Article: The exaSound PlayPoint Stereo/Multichannel Streamer Review

[exa]

Very interesting - a cute little thingee. HDMI input interesting too - for "future use."

Would it be fair to say the PlayPoint is kinda like an Auralic Aries for use with Exasound DACs?

 

It is an HDMI output, eventually it will be used for displaying playback information on external screen.

[exa]

Ted. A simple question, does the PP turn itself on automatically when it receives a signal, like the my e28 mk2 does, or do you physically have to turn on the device first? Will the PP automatically turn on the dac in turn?

 

Thanks

 

Paul

 

Hi Paul,

 

There is no auto-start feature on the PlayPoint. It has to be on in order to be available for discovery on the home network. However the e28 Mk II and e22 Mk II will start automatically when they get a request for playback from the PlayPoint.

 

At this time, the closest that we can get to sleep mode is to turn off the screen. The screen-saver is now configured for 15 minutes, we will make it customizable with a firmware update.

 

George

[exa]

George,

 

Not sure that your reply to Paul quite answers my earlier question that I thought Ted might pick up; can you please help? :

 

'Can the display be turned off while playing music (which is what I would want, and one of the things I like about the e22)? Looking at the manual online it says that a screensaver turns the screen dark 15 minutes after use, but it's not clear if this means 15 mins after touching the screen, or 15 mins after finishing playing music...'

 

Also, when using an external USB drive with MPD, does it matter to the Playpoint, or make any difference, what file system the drive is formatted to?

 

Best

Craig

Craig,

 

The screen saver is cancelled by touching the screen, by playing music or by other activities that require interaction with the PlayPoint. Turning the screen off while playing music is not possible at this time. We will implement this feature with a firmware update.

 

The PlayPoint is tested with FAT32, NTFS, Mac HFS+, and Linux ext4. We haven't noticed any advantages or disadvantages of the different file systems.

[exa]

Ted +/- George.. Just confirming all formats (includ dsd stereo and Mch) I assume play gapless via all modes 1 thru 5?

 

I have an e28. Can't wait.. Wap.

 

The PlayPoint is built for gapless support, stereo and multichannel:

 

Airplay: The connection between the playback device (iPad, Mac etc.) and the PlayPoint stays open between tracks for about 12 seconds. There is no need to reset the connection between tracks. If your Mac player supports gapless, it will work with the PlayPoint.

 

UPNP/Open Home: Our implementation is built to support gapless.

 

MPD: The MPD service and most MPD clients are built to support gapless.

 

HQPlayer: The Network Audio Adapter (NAA) works as a network sound driver. It keeps the connection active. There is no need to restart the service or the connection between tracks. NAA works just like on any Linux computer.

 

Gapless works when the subsequent tracks are of the same format and sampling rate. Since our DACs always play in the native format that comes from the player, the DAC performs a reset when the format changes. The reset is needed to load the optimized settings for each format.

[exa]

George 1/ will you at some stage be doing your own app for control and upnp control point? 2/ Would you *please* consider adding a Mode 6: Spotify Connect?

 

Mode 6 is on the request list.

[exa]

How does a user get Tidal into this thing? Thanks

 

If you use an iPad or iPhone, you can install the Tidal app and connect to the PlayPoint via Airplay.

 

If you are using a Mac, you need to configure the PlayPoint to be the default audio/AirPlay device.

 

On Android devices BubbleUPnP is an excellent app for Tidal and UPnP playback.

[exa]

George, congratulations on developing such a versatile, cutting edge product.

 

Of the available options my preference would be to use the PlayPoint as a UPnP renderer. I prefer my DLNA server to be JRiver running on a HTPC because Minimserver still does not support SACD iso files (AFAIK) and I have too many SACD iso files to consider ripping them to dsf. In addition, I think that JRemote is far nicer than BubbleUPnP as a control point.

 

Regarding gapless support, I understand from the article that Ted has tested the Minimserver + BubbleUPnP combo which does provide gapless. However, this does not mean that JRiver/JRemote will play gapless. I know this because of my recent experience with the new Cambridge Audio 851N streamer which played gapless with BubbleUPnP but not with JRemote.

 

George or Ted, have either of you tested gapless with JRiver/JRemote?

 

Thank you for the good words! Your points are valid. JRemote is one of the best control points out there and MinimServer is lacking ISO support. JRiver is one of the very best players on the Windows platform.

 

Unfortunately we were unable to achieve the same results when using JRiver with the PlayPoint. In our experience MinimServer provided better results. With JRiver we were unable to stream the high DSD sampling rates. For the lower rates JRiver supported only DSD over DoP, not native DSD. Multi-channel streaming was also unreliable. We hope to be able to work with JRiver to resolve these limitations.

 

From the immediately available UPnP configurations MinimServer with BubbleUPnP provided the best results. This combination supports flawlessly all the formats, sampling rates and resolutions available with our DACs. MinimServer is stable, lightweight and easy to configure and use.

 

You can find instructions on this forum how to convert ISO DSD files. It is possible to process multiple ISO files in batch processing mode. The positive outcome of this process is that you will have the multi-channel and the stereo tracks separated.

[exa]

Um.. no disrespect George, but isn't there an easier and better sounding way? ..Tidal "embedded" or something?

 

The easiest way to use the PlayPoint is with Airplay. We have positive feedback about the sonic experience - Emails from Customers - November 2015 > exaSound Audio Design

 

We are working on integrating he PlayPoint with the ROON service, and this will bring another option for Tidal support.

[exa]

Thanks George. I've found that one of the best ways to batch extract dsf from SACD iso files is using JRiver. Even so, the process is long and tedious since the program just outputs a string of dsf files. The proper artist and album folders need to be reconstructed manually. In addition, the dsf files need re-tagging as well. Still, it's something that I will eventually get around to doing once I finish extracting all my DVD-A iso files.

 

Assuming I don't mind using DSD over DoP and I don't have any DSD files sampled > DSD 64, will the PP do gapless with JRiver/JRemote?

 

I don't know, I don't think so. We had to abandon the JRiver usage scenario at the early testing stages.

 

We will be working on enabling additional support for third party services and applications. Based on the feedback that we are getting here we will prioritize and we will start with the ones that open the most exciting possibilities.

[exa]

George, congratulations on developing such a versatile, cutting edge product.

 

Of the available options my preference would be to use the PlayPoint as a UPnP renderer. I prefer my DLNA server to be JRiver running on a HTPC because Minimserver still does not support SACD iso files (AFAIK) and I have too many SACD iso files to consider ripping them to dsf. In addition, I think that JRemote is far nicer than BubbleUPnP as a control point.

 

Regarding gapless support, I understand from the article that Ted has tested the Minimserver + BubbleUPnP combo which does provide gapless. However, this does not mean that JRiver/JRemote will play gapless. I know this because of my recent experience with the new Cambridge Audio 851N streamer which played gapless with BubbleUPnP but not with JRemote.

 

George or Ted, have either of you tested gapless with JRiver/JRemote?

 

I can report progress with JRiver/JRemote. The latest JRiver 21 works much better with the PlayPoint updated to firmware version 6:

 

• The Dark Side of the Moon plays gapless.
  
• DSD is streaming native.
  
• With JRiver running on Mac and Windows computers with i7 CPU and Gigabit Ethernet connection, we've enjoyed flawless multichannel DSD256 playback.
  

Unfortunately there are limitations:

 

• Volume synchronization works only during playback. If you change the master volume when playback is stopped, you will have one volume level displayed by JRiver/JRemote, and another on the DAC/PlayPoint displays. When playback starts the DAC/PlayPoint volume level takes precedence.
  
• JRiver is nor responding to the Play/Pause/Next/Previous buttons on the PlayPoint touch screen. We haven't seen this issue with other control point applications.
  
• SACD ISO images cannot be streamed.
  

The workaround for the volume synchronization issue is to control the volume only from JRiver/JRemote and to use Pause instead of Stop. We will approach JRiver to try to find a solution to the remaining issues.

[exa]

You’ve been sitting on your hands, waiting for us to pull together all the bits needed for the next firmware update. Finally, exaSound PlayPoint Firmware 8 is available for remote installation! And, because we can’t sit still, we have a surprise for you as well. Read on…

 

 

The new Firmware 8 features:

 

• We’ve added OpenHome support. This means compatibility with your OpenHome world and Linn’s Kazoo, the preferred UPnP control point for iOS, Windows and Mac.

 

• We’ve added a local UPnP library server too, running right on PlayPoint. This makes it easy to use OpenHome on UPnP. All you need to do is attach a USB drive and connect Kazoo to your PlayPoint. PlayPoint becomes both server and end point.

 

Version 8 — Full Disclosure:

 

▪ UPnP server now runs natively on PlayPoint

 

▪ Added full OpenHome compatibility

 

▪ OpenHome server now runs natively on PlayPoint

 

▪ Added support for models without Wi-Fi

 

▪ New Maximum Volume Limit configuration page

 

▪ Added an improved AirPlay volume control

 

▪ Added an improved Network Configuration screen

 

 

Now for the surprise…You all know about Roon, you also know we announced that PlayPoint is RoonReady.

 

In the Dark Old Days, you used to have to run Roon the old fashioned way, on a computer. Now, PlayPoint natively runs the Roon server! Yup, no more computer hassles. Just pull up Roon on your mobile device of choice, iOS or Android, and control Roon right on the PlayPoint.

 

Head to our web site for an updated Owner’s Manual and a step-by step guide for configuring a local UPnP library for use with Kazoo. If you’d like to run Roon server on your PlayPoint, please drop us a line and we’ll get you in the queue…

 

 

As always, thanks for your support and, happy listening!

[exa]

Good morning,

I've just ordered a PP and an e28 to exasound.

I've a question since I would like to use the PP with Roon and HQPlayer to play DSD256, but I'm not sure if HQPlayer can be used as a NAA by both (Roon and PP). Am I right? if this is the case? how can I play native DSD streams from Roon to PP?

Moreover, If I rightly understand from the net, as of today, Roon does not yet support multi channel tracks playing, so what's my alternative to manage my music library containing multi channels DSD files using PP? JRiver?

Tnx a lot for your support, I'm just starting now with PP/e28.

Cheers.

 

Hi Riccardo,

 

Roon doesn’t have multi-channel support. It won’t work in multi-channel mode with or without HQPlayer.

 

You can use any other mode of operation, except AirPlay. I would recommend HQPlayer or Kazoo with UPnP/OpenHome. Here are the links to the tutorials on our website:

 

Configuring HQPlayer for use with the exaSound PlayPoint > exaSound Audio Design

 

exaSound PlayPoint - UPnP/OpenHome Step-by-step Configuration > exaSound Audio Design

[exa]

A quick note - we've just released a new firmware update for the PlayPoint. The change log and the updated Owner's Manual are available on the exaSound website.