Article: Dream Music Server Feature: Part 1

[The Computer Audiophile]

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[Qhwoeprktiyns]

How much are you willing to pay for it ? 

 

I want exactly the same thing, BTW (though full disclosure, I do not drive!).

[Markhh2]

I’ve had terrible luck getting Qobuz to work well in my ‘17 VW with CarPlay. I can access and play Qobuz through the app on my phone, but the interface on the screen in the car is mostly useless. Had similar issues with Tidal so I’m thinking it’s the fault of the VW. There seems to be no way to update the cars firmware. 

[Jud]

Streaming your home collection at full res via CarPlay is already here.

 

Two pieces:

 

- Subsonic music server: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/index.jsp . Install on your computer (I have it running on both Windows and Linux, and I believe it works on Mac as well). $1/month ($12/year) or $99 forever. Setup takes a bit of fiddling with the computer, but I'm no pro and I managed just fine (I have my collection served over https for a bit of added security).

 

- AVSub app for iPhone: http://www.avsubapp.co.uk . Inexpensive (a few bucks as I recall) on the App Store. Works with Subsonic and integrates with CarPlay. I don't have CarPlay, but this app works beautifully for me to stream my home collection anywhere I have my phone and internet connectivity, including cellular. (Higher resolutions may need wi-fi, though on occasion I've streamed 24/96 reasonably well over a cell connection.)

[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks @Jud

 

Another member PM'd me to let me know Plex with the Prism music app will do this. 

 

Still not a complete integration with my HiFi servers, but it's a start.

[Jud]

3 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Thanks @Jud

 

Another member PM'd me to let me know Plex with the Prism music app will do this. 

 

Still not a complete integration with my HiFi servers, but it's a start.

 

Plex doesn't like my aiff files, which is why I switched to Subsonic.

[Rt66indierock]

Thanks Chris I’ll be looking for a sedan for traveling soon. 
 

In my turbo Miata it of course makes no difference.

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

I have spend quite some time looking at various solutions, especially cluod solution that would avoid opening an access to your home and having a server running 24/7.

 

Current solutions that work around discovering your music in a cloud account (i.e. google drive, etc...) are too slow and not very flexible, because they require a very lengthy process to scan your cloud storage and read tags. I would be happy with an application that uploads, from my home, all my music files and stores the tags and artwork in a cloud "database" as well. Doing the hard work when you load the cloud is much more efficient than doing it once the files are loaded...

 

In fact, I would be happy to even stream my files from the cloud within my home, and just forgo using a network server all together. This would be the simplest solution. All the technology is available to do this, efficiently.

 

To take it one step further, just give me a cloud solution and let me load files from anywhere, play them anywhere, and if needed download all the data back to a local storage for backup purposes.

 

Having access to a Qobuz or other streaming service within the same app does not seem to be difficult either, provided you don't expect something as tightly integrated as Roon, where the streaming service metadata is adjusted. Having album grids, and other simple features like that with both purchased (own) and "rented" music from streaming services seems to be pretty basic.

 

[Jud]

46 minutes ago, hopkins said:

especially cloud solution that would avoid opening an access to your home and having a server running 24/7

 

A cloud solution would be ideal of course, but home server solutions such as Subsonic can be made very secure (for example if you want to get sophisticated you can reverse proxy through a capable server such as nginx and not only run https but require two-factor authentication - see https://apps.nextcloud.com/apps/twofactor_totp ). Regarding 24/7 operation, I don't do that unless I'm away from home an extended period for vacation or work. Otherwise I can just have the server computer running a few hours at a time when I'm in the car or at a friend's.

[AudioDoctor]

I understand why some want this, however I must be in the minority of people that don't listen to music much in the car unless its MPR. When on a road trip its my wife that plays the DJ with little input from me, ha...

[Jud]

16 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

I understand why some want this, however I must be in the minority of people that don't listen to music much in the car unless its MPR. When on a road trip its my wife that plays the DJ with little input from me, ha...

 

I didn't know I wanted it until...

 

A neighbor gave me access to his music on his Plex server. Fun to play with, so I thought I'd do it with my music. However, Plex didn't see any of my music files, which are all AIFF or DSF (a DSD format). At that point I got the bug some of us may recognize: "I am going to do this thing, dammit!" So I researched and came up with Subsonic and AVSub. Having my entire music collection at full res in my pocket whether in the car or exercising (I take several-mile desert walks - you might work out at home or in a gym) has proved to be an unexpected treat that I never knew I was missing.

[AudioDoctor]

19 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

I didn't know I wanted it until...

 

A neighbor gave me access to his music on his Plex server. Fun to play with, so I thought I'd do it with my music. However, Plex didn't see any of my music files, which are all AIFF or DSF (a DSD format). At that point I got the bug some of us may recognize: "I am going to do this thing, dammit!" So I researched and came up with Subsonic and AVSub. Having my entire music collection at full res in my pocket whether in the car or exercising (I take several-mile desert walks - you might work out at home or in a gym) has proved to be an unexpected treat that I never knew I was missing.

 

Maybe, but I would have to remember it's there too. When by myself I almost never listen to anything beyond MPR. When my wife is along for the ride she DJs. Her musical tastes and mine don't always mesh...

[Ran]

Synology NAS with enough storage. MinimServer (free) for smart indexing all you music and BubbleUPnP server (free) to allow access from the outside world. You can choose if you want to stream lossless or lossy (when you are on the go..). This setup is extremely effective when you go to your friends and stream music from your NAS. 

[AudioDoctor]

But that system @Ran is missing the final link to the car.

[Ran]

2 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

But that system @Ran is missing the final link to the car.

 

You can always hook your phone to the car via Bluetooth, Wire, etc...

[AudioDoctor]

1 hour ago, Ran said:

 

You can always hook your phone to the car via Bluetooth, Wire, etc...

 

Yes but thats not using CarPlay.

[Jud]

BubbleUPnP doesn’t work with iPhone yet as far as I know, or is my information out of date?

 

 If it doesn’t, that means it’s not compatible with CarPlay.

 

One other note: MinimServer organizes your music by tags. Subsonic and AVSub follow your folder/directory organization. So beyond CarPlay compatibility, there’s the matter of how you like your music organized and searched.
 

I personally prefer my own folder organization, because it’s not consistent. I like to have various versions of Beethoven’s late string quartets or other famous classical compositions in subfolders under the composer’s name, but most of my other music in folders under the names of the artists, for example. Or I might have an album of Grateful Dead covers by other artists in the Grateful Dead folder. This is how it makes sense to me to organize and easily find my music, and I haven’t come across another system that can duplicate it.

 

Edit: I should add here the important piece of information that although AVSub will use your folder organization by default, there is a setting to have it use tags if you prefer.

[james45974]

8 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

Maybe, but I would have to remember it's there too. When by myself I almost never listen to anything beyond MPR. When my wife is along for the ride she DJs. Her musical tastes and mine don't always mesh...

I guess I'm in the same situation but frequently I drive without any music.

 

For the sound quality of the majority of vehicles isn't MP3 more than adequate quality?  The desire to have up to high res quality personal streaming in your car seems to be a little bit of a first world problem! 😊

[The Computer Audiophile]

17 minutes ago, james45974 said:

The desire to have up to high res quality personal streaming in your car seems to be a little bit of a first world problem! 😊

Oh yes, without a doubt. 

[Ran]

7 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

 

Yes but thats not using CarPlay.

 

You can't have it all with Apple 😉

[zerung]

Tesla has Spotify integrated with the car - Have been this way for the past 4 years. The Hifi system is amazingly good (Upgraded version) and both Tidal and Qobuz can be streamed via the IPhone to the Tesla Hifi system. I dont need to stream my home system as Spotify and Qobuz has my whole music on demand....

 

[ednaz]

I've come up with a somewhat unconventional approach to having my music library, with all its breadth of genres, available to me in my daily drive/distance drive SUV in 16/44 form. Driven heavily by the age related quirks of the vehicle. A 2014 Mercedes SUV. Its Apple iPod connector is the older type, Mercedes doesn't make one for the Lightning type connector, and using an adapter doesn't work well. It'll only play compressed formats from the SD card slot. So my only options for at least Redbook sound is, iPod, or CDs. It supports the full iPod functionality on the system screen.

 

(With one bizarre alternative... it'll also play DVD-Audio disks in full multi-channel splendor. Great to have a pricey dead format as my only true multi-channel option.)

 

I picked up a few 64gb iPods with the old style connector cheap on eBay, along with two with the 120gb internal hard drive. Loaded each with a single or compatible genres at 16/44 AAC, and on the non-classical ones, created a couple shuffle playlists. A small CD rack in my closed-top console holds them all. Color coded them with strips of colored plastic tape on the top edge. If I'm in an Afro-beat mood, I grab the relevant iPod, plug it into the adapter, and off I go bouncing down the road.

 

As for Qobuz, I load the app on my phone with my current interests, along with a few hours of Radio Paradise at lossless AAC, but can only stream via bluetooth, and for whatever reason, doesn't sound as good as the array of iPods. Good enough.

 

I've yet to find someone who'll help me get the built in idiotically small hard disk out of the system so that I can install a plug in for external hard disks. That's going to be my goal for the next car.

[Jud]

5 hours ago, zerung said:

Tesla has Spotify integrated with the car - Have been this way for the past 4 years. The Hifi system is amazingly good (Upgraded version) and both Tidal and Qobuz can be streamed via the IPhone to the Tesla Hifi system. I dont need to stream my home system as Spotify and Qobuz has my whole music on demand....

 

Yep, Qobuz is a treat to listen to in the car or on walks. I like having my home collection available too, because (a) many (all?) Qobuz tracks over the phone app are only available in RedBook, and (b) my own tracks are easy to find - I want a particular Aimee Mann album, I just go to the “A”s, no searches necessary.

[AudioDoctor]

7 hours ago, ednaz said:

I've come up with a somewhat unconventional approach to having my music library, with all its breadth of genres, available to me in my daily drive/distance drive SUV in 16/44 form. Driven heavily by the age related quirks of the vehicle. A 2014 Mercedes SUV. Its Apple iPod connector is the older type, Mercedes doesn't make one for the Lightning type connector, and using an adapter doesn't work well. It'll only play compressed formats from the SD card slot. So my only options for at least Redbook sound is, iPod, or CDs. It supports the full iPod functionality on the system screen.

 

(With one bizarre alternative... it'll also play DVD-Audio disks in full multi-channel splendor. Great to have a pricey dead format as my only true multi-channel option.)

 

I picked up a few 64gb iPods with the old style connector cheap on eBay, along with two with the 120gb internal hard drive. Loaded each with a single or compatible genres at 16/44 AAC, and on the non-classical ones, created a couple shuffle playlists. A small CD rack in my closed-top console holds them all. Color coded them with strips of colored plastic tape on the top edge. If I'm in an Afro-beat mood, I grab the relevant iPod, plug it into the adapter, and off I go bouncing down the road.

 

As for Qobuz, I load the app on my phone with my current interests, along with a few hours of Radio Paradise at lossless AAC, but can only stream via bluetooth, and for whatever reason, doesn't sound as good as the array of iPods. Good enough.

 

I've yet to find someone who'll help me get the built in idiotically small hard disk out of the system so that I can install a plug in for external hard disks. That's going to be my goal for the next car.

 

 

Get the new GLS and you can literally "bounce" down the road...

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/354303/mercedes-gls-bounce-out-sand/

 

[ednaz]

On 11/28/2019 at 2:01 PM, Jud said:

Yep, Qobuz is a treat to listen to in the car or on walks. I like having my home collection available too, because (a) many (all?) Qobuz tracks over the phone app are only available in RedBook, and (b) my own tracks are easy to find - I want a particular Aimee Mann album, I just go to the “A”s, no searches necessary.

 

Jealous... because the other thing that drove me to the madness of a pile of iPods is the mobile phone signal where I live, and where I often drive for photography. Where I live, I don't get the LTE symbol on my Verizon Wireless phone, and except for one second floor bathroom, only one bar. Yeah, out in the sticks. On the 7 mile drive out to a major road, with a lot of homes along the road, I go to "no service" notices a couple of times, and don't get LTE until I'm about a mile from the major roads. Verizon Wireless' response has been, that's why your phone can connect via wifi, it's just not economic for us to build out our network in low population areas. (In this neighborhood of a couple thousand houses where both FiiOs and Xfinity built out their wired network. Go figure.) On my 50 minute commuter train trip to work each day, there's a 10 minute stretch of one bar or "no signal" about 10 minutes into the trip. Can't even scroll a book page.

 

Many of the national and state parks around me have similarly bad connectivity. Surprising since I had good connectivity all over the wide open US western national parks like Monument Valley and Escalante Steps (other than under ground), but here in central Virginia? Bah.

 

I'd long read about how the network revolution was unevenly distributed and shrugged, but now I'm living the dream/nightmare.