LMS ecosystem

uglymusic

Well, today I set up piCorePlayer on the RPi and used iPeng app on the iPhone to play music from LMS on the Syno.

Talk about easy!

And so far, it's been rock solid. What a contrast to the DLNA setup!

It sounds pretty different from the DLNA setup because, unlike MoOde, Volumio and Rune Audio, piCorePlayer isn't based on MPD.

Does anyone need help with the abbreviations?

Docfoster

Erm...
What I am understanding is that this is a welcome change of fortune from your "DLNA/UPnP is a mess" thread.

uglymusic

That's it.

DLNA/UPnP seems unworkable with iOS at the moment because manufacturers appear to have tweaked the protocols to their own purposes, locking out freeloaders like me.

They can do that.

I may never buy a piece Linn or Lumin gear, but I haven't so far, so they shouldn't be too bothered by upsetting me and people like me

uglymusic

It went:

1. Something's not right with Volumio's sound and the volume keeps bouncing up to 100
2. This is a chance to try Snakeoil OS
3. I don't understand it
   
4. I'll try MoOde because I liked it in the past
   
5. Oh bugger, none of the available iOS DLNA apps seem to work properly any more. But, FWIW, MoOde sounds better than Volumio
6. I need to jump ship from DLNA
   
7. I'll try the LMS (Logitech Media Server) ecosystem
   

Alan

I love it when a plan comes together!

I understand the venerable squeezebox touch remains a world class transport when used with USB output. I would certainly be willing to try one.

uglymusic

It really has come together!

I've even got a Roberts Radio with RPi Zero innards working reliably on the network - I'd given up as it was so unreliable with Volumio and MoOde. I think part of the issue with the Roberts set up is that the RPi Zero is pretty minimal hardware and because piCorePlayer is a tiny piece of software, everything is happy.

The squeezebox endpoint world seems to be almost exclusively RPi these days, as far as I can see.

I'm still feeding the Young with S/PDIF, incidentally.

I'm still tweaking (of course) but the whole thing was a really easy set up.

uglymusic

One very important point is that Logitech Open Sourced the server - LMS (Logitech Media Server) - some time back. There's now a large and active community around it.

Because it's been Open Sourced, no company is able to hijack LMS and its ecosystem. It's out in the wild and thriving.

So, it's best to think about the ecosystem rather than the legacy Squeezebox hardware. That's just a backwater.

uglymusic

Alan said:

I love it when a plan comes together!

I understand the venerable squeezebox touch remains a world class transport when used with USB output. I would certainly be willing to try one.

There will be a version of LMS all ready to install on your QNAP. At least there was on my Syno.

Grab a Squeezebox and try it.

Alan

I could do.

There's also LMS software pre installed on my network player.

I hear you re the Touch, but nonetheless it is widely reported as being a world class transport. Anyway, I don't need to try LMS so long as DNLA is working fine. Good to know how viable it is, though.

uglymusic

I'm glad you've not had the DLNA problems that have been plaguing me.

The solution has been simple once I found it, but it was a PITA getting there.

uglymusic

I've just discovered that DLNA devices such as my Sonos speakers and our Samsung TV can be brought into the LMS ecosystem via a server plugin.

I'm keen to see how DLNA works via the server and iPeng app (very nice and well worth the £8.99 if anyone's wondering). At the moment, it's running perfectly to my office Sonos Ones.

uglymusic

And to my kitchen Play 1.

I'm liking LMS, in case you haven't guessed.