Audiolinux Server configurations, Software, Hardware, and Listening Impressions

[hifi25nl]

NETWORK status in Status menu will show address, Gateway, MAC

[dctom]

11 minutes ago, hifi25nl said:

NETWORK status in Status menu will show address, Gateway, MAC

yeah checked the status already, gateway is the same for all devices

[hifi25nl]

I would do this (from Web Interface 1 or with keyboard/monitor):

 

1) Stop all audio applications with the option in Audio menu, go to console with the option in Main menu or open terminal in lxqt version and type:

hqplayerd

(you can stop with CTRL + C)

Do you see errors?

 

2) From another PC type

ping ipaddress

where ipaddress is the ip address of AL PC

in terminal or Windows PowerShell

 

I don't know how old is your installation. Last versions of HQPlayer need first a full system update and after installation or re-installation from Update menu only,

 

No problem instead if you have installed last version of Audiolinux.

[hifi25nl]

In case of problems that some user cannot resolve alone, now remote Desktop sessions with AnyDesk are free for Audiolinux subscribers (on appointment).

[dctom]

1 hour ago, hifi25nl said:

I would do this (from Web Interface 1 or with keyboard/monitor):

 

1) Stop all audio applications with the option in Audio menu, go to console with the option in Main menu or open terminal in lxqt version and type:

hqplayerd

(you can stop with CTRL + C)

Do you see errors?

 

2) From another PC type

ping ipaddress

where ipaddress is the ip address of AL PC

in terminal or Windows PowerShell

 

I don't know how old is your installation. Last versions of HQPlayer need first a full system update and after installation or re-installation from Update menu only,

 

No problem instead

 

if you have installed last version of Audiolinux.

 

 

Have updated to latest ALversion and updated HQP. 

Pinged AL PC and got reply ok. 

hqplayerd in terminal not recognized?

 

[hifi25nl]

3 hours ago, dctom said:

hqplayerd in terminal not recognized?

What do you mean?

[dctom]

34 minutes ago, hifi25nl said:

What do you mean?

I get this response in terminal     .......      command not recognised 

[hifi25nl]

HQPlayer is not installed!

 

Type in console/terminal

/opt/scripts/update/update_application.sh "hqplayer-embedded"

Be sure that you are logged in as user audiolinux not root (you should never login as root)

[hifi25nl]

Audiolinux V3: the revolution!

From today is available the new Audiolinux headless version V3 with the following specifications:

 

1) Most of applications and libraries are compiled with x86_64_v3 architecture and LTO
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Arch-Linux-x86-64-v3-Port-RFC
https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/software/desktop-linux/1244867-x86_64-microarchitecture-levels-benchmarked
https://www.phoronix.com/review/clang-lto-kernel
All packages and kernels will have around 10% performance uplift and some packages can have higher performance uplift (15% or 36%!)

 

2) The kernel 6.0.11 is compiled with x86_64_v3 architecture, LTO FULL and many patches including Audiolinux ones

 

3) Audiolinux V3  will offer kernels optimized for your CPU. At this time pre-compiled kernels are available for ZEN, ZEN3, SKYLAKE, ALDERLAKE. If your CPU is not on the list you can ask support for a new optimized kernel that after will be updated regularly or you can compile the kernel automatically yourself

 

5) The Audiolinux V3 price is now 99$ because of the extra work involved. You can switch to the new version for 50$ if you already have an active subscription. This price is still much lower than some alternative audiophile OS… and remote support with AnyDesk is included!

 

6) Wonderful latency test with average delay < 1 microsecond (AMD ZEN3 5800X, Boot EXTREME2, Watchdog and Linux Journal disabled, Mitigations service enabled, ramroot, hyper-threading disabled)

 

T: 0 (116176) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 1 (116177) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 2 (116178) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 3 (116179) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 4 (116180) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       4
T: 5 (116181) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       4
T: 6 (116182) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 7 (116183) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3

 

6) Old versions are not discontinued. For prices and upgrade cost look at the first column of Audiolinux site

[dctom]

On 12/9/2022 at 4:10 PM, hifi25nl said:

Audiolinux V3: the revolution!

From today is available the new Audiolinux headless version V3 with the following specifications:

 

1) Most of applications and libraries are compiled with x86_64_v3 architecture and LTO
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Arch-Linux-x86-64-v3-Port-RFC
https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/software/desktop-linux/1244867-x86_64-microarchitecture-levels-benchmarked
https://www.phoronix.com/review/clang-lto-kernel
All packages and kernels will have around 10% performance uplift and some packages can have higher performance uplift (15% or 36%!)

 

2) The kernel 6.0.11 is compiled with x86_64_v3 architecture, LTO FULL and many patches including Audiolinux ones

 

3) Audiolinux V3  will offer kernels optimized for your CPU. At this time pre-compiled kernels are available for ZEN, ZEN3, SKYLAKE, ALDERLAKE. If your CPU is not on the list you can ask support for a new optimized kernel that after will be updated regularly or you can compile the kernel automatically yourself

 

5) The Audiolinux V3 price is now 99$ because of the extra work involved. You can switch to the new version for 50$ if you already have an active subscription. This price is still much lower than some alternative audiophile OS… and remote support with AnyDesk is included!

 

6) Wonderful latency test with average delay < 1 microsecond (AMD ZEN3 5800X, Boot EXTREME2, Watchdog and Linux Journal disabled, Mitigations service enabled, ramroot, hyper-threading disabled)

 

T: 0 (116176) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 1 (116177) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 2 (116178) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 3 (116179) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 4 (116180) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       4
T: 5 (116181) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       4
T: 6 (116182) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3
T: 7 (116183) P:98 I:100 C: 600000 Min:      0 Act:    0 Avg:    0 Max:       3

 

6) Old versions are not discontinued. For prices and upgrade cost look at the first column of Audiolinux site

 Hi Piero

 

I have an 8 core i7 9700K 3.6 GHz cpu, not sure if it is skylake,  would a desktop lxqt install need a custom kernel?

[hifi25nl]

It should be SKYLAKE:

 

https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/microarchitectures/coffee_lake

[hifi25nl]

I am using custom kernel also on my work Desktop and is better

[jacobacci]

On 12/8/2022 at 2:16 PM, hifi25nl said:

 

In Audiolinux minimum RAM recommended for ramroot is 16GB

However is possible to make it work if the used space is not too much.

 

-> You can go to console and type

df -H

You should check used space on the line with /

ZRAM (the virtual hard disk) must be more than used space to leave a good amount of free space, otherwise the system will break the first time you press SAVE system.

 

In general you could try 6500/7000 for ZRAM and 1500/1000 for RAM but if you are using Roon I do not recommend to enable ramroot with only 8 GB because of Roon library size. 

Thanks @hifi25nl

I forgot to mention that I am using headless, so 8GB should be ok according to the audiolinux website. What would the settings be for headless and 8GB RAM?

 

[jacobacci]

I have a follow on question. I am using an SMSL m500 MkIII DAC which has an XMOS 316 chipset. When I start audiolinux, I get the following error message:

 

 

When I look in the status page for the audio card, I see that the SMSL m500 is "stopped"

[hifi25nl]

@jacobacci

 

for ramroot  please follow the suggestion already given before:

-> You can go to console and type
df -H
You should check used space on the line with /
ZRAM (the virtual hard disk) must be more than used space to leave a good amount of free space, otherwise the system will break the first time you press SAVE system.
 
In general you could try 6500/7000 for ZRAM and 1500/1000 for RAM but if you are using Roon I do not recommend to enable ramroot with only 8 GB because of Roon library size

 

For ppower error you should first configure frequency scaling with the option 17 "CPU FREQUENCY SCALING (driver, governor, frequency, turbo)" in System menu

 

Be sure that you have last menu 511

 

[jacobacci]

5 hours ago, hifi25nl said:

For ppower error you should first configure frequency scaling with the option 17 "CPU FREQUENCY SCALING (driver, governor, frequency, turbo)" in System menu

 

 

I have gone to option 17 and am now looking at this. Grateful for a hint what to do from here, thanks.

 

 

 

[hifi25nl]

Option 0 governor is already set.

I would select Option 1 and type

performance

If you want to enable Turbo, select option 4

Finally type exit

 

This will restart ppower systemd service

[hifi25nl]

...and scaling governor must be enabled in BIOS

The advantage of Audiolinux is that you can set a lot of values in real time.

Because of this you should not set CPU frequency or limit it in BIOS

[savingslowly]

I'm running a Gen8 i7 nuc loaded with audiolinux, Roon and HQ player sampling. It's powered from a JS2 LPS. I've noticed the newer nucs have considerably more grunt than the model I run and are now available to run on a 12v power supply again. Would there be much to gain from upgrading to a 12th gen i7 nuc?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126150/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i3beh.html

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/121635/intel-nuc-12-pro-board-nuc12wsbi7.html?wapkw=nuc12wsbi7

[savingslowly]

I have just updated to Audiolinux v3

 

[lmitche]

The sound quality with the locally built cpu optimized kernel is the best ever!

 

Many thanks Piero.

 

 

[savingslowly]

Indeed it is! In your opinion is there much to be gained from a newer nuc. Say from going from i7 gen8 to i7 gen12? There's a big difference in cores and threads between these.

[Miska]

On 12/29/2022 at 1:10 PM, savingslowly said:

I'm running a Gen8 i7 nuc loaded with audiolinux, Roon and HQ player sampling. It's powered from a JS2 LPS. I've noticed the newer nucs have considerably more grunt than the model I run and are now available to run on a 12v power supply again. Would there be much to gain from upgrading to a 12th gen i7 nuc?

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126150/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i3beh.html

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/121635/intel-nuc-12-pro-board-nuc12wsbi7.html?wapkw=nuc12wsbi7

 

I would expect quite a bit of performance difference between these two.

 

[dctom]

I ran an 8th gen i7 NUC, Paul Haynes LPS as an naa, with a lowish powered AL server, it sounded very good. The NUC on its own did not produce the same results.

Eventually built a more powerful single server, Core i7 9700K 3.6GHz, taiko audio ATX, etc etc, running AL. 

I don't know how current NUCs perform but from what I have read on AS, a single server with an excellent power supply is the way to go.

[savingslowly]

On 12/31/2022 at 7:54 PM, dctom said:

I ran an 8th gen i7 NUC, Paul Haynes LPS as an naa, with a lowish powered AL server, it sounded very good. The NUC on its own did not produce the same results.

Eventually built a more powerful single server, Core i7 9700K 3.6GHz, taiko audio ATX, etc etc, running AL. 

I don't know how current NUCs perform but from what I have read on AS, a single server with an excellent power supply is the way to go.

Yes I noticed a big difference between the JS2 LPS I run powering the NUC and the standard power supply...The standard supply was horrible! Like unlistenable....What are these Taiko Audio ATX? I've not seen them before. I only stream through Roon/HQ Player/Audiolinux so I wonder if it's worth me going to the effort/time of building a server, plus I had a custom American Walnut hifi rack built recently so I'd rather keep things with similar form factor. I did notice there is a big processing/core difference in the older and newer nucs, 4 cores vs 12 cores and 8 threads vs 16! I'm not entirely convinced this will turn into perceivable audible benefits. I might be able to run a more extreme setting of audiolinux and pick it up there, not sure. The main reason I was thinking this is because the new custom kernal setting in Audiolinux made a decent bump in quality. I can upsample to 11.2 DSD on the current gen 8 nuc no worries but it struggles to upsample to higher res PCM.