Randy the new RPi streamer and player on the block

[Yatsushiro]

Alsamixer is there, and works for the onboard audio, just not for the USB DAC I'm using.

 

[PjVervoorn]

@phofman, thanks for your remarks.
As is probably obvious I don’t know much about alsa, I try and learn a bit by reading and experimenting.

I found an explanation at https://superuser.com/questions/357278/how-to-configure-alsa
Based on the description there and your remarks I now am using this asound.conf

pcm.custom {
 type plug
 slave.pcm hw:AUDIO
}
ctl.custom {
 type hw
 card AUDIO
}

pcm.!default pcm.custom
ctl.!default ctl.custom

I see the bitrate and depth I expect with my favourite streams.

@gideon, it’s great Play/pause is already available. I didn’t like wasting 1000kbit/second 16 hours per day

 

[DRONE7]

I have an additional feature request, for the UI: Play & Stop (or Pause) buttons.

There already, Just click on the rotating '1/2 an Lp record' image to toggle Stop Start Pause (depending what the previous mode was)
Ah, I see you have found it already !

 

[phofman]

@PjVervoorn :

 

[DRONE7]

Can no longer install to devices running Ubuntu server (must be some change in the Ubuntu install)
Get this error report..

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 nodejs : Conflicts: npm
 npm : Depends: node-cacache but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: node-gyp but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: node-mkdirp but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: node-nopt but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: node-tar but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: node-which but it is not going to be installed
       Depends: nodejs:any (>= 10)
       Recommends: node-tap but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

I've tried all the options for dpkg and fix-missing but nodejs won't install and whilst I can still ssh into randy the web interface will not load.

EDIT. sudo apt purge npm* and sudo apt install nodejs
then a reinstall and reboot seems to have worked !!

Following from the above I can confirm working on hardware..
https://www.gigabyte.com/Enterprise/Embedded-Computing/EL-20-3710-32G-rev-10

 

[gideon]

Can no longer install to devices running Ubuntu server (must be some change in the Ubuntu install)

@DRONE7 - thanks for pointing this out and I apologise for taking the time to get back into things

This should be fixed now! I just tested a fresh ubuntu server install with the fix.

 

[gideon]

I am also trying to find ways to improve the installation process of Randy and looking for suggestions.

If anyone has some experience with cooking a custom distro please PM me or post here so others can learn.

My ideal objective is:
* to have ISOs which have all the Randy set up baked in
* ISOs for x86 thin clients and arm sbc such as rpi
* Randy set up mainly includes all the apt dependencies + systemd services + nodejs project
* some easy way for people to configure their wifi before first boot so that it can be installed without a monitor+keyboard+lan

So far I've tried:
* Ubuntu autoinstall using this cool set of scripts - https://github.com/cloudymax/pxeless/tree/develop
* I am able to get some traction but not much luck completing the above
* rpi-gen which also needs more digging into to get randy things installed beforehand

Gideon

 

[Sumaco]

I would probably consider this method and then use something like zcat imagefile.xz > /dev/sex
https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/unix-linux-dd-create-make-disk-image-commands/

A little advanced but with good docs you can make a universal usb flash for Randy in a few steps.

 

[DRONE7]

Just a little feedback on SQ.....
I wanted to test the new X86/64 build against others....was it Randy ? or the hardware ? or the files from M2 onboard drive vs NAS ?
But was so overcome by the music that I have not got around to any testing.. just listening and listening and...

For my 2-cents...don't change a thing ! (but if you do then leave a link to this current version .....)

 

[TNT]

Would Tidal / Qubouz be very har to implement?

//

 

[DRONE7]

Plenty of other distros offer Toadal, Quobad, Spoofify, (If you really want those :-( why listen to some AI choices when you can have your own favourites ?

 

[gideon]

I would probably consider this method and then use something like zcat imagefile.xz > /dev/sex
https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/unix-linux-dd-create-make-disk-image-commands/

A little advanced but with good docs you can make a universal usb flash for Randy in a few steps.

Thanks @Sumaco - I will check it out, seems like a good direction!

Would Tidal / Qubouz be very har to implement?

@TNT - I can do a bit of reading about that and see if there is an elegant way to add it while keeping the overall good sound quality.
From a quick search Qobuz works with airplay but limited to cd quality and both have some kind of set up with UPNP?
I live in Singapore where both services are not available without some VPN and other magic so I may not be able to test it out myself.

Lot's of things to read on the weekend

Just a little feedback on SQ.....
I wanted to test the new X86/64 build against others....was it Randy ? or the hardware ? or the files from M2 onboard drive vs NAS ?
But was so overcome by the music that I have not got around to any testing.. just listening and listening and...

For my 2-cents...don't change a thing ! (but if you do then leave a link to this current version .....)

@DRONE7 - this made my week! I was really keen to hear from others what they think of the sound.
It looks like a mix of different good things and at least Randy is doing it's part!

I do have a new version cooking with some interesting things around setting up the sound output, but the current version is v1.0.15.1 which you can probably just unzip into a new debian/ubuntu based linux and run the install.sh [without the "Download the latest release of Randy" section].

 

[DRONE7]

v1.0.15.1 saved !
SQ.. at first I thought the vocals a little recessed then as I listened more I was surprised at the resolution and dynamics of different recordings... very revealing and a big change from the usual "paint it all the same" players.
Some tracks are BLAH then some are MAGIC ! and this correlates with the tracks and recordings, not the Player/os' presentation.

I admit I was skeptical about Randy MPV vs MPD but now find this not relevant.
I have several Pi and Thin-client X86/64 O/S installs in different rooms and workshops running 12/7 and enjoy them all!! So I have to say that the 'Randy room' always makes me stop....and sit... and listen.

Others are close and have many more user options but Randy has that little extra that captures me.

Thank you for your time and efforts....you and frd @ https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/wtfplay-project-linux-based-pc-playback-system.287712/ and Tim @ https://moodeaudio.org/forum/ are all magicians of the highest order !!

 

[PjVervoorn]

Hi Gideon, I see you’re still updating the code base, that’s great.
I’ll try the latest version soon, with the Orange PI.

One request, please remove the google tag, I now remove it myself every time...

 

[gideon]

Hi @PjVervoorn, thanks for checking it out with Orange Pi!

The latest version was a bit of fixes and a new way to switch audio outputs/drivers under settings.
Since then, I have been playing around mainly with easier ways to install Randy but it's moving slowly as I am trying to find a reasonably seamless and headless way.

I also had both my toneboard DAC and usb hub stop working on me for some time, so now I am with a new DAC (SMSL SU-1) which sounds even better and using Randy on an Intel NUC until I get a new hub for my RPI Zero 2 and I can test things again properly.

I am glad you mentioned Google Analytics, it's been a quick low hanging way for me to get some data on whether people are using Randy or not.. but I understand where you are coming from. I will try to find another way to do it without relying on 3rd parties and remove the google tag if it works.
So far it's nice to see adoption (people who don't use ad blockers) from different countries like France, US, Canada, Denmark, Thailand etc.. then I know which things I am doing well or not.

 

[PjVervoorn]

Hi @gideon,

I am running Randy now on the new Orange Pi Zero 3 (1.5GB) with DietPI 8.22.
There are some networking (driver?) issues with this new board, but wired it seems to be working well.

 

[gideon]

Hi @PjVervoorn ,

I am not that familiar with the DietPI+OPZ3 combination but Randy doesn't do much under the hood on network connectivity and just uses what the OS offers out of the box. Do these issues happen only after running the randy install script or regardless of it?

Gideon

 

[PjVervoorn]

Hi @gideon,

Not to worry, they are known issues, unrelated to Randy.
I hope it will be fixed soon, it is a great little board, with (imho) better specs than the RPi Zero 2W.
(More RAM, higher clock freq., ethernet etc.)

I still need to order an RPi Zero 2W, sadly moode is RPi only.

 

[DRONE7]

Does Randy have replay gain ?
I am processing my library for another player and adding replay gain tags.
Would be useful to have Randy access the library and use this feature.

bob.

 

[gideon]

Hey Bob,

it's the first time I hear about Replaygain tagging but it actually seems like a great match for Randy's randomness-first approach.
From what I see mpv does support ReplayGain tags, although it seems like its set to 'no' by default.

--replaygain=<no|track|album>
Adjust volume gain according to replaygain values stored in the file metadata. With --replaygain=no (the default), perform no adjustment. With --replaygain=track, apply track gain. With --replaygain=album, apply album gain if present and fall back to track gain otherwise.

I can consider to put this as another setting, and I am wondering, through your research if you see any sonic or other downsides for Replaygain?

With --replaygain=album, apply album gain if present and fall back to track gain otherwise.

From the above fallback behaviour, it kind of makes sense to have 'album' as the default option if there is no downside on sound quality.

Gideon