 44k1 but I'm upsampling to feed my NOS DAC since I don't want the bats to party around my house.

I was looking for a standalone digital filter implementation that can do minimum-phase (apodising) filter-response but "classic" ICs - DF1706, SM5847, PMD100 - cannot, and the DSP way is not an option _for me_ since I cannot afford that much time for learning. My only option for this was to upsample offline or on-the-fly on the server and brute force use network bandwidth to stream data. I will probably end up with a fan-less PC running both LMS and Squeezelite.

BTW. I got 352K8 working with Squeezelite on Touch and sound-wise seems OK, can hear no drops. Will start it in debug mode to check if everything is OK though.

Can I use your TT 3.0 toolbox with EDO and Squeezelite to stop things like: WLan, IR, screen-off?

Thanks, Zsolt

soundcheck · 2013-05-22 7:34 am

If you run squeezelite you don't need EDO. EDO mainly addresses the jive
related stuff. And jive is not (shouldn't be) running if you run squeezelite.

Basically you can run TT3 and on top you run squeezelite.
You might run one of those EDO kernels, which come with a
slightly tweaked usb audio driver.

col996s · 2013-07-28 10:54 am

I have a SB3 and have read that replacing the PSU can improve it a little. I am thinking of getting a Power One HB5-3/OVP-AG. I assume this would be fine and would certainly be no worse then the stock one?
Anybody used one?
Thank you.

Monkey King · 2013-11-06 6:37 am

Hi all,

Does anyone have insight on how to make the SBT down-sample hi-res files to 16/44? I have searched a number of forums, but can't seem to find anything that works.

My SBT is connected to an external DAC that only does 16/48. I'm looking to play a mixture of WAV, APE, and FLAC files.

Below is what I have in my custom-convert.conf file, but I don't think I know what it's doing.

flc flc * *
# FT:{START=--skip=%t}U:{END=--until=%v}
[flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ | [sox] -q -t wav - -t flac -C 0 -r 44100 -

flc flc transcode *
# FT:{START=--skip=%t}U:{END=--until=%v}D:{RESAMPLE=-r %d}
[flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ | [sox] -q -t wav - -t flac -C 0 -r 44100 -

Thanks!

soundcheck · 2013-11-06 7:17 am

Try this:

Code:

flc flc * *
             # FT:{START=--skip=%t}U:{END=--until=%v}
             [flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ | [sox] -q -t wav - -t flac -e signed -C 0 -b 16 - rate -v -L -b 98 48000 dither -S

Everything gets resampled to 16/48000.
You also need to add dither if going down to 16bit. That's what I do with dither -S. Above term does highest quality resampling with linear filters and pretty high bandwidth.
Don't forget to restart the server after the changes and to enable just the option flac/flac under Advanced Settings/Fileformats.

Below might also work. I havn't tried it.

Code:

flc flc transcode *
# FT:{START=--skip=%t}U:{END=--until=%v}D:{RESAMPLE=rate -v -L -b 98 48000 dither -S}
[flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ | [sox] -q -t wav - -t flac -b 16 -C 0 - $RESAMPLE$

Make sure that the sox and flac binaries as supplied by LMS are working. You might have problems with those 32bit binaries.
I usually install more up2date Ubuntu sox and flac versions.

Quick and dirty HowTo:

Code:

sudo apt-get install sox flac 
sudo cp /usr/bin/sox /usr/bin/flac /usr/share/squeezeboxserver/Bin/i386-linux/

(You could also use links instead of above simple copy, you could backup the old binaries before overwriting them or rewrite your rules with the original binary locations, or you do it quick and dirty.

)

Good luck.

Cheers

soundcheck · 2013-11-06 8:09 am

Just to let you know.

I'm running a DDX320 full digital amp via Toslink fed by my Touch.
The DDX resamples everything to 24/96 before doing the post processing on its own DSP. ( Similar behaviour you'll find on MiniDSP and all kind of other DSPs or DACs with ASRCs)

I thought I might be able to do a better resampling job by using Sox instead of letting the DDX do the resampling. Sox is known for its great reampling quality.

I introduced below setup:

Code:

flc flc * *
             # FT:{START=--skip=%t}U:{END=--until=%v}
             [flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$  |  [sox] -D -q -t wav - -t flac -e signed  -C 0 -b 24 - rate -v -L -b 98 96000

In the past streaming flacs was a NoGo due to its negative impact on SQ. That's what prevented me from doing the resampling.
You can do resampling in the LMS universe only, if you stream flacs to the streaming client. I skipped it. At that point it was the right choice.

However. I'm not running my Touch the typical way anymore. I'm running the Touch with Squeezelite and a special setup (TT60) .
This way it can process flacs without causing much sound degradation.
Or to be more exact. The improvements associated to the DDX320 and resampling done by Sox are higher then potential losses due to flac decoding on the Touch.

It's always about finding the better compromise.

Enjoy.

Monkey King · 2013-11-07 12:15 am

Hi Soudcheck,

Thanks for these tips!

I am still getting a sample rate not recognised error. In the server.log file, it says:

Code:

[13-11-06 17:29:38.1048] Slim::Player::Song::open (409) Error: Couldn't create command line for flc playback for [file:///Volumes/public/My%20Music/00_SACD%20d2p%2024-176%20flac%20files/Heifetz_Brahms%20&%20Tchaikovsky%20Violin%20Concertos_SACD%20d2p_24-176_flac/01%20-%20Jascha%20Heifetz%20violin%20Fritz%20Reiner%20conductor%20Chicago%20Sy%20-%20Allegro%20non%20troppo%20(Cadenza%20Heifetz).flac]

The server.log in debug mode shows this error:

Code:

[13-11-06 18:03:02.4356] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::getConvertCommand2 (425) Error: Didn't find any command matches for type: flc

Other bits from the log in debug mode:

Code:

[13-11-06 18:03:02.4298] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (241)   Found command: [flac] -dcs --force-raw-format --endian=little --sign=signed $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4300] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::getConvertCommand2 (370) Rejecting [flac] -dcs --force-raw-format --endian=little --sign=signed $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ because required capability D not supported: 
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4301] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-mp3-fab4-00:04:20:22:e3:94
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4303] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-mp3-*-00:04:20:22:e3:94
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4304] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-mp3-fab4-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4306] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4308] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (198) Checking to see if flc-mp3-*-* is enabled
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4309] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (206) There are 17 disabled formats...
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4311] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing aac-aac-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4312] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing aac-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4314] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing aif-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4315] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing alc-alc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4317] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing alc-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4319] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing ape-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4320] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing flc-aif-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4322] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing flc-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4323] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing mp4-aac-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4325] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing mp4-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4326] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing ogg-aif-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4328] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing ogg-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4329] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing ogg-ogg-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4331] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing sls-aac-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4332] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing sls-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4334] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing wav-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4336] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::enabledFormat (212) Testing wvp-flc-*-* vs flc-mp3-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4337] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (239)    enabled
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4339] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (241)   Found command: [flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ | [lame] --silent -q $QUALITY$ $RESAMPLE$ -v $BITRATE$ - -
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4342] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (264)    couldn't find binary for: lame
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4343] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-spdr-fab4-00:04:20:22:e3:94
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4345] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-spdr-*-00:04:20:22:e3:94
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4347] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-spdr-fab4-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4348] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-spdr-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4350] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-test-fab4-00:04:20:22:e3:94
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4351] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-test-*-00:04:20:22:e3:94
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4353] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-test-fab4-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4354] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::checkBin (231) Checking formats for: flc-test-*-*
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4356] Slim::Player::TranscodingHelper::getConvertCommand2 (425) Error: Didn't find any command matches for type: flc
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4358] Slim::Player::Song::open (409) Error: Couldn't create command line for flc playback for [file:///Volumes/public/My%20Music/00_SACD%20d2p%2024-176%20flac%20files/Mendelssohn_Shostakovich_Vioin%20Concertos_Hilary%20Hahn_SACD_d2p%2024-176%20flac/01%20-%20HILARY%20HAHN%20OSLO%20PHILHARMONIC%20ORCHESTRA%20HUGH%20WOLFF%20-%20Mendelssohn%20Concerto%20for%20Violin%20and%20Orchestra%20in%20E%20Minor.flac]
[13-11-06 18:03:02.4360] Slim::Player::StreamingController::_playersMessage (789) Unsupported sample-rate: file:///Volumes/public/My%20Music/00_SACD%20d2p%2024-176%20flac%20files/Mendelssohn_Shostakovich_Vioin%20Concertos_Hilary%20Hahn_SACD_d2p%2024-176%20flac/01%20-%20HILARY%20HAHN%20OSLO%20PHILHARMONIC%20ORCHESTRA%20HUGH%20WOLFF%20-%20Mendelssohn%20Concerto%20for%20Violin%20and%20Orchestra%20in%20E%20Minor.flac

In Logitech Media Server, file types are set to:
FLAC

AIFF (disabled)

FLAC (disabled)

MP3 (disabled)

PCM (FLAC)

WAV

FLAC (disabled)

MP3 (disabled)

PCM (Native)

I running Logitech Media Server 7.7.3 on OSX 10.9. The DAC is a Forsell Air Reference, it's from a small Swedish company, and it manual just says it's a 1-bit DAC.

About using an updated version of sox, am I right in thinking that I modify the command line to reflect where sox is located in OSX, e.g. /Library/PreferencePanes/Squeezebox.prefPane/Contents/server/Bin/darwin instead

soundcheck said:
Try this:

Code:

flc flc * * # FT:{START=--skip=%t}U:{END=--until=%v} [flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ | [sox] -q -t wav - -t flac -e signed -C 0 -b 16 - rate -v -L -b 98 48000 dither -S

Everything gets resampled to 16/48000.
You also need to add dither if going down to 16bit. That's what I do with dither -S. Above term does highest quality resampling with linear filters and pretty high bandwidth.
Don't forget to restart the server after the changes and to enable just the option flac/flac under Advanced Settings/Fileformats.

Below might also work. I havn't tried it.

Code:

flc flc transcode * # FT:{START=--skip=%t}U:{END=--until=%v}D:{RESAMPLE=rate -v -L -b 98 48000 dither -S} [flac] -dcs $START$ $END$ -- $FILE$ | [sox] -q -t wav - -t flac -b 16 -C 0 - $RESAMPLE$

Make sure that the sox and flac binaries as supplied by LMS are working. You might have problems with those 32bit binaries.
I usually install more up2date Ubuntu sox and flac versions.

Quick and dirty HowTo:

Code:

sudo apt-get install sox flac sudo cp /usr/bin/sox /usr/bin/flac /usr/share/squeezeboxserver/Bin/i386-linux/

(You could also use links instead of above simple copy, you could backup the old binaries before overwriting them or rewrite your rules with the original binary locations, or you do it quick and dirty. )

Good luck.

Cheers

soundcheck · 2013-11-07 8:21 am

1. You seemed to have mispelled flac in your custom-convert rule. The error log complains about "flc"

2. Your file type setup is wrong.

Disable FLAC PCM
Enable FLAC FLAC

And don't forget to save the changes afterwards.

You should see something like FLAC FLAC(flac/sox) in the flac line of file type.

I don't know how to install Sox on OSX.

Monkey King · 2013-11-08 3:54 am

Thanks soundcheck!

Everything is working now. I changed the file type settings for FLAC so that FLAC - PCM (disabled) and FLAC FLAC (flac/sox).

soundcheck said:
1. You seemed to have mispelled flac in your custom-convert rule. The error log complains about "flc"

2. Your file type setup is wrong.

Disable FLAC PCM
Enable FLAC FLAC

And don't forget to save the changes afterwards.

You should see something like FLAC FLAC(flac/sox) in the flac line of file type.

I don't know how to install Sox on OSX.

soundcheck · 2013-11-08 9:18 am

Monkey King said:
Thanks soundcheck!

Everything is working now. I changed the file type settings for FLAC so that FLAC - PCM (disabled) and FLAC FLAC (flac/sox).

Good to see you managed.

Have you seen my resampling post ??
You might get some more/new ideas.

Enjoy

onenakhov · 2014-01-25 7:51 pm

Dear Soundcheck! I have a question regarding installation of toolbox 3.0, can i write email to you? Regards, Oleg

MurphyUHF10 · 2014-03-03 1:20 pm

Hi There,

Sorry to revive such an old thread..
But after a long time enjoying TT3.0, I am ready to perform some HW mods..

The first one I want to try is the "direct wiring of SPDIF cable to the main board".
Are there any photos of this mod? I am confused as to where the connections are made on the main board. How far up the line are we talking,, directly to U34??

Thanks,
CM

soundcheck · 2014-03-04 11:12 am

MurphyUHF10 said:
Hi There,

Sorry to revive such an old thread..
But after a long time enjoying TT3.0, I am ready to perform some HW mods..

The first one I want to try is the "direct wiring of SPDIF cable to the main board".
Are there any photos of this mod? I am confused as to where the connections are made on the main board. How far up the line are we talking,, directly to U34??

Thanks,
CM

I soldered the cable directly to the comb connector. It's been the first or second pin.
You can measure it easily.

Cheers

Squeezebox Touch -- Modifications

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