Installing MoOde

SystemSystem
in Digital
This discussion was created from comments split from: Still messing with Logitech Media Server.

Comments

  • 29mile29mile
    uglymusic said:
    This weekend's tweakery: install MoOde in the main system.


    If anyone is using Volumio on their RPi, I strongly suggest you try MoOde. Although it could just be my taste. 
    Would like to switch but to me it looks like you need to be a computer programmer with the Rpi fully connected with keyboard screen etc. I can barely switch programs on a TV plus do not have logistics to talk to the RPi. Can you get an SD card pre loaded ? Need some tech help here please. 
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    Here we go.

    Do you have a computer? You'll need to download and put MoOde on a memory card.

  • 29mile29mile
    Yes in the office. Will get a SD card reader and download tomorrow. 
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    You'll need A piece of software called Balena Etcher to transfer MoOde to the Micro SDcard. I hope you can install it on your work machine.
    You can find Etcher here.
    Is your RPi connected via Ethernet or wifi? From previous posts, I'm expecting you're using Ethernet.
  • 29mile29mile
    It’s Ethernet Dave. Thanks for all advice.
  • 29mile29mile
    I use Tidal ‘hifi’
    work machine runs Windows 7 btw.
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    edited September 2020
    It's pretty easy with Ethernet.
    No probs. RPi things are generally easy once you've done a few and have the confidence.
  • 29mile29mile
    Ok Dave I have now flashed ! ( 'oh er' as Mrs Macpherson said to Dr Finlay ) 

    With ethernet should be pretty straightforward using MoOde set up notes. Let's see. 
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    Yup. The setup notes should be easy enough. It's just that short section that refers to Ethernet and http://moode.local.
    If you can give it a go this evening, that'd be great. I'm working this evening, but if you get stuck I should be OK to take you through it tomorrow.
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    Just noticed something I missed. Are you playing Tidal through Volumio? AFAICS, that won't be possible through MoOde.
    When I had a Tidal subscription, I streamed it via a server on my NAS drive, so it hadn't occurred to me that it may be a stumbling block. You can, of course, stream via your Tidal app, but you'll probably lose some SQ and defeat the object.
  • 29mile29mile
    Thanks Dave. Not sure if I will get time tonight.
    Moode 6 series claims     Tidal, Qobuz and Google Play via UPnP
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    That suits me! I have a project to deliver and I'm up against a deadline. Just give me a shout when you're ready.
    I could only see Spotify when I looked, but maybe the Tidal settings are somewhere else.
  • 29mile29mile
    Yes I think you are right Dave. Tidal is not easily accessible via Moode but can be done using Bubble which I don’t actually understand. Seems to imply another link in the chain probably to detriment of sound quality as well as technical problems. Any other OS worth trying - MPD which is compatible with MoOde ?

  • uglymusicuglymusic
    edited September 2020
    MPD is the core of MoOde - and Volumio, for that matter. It's a player component, not a server.
    I have used Bubble UPnP Server (a different thing from the Bubble UPnP app that runs on Android) to stream Tidal, and the documentation is (was) bonkers! But there's a thread here on Chews about how I got it working. Again, in practice, setting the thing up isn't as difficult as it seems when you first encounter the geek docs.
    If you don't have a computer or a suitable NAS drive, you may not be able to go down that route, though. I don't know if it's possible to run Bubble UPnP Server on a Raspberry Pi. It might be worth doing a bit of digging.
    If I was to resubscribe to Tidal (unlikely), I'd run it through Logitech Media Server.
    Is Tidal your only streaming music source?
  • 29mile29mile
    edited September 2020
    I also have Spotify but Volumio basically removed it from their plug ins. Prefer Tidal interface anyway and much better music selection for me.
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    29mile said:
    I also have Spotify but Volumio basically removed it from their plug ins. Prefer Tidal interface anyway and much better music selection for me.

    Yeah. I agree on Tidal interface, but I found Tidal was always just a little behind my locally streamed FLAC files in terms of SQ (I have read why this should be, but I didn't understand the science), so I wasn't using it much through my main system.
    Elsewhere in the house, there's little to choose between 320k Spotify and Tidal HiFi, so sometime back I saved the 20 quid a month on Tidal and bought a few secondhand CDs instead.
  • 29mile29mile
    Interested to hear your NAS files were slightly ahead in SQ.
    For me the Spotify sounded slightly more digital and Tidal slightly warmer and analogue'ish but only subtly so. 
    I think with streaming becoming more mainstream and commercially driven operating systems may become more locked in to certain hardware/manufacturers and the DIY'ers may lose out. 
  • 29mile29mile
    Getting confused now as I found this thread setting up Tidal with MoOde 

    http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=2199
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    edited September 2020
    29mile said:
    Interested to hear your NAS files were slightly ahead in SQ.
    For me the Spotify sounded slightly more digital and Tidal slightly warmer and analogue'ish but only subtly so. 
    I think with streaming becoming more mainstream and commercially driven operating systems may become more locked in to certain hardware/manufacturers and the DIY'ers may lose out. 
    On my main system, Spotify sounds worse than Tidal and Tidal worse than local FLACs.  
    I don't see operating systems such as Windows or macOS excluding the Open Source Linux-based operating systems for the DIY community. Open Source is more and more important on the internet (servers) and in mobile (Android), so I don't see it going away.
    Even macOS is based on Free BSD, a variant of Unix, which is Open Source and in turn related to Linux.

  • uglymusicuglymusic
    29mile said:
    Getting confused now as I found this thread setting up Tidal with MoOde 

    http://moodeaudio.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=2199
    On first scan, I don't follow what's going on.

    Bear with me and I'll try to make sense of it over the next few days.
  • 29mile29mile

    On my main system, Spotify sounds worse than Tidal and Tidal worse than local FLACs.  
    I don't see operating systems such as Windows or macOS excluding the Open Source Linux-based operating systems for the DIY community. Open Source is more and more important on the internet (servers) and in mobile (Android), so I don't see it going away.
    Even macOS is based on Free BSD, a variant of Unix, which is Open Source and in turn related to Linux.

    I was looking more at how popular and slick Volumio Tidal Roon etc have become within audiophile streaming hifi and not open source in general eg Volumio seems to have dumped Spotify in favour of Tidal or Roon now recommended by everybody including Naim etc. These hifi commercial links will increase as streaming develops. Open source is of course not going away in the wider computer and I am glad that Apple and Microsoft do not have a stranglehold on all things digital. 
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    Sure, Roon and Tidal aren't Open Source. But both Volumio and MoOde are. There's very little for the Raspberry Pi that isn't Open Source. It's the spirit of the thing.
    HiFi manufacturers will try to lock down whatever streaming we use (that's what caused me to drop DLNA/UPnP and start using LMS (see a number of threads on Chews from earlier this year)), but Open Source enthusiasts are determined to offer a valid alternative, and I don't see that going away anytime soon.
  • 29mile29mile
    edited September 2020
    Good to hear. Power to the people ! ( well those with a Rpi anyway )
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    There are other SBCs as well, but there's much less choice in audio apps for them.
  • 29mile29mile
    edited September 2020
    I have an Allo Usbridge Sparky which is their first USB player and not based on a Rpi. Only Dietpi and Volumio now support it but it was actually better on usb than a RPi. It does not support I2s and has since been replaced by their Usbridge Signature which is RPi based and will take HAT’s and Is apparently very good. 
  • 29mile29mile
    Dave I think I sussed the MoOde / Tidal issue as it seems you need to use MconnectHD or Bubbleupnp to access it.
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    RPi or its derivatives seems to be the way to go - at least, that's the route I'm on until I find a better one!

    I'm thinking of getting a DigiOne Signature board to slot into my setup.
  • 29mile29mile
    edited September 2020
    I am a big fan of Allo. They fit in with the Open Source spirit you mentioned earlier and cleverly use the DIY market to promote their never ending range of products. I have a Boss and Katana dac. The Katana with 2 good PSU's betters my M2Tech Young DSD. 
    I think that's the key to getting the best out them - very good PSU's and Allo themselves make 2 the Shanti https://www.allo.com/sparky/shanti.html and Nirvana https://www.allo.com/sparky/nirvana-smps.html. 
  • uglymusicuglymusic
    edited September 2020
    Yeah. I agree about PSUs. I'm planning to use my iFi iPower to begin with, (with standard RPi PSU for what Allo term the dirty side) then perhaps the Shanti. 
Sign In or Register to comment.