Computer Audio. Wish There Was a Bullet Proof Blue Print

[walterwhite]

Does Durio have Tidal integration?

And further; can anyone confirm which other Pi OS have Tidal integration?

I'm afraid I don't actually know what Tidal is. I use Volumio, and have tried the OS that came pre-installed and Rune, all of which worked fine without any problems. It plays pretty well any audio file format you want to throw at it, including 24 bit, and does hifi radio too, but other than that I couldn't say.

[guydarryl]

if you are interested then we can show you which parts to buy and then talk you through it by PM if needed. Or I can deconstruct mine and rebuild as a step-by-step article that others can follow.

That would be an excellent new thread - VERY simple, no assumptions, step by step (with diagrams!) for complete beginners. I know it has been attempted elsewhere but, if you are willing, I would be grateful for your version on this forum.

Guy.

[George Hincapie]

Does Durio have Tidal integration?

And further; can anyone confirm which other Pi OS have Tidal integration?

I'm afraid I don't actually know what Tidal is. I use Volumio, and have tried the OS that came pre-installed and Rune, all of which worked fine without any problems. It plays pretty well any audio file format you want to throw at it, including 24 bit, and does hifi radio too, but other than that I couldn't say.

Tidal is a cloud based music streaming service similar to Spotify. Think of it as NetFlix for music basically.

[George Hincapie]

if you are interested then we can show you which parts to buy and then talk you through it by PM if needed. Or I can deconstruct mine and rebuild as a step-by-step article that others can follow.

That would be an excellent new thread - VERY simple, no assumptions, step by step (with diagrams!) for complete beginners. I know it has been attempted elsewhere but, if you are willing, I would be grateful for your version on this forum.

Guy.

Of course. I'll put something together before I go back to work next week.

[George Hincapie]

George. I seem to remember that Max2Play software offers Tidal integration for the Pi.

https://www.max2play.com/en/

I'll have a look - many thanks.

[walterwhite]

Does Durio have Tidal integration?

And further; can anyone confirm which other Pi OS have Tidal integration?

I'm afraid I don't actually know what Tidal is. I use Volumio, and have tried the OS that came pre-installed and Rune, all of which worked fine without any problems. It plays pretty well any audio file format you want to throw at it, including 24 bit, and does hifi radio too, but other than that I couldn't say.

Tidal is a cloud based music streaming service similar to Spotify. Think of it as NetFlix for music basically.

That'll be why I don't know anything about it then, as Netflix has never appealed to me either. I'm happy with the music collection I've accumulated over my lifetime, and the very thought of 'cloud based data' fills me with dread for some strange reason

My son and grandson recorded a Christmas version of 'Jingle Bell Rock' this year, and I purchased it from Google play. I then spent the next twenty minutes working out how to download it, but Google seemed to think I should be happy to only listen to it via their online streaming player in mp3 format. Made me bloody furious. When they grudgingly let me have it to own, the only format available was mp3

[Neonknight]

As an update. I was able to make a purchase on a PS Audio LANRover at a very attractive price, so I thought I would see what the unit was about. Now this was a significant improvement in SQ, and the direction I was looking to head. Detail improved significantly, so did the presentation of space, and vocals and instruments improved in focus. This all occurred with the inexpensive SMSL USB/SPDIF converter I had in place, which is still there at the moment. Music had a liveliness and immediacy again, which was totally lacking with the previous arrangement.

Now there is some talk about the PS Audio piece being a rebadge, as it looks similar to commercial Ethernet extenders. Perhaps it is, or perhaps it is a modification of a commercial piece, I really don't know. The explanation of how it works might be hot air. Or how it works might be replicated by a commercial Ethernet extender like the ones from StarTech. Or maybe not. They are 50 to 60% of the cost, so at least in the $300 range, so the commercial pieces are not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. But what I do know is that the LANRover works, and is part of a solution for getting computer audio to sound good in my house.

The next step is to consider replacing the SMSL with a better USB/SPDIF converter and see if there are gains to be had there. I will look closely at the Melodious piece mentioned earlier in this thread. I also have not given up on the idea of the Raspberry Pi as the music server core, but do not have time to build one at the moment. And I want to see where I can locate things in the new cabinet when it arrives here. Either way I can use the LANRover and Melodious with the Raspberry piece if that becomes the final solution.

But so far things are looking up and heading the right way. The only area that I notice is a concern is that music sounds slightly rounded on the leading edges. The attack of notes or vocals is not as incisive as I have heard in the past. Some might call it "more analog" but to me its a limitation. If I can improve this one area, than things would be awesome. We will see how it goes.

[kimangelis]

I don't think you're going to be able to achieve what you want to do with current technology. Current (CPU-based) designs are really all about convenience. Some systems are very good, some less-so. You (?) pay for what you get. The CPU-based systems are up against decades of research and development into transports, DAC's etc so it's not really surprising they fall short. Nothing I've heard both in my home or at the home of friends can measure-up to a good transport and DAC combination. Personally I just keep all my CD's and notes in the superbly-named Slappa Hardbody CD cases and ditch the original plastic cases.

[Neonknight]

I don't think you're going to be able to achieve what you want to do with current technology. Current (CPU-based) designs are really all about convenience. Some systems are very good, some less-so. You (?) pay for what you get. The CPU-based systems are up against decades of research and development into transports, DAC's etc so it's not really surprising they fall short. Nothing I've heard both in my home or at the home of friends can measure-up to a good transport and DAC combination. Personally I just keep all my CD's and notes in the superbly-named Slappa Hardbody CD cases and ditch the original plastic cases.

Maybe. It certainly is a possibility. But I am going to spend a bit of time experimenting and seeing if I can find a combination that works. I still have my transport in place, and will compare against it. But this is a significant step in the direction I want to go. It will be interesting to see if I can cross the threshold in order to make it a staple component of my system. As I read it, some folks like it for the convenience, and spend a lot of time tinkering to get the displays of art work and play lists to their liking. Kind of like playing with a giant cell phone. Others are interested in sound quality, and for them it seems to work. So there might be something there after all. But I am unsure if I can reach that level with my limited budget. We will see.

[kimangelis]

That's my point. There's a balance to be struck. I sincerely feel you will not achieve CD/DAC quality with CPU-based systems, and I accept totally the convenience of stashing your tracks onto a hard drive. But you're right.... There is a trade-off between quality and convenience. The Rega Planar plus Ortofon cartridge eclipsed my early Phillips CD player, and I switched completely from LP to CD because I got fed-up of having to mess about with turntable set-up plus store boxes of LP's.