Topic: Network audio players or Plex

[ts]

Looking for something like the Pioneer Elite N50 to use in my HT system but more recent. Would like Airplay, Bluetooth, WiFi etc. under $500. Doesn’t need to “cast” music to other rooms. Thanks.

This looks interesting. No reviews on sound though:

https://www.banggood.com/SMSL-DP3Hi-Res-ES9018Q2C-DAC-Chip-32Bit384Khz-DSD256-Amplifier-Digital-Player-p-1300683.html?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_organic&gmcCountry=US&utm_content=minha&utm_campaign=minha-us-pc&currency=USD&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_bgs&utm_content=frank&utm_campaign=frank-ssc-us-all-0418&ad_id=431928166734&ID=3426&cur_warehouse=CN

[MakersMarc]

That’s a cool box.

[heathen]

I feel like a broken record, but you can get this done with a Raspberry Pi and still have a bunch of money leftover. 

[jerryfreak]

Looking for something like the Pioneer Elite N50 to use in my HT system but more recent. Would like Airplay, Bluetooth, WiFi etc. under $500. Doesn’t need to “cast” music to other rooms. Thanks.

This looks interesting. No reviews on sound though:

https://www.banggood.com/SMSL-DP3Hi-Res-ES9018Q2C-DAC-Chip-32Bit384Khz-DSD256-Amplifier-Digital-Player-p-1300683.html?utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_organic&gmcCountry=US&utm_content=minha&utm_campaign=minha-us-pc&currency=USD&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_bgs&utm_content=frank&utm_campaign=frank-ssc-us-all-0418&ad_id=431928166734&ID=3426&cur_warehouse=CN

a lot of decent stuff coming out of China these days, theyve figured out if they can use a chip with good name recognition (ESS 9018 has been around for quite a while but the 90x8 series is pretty acclaimed.) Of course its all in the implementation, but it seems that with chips of that quality, most manufacturers can eek out great performance with minimum additional board space

lots of user reports over at ASR on the DP3

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?search/7823575/&q=DP3&o=relevance

and some tests on some similar-era SMSL products

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wolfs-measurements-of-smsl-m200-dac.13913/

not state-of-the-art performance, but still probably at least as good as most sub-$500 dacs, esp if a few years old

edit: its funny to see a player in 2020 supporting APE files! i wouldnt have to reencode my early 24-bit shows lol

[ts]

I feel like a broken record, but you can get this done with a Raspberry Pi and still have a bunch of money leftover.

So I figured I’d ask as this suggestion comes up quite often. Most recently in my Squeezebox replacement thread. So how would a Pi work in my Home Theater room which is nowhere near a PC and I don’t have a spare Laptop. Can an iPad be used to operate it?

What I’m currently thinking of doing is using power line adapters to get an Ethernet connection form my router or switch to my HT setup and then use my iPad to control listening via Airplay or Bluetooth. I’m thinking my two best options are to replace my HT receiver with a more modern unit, all the connections I need, or add a device like the one I linked in the first post. Unless there’s another option I’m not aware of. Just don’t see how the Pi will work the way I want it to.

[heathen]

I feel like a broken record, but you can get this done with a Raspberry Pi and still have a bunch of money leftover.

So I figured I’d ask as this suggestion comes up quite often. Most recently in my Squeezebox replacement thread. So how would a Pi work in my Home Theater room which is nowhere near a PC and I don’t have a spare Laptop. Can an iPad be used to operate it?

What I’m currently thinking of doing is using power line adapters to get an Ethernet connection form my router or switch to my HT setup and then use my iPad to control listening via Airplay or Bluetooth. I’m thinking my two best options are to replace my HT receiver with a more modern unit, all the connections I need, or add a device like the one I linked in the first post. Unless there’s another option I’m not aware of. Just don’t see how the Pi will work the way I want it to.

You could connect the Pi to your network over wifi or ethernet.  You could then use the iPad to operate it (at least with the Pi distros I've used, like Volumio).  You can even use your phone to operate it.  A Pi could be used in place of the device you originally linked, but it's not going to replace your HT receiver (neither of them will).  I don't have experience with the modern HT receivers, but I'm pretty sure a network player is pretty standard these days.  That would be the more expensive option, but if you're looking to replace it anyway you might kill two birds with one stone.  If you don't want to replace the receiver, a Pi is at least worth some research because it would save you hundreds of dollars over that DP3.

[DigiGal]

I feel like a broken record, but you can get this done with a Raspberry Pi and still have a bunch of money leftover. 

Would you consider making a tutorial DIY build thread to help everyone visualize and proof of concept?  If there's already one out there would like to see links.

[heathen]

I feel like a broken record, but you can get this done with a Raspberry Pi and still have a bunch of money leftover. 

Would you consider making a tutorial DIY build thread to help everyone visualize and proof of concept?  If there's already one out there would like to see links.

I would, but my Pi is currently in full-time service as an NAS.  There are definitely a lot of step-by-step guides out there online.  Not to be the guy who just tells everyone to Google it, but there are some good guides out there.  I think I have some bookmarked at home, so maybe I'll post those at least to save people some Googling time.

[rigpimp]

Hell, you don't even need a Pi. 

Just sign up for a Plex account and get yourself an Amazon Firestick.  Stream that shit anywhere and to any device. 

We won't talk about how you are storing/backing up your data because that is where you can go Pi, go enterprise, or anything in between.

[ts]

Giving Plex a try. Problem is my music is spread over 8 hard drives and nothing is tagged and usually no artwork. So whatever platform I end up using it’s going to look like crap.

[rigpimp]

Sort Plex libraries by folder, problem fixed.

I use a tagging program to at least get an artist name on a directory so I can shuffle stuff at a minimum.

[Colin Liston]

Giving Plex a try. Problem is my music is spread over 8 hard drives and nothing is tagged and usually no artwork. So whatever platform I end up using it’s going to look like crap.

Plex Lifetime subscription on sale today for $88

https://www.plex.tv/plex-pass/purchase/

Use promo code:   8PLEXPASS8

[ts]

Sort Plex libraries by folder, problem fixed.

I use a tagging program to at least get an artist name on a directory so I can shuffle stuff at a minimum.

I have individual folders for every recoding with at least etree standard naming. Better than nothing, I guess. Is this what you’re referring to? No track names and no artwork for any boots, so no matter what platform I use for playback, the files look like crap! Dl’ed live recordings from nugs or whatever and commercial stuff looks great of course.

[rigpimp]

Sort Plex libraries by folder, problem fixed.

I use a tagging program to at least get an artist name on a directory so I can shuffle stuff at a minimum.

I have individual folders for every recoding with at least etree standard naming. Better than nothing, I guess. Is this what you’re referring to? No track names and no artwork for any boots, so no matter what platform I use for playback, the files look like crap! Dl’ed live recordings from nugs or whatever and commercial stuff looks great of course.

There is a difference between etree standard naming and meta tags.

Plex has a huge database so if you have something named and they see similarities like file size or hash they'll tag it in Plex but not the physical file.  If you tag the physical file you can set that to defeat anything from their system.

I have 100's of 1000's of files.  My most untagged collection is live concerts but I occasionally use metax to tag those.

For audio I use mp3tag and a script to tag albums by venue and date.  I can sort through 30 years of GD by folder without a problem just based on etree names. I either have venue added by tagging using live show tagger in foobar or forcing it manually.  It's a labor of love but for the most part I point Plex at an artist and let it shuffle anyway

[jerryfreak]

can you give the rundown on plex streaming from your own collection vs plextv vs plex movies etc is available, and what is free?

do people share stuff or are their repositories for streaming other peoples content, and does that require a plex subscription?

thanks

[ts]

Sort Plex libraries by folder, problem fixed.

I use a tagging program to at least get an artist name on a directory so I can shuffle stuff at a minimum.

I have individual folders for every recoding with at least etree standard naming. Better than nothing, I guess. Is this what you’re referring to? No track names and no artwork for any boots, so no matter what platform I use for playback, the files look like crap! Dl’ed live recordings from nugs or whatever and commercial stuff looks great of course.

There is a difference between etree standard naming and meta tags.

Plex has a huge database so if you have something named and they see similarities like file size or hash they'll tag it in Plex but not the physical file.  If you tag the physical file you can set that to defeat anything from their system.

I have 100's of 1000's of files.  My most untagged collection is live concerts but I occasionally use metax to tag those.

For audio I use mp3tag and a script to tag albums by venue and date.  I can sort through 30 years of GD by folder without a problem just based on etree names. I either have venue added by tagging using live show tagger in foobar or forcing it manually.  It's a labor of love but for the most part I point Plex at an artist and let it shuffle anyway

My music is so unorganized that Plex can’t even find it. I pointed it to 8 drives and all it found was my commercial Beatles collection and some Phish, nothing else. Something to do this winter since there most likely won’t be anything else to do. I really need to go thru show folders and strip the flacs out. 16 and 24 bit and move those only to SSD’s and then point Plex or whatever to the SSD’s. It’s a daunting task. Thanks for the tips!

[ts]

can you give the rundown on plex streaming from your own collection vs plextv vs plex movies etc is available, and what is free?

do people share stuff or are their repositories for streaming other peoples content, and does that require a plex subscription?

thanks

Sorry, got sidetracked for a bit. I had to activate Plex which cost $4.99. It worked freely on all my Roku devices but wouldn’t play nice with any IOS devices for all my music without the $4.99 activation. I don’t know about movies or TV. I really didn’t get it for that. I’m using it for photos and music only.

[rigpimp]

can you give the rundown on plex streaming from your own collection vs plextv vs plex movies etc is available, and what is free?

do people share stuff or are their repositories for streaming other peoples content, and does that require a plex subscription?

thanks

Sorry I never saw your reply Jamie. 

Plex subscriptions basically just support the devs.  I'd call it shareware but all features on it are free.  I barely use it for what it is worth because I only stream 99% from my own collection.  Free movies and tv have ads and that is how it is paid for.  Allegedly it also has a PVR function that you can hook up to a STB but I do not do TV for the most part.

Yes, if you have a bunch of garbage files on a myriad of drives then Plex will not recognize a lot without some strong organization skills.  Have you tried to change the order of metadata agents? I had to flip the Personal Media Albums to the top. 

I will admit that I do use Filebot (rename video files including episodes), MetaX (movie metadata & covers), and Mp3tag (add an album tag that is "date - venue" from foobar) to organize stuff.  Some of my organization is dragging ALL of one band and getting the band's name into the metadata tags, at a minimum.  Then I can just tell PLex to shuffle all Grateful Dead and it'll play for a century without repeating a show.  LOL

I think that for metadata Plex pulls everything from everyone but there is not "repository" like in Kodi.  Everyone with a server can share their media server with anyone that has a Plex account.  It is permission-based so they only see what you want them to but it all goes against your broadband upload speeds.  I give my family access to movies/TV/Music but limit the video streams to 720p to preserve bandwidth.

Hopefully, this helps some.  I included a screen snip of how my plex looks

[ts]

 No gapless playback on Roku. Glad I didn’t subscribe. 

[kindms]

RE: Plex metadata etc

I found when first setting it up it was frustrating with regards to how it cataloged and presented certain movies, tv shows etc

I spent a decent amount of time on their help pages. They have a pretty specific folder / naming structure with regards to compiling episodic stuff or multipart movies etc

but once you get the hang of it not a big deal. For music i didnt really bother just because there is too much and I dont necessarily use plex as my primary playback unless im goofing around in the living room

Another option is the built in apps for music movies etc on a synology if you are using one for external storage etc. i have found their apps to work really well on multiple

[rigpimp]

No gapless playback on Roku. Glad I didn’t subscribe. 

That's too bad.  I didn't even realize that was a problem.  I use the desktop site, android app, and a fire stick and they all playback gapless and have for a long time.  As far as I can recall anyway

[ts]

No gapless playback on Roku. Glad I didn’t subscribe. 

That's too bad.  I didn't even realize that was a problem.  I use the desktop site, android app, and a fire stick and they all playback gapless and have for a long time.  As far as I can recall anyway

Yea it’s too bad. My main use was for casting music from my PC to my HTR via a Roku box. I’ll still use it for TV and movies.