Recomendation for logitech media server player

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About a lifetime and a half ago I owned the original Squeezebox 2. Bought it because the web site had a user review of "Squeezebox got me lai" d ;)
Thought that any company willing to keep that post up as an advert deserves my CA$H lol..



I loved it, thought it sounded amazing. Some how it got lost in the shuffle of life...


Now Im looking to relive the ease of use if offered, but my needs are slightly different.
1) I don't need a DAC, have one and love it, so optical out out is all I need.
2) I don't need a remote control

3) Already have a server running 24x7
4) Id like it to connect to the logitec media server (Aka Slim server)
5) I'm not sure if tidal is supported, but would ultimately like to have that option.
6) will be controlled by my pc or droid....



Am I simply looking for a DLNA player ?

Whats the correct term for this DLNA player

Is the rpi be with digital out (Hifiberry?) what Im after ?
 
Am I simply looking for a DLNA player ?
No. Your Logitech Media Server/SqueezeBox use the SlimProto protocol, not DLNA.
You need a SqueezeBox alternative, such as a Raspberry Pi running Squeezelite. There are several suitable operating systems for such a setup, including piCorePlayer and Moode.
And yes, since you want to use an existing DAC with s/pdif input, you will need a s/pdif hat for the rPi, such as the HiFiBerry Digi+ or Allo DigiOne.

Of course there's a certain amount of DIY effort required, so if you would prefer a fully boxed rPi ready to go, you might be interested in this -
RaspDIGI LTE DigiOne digital network player Raspberry Pi & SPDIF - Audiophonics
or this -
DigiOne Player SPDIF Out
 
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I must be really cheap! Here's my ESP32 board connected to a PC motherboard header bracket. Then stuffed into a small wooden box. Running Squeezelite-ESP32 and streaming wirelessly from my Windows 10 PC running LMS. Can connect via toslink or coax to my DAC and stream Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz, Pandora, ...

Mike
 

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I have multiple Squeezebox endpoints. Squeezelite will run on Raspberry Pi, and can be installed on top of DietPi, which is my preferred option for simple endpoints. I also have a router running Squeezelite on top of OpenWRT, to make a very power-efficient wireless bridge and media player.

I stopped using the likes of Volumio ages ago, as they have become heavier and more taxing to run. A PiZero, for example, takes over six minutes to get going with Volumio and only 20 seconds with DietPi. Besides, when using the Squeezelite plugin, Volumio's standard interface and management features are no longer used.
 
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That is relative. I run the latest 2.875 version of Volumio on Cubox 4p devices and they boot in less than a minute and they are snappy. Besides that the Cubox is meant to be kept powered on so it is not even a real drawback. If the hardware system choice solely defines what software someone can/should run then one is caught in a forced relationship. Then it is not only the cell phone but also the audio set a rat race of being in a loop of updates etc. The Cubox has Toslink and eSATA, no mediocre audio DAC (no DAC at all :)), very fast Ethernet, 802.11n wireless, Bluetooth, an IR receiver, RTC and is only 50 x 50 mm. It consumes less than 3W under load and knows no overheating issues. It is well supported by Volumio despite not many seem to know it.

The whole issue is that RPI, while being a non audio platform, is adored as THE audio platform while there fortunately still is choice. The main points of RPI are low price, the very good support but it needs many a HAT to do audio jobs a good way.

@ Audiofanman: if you could drop the hard LMS requirement there would be even more choice. As you don't have a Squeezebox anymore it might be refreshing to move on.
 
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Here's my ESP32 board connected to a PC motherboard header bracket.

So, which ESP32 board is that? I did some searching and didn't find a board that looks like it.
Or is the board unimportant, because you're just "abusing" the I2S port to make S/PDIF come out of it?
see AudioOutputSPDIF on:
GitHub - earlephilhower/ESP8266Audio: Arduino library to play MOD, WAV, FLAC, MIDI, RTTTL, MP3, and AAC files on I2S DACs or with a software emulated delta-sigma DAC on the ESP8266 and ESP32
 
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Never mind; I looked for WROVER and found "WEMOS LOLIN D32 Pro V2.0.0 WiFi Bluetooth Dev Board ESP32-WROVER NodeMCU" on ebay.
Squeezelite isn't lite enough to run on an ESP-01; it needs at least 4M of flash and 4M of PSRAM.

Sorry I missed your question, but that looks like the same board (I got mine on Amazon for $18.50). If you don't require optical, a simple capacitor/voltage divider circuit will get you coax out to your DAC.

Here's the thread if interested...

ANNOUNCE: Squeezelite-ESP32 (dedicated thread))

Mike
 
Thanks for that link. Maybe I'll give this version a try, since I already have a compatible board:
SqueezeEsp : The cheaper squeezebox in the world

These boards are a blast to play with, although loading the firmware can be tricky. If you're not a linux guy (like me) and have a Windows PC, this free
tool makes the process much easier.

pre-ANNOUNCE: SqueezeAMP and SqueezeliteESP32 - Page 24

Anyone wanting a more turnkey solution, philippe_44 makes sells the SqueezeAmp.

Another batch of SqueezeAMP

Tiny, but loaded.

Mike
 
Took the plung, pretty much plan on following the build described at

High Resolution Squeezebox Replacement | Life, the Universe and Engineering…
Touch screen and all. I opted for the hifiberry digi hat, but may order the Allo as I

have read some comparisons saying the Allo is the better sounding one

I can fight my way around nix, have configured many LAMP servers thorough the years, if google or the duck can find it, I can type it lol...


Should have the last of my delivers tomorrow, hope to have the music going Saturday morning ;-)
 
After a bit of futzing, its all up and working!
Happy, but not blown away with the sound.

I went with the Hifi berry Digi pro. Using the coax out to my schiit DAC...
Thinking of buying the Allo...

I have searched for comparisons, and from the few threads it looks like the allo is the better choice...

Any one here compare the two ?

Glad I did this, but the only part of this entire build that feels hoky pokie is there does not look to be a button on the 7" rpie screen (with jivelite) that can shut down LMS.. I dont want to hard wire a push button.. may have to see if I can edit some code...
 
I went with the HifiBerry Digi+ Pro.
Thinking of buying the Allo ...
Anyone here compare the two?
I see these two comparisons:
Allo New Transport Products | HiFiVision.com
Allo DigiOne board - Raspberry Pi - Roon Labs Community

there does not look to be a button on the 7" rpie screen (with jivelite) that can shut down LMS
I'm curious:
first, are you running LMS on your Raspberry Pi/piCorePlayer? Or are you running LMS on the file server you mentioned in the first post?
I thought that LMS is generally intended to run 24/7. Why do you want to shut it down?
 
I'm curious:
first, are you running LMS on your Raspberry Pi/piCorePlayer? Or are you running LMS on the file server you mentioned in the first post?
I thought that LMS is generally intended to run 24/7. Why do you want to shut it down?

I have the Rasberry Pi running piCorePlayer and LMS.
Yes, LMS can run 24x7 on Pi, but should be shut down gracefully i hear... (As with any db app). While my power is reasonably reliable it does go down once or twice a year. Id prefer to not leave on 24x7.
I wound up getting the allo one, and it sounds like some of the missing magic is back. The sound is more spacious and separated, highs are satisfying... The only difference now is while base is full, it seams like its not as deep.
This is only after listening through a few songs. In all fairness, the official raspberry pi power supply is struggling, I get the dreaded lighting bolt on the 7" touch screen during a library scan, and on/off at startup.
I don't want to pass judgment on any piece of equipment while knowing its underpowered... So now I'm looking for a low cost liner 5V 3-4 Amp power supply.... I have two rasberry pi's (one in mothballs) so may try two offical supplies, one for touchscreen and one for pie and see if I can hear any changes...
 
I have the Raspberry Pi running piCorePlayer and LMS.
OK, understand. LMS can be shut down from the piCorePlayer web interface of a connected computer, and of course you would prefer to avoid this.
But I understand that jivelite should include an applet dedicated to piCorePlayer functions, and this applet should include various power-down options. Refer -
Switching piCorePlayer off

If one of the options in the applet is for full shutdown of the Pi, this should be OK, because running Linux applications are supposed to close when the Linux operating system shuts down ... of course it might be worth checking on the slimdevices forum that the LMS application will respond gracefully in this circumstance.

Failing this, yes, a shutdown button may be the next best option. It's very easy to implement -
Announce: piCorePlayer 3.5.0 - Page 40

But here's another option - disable LMS on your Pi, and instead run it on the server which contains your music library.
There's a (small) chance that SQ may improve, too, since the Pi now has reduced load, only having to run squeezelite and jivelite.
 
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