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Auralic Lightning DS App (Software) - Impressions and Information


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I have Some serious problems with Lightning DS. It sees every song as a separate album.

 

Also when I chose a genre it does not disparate list of artists, it just lists every song from that genre. Is there any way to reduce the numb of genres? When I use foobar I get maybe 10 to 14 genres, lightning DS gives me 37.

 

The app in general is very hard to use. I cannot figure out how it works.

Very hard to use ? Where ?

 

You problem is related to metadata issues in your files. You have to tag correctly your file to ensure that LDS handle them correctly in the database.

 

Genre are not invented/created by LDS, but found in your files.

Compared to Mediamonkey, an app for foobar, the Lightning DS app is difficult to use. I have no clue what the difference is between Library View and Folder View or what the purpose of Collection is.

 

For some songs and albums I used multiple genres. So I could find the same artist under multiple genres. I have a lot of doom metal. So I created a genre Doom. But those same album I wanted to find in the genre metal. So I tagged them doom; metal or metal; doom. In lightning DS I find the genres Doom, Doom Metal, Metal Doom and Metal. This is really annoying. In Lightning DS I also no hwva the genres pop folk, folk pop, pop reggae, pop electro, etc.

 

Also each songs is an album. So if I select an artist I see, 600 albums, 613 songs. I never play separate songs. In foorbar I just selected an album and pressed play. That is why I never use play lists I dislike it a lot when people mix a lot.

Hi Mordante

 

I don't think you've mentioned in these posts nor any of the following ones which UPnP media server you are using with your Aries. Nor have you mentioned which device you are using to provide physical storage of your music files, that said UPnP media server manages for streaming by the Aries. This would certainly help in diagnosing your problems and suggesting a possible solution, even a temporary one should it be a current issue with the Lightning DS app and/or Aries firmware that needs fixing.

 

I'm guessing that you are using the Aries's built-in (firmware) UPnP media server, the Lightning Server, with it managing the music files. One possible configuration would be access via a network shared folder, that the Foobar2000 music software running on your Windows machine is also accessing for the same music files. Or perhaps you have copies of the same files on a storage drive locally attached to the Aries.

 

If this is the case, then you should test with other UPnP media servers to see if you are getting the same problems. There could well be an issue with how the Aries's Lightning Server interprets your particular music file tags/metadata, compared to other (external) UPnP media servers. For example, the foo_upnp plugin component turns Foobar2000 into a UPnP media server (as well as providing a UPnP controller and local UPnP renderer):

https://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_upnp

 

The Foobar2000 UPnP media server uses its own internal music file library, so you should be able to see Fb2k's own music category folder structure if you access its media server via the Lightning DS's 'Folder view', untouched by the Lightning DS app. You should then be able to compare it to how the Lightning DS app internally manipulates the same music category data it receives from the Fb2k UPnP media server to present the user with its own customised 'Library view'.

 

Another UPnP media server worth testing with is the music dedicated and often recommended MinimServer, as it is very straight forward to install on Windows (requires the Java runtime environment) and should have no issues running alongside the Fb2k UPnP media server:

MinimServer features

 

Hope this helps.

 

BTW, interesting that you mentioned using a rival music player application to Foobar2000, Mediamonkey, as "an app for foobar". Was this a typo or are you somehow using the two together?

 

John

We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

-- Jo Cox

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BTW, interesting that you mentioned using a rival music player application to Foobar2000, Mediamonkey, as "an app for foobar". Was this a typo or are you somehow using the two together?

 

John

I am using those together (MM as the iDevice controlpoint) - works like a charm with Foobar2000 on the PC.

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I am using those together (MM as the iDevice controlpoint) - works like a charm with Foobar2000 on the PC.
Distinctive, do you mean using MM as an Android device 'controlpoint' or actually an iDevice one? I can't find any official iOS MediaMonkey app listed.

 

Also by 'controlpoint' do you actually mean a UPnP control point app, so have you installed the foo_upnp plugin for Foobar2000 and are you using the MM app to control the foo_upnp provided Fb2k UPnP renderer or to just use the foo_upnp provided Fb2k UPnP media server with the MM app or both? Otherwise, if not a UPnP control point, what do you mean by 'controlpoint'?

We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

-- Jo Cox

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Distinctive, do you mean using MM as an Android device 'controlpoint' or actually an iDevice one? I can't find any official iOS MediaMonkey app listed.

 

Also by 'controlpoint' do you actually mean a UPnP control point app, so have you installed the foo_upnp plugin for Foobar2000 and are you using the MM app to control the foo_upnp provided Fb2k UPnP renderer or to just use the foo_upnp provided Fb2k UPnP media server with the MM app or both? Otherwise, if not a UPnP control point, what do you mean by 'controlpoint'?

Sorry, my bad.

I meant MonkeymoteHD for IOS and not Mediamonkey.

I confused those when posting from work.

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Ok, makes sense now. MonkeyMote iOS app used just as a remote control (rather than a UPnP control point) and requires the supplied MonkeyMote helper plugin to install in Foobar2000 for it to work.

We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

-- Jo Cox

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You can use Roon.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Computer Audiophile mobile app

 

Also Linn Kazoo or Linn Kinsky - very limited of course compared to Roon.

In addition, Tidal integration in those Linn products is only functional with Linn hardware.

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Hi Mordante

 

I don't think you've mentioned in these posts nor any of the following ones which UPnP media server you are using with your Aries. Nor have you mentioned which device you are using to provide physical storage of your music files, that said UPnP media server manages for streaming by the Aries. This would certainly help in diagnosing your problems and suggesting a possible solution, even a temporary one should it be a current issue with the Lightning DS app and/or Aries firmware that needs fixing.

 

I'm guessing that you are using the Aries's built-in (firmware) UPnP media server, the Lightning Server, with it managing the music files. One possible configuration would be access via a network shared folder, that the Foobar2000 music software running on your Windows machine is also accessing for the same music files. Or perhaps you have copies of the same files on a storage drive locally attached to the Aries.

 

If this is the case, then you should test with other UPnP media servers to see if you are getting the same problems. There could well be an issue with how the Aries's Lightning Server interprets your particular music file tags/metadata, compared to other (external) UPnP media servers. For example, the foo_upnp plugin component turns Foobar2000 into a UPnP media server (as well as providing a UPnP controller and local UPnP renderer):

https://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_upnp

 

The Foobar2000 UPnP media server uses its own internal music file library, so you should be able to see Fb2k's own music category folder structure if you access its media server via the Lightning DS's 'Folder view', untouched by the Lightning DS app. You should then be able to compare it to how the Lightning DS app internally manipulates the same music category data it receives from the Fb2k UPnP media server to present the user with its own customised 'Library view'.

 

Another UPnP media server worth testing with is the music dedicated and often recommended MinimServer, as it is very straight forward to install on Windows (requires the Java runtime environment) and should have no issues running alongside the Fb2k UPnP media server:

MinimServer features

 

Hope this helps.

 

BTW, interesting that you mentioned using a rival music player application to Foobar2000, Mediamonkey, as "an app for foobar". Was this a typo or are you somehow using the two together?

 

John

 

 

I am using MonkeyMoteHD as control app for Foobar2000.

 

All my files are stored on my Synology DS214 NAS, I use the Lightning DS as media server, I also tried minimserver but that give me the same problems.

 

But I have found the problem. Both Lightning DS Server and Minimserver cannot handle it when the songs of each album are in different folders. My folder structer is more or less as follows:

 

NAS\muziek\artist\album\song name\year of song\song

 

as example

 

\\DISKSTATION\Muziek\After Forever\Decipher\11 After Forever - Forlorn Hope\2001\11.flac

 

However when I have:

 

\\DISKSTATION\Muziek\Metallica\Metallica\my friend of misery.flac

 

LDS does see it as an album.

 

Foobar2000 does not have this problem.

[br]

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I am using MonkeyMoteHD as control app for Foobar2000.

 

All my files are stored on my Synology DS214 NAS, I use the Lightning DS as media server, I also tried minimserver but that give me the same problems.

 

But I have found the problem. Both Lightning DS Server and Minimserver cannot handle it when the songs of each album are in different folders. My folder structer is more or less as follows:

 

NAS\muziek\artist\album\song name\year of song\song

 

as example

 

\\DISKSTATION\Muziek\After Forever\Decipher\11 After Forever - Forlorn Hope\2001\11.flac

 

However when I have:

 

\\DISKSTATION\Muziek\Metallica\Metallica\my friend of misery.flac

 

LDS does see it as an album.

 

Foobar2000 does not have this problem.

 

good catch. But your way to handle your file structure is very complicated ! What is the purpose ?

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good catch. But your way to handle your file structure is very complicated ! What is the purpose ?

 

Not sure why, I installed dBpoweramp 2 years ago and I think this was the standard back then. I never had a problem with this before. Foobar2000 worked just fine.

 

Now I might just need to re-rip my whole CD collection, not something I am looking forward to. Also have to buy a new CD/DVD drive for my computer. The last one more or less dies after I ripped my collection for the 2nd time.

 

Any tips?

[br]

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Now I might just need to re-rip my whole CD collection, not something I am looking forward to. Also have to buy a new CD/DVD drive for my computer. The last one more or less dies after I ripped my collection for the 2nd time.

 

Any tips?

 

Why would you need to re-rip? To get rid of your (very complicated) folder structure, you just need to move the FLAC files up into the album folder. You can then rename all the file names (if you wish to do so) with a tagging program.

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Not sure why, I installed dBpoweramp 2 years ago and I think this was the standard back then. I never had a problem with this before. Foobar2000 worked just fine.

 

Now I might just need to re-rip my whole CD collection, not something I am looking forward to. Also have to buy a new CD/DVD drive for my computer. The last one more or less dies after I ripped my collection for the 2nd time.

 

Any tips?

Since you are having the same issue with MinimServer (and don't mind using that on your NAS instead of the firmware Lighning Server in the Aries), it's certainly worth reporting the exact situation on the MinimServer forum:

MinimServer Forum

The developer is usually very quick to provide fixes for MinimServer, if they are assessed as worth doing (especially if they're not impacting on anything else). Could save you having to restructure your music file folders and/or re-rip.

 

As a temporary measure, you could always install the foo_upnp plugin for Foobar2000 and use its UPnP media server. Of course, it'll mean the Windows computer switched when you require streaming from the NAS.

 

 

 

I am using MonkeyMoteHD as control app for Foobar2000.
Ah, so as with @Distictive, not Fb2k with the Mediamonkey app you mentioned then & a deja vu experience for me :)

We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

-- Jo Cox

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Apologies if this was asked and answered before. How does one search for music on Tidal while using Lightning DS? For example, I want to listen to Willie Nelson or Jay-Z or whatever - how do I find it?

 

Many thanks for your help.

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Apologies if this was asked and answered before. How does one search for music on Tidal while using Lightning DS? For example, I want to listen to Willie Nelson or Jay-Z or whatever - how do I find it?

 

Many thanks for your help.

Watch out...the CA sheriff will be after you with a question like that...

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Apologies if this was asked and answered before. How does one search for music on Tidal while using Lightning DS? For example, I want to listen to Willie Nelson or Jay-Z or whatever - how do I find it?

 

Many thanks for your help.

 

Just use the regular search and if you scroll down the results you'll see that it shows entries from your library and then entries from tidal, assuming you've set tidal up.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[br]QNAP+ -> Allo DigiOne Signature -> RequisiteAudio D3rs ->  McIntosh C52 -> McIntosh MC-275 MK VI -> Harbeth 30.1's via Roon

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