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quick (or maybe not) question - jriver vs Volumio


hatfield101

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Greetings!

 

I am contemplating getting the new Raspberry Pi2 and an IQaudIO DAC and running Volumio to 'pull' music from either a NAS and/or from a separate pc. I have read that some folks use JRiver MC in conjunction with Volumio. My fist question is: Why? It seems (to my ignorant but wanting to learn more self) that Volumio can pull the files off a server? (NAS or PC) on its own and send the 0s and 1s to a DAC without the aid of additional software.

 

Question 2. If there is any advantage to running JRiver and volumio together, would installing JRiver on my main PC to organize my files on the NAS and to pick the correct file to send to volumio be a good use of all components involved? Would i use the Gizmo App to control all of this if not at my computer or would i use the Volumio ap?

 

I feel like i have information paralyzation - i am either to scared of screwing up to get started and feel like i need to keep reading OR i keep reading and learning different ways of proceeding and struggle to decide on a path to take so i keep reading - and the cycle is perpetuated. My nerdy side is really geeking out over all of this .... but the thirst for information is now in the way of music calming the inner beast!

 

Thanks for reading and for any insights that are offered.

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Greetings!

 

I am contemplating getting the new Raspberry Pi2 and an IQaudIO DAC and running Volumio to 'pull' music from either a NAS and/or from a separate pc. I have read that some folks use JRiver MC in conjunction with Volumio. My fist question is: Why? It seems (to my ignorant but wanting to learn more self) that Volumio can pull the files off a server? (NAS or PC) on its own and send the 0s and 1s to a DAC without the aid of additional software.

 

Question 2. If there is any advantage to running JRiver and volumio together, would installing JRiver on my main PC to organize my files on the NAS and to pick the correct file to send to volumio be a good use of all components involved? Would i use the Gizmo App to control all of this if not at my computer or would i use the Volumio ap?

 

I feel like i have information paralyzation - i am either to scared of screwing up to get started and feel like i need to keep reading OR i keep reading and learning different ways of proceeding and struggle to decide on a path to take so i keep reading - and the cycle is perpetuated. My nerdy side is really geeking out over all of this .... but the thirst for information is now in the way of music calming the inner beast!

 

Thanks for reading and for any insights that are offered.

 

Question 1.

 

As far as I can see JRiver won't work with a stock Volumio installation. After reading your post I did a search and found this discussion about adding a DLNA renderer to Volumio to make it work with JRiver:

 

Raspberry Pi as DLNA Renderer

 

The main point of Volumio is to run MPD as a music server easily. If you use completely different software to build a DLNA renderer, then I don't really see why you would want to do that.

 

Question 2.

 

You might want to use JRiver for ripping and organizing your music collection. I personally use iTunes and XLD to rip and organize my music collection, and then I copy the music folder heirarchy to a Linux disk on my NAS to play them with MPD (using voyage-mubox on my BeagleBone Blacks or Volumio on a Pi with an IQAudio DAC). You just point MPD at a remotely mounted music collection, either mounted via NFS or a Samba share and it will find the music tracks and add them to its database. It doesn't matter whether the tracks originated in JRiver or iTunes or somewhere else.

 

You can use a web interface to administer it, and to play music. I use an app called 'MPoD' on an iPod Touch, an app called 'MPaD' on an iPad Mini, and another app called MPDroid on my Android phone to control my MPD players. There are many other client apps for MPD too. I'm afraid I don't know anything about what the Gizmo app does.

System (i): Stack Audio Link > 2Qute+MCRU psu; Gyrodec/SME V/Hana SL/EAT E-Glo Petit/Magnum Dynalab FT101A) > PrimaLuna Evo 100 amp > Klipsch RP-600M/REL T5x subs

System (ii): Allo USB Signature > Bel Canto uLink+AQVOX psu > Chord Hugo > APPJ EL34 > Tandy LX5/REL Tzero v3 subs

System (iii) KEF LS50W/KEF R400b subs

 

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Volumio has evolved into more than an MPD server platform, based on user input. Recent builds of allow for the ARM devices to act as DLNA renderers, probably because there is a significant market for people who want inexpensive renderer options with good audio quality. I built a BBB MPD server after the Computer Audiophile article came out, but it was glitchy and the control point options did not work well or consistently. I downloaded Volumio, plugged the card in and ran it as a JRMC zone with no problems, using Gizmo on a tablet and JRemote on a phone. I plan to purchase another BBB and Dragonfly to run a bedroom system this way.

 

As far as I know, the Volumio "app" is a browser window control app, which I consider much less convenient then JRemote or Gizmo.

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The last few default Volumio builds to date, at least for the Raspberry Pi, have been for a UPnP/DLNA renderer, rather than (directly) for mpd. It does contain mpd, but it also uses upmpdcli, a front end to mpd, in order to implement the UPnP renderer. upmpdcli supports standard UPnP and an extended UPnP specification known as OpenHome Media (ohMedia, aka UPnP with Linn extensions):

An UPnP Audio Media Renderer based on MPD

 

The standard UPnP model requires the UPnP renderer to be controlled by a UPnP control point for the playback of the media files from the UPnP media server. Essentially, the control point provides the user interface to select the files from the media server in order to build a playlist. The files (or rather their locations on the media server) are then 'pushed' to the renderer by the control point, one after the other, during playback. In standard UPnP, the control point (and not the renderer) contains the playlist. The control point provides the user with other navigational functions to control the renderer, such as pause, stop, seek, etc.

 

OpenHome Media's main difference to Standard UPnP is that the playlist is contained in the renderer and not in the control point. This means that, unlike the UPnP renderer, the ohMedia renderer doesn't require the control point to be active in order to play the entire playlist. These also allows some functions, such as gapless playback, to be entirely handled within the renderer.

 

JRiver's support of standard UPnP/DLNA actually encompasses a media server, a local renderer (not required for Raspberry Pi renderer use) and a control point. Its JRemote and Gizmo apps aren't actually UPnP control points, rather they are remote controls of the JRiver application itself. You use JRemote & Gizmo apps to remote control JRiver in order to indirectly use its in-built UPnP control point. Hence, the JRemote & Gizmo apps don't directly control the Raspberry Pi and always require JRiver to be running (on a Windows or Mac computer) if you want to use them to control the Raspberry Pi.

Also, JRiver does not support ohMedia, only standard UPnP.

 

Arguably, it's much simpler and less restrictive to use a UPnP media server that hasn't got a standard UPnP control point attached to it and having to use a Windows or Mac computer to run it. A music dedicated UPnP media server such as the excellent free (donationware) Minimiserver, which can be run on many types of NAS, as well computers - even small efficient low powered ones such as another Raspberry Pi!

http://minimserver.com/features.html

 

The same argument goes for using a separate UPnP control point app, instead of a remote control app for a UPnP control point, such as:

BubbleUPnP (standard UPnP & ohMedia)

Kazoo (ohMedia)

Kinsky (ohMedia)

Lightning DS (standard UPnP & ohMedia)

Lumin (ohMedia)

 

The Volumio browser application is more for configuring the device and for direct mpd playback, I believe.

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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Thank you everyone for your insights. I was thinking about the Pi to partially satisfy my inner nerd by putting it together and getting it in the network. If i went the way of the Pi, I would have my computer with JRiver in the home office that has some music on it, an eventual NAS to hold all my music, and use JRiver on the computer in my office to point to itself and the NAS to send tunes to the Pi. How "bad" is this idea in terms of sonic quality?

I have toyed with the idea of getting the JRiver Id, instead of the Pi in which case the Id would be the box with JRiver installed on it instead of the computer in my home office. I assume this would be a better set up than the previously mentioned JRiver on office PC > NAS > Pi?

 

I guess a third option would be to get an AVR and point it to my music, removing the need for JRiver and the Pi/Id from the chain completely. I would be a slave to the AVRs interface for play back and that concerns me a little. As a former itunes user, I have been spoiled with the graphical interface of album art to find my music, and gapless playback. Would JRiver have the capabilities of using the AVR as a DNLP renderer? I.e. use JRiver (and therefore Gizmo or JRemote) to point to my music and send it to an AVR (something like the Marants SR6009).

 

I plan on re-ripping all my CDs to FLAC format, and have several hundred live shows from taper-friendly bands in FLAC (and shn) format. Plying music as FLACs and gapless playback are important to me regardless of the setup that I use. So is sonic quality.

 

My budget constraints are due somewhat to some uncertainty of the quality of my speakers. My JBL L7s are old (1993 ish) and I am am trying to decide whether or not to upgrade them - but i will post that question in the appropriate forum on CA.

 

Thank you all again for your comments so far. I have become a CA forum addict over the last few months! I consider all of you as my educators!

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