I’m a newcomer to audiophile computing and I’m a bit stuck
I want to escape the Marantz streamer traps of HEOS / TIDAL / 16 bit. I’m much more interested in QOBUZ, 24bit, a better interface than HEOS and downloadability of streamed music (due to flaky local geographical area network).
I’ve bought a PI, a JustBoom DigiHAT, I have 1Tb of USB NAS, I have coax and optical spdif cables and an account on Aurdirvana, chosen over ROON for slightly better SQ and lower price, given I don’t want ROON’s extra features.
Trouble is I don’t know how to put it all together. There are lots of tutorials out there but while they explain all the little steps but none explain the basic architecture, so when I follow the steps, I don’t know where I’m going. This means when the steps don’t do what the tutorial says they’ll do (which is usually) I don’t know where to start trouble shooting.
I understand I need an OS and this may be Raspbien or Volumio. Rasbien appears to be all wrapped up in keyboard and screen options which I don’t want, I want the Pi to sit on the network with a web page interface. Volumio installs an OS but it’s own music server appears not to be useful. Where does Audirvana sit in the mix?
Currently Audirvana is running TIDAL through upnp presumably provided by a HEOS SBC in the Marantz, and it plays 24 bit (gorgeous!!) but the 24bit choice in TIDAL is woeful, hence the desire to try QOBUZ.
You should enable upnp renderer in Volumio, then Audirvana should discover it over the network.
There were some issues about upnp Volumio and Audirvana, if it doesn’t work you can try moOde that is very similar to Volumio and it works for sure.
Stefano, thank you. Is that the sole purpose of Volumio in this architecture?
I have Audirvana running but it works whether the Pi is on or off because upnp is always present on the network from the Marantz. I have Audirvana pointed at the NAS plugged into the Pi and this works fine.
I’m not sure where this leaves me. I want a TIDAL interface (until I can get swapped to QOBUZ) which lets me download with DRM intact. I want to direct music from the Pi to the streamer via spdif rather than network. I can’t try this because my HAT is stuck in the post and won’t turn up until my Audirvana trial runs out in a few days
No. It is one of the purposes available. The other one is to use Volumio instead of Audirvana and you can access it’s interface from your browser pointing to volumio.local
But be aware that Tidal and Qobuz functions are available if you subscribe to MyVolumio service.
Is my answer on the right path?
You are on the right path, thank you
I had spotted that a subscription was necessary to run a FLAC music service. The question then becomes:
Is Volumio a good music server (is this the right term?) to find, play and download FLAC and does it have a good SQ compared to Audirvana which I understand to be near-bit-perfect?
Meanwhile what will fool the FLAC service into thinking it is on a mobile platform and allow DRM-intact downloads?
My opinion is that depends on your taste … but it is a good server/player/streamer and the only one offering Qobuz and Tidal access in one box. They are both bit-perfect.
If you are meaning the capability to store music for “off line” playing I don’t think there is a trick to “fool” the service like you were on a mobile device
OK, I shall go ahead with a Volumio subscription and see how it works
Maybe I was mistaken about the offline music idea, I’ll have to go back and see where I picked the idea up from.
Many thanks, Stefano.
You don’t need the Volumio subscription. This is only necessary if you want to play Tidal or Qobuz without the computer being turned on. You might even be able to configure some of the services on your Marantz device itself.
You can stream to Volumio from Audirvana using UPnP and have Tidal/Qobuz account configured in Audirvana. You’ll save the monthly Volumio subscription.
You can’t do that. You can’t download the music files in Audirvana or elsewhere. Audirvana always streams directly from the internet. Only the native Tidal/Qobuz apps allow “offline” use and the files are DRM protected.
and there’s no way the native apps will allow a stream out that doesn’t hit the computer’s soundcard. This must be a problem for lots of users, that and the fact that streaming from a non-native app means that Tidal/Qobuz don’t learn your listening habits.
How about you go the Ropiee route? It’s dirt easy: download RopieeeXL (https://ropieee.org), set it up according to the Ropieee Beginner’s Guide (https://codexwilkes.com/downloads/ropieee-guide-for-beginners.pdf) and off you go. Once you set it up, Audirvana will immediately recognise your Pi via Ethernet. It’s free, works great with my USBridge Signature, and if I manage to do it, everyone manages
Thank you, Sailor, but I realize that none of this solves the problem which was to get legit TIDAL downloads into NAS. I was told it could be done with a Pi but it now seems it cannot be done. As I can use Audirvana anyway the Pi just puts extra steps in the data stream. So the Pi is surplus…
Sorry, Louise, I missed your point of downloading Tidal albums. Audirvana won‘t let you do this. I‘m afraid you‘d have to resort to Roon that enables you to incorporate an album from both, Tidal and Qobuz, into your library. But that’s another player altogether, I‘m afraid.
