I agree a lot with what Soundcheck wrote.
I've tried them all myself in the last couple of years. Don't hear much difference (maybe my ears are not so good anymore after 54+ years) between MPD-based or LMS-based players.
I went the LMS path since I was already using a Squeezebox Touch and Receiver (and still do), so the choice of pCP was best for me. Biggest avantage for me is that pCP runs squeezelite quite well on an old RPi-1B, which I still use, AND you can switch off power without damaging the filesystem.
As a server I use Daphile on a separate NUC-like PC. I like Daphile's look-and-feel very much and is maintained very regularly for both linux and LMS. The fact that Daphile is sort of closed-source makes it very robust TMO.
Whatever version you choose for your RPi, it's always a work-in-progress. And it's free of charge so you should expect that sometimes things are not working as expected (I've experienced that a lot during my "journey" of testing all kinds of versions). Without some knowledge of Linux (my own knowledge comes from several Unix-OSs) it's sometimes quite a challenge in getting the right settings for mounting -external- disks and getting sound out of your USB-DAC. If you lack this kind of basic knowledge perhaps a commercial solution would be better (e.g. Roon or Sonos or the likes).
A thorough and useful reply from a user's perspective. And good point about PCP being run in memory - we have a lot of power failures here - lots and lots of trees with limbs that fall on power lines. So a system that doesn't corrupt the SD card when it loses power has a LOT of merit.
Just out of curiosity, have you looked at Max2Play? If so, what are your impressions?
I'll be checking it out. Thanks!
THANK YOU all, very sound info and advice here. Maximizing SQ is my chief aim (and saying "bye-bye" to corrupt SD cards would be very lovely) so I think I must have a go at PCP.
It will be a bit of a steep climb up Mount Learningcurve for me, so one more question before I dive-in, if I may. Will PCP option 3 "A combined LMS server and Squeezebox player" work nicely with music (FLAC) files on a NAS? i.e. I won't be keeping music files on the Pi. I have a Zyxel NSA325 and whilst there seems to be a roundabout way of getting LMS onto it, it's all a bit tricky for me and I would prefer to only fight one battle if possible!
Thanks again.
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Couldn't agree more. Looks like I have some additional SD cards in my immediate future.
Well, wadderyer know... thought I'd throw myself in at the deep end, faffed my way through the settings now I have PCP playing my FLAC files off my NAS! I'm rather pleased with my evening's work, it's just a shame it's too late to have a proper blast! Thanks all again for your encouragement.
Of course, now I'm officially a noob I have more questions...
1 - From a Windows 10 machine, is the best way to control LMS from my browser (i.e. using [IP]:9000) or is there a slicker/better way?
2 - What's a good method from an Android phone?
3 - l thought my Audiophonics I Sabre ES9023 TCXO I2S DAC would throw it but, no, the "I-Sabre-ES9023 DAC" option seems to work. Is this the best, or might there be a better choice?
4 - No idea what CIFS/NFS in NAS mount option, but CIFS seems to work for my NSA325. Okay to leave it on this?
I might actually be of some help here for a change.
Well, wadderyer know... thought I'd throw myself in at the deep end, faffed my way through the settings now I have PCP playing my FLAC files off my NAS! I'm rather pleased with my evening's work, it's just a shame it's too late to have a proper blast! Thanks all again for your encouragement.
Of course, now I'm officially a noob I have more questions...
1 - From a Windows 10 machine, is the best way to control LMS from my browser (i.e. using [IP]:9000) or is there a slicker/better way?
2 - What's a good method from an Android phone?
3 - l thought my Audiophonics I Sabre ES9023 TCXO I2S DAC would throw it but, no, the "I-Sabre-ES9023 DAC" option seems to work. Is this the best, or might there be a better choice?
4 - No idea what CIFS/NFS in NAS mount option, but CIFS seems to work for my NSA325. Okay to leave it on this?
1) Squeezer on Android, iPeng for iPhone
2) See above.
3) No comment, but I'll be looking on...
5) CIFS (Common Internet File System) is another access protocol, along with SMB (Samba), the latter used in Windows networks, the former typically requires a setting be applied in your NAS but it seems that's been done.
Thanks BillTheCat, I'll check out Squeezer once I get Android back (phone may have been stolen, grrr). Is CIFS okay, or am I better off using another access protocol?
Another question... Might I have better SQ if I didn't run LMS on the same Pi as PCP player is running? If so, would a Pi zero be able to handle LMS duties?
So, leaving aside the bickering between parties here, is there a consensus for those of us looking for a simple answer to which has the better sonic performance: moode vs volumio2?
Or, am I just asking in the wrong place?
I tried them a year ago. I found Volumio to sound very good first time out without changing any settings. Moode sounded less good than Volumio at first, but turning on SoX resampling made it sound excellent, probably a little better ("smoother") than Volumio, but it's hard to compare with online one Pi. Without SoX, Moode screwed up complex harmonic information, like tenor sax overtones.
I haven't bothered with CIFS, so I can't speak to any advantages or disadvantages.
I also can't comment either way about sound quality related to different apps running concurrently, but I can speculate a bit.
Given that audio player software places a demand on CPU cycles, the less demand or the more capable the CPU the better off you are. Remember that the Pi is also consuming cycles to manage I/O, display (if any) and so on. So, it's a matter of how well coded the software is in terms of efficiency, or how much horsepower you have.
So, in short, I have no clue.
I guess you could try, or perhaps there's another experienced member here that can answer. But in the end, you're taking about a difference of $20 between a Zero and Pi3, so for that kind of money, I wouldn't think twice about it.So, leaving aside the bickering between parties here, is there a consensus for those of us looking for a simple answer to which has the better sonic performance: moode vs volumio2?
Or, am I just asking in the wrong place?
No idea, my ears are shot.
From a interface perspective I have used many and find them similar, but Moode is more logical, to me.
Rune seems to be behind the curve developmentallly and Volumio seems to be kludge on kludge, looking more for features than SQ.
What you could do is to try them all. For the sake of a few hours burning SD and configuring you could make up your own mind, and not be swayed by someone else’s opinion.
I know that’s a novel idea, these days, but give it a crack. This is DIY audio, after all...
every app is buggy. The amount of time between the release of v.4.0 and the very minor bug fixes of v.4.1 is tiny, in development terms.
Certainly the ‘buggy’ UI only affects a very few people out of the thousands that have installed it.
If it’s all too much for you, why aren’t you just running Volumio?
Volumio has support for BruteFIR, but no matter what I do, I can't get it to sound better than without it. Moode offers a simple EQ, which is more than adequate to raise the bass of my fullrange Dallas II speakers, shall I feel like it.
For my IQAudIODAC, Volumio lacks the realtime special Linux kernel allowing the board the full 384kHz. No, I can't hear ANY difference between that and the 192 kHz playback (and I call BS on ANYONE claiming they do), but it still buggers me I can't use its full capabilities.
Moode Audio used to have the option to install the special kernel allowing full 384kHz high rate playback, and it was fun experimenting with it for a while. On the other hand, the same Moode Audio has become such a mess it's difficult to justify the lost time. I prefer to listen to music instead of waiting for endless compiles, etc.
For my IQAudIODAC, Volumio lacks the realtime special Linux kernel allowing the board the full 384kHz. No, I can't hear ANY difference between that and the 192 kHz playback (and I call BS on ANYONE claiming they do), but it still buggers me I can't use its full capabilities.
Moode Audio used to have the option to install the special kernel allowing full 384kHz high rate playback, and it was fun experimenting with it for a while. On the other hand, the same Moode Audio has become such a mess it's difficult to justify the lost time. I prefer to listen to music instead of waiting for endless compiles, etc.
Well, wadderyer know... thought I'd throw myself in at the deep end, faffed my way through the settings now I have PCP playing my FLAC files off my NAS! I'm rather pleased with my evening's work, it's just a shame it's too late to have a proper blast! Thanks all again for your encouragement.
Of course, now I'm officially a noob I have more questions...
1 - From a Windows 10 machine, is the best way to control LMS from my browser (i.e. using [IP]:9000) or is there a slicker/better way?
2 - What's a good method from an Android phone?
3 - l thought my Audiophonics I Sabre ES9023 TCXO I2S DAC would throw it but, no, the "I-Sabre-ES9023 DAC" option seems to work. Is this the best, or might there be a better choice?
4 - No idea what CIFS/NFS in NAS mount option, but CIFS seems to work for my NSA325. Okay to leave it on this?
Fortune favours the brave... Sometimes the only way is to jump right in!
You can use a browser from your PC or phone. However, in the MS Store you'll find a neat little app called Squeezelite-X (see [Announce] Squeezelite-X)
There are numerous android apps, both free (Squeezer) and paid (Squeeze Ctrl, Orange Squeeze)
If your DAC choice and Network choice works, I'd leave it for now and enjoy the music. Having said that, it is easy within PCP to make changes and try various settings (head over to Squeezebox : Community : Forums, where most questions have been asked before)
Similarly, if your Pi is currently performing well running both PCP and LMS, there is no reason to change, but when did that ever stop us seeking something extra. Not sure I'd use a Zero to run LMS, but I do run several as players.
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Thank you, Yatsushiro. It's good to be on board and thank you for your tips and wisdom. Most excellent advice to listen awhile... and then go a'tweaking. I will give up Kodi
which will release a Pi 3 for LMS duties.Have a look at Max2play to see if it's something you might be interested in exploring. It's pretty easy to configure. Think of it as a scripting interface that configures the Pi for different use cases. Once the max2play software is installed, all configuration from the player to LMS to equalizers and other plug-ins are installed via the browser. It's kinda like WordPress for music!Thank you, Yatsushiro. It's good to be on board and thank you for your tips and wisdom. Most excellent advice to listen awhile... and then go a'tweaking. I will give up Kodi
Thanks BilltheCat, I will give max2play a whirl in due course.
I had the bliss of the house to myself to this morning and was able to get a bit of listening done and so I am finally able to offer back something of an opinion relevant to the title of this thread...
First, I compared PCP Squeezelite + LMS, in both one and two-box setups. The two box setup was perhaps better SQ, not massively, indeed I feel I need to test it again on another day to be sure. Then I popped the Moode back in. It was clearly better than two-box PCP. Full chain of kit listed below.
In other words... darnit!
I much prefer GUIs & stability of Squeezelite and LMS and, having tasted them, I don't want to go back! I live in hope and will do a bit more looking into tweaks to see I can improve SQ at all (starting with Squeezebox : Community : Forums, as per Yatsushiro's suggestion). As I said, I will try max2play too. Is it known for having better SQ than PCP?The chain...
Zyxel NSA325 NAS (mostly FLAC CD rips) > Pi 2 (with Audiophonics Linear Power Supply DC LT1083) > Audiophonics I-Sabre V2.1 i2s DAC ES9023 TCXO > Class D Audio CDA-250L power amplifier kit > Quad 11L2 bookshelf speakers
Pi 3 for standalone LMS setup.
Pi2 running;
Audio optimized version of pCP3.22 (I am using wired homeplug network)
or
Moode 3.8.4 (the last image I have before the install process went convoluted (and GUI went glitchy)).
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Interesting, since others in this thread find PCP to have the better sound quality. I guess I'll have to try it myself, too. I'm running moOde v4 right now and will test in rotation with Volumio, M2P, and PCP and see what happens.
Have you tried any oversampling settings, and if so, what did you pick?