SOtM Mini Server - sMS-100 Announced

[vortecjr]

Hi Jesus

 

 

What DAC do You have?

 

I have several, but I also have the M2Tech hiFace for testing the units based on it's driver.

 

Send me an PM so I can log into your system and check the LMS configuration.

 

Jesus R

[Holberg]

Hi Jesus

 

Have send You a PM :-)

[Holberg]

I have all my files on an external harddisk. Do I need to uncheck iTunes and use the folder of my external hard disk ?

 

Could this be the reason?

[Holberg]

Hi Jesus

 

Thanks for Your kind assistance. Everything is playing perfect now :-)

 

And what a great unit sMS-100 is. Has left my old combination in the dust in every possible way(Macbook + Audirvana Plus) GREAT STUFF!!

[mrvco]

I just read through this thread and am very intrigued by the SMS-100 to replace my current Airport Express setup. However I didn't see any discussion regarding using the SMS-100 as an Airplay Device. I'm interested in using the SMS-100 as an Airplay device connected to a USB DAC with Amarra in Playlist mode and Airfoil as the front-end for lossless music and Itunes/Amarra for my Lossy collection.

 

Is the Airplay / Airfoil / Amarra setup viable and how would it compare to using Jriver or LMS with the SMS-100?

[alw50]

I had tried Airplay previously just to see how it worked -- quite well, I could play from various iPad apps to the sMS-100 without a problem. I haven't used it much as I'm happy with Squeezelite.

 

Out of curiosity, I downloaded Airfoil and tried it. I set it up on a Mac separate from my music server, and used it to stream to Airplay on the sMS-100. My Amarra trial has expired, so I used Squeezeplay served from LMS on my music server.

 

It worked, but there was occasionally a bit of lag, particularly at startup, and occasionally on pause etc.

 

I then played the same tracks through the sMS-100 using Squeezelite as usual. The sound quality was much better -- through Airplay there was an unpleasant harshness to the sound.

 

Of course you may find differently but I would do some testing before using this approach.

[mrvco]

I had tried Airplay previously just to see how it worked -- quite well, I could play from various iPad apps to the sMS-100 without a problem. I haven't used it much as I'm happy with Squeezelite.

 

Out of curiosity, I downloaded Airfoil and tried it. I set it up on a Mac separate from my music server, and used it to stream to Airplay on the sMS-100. My Amarra trial has expired, so I used Squeezeplay served from LMS on my music server.

 

It worked, but there was occasionally a bit of lag, particularly at startup, and occasionally on pause etc.

 

I then played the same tracks through the sMS-100 using Squeezelite as usual. The sound quality was much better -- through Airplay there was an unpleasant harshness to the sound.

 

Of course you may find differently but I would do some testing before using this approach.

 

I've never owned a Squeezebox, does LMS or the Squeezeplay app require licensing or cost anything?

 

Apparently I can stream directly to an Airplay device from Amarra without Airfoil or iTunes, but that configuration has some noise issues that I haven't sorted out yet (I just submitted a support ticket with Amarra).

[alw50]

You don't need a Squeezebox to run LMS -- it's very good multi-platform freely available music server (Linux, OSX, Windows ...). SqueezePlay is software that behaves like a Squeezebox -- I run it sometimes on my Mac for convenience.

 

If you want to play high resolution files, I'd suggest being careful about basing your playback system on Airplay. It's Apple, and they generally don't do high res very well. Also, it's often difficult to find out just what is supported. I believe the best you will get is 48khz -- based on information at these links:

 

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/AudioVideo/Conceptual/AirPlayGuide/PreparingYourMediaforAirPlay/PreparingYourMediaforAirPlay.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40011045-CH4-SW1 which links to

 

https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Conceptual/StreamingMediaGuide/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/FrequentlyAskedQuestions.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40008332-CH103-SW1

 

and also

 

How Apple’s AirPlay Streams Audio | Kirkville

 

Jesus would probably know ....

[mrvco]

Thanks for the info, that's very helpful. I'll check out the LMS software.

 

I'm really just trying to start from a "comfortable" place with Airplay. I'd rather not re-architect my music library day one. I do use PS3MS for DLNA streaming video, so that is another area of relative comfort, similar to running Amarra in Playlist Mode from a file management perspective.

 

I see the sMS-100 as a cost-effective (and better?) alternative to the investment required with going down the mod'd Mac Mini path. Depending upon what the long awaited refresh brings, I'll probably still purchase a Mac Mini just because I'd like to compartmentalize my music collection and get it off my iMac.

[alw50]

That's reasonable, as a comfortable starting point, Airplay is good, and I appreciate its presence in the sMS-100 on occasions when I want to use iOS apps.

 

I find the cost effectiveness / value for money of the sMS-100 to be seriously impressive. I bought it as an interim measure and to compare it with other approaches. I have compared it directly against a 2010 MBP running Amarra and found it much better (however I hadn't optimized the OS as much as I could have so will return to that test again at some point).

 

Yes it would be very interesting to see a comparison against a modded Mac Mini.

 

I thought about modifying a Mac Mini but have decided to build a CAPS Carbon instead. One thing I want to do (as an experiment) is set that up as a NAA (network audio adapter) for HQPlayer running on my MBP. Then I can compare it with the NAA already present in the sMS-100. Hopefully this will give some insight into how the sMS-100 architecture compares.

[Superdad]

...have decided to build a CAPS Carbon instead. One thing I want to do (as an experiment) is set that up as a NAA (network audio adapter) for HQPlayer running on my MBP. Then I can compare it with the NAA already present in the sMS-100. Hopefully this will give some insight into how the sMS-100 architecture compares.

 

Please let us know how that goes. Despite Miska saying that there should not be much difference between machines running the NAA (using similarly optimized Linux for their respective processor architecture), my experiments so far have yeilded radical SQ diferernces, even when using the same linear PS for both NAA machines (my i7 Mac mini is a far better sounding NAA than a CuBox-i4Pro). So I'd love to know what differences you hear between a CAPs as NAA versus an sMS-100.

[alw50]

OK, I'll get back on it when I can come up with something I have some confidence in. At the moment my CAPS build is very much Stage0 -- headless motherboard with Daphile on a USB stick. To install the NAA I have to get it back to a monitor, install and test the SSD (+ SATA filter) I have for it, then install a Linux followed by the NAA package. The NAA comes as a Debian .deb archive, but I want to try it using Arch or if possible its variant AudiophileLinux -- hopefully it will cooperate. Anyway it might take a while as work is getting annoyingly hectic again ...

[linvincible]

Hello Holberg,

 

Good to see your problem was fixed!

 

Re the glitches. I have a similar setup (LMS on a Macbook Pro, Squeezelite on the sMS-100).

 

At first I had continuous crackling-type noises. I resolved this by changing the parameters under squeezelite settings -- buffer size and period count.

 

Before doing that, I verified that the sMS-100 hardware wasn't the problem by using the DLNA app on the sMS-100 -- I installed minimserver on the MBP, then used the sMS-100 to play from it -- there was no noise. So I focussed my attention on the software -- as above.

 

Might be worth a try before sending it back ...

 

Hello, I had the same problem and applied settings proposed in this thread (10000 buffer and 2500 repeat or whatever it's called)

glitches vanished.

To be accurate on the glitches : they were not regular but very frequent, felt like listening to a dirty vinyl. So not only on tracks transition.

I looked at the values when using the auto parameters on a big file like advised by Jesus (tried DSD and 192x24) and they were around 7600 and 1500, so I set them now to 10000 and 2000.

There's a significant delay when pressing NEXT, is that related to the buffer?

[mrvco]

How are you guys liking the sMS-100 so far?

[Holberg]

How are you guys liking the sMS-100 so far?

 

I own the sMS-100 + mBPS-d2s. 100% satisfied. Outstanding units!!!! BTW I use my MacBook as server with Logitech Media Server 7.8.1 installed. As remote I´m using iPeng. Working perfect. Can´t believe how much the the sMS-100 has to offer for the money spend. I´m a big fan. Outstanding! :-)

[linvincible]

How are you guys liking the sMS-100 so far?

 

I like mine a lot! It allowed me to keep Logitech Media Server and use a more advanced DAC than the Transporter that was starting to age. LMS and squeezelite now allow playing DSD so we can't ask for more on the formats coverage.

 

On the improvements I would like to see: an IR remote control, I2S hdmi output, shorter boot time.

[Holberg]

I like mine a lot! It allowed me to keep Logitech Media Server and use a more advanced DAC than the Transporter that was starting to age. LMS and squeezelite now allow playing DSD so we can't ask for more on the formats coverage.

 

On the improvements I would like to see: an IR remote control, I2S hdmi output, shorter boot time.

 

I agree about shorter boot time. Could be faster. That said it´s a minor issue imo. When the system is up and going it´s rock steady without glitches and other annoying outfalls.

[Jabs1542]

... One thing I want to do (as an experiment) is set that up as a NAA (network audio adapter) for HQPlayer running on my MBP. Then I can compare it with the NAA already present in the sMS-100. Hopefully this will give some insight into how the sMS-100 architecture compares.

 

How did you setup the sMS-100 as a NAA? I read the manual Sonore has online and there is no mention of that function. I am hoping to go HQPlayer on a CAPSv3 > Cat 5 > sMS-100 > Lampi DSD DAC. I'm curious if this will work and how it will be to set it up. Are you pushing DSD through your sMS-100?

 

thanks - Jay

[alw50]

You're right, it's not in the manual -- must have come in at v1.3.

 

Setup was easy -- HQPLayer appears in the list of available apps, so install it from there, then go the app switcher and activate it.

 

I've ony used it once, with HQPLayer running on another machine (not the MBP I use for music). It found the NAA over the wireless network, and connected immediately.

 

Not running DSD at the moment. I have a Loki sitting on a shelf awaiting its moment in the sun, but lots of other things to sort out first ...

[ericuco]

CAPSv3 > Cat 5 > sMS-100 > Lampi DSD DAC

 

You might want to step up to a Cat 6a cable. Superdad here on CA has posted about this in one of his threads. He also recommends cables from Blue Jeans Cables. I have ordered a few of their Cat 6a cables. You can order specific lengths at about $2/ft & color of your choice. They even send you the test report that it meets (exceeds) specs.

[Jabs1542]

Alw50: Thanks, that was very helpful, wasn't sure if I was going to have to ask Jesus to configure it for me (which then means I have no idea what to do when a problem arises). Very helpful.

 

ericuco: I haven't really thought about specific wires yet but I remember Superdad's posts about the Blue Jean Cables, I'll do some googling today... Correction, just noticed you included the link - cables purchased! Thanks

[realmassy]

You're right, it's not in the manual -- must have come in at v1.3.

 

Setup was easy -- HQPLayer appears in the list of available apps, so install it from there, then go the app switcher and activate it.

 

I've ony used it once, with HQPLayer running on another machine (not the MBP I use for music). It found the NAA over the wireless network, and connected immediately.

 

I'm trying the SMS100 as NAA and the setup has been so easy and the sound quality is very good.

Even without filters applied HQPlayer/NAA sounds different from JRiver/DLNA. Applying the filters makes a huge change, but finding the right configuration is not easy! Anyway, the SMS100 is such a lovely piece of audio equipment, and bargain at its price.

 

But I've noticed Sonore now offers a Sonicorbiterv2, has anyone tried it yet?

[Jabs1542]

I'm trying the SMS100 as NAA and the setup has been so easy and the sound quality is very good.

Even without filters applied HQPlayer/NAA sounds different from JRiver/DLNA. Applying the filters makes a huge change, but finding the right configuration is not easy! Anyway, the SMS100 is such a lovely piece of audio equipment, and bargain at its price.

 

But I've noticed Sonore now offers a Sonicorbiterv2, has anyone tried it yet?

 

Realmassy: Are you playing DSD? If so, did you have any issues with drivers?

 

thanks

[realmassy]

My current dac doesn't support DSD, but I tested it with the Ayre QB-9 I used to own, but only in DLNA mode (no HQPlayer)

[Jabs1542]

My current dac doesn't support DSD, but I tested it with the Ayre QB-9 I used to own, but only in DLNA mode (no HQPlayer)

 

Sorry, I realized about 30 minutes later that I had already asked you the same question on a different CA Forum - but hey, your answer was consistent Thanks