Comments on: PiDisk – syncing the music library

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 11:47:36 +0000

Hi Michael, the key file goes into the home directory of the user e.g. /home/droid/.ssh
So… these articles assume that you have a Mac with a library, but you don’t want to keep the Mac turned on all the time. Hence syncing the library to the Pi. The automatic nightly sync is useful if you update the library frequently but not essential, as you can manually update it. I’m looking into a different solution for library syncing that will work on Windows as well.
I’m not sure I understand the rest of your question. If you have a NAS already then things would probably be different. Some NAS devices will allow you to install a DLNA server or even minimserver, in which case you may not need the Pi at all. Another way to do it would be to use say Volumio and mount your NAS using the web interface. However then a. you have to use the web interface and b. it doesn’t seem to work very well with large libraries. The combination of things I’ve written here works well together.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 00:15:23 +0000

Hi John,
thanks for the prompt response !

Actually, before rsync…
I created SSH keys (using Puttygen) , what’s the directory and file name (RPi) where I should create the file ? ~/.ssh/authorized_keys” ? ( in the same directory where’s Music directory located ?)
Why you used this command instead of copying and renaming existing file ? I was able simple copy file to the X:\ssh\ and rename it to “authorized_keys” (from PC to mapped drive)…
And general question.. Why do we need to use external PC ( Mac in your case) to synchronize music files ? There is a RPi in the permanently powered mode, not PC, I thougth it the the goal – to load all the job to RPi.. I agree it’s little bit complicated to RPi to copy huge amount of data, but why to do it at single portion ? Anyway, only one file played at the same time, so music may be transfered to RPi/Music/ from large storage (also networked archive) file by file, or, directory by directory, and then deleted after playing done. No need to synchronize whole music storage… RPi need to scan the storage for known music, and then to re-scan nightly, without transfereing.
Selection (to transfer) may be random, on directory of file name basic…. I think RPi is available to do this job.
What do you think ?

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Sun, 09 Dec 2018 17:44:47 +0000

Hi Michael, specifically, you are getting stuck with the rsync part?

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 09 Dec 2018 15:28:44 +0000

Hi John,
thanks a lot for such detailed descritpion !
Is it possible to publish same guide (of 3rd page) for user don’t have MAC/Linux machine ? 2 previous pages were done using Putty app releatively easy, but at 3rd I stucked… Or, if it’s really necessary to have Linux behaviour – how to get Linux shell features but running in Windows app ?
I understand there’re really different architectures , but anyway – is it achievable to get same result without MAC ?
And assuming all this hard work – how to get final URL to listen MY music over internet? There are lot of external players, like VLC, accepting simple URL..
Thanks again !

Thanks again

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Sun, 09 Dec 2018 14:25:29 +0000

Hi Jim, if you work with Linux I expect you will have no issues implementing this. You will probably be able to suggest some improvements 🙂 The case pictured in this article is the case from HifiBerry for their digital board which I described here: https://www.hifizine.com/2015/10/pifi-how-to-network-your-mac-music-system-with-the-raspberry-pi-and-hifiberry-part-1/, the power supply is a TeraDak linear supply, but these days I just use a Meanwell switching supply with an Allo DigiOne card. [Edit added for clarity:] That however is the renderer, the PiDisk itself (photo in Part 1) is housed in a plastic case I got from eBay.

By: Jim Hardy

Jim Hardy — Sun, 09 Dec 2018 06:18:44 +0000

Superb documentation of an exciting solution!

For the past few months I have been streaming FLAC files from my Win7 computer using Foobar2000 and BubbleUPnP, to a ChromeCast Audio with optical output line-in to my old hi-fi receiver, which does the DAC and has hi- & lo-pass filtering to my subwoofer and bookshelf speakers. It sounds really great. BUT! My 9yo gets on the damn computer to play Roblox or YouTube videos. Half the time he logs me off or shuts the computer down or something; another half of the time he’s using it when I want to get on there and manage my music files; and a third half of the time his play makes too much noise to listen to anything in the family room.

This past week we moved the computer to the back office, where it should have been the whole time. Blessed peace in the family room!. But now suddenly the music server is no longer in the same room as the stereo equipment.

I would LOVE to move the music-server duties of the computer to a small, dedicated device. I’ve never played with a Raspberry Pi before. But I work with Linux in my day job, and have used BubbleUPnP on Windoze. Your excellent instructions make it all seem very accessible.

One question:
What is the clear plastic case that you have around the pi, in your photo’s? Makes a quite elegant stack with your power supply: old-school looking equipment. Did that come with a specific pi kit? Or was it a separate accessory, or something?

Thanks for sharing your work! I can’t wait to get started.

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 13:10:02 +0000

Hi Philip, I’m using a Raspberry Pi 3B+ with Wifi with no issues running Volumio or Ropieee (for Roon). I haven’t actually compared the different digital cards in any way, although there are other reports on the web. You could maybe use USB to your DAC until you get comfortable with the software/network setup, then decide how much you want to spend on a digital card? The landscape here is changing quite quickly too.

By: Philip Eastburn

Philip Eastburn — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 09:43:39 +0000

Hi John. I appreciate your swift response. Thanks to your pioneering work and excellent guidance notes I can take this step-by-step. One day I’ll be able to play music without having the computer on but for now I can try out a Pi streamer with USB hard disc and see how that compares to Amarra sound. Would you say that the extra investment for the Allo DigiOne board is warranted/worth it? Almost all of the files that make up my music collection (aka library!) are CD- quality (16/44) –and a good deal of it is ‘classical’ (so without dynamic range compression). I’m guessing that eliminating jitter is always a good thing regardless of the file’s bit or sample rate? If I’m wrong about that then the Hifiberry Digi+ may be enough for me. Lastly, have you found that the teething issues with the RPi3 when it was released have now all been sorted and that you can recommend it?

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 15:29:05 +0000

Hi Philip, I was loose with my terminology, by “player” here I meant the UPnP renderer and DAC attached to it. Given that this particular article is about a cheap Pi-based server, I was trying (!) to say that it doesn’t matter to sound quality that it’s a cheap Pi-based server. I am currently using (i.e. listening as I type) an Allo DigiOne digital card on a Pi (with Volumio) driving my RME ADI-2 Pro via SPDIF. The server is an ODroid HC1, which I’ve described in my last two articles. I think it sounds very good, I find myself using direct USB connection to the computer much less often.
An alternative to the UPnP setup I’ve described in these articles is Roon, which is more seamless although at higher cost.

By: Philip Eastburn

Philip Eastburn — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 11:38:05 +0000

I have the set-up you outlined in your first article: computer audio on the Mac. Thanks for posting the UPnP -related articles since then. I have found them very informative and helpful as I contemplate a move to UPnP, mainly because of what the controllers can offer compared to stand-alone Mac (Mini). But I’m wondering if the sound quality will be as good. In your introductory article you said it was easy to improve on iTunes by getting a better player. I went for Amarra and it was a significant improvement. In wrapping up this article you say: ‘The sound is determined by the player, not the server’. That’s left me a little confused about what ‘the player’ is. I’m assuming that it doesn’t include the DAC as you’ve recommended having an external one and it would therefore be part of the Audio System the ‘player’ connects to. Is the Pi with DIGI an example of what you mean by ‘the player’? With a Mac is it the audio-processing part that is ‘the player’? I understand that Amarra takes over these processing duties and that’s how it is able to be a ‘better player’. Will a Pi provide sound quality on a par with what Amarra gives me? If not are there any other similarly priced UPnP renderers which would? As I only need it for audio duties I’m ruling out a Blu ray player. Also my preference is to connect to my DAC via coax or toslink rather than USB – just what a Pi with DIGI offers!