Revisiting/updating my server from WS2012+AO+JRiver?

[LewinskiH01]

Hello.

 

Two years ago I built and set up my dedicated audio PC, and have since lost track of newer developments and have focused more on DSP and multiway stereo. I might be due for an update and wanted to gather opinions here.

 

I'm running Windows Server 2012 R2 in core mode, Audiophile Optimizer, JRiver MC on a headless PC. I control JRiver through JRemote. Simple to operate.

 

I also use Acourate to generate digital crossovers (3-way) and digital room correction, which is all built into a filter that is applied on JRiver to convolve, then output to my multichannel DAC through USB.

 

In my experience WS2012 in core mode, especially with AO, made a very significant improvement in sound so I'd rather stick with that. FWIW, I read Win 10 is no an improvement in sound.

 

Being able to convolve a multiway filter is critical. Also the need for headless operation.

 

I'd love to be able to integrate Tidal, which JRiver isn't supporting. There is a walkaround with the WDM driver...but it's a walkaround.

 

For example HQPlayer can do multichannel convolution, can be run remotely through Roon which in turn integrates Tidal. But, alas, HQP doesn't support WS2012...

 

Can you think of a suitable way of achieving all of these together?

[LewinskiH01]

Geez...no answers. Nada?

 

Is there anybody out there?

[BobSherman]

Hello.

 

Two years ago I built and set up my dedicated audio PC, and have since lost track of newer developments and have focused more on DSP and multiway stereo. I might be due for an update and wanted to gather opinions here.

 

I'm running Windows Server 2012 R2 in core mode, Audiophile Optimizer, JRiver MC on a headless PC. I control JRiver through JRemote. Simple to operate.

 

I also use Acourate to generate digital crossovers (3-way) and digital room correction, which is all built into a filter that is applied on JRiver to convolve, then output to my multichannel DAC through USB.

 

In my experience WS2012 in core mode, especially with AO, made a very significant improvement in sound so I'd rather stick with that. FWIW, I read Win 10 is no an improvement in sound.

 

Being able to convolve a multiway filter is critical. Also the need for headless operation.

 

I'd love to be able to integrate Tidal, which JRiver isn't supporting. There is a walkaround with the WDM driver...but it's a walkaround.

 

For example HQPlayer can do multichannel convolution, can be run remotely through Roon which in turn integrates Tidal. But, alas, HQP doesn't support WS2012...

 

Can you think of a suitable way of achieving all of these together?

HQ Player will run on server with AO. Download the Roon trial and HQP and give it a go.

[LewinskiH01]

HQ Player will run on server with AO. Download the Roon trial and HQP and give it a go.

 

Bob,

 

Thanks for the answer. HQP will run, true, but won't on core on a headless pc and receive streaming from Roon. I confirmed that at Roon forum.

 

Plus Jussi has been very clear he will not support me in WS2012. No point in paying for such.

 

So onto alternatives.

 

From reading/asking around it seems my only options are:

1) JRIVER with WDM walk-around receiving Tidal

2) Roon streaming into Acourate Convolver. And Roon is said to have an excellent integration with Tidal.

 

Can you think of additional options?

 

Thanks!

[BobSherman]

Bob,

 

Thanks for the answer. HQP will run, true, but won't on core on a headless pc and receive streaming from Roon. I confirmed that at Roon forum.

 

Plus Jussi has been very clear he will not support me in WS2012. No point in paying for such.

 

So onto alternatives.

 

From reading/asking around it seems my only options are:

1) JRIVER with WDM walk-around receiving Tidal

2) Roon streaming into Acourate Convolver. And Roon is said to have an excellent integration with Tidal.

 

Can you think of additional options?

 

Thanks!

I think you would still be better to try running minimum server with AO and Roon and give HQP a try. Not sure how much support would be needed. IMO Roon is worth sticking with as it provides such a nice user experience.

[LewinskiH01]

I think you would still be better to try running minimum server with AO and Roon and give HQP a try. Not sure how much support would be needed. IMO Roon is worth sticking with as it provides such a nice user experience.

 

I see. Ok. Maybe I need to get past my reaction to Jussi's reply, which I didn't like.

 

BTW, do you run Roon Core on your audio pc or on another pc and stream onto your audio pc?

[BobSherman]

I see. Ok. Maybe I need to get past my reaction to Jussi's reply, which I didn't like.

 

BTW, do you run Roon Core on your audio pc or on another pc and stream onto your audio pc?

I am currently running Roon core on 2012R2 Minimum Server, A0, Process Lasso and Fidelizer on a Xeon server.

 

The endpoint is a single mode fiber connected Raspberry Pi A+, Picore Player, Hifi Berry Digi + pro SPDIF out to a Schiit Multibit DAC.

 

I have also ran the Roon endpoint on a PI 2B and it works fine. Tidal integration is seamless in Roon. Lots of devices to easily stream to as a Roon endpoint, NAA, Squeezebox etc.

 

Regards

Bob

[LewinskiH01]

The endpoint is a single mode fiber connected Raspberry Pi A+, Picore Player, Hifi Berry Digi + pro SPDIF out to a Schiit Multibit DAC.

 

In this hobby jargon is a pain! I have no idea what any of these are ? Will look into them, though.

 

Thanks for the input!!

 

BTW, have you tried Audiolinux? Someone who used to run WS2012 plus AO switched to it and says it sounds better, and comes optimized for Roon and HQP...

[BobSherman]

In this hobby jargon is a pain! I have no idea what any of these are  Will look into them, though.

 

Thanks for the input!!

 

BTW, have you tried Audiolinux? Someone who used to run WS2012 plus AO switched to it and says it sounds better, and comes optimized for Roon and HQP...

Sorry about that. Here are some links.

 

I have Audiolinux but have not gotten around to trying it.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/picoreplayer/home

 

http://schiit.com/news/news/introducing-modi-multibit

 

 

[dsnyder]

Being able to convolve a multiway filter is critical. Also the need for headless operation.

 

I'd love to be able to integrate Tidal, which JRiver isn't supporting. There is a walkaround with the WDM driver...but it's a walkaround.

 

For example HQPlayer can do multichannel convolution, can be run remotely through Roon which in turn integrates Tidal. But, alas, HQP doesn't support WS2012...

 

Can you think of a suitable way of achieving all of these together?

 

My setup is similar since I'm using JRiver's convolution engine with FIR filters generated by Acourate as well. I managed to get TIDAL to stream through JRiver by taking advantage of JRiver's integrated DLNA Renderer. I've posted the details here:

 

HOWTO: Streaming TIDAL via JRiver Media Center

 

This solution does require an Android tablet or smartphone, but it works surprisingly well. I have JRiver configured to "Play files from memory instead of disk" and "Load files into memory at the start of playback". As a result, it takes a few seconds for a track to start playing because JRiver has to slurp it all in from my tablet over wi-fi; however, once playback begins, the sound is indistinguishable from the CD rips that I have on my Synology NAS.

[dsnyder]

BTW, I was initially put-off by the notion of using DLNA, but as far as I can tell, there's no lossy compression, re-encoding, or other bit manipulation involved when things are setup correctly. JRiver just gets a FLAC stream from the tablet via the TIDAL HiFi service. In my configuration, this stream is uncompressed to PCM in RAM by JRiver before playback begins. I don't have an easy way to verify it, but the contents in memory should be identical to local FLAC file playback. Pretty cool.

[LewinskiH01]

BTW, I was initially put-off by the notion of using DLNA, but as far as I can tell, there's no lossy compression, re-encoding, or other bit manipulation involved when things are setup correctly. JRiver just gets a FLAC stream from the tablet via the TIDAL HiFi service. In my configuration, this stream is uncompressed to PCM in RAM by JRiver before playback begins. I don't have an easy way to verify it, but the contents in memory should be identical to local FLAC file playback. Pretty cool.

 

That's a good solution. Thanks for posting it!

 

I've been considering it, but I've realized Tidal + Roon have the potential to expand the use beyond my hifi. Having 3 teenagers they appreciate having access to Tidal, and Roon allows to integrate the Squeezebox Touch I have in the kitchen (for example) to use the same audio library as the big system, and frankly opens the door to doing the same with kids systems such as a pair of powered speakers with integrated DAC plus a raspberry. So all this will be great as long as I can have a successful implementation in the big system, which I haven't accomplished yet. Jury is still out

[dsnyder]

That's a good solution. Thanks for posting it!

 

I've been considering it, but I've realized Tidal + Roon have the potential to expand the use beyond my hifi. Having 3 teenagers they appreciate having access to Tidal, and Roon allows to integrate the Squeezebox Touch I have in the kitchen (for example) to use the same audio library as the big system, and frankly opens the door to doing the same with kids systems such as a pair of powered speakers with integrated DAC plus a raspberry. So all this will be great as long as I can have a successful implementation in the big system, which I haven't accomplished yet. Jury is still out

 

I understand what you are saying; however, it does not look like the folks at roonlabs are in any big rush to add convolution support that's compatible with Acourate filters. Conversely, if you add your Squeezebox Touch and Raspberry Pi based media players as zones in JRiver, you'll be able to stream your local library to all of them via JRemote and use BubbleUPnP to do the same for TIDAL (two app interfaces instead of one...but not horrible).

 

If the rest of your family would prefer to use the roon client to manage listening outside of the big system, that's easy to accommodate also. You can run both roon and JRiver on your server (looks like it's powerful enough). You would use JRiver + JRemote + BubbleUPnP for playback in the big system and roon client in the rest of the house.

 

My home setup is actually kind of similar...we use JRemote + BubbleUPnP in the Loft system. However, to play music in the rest of the house, we have five SONOS zones, so we use the SONOS mobile app instead. SONOS has access to our local music library on the Synology NAS plus TIDAL (and actually a lot more via Interent radio stations, etc). The SONOS systems sound surprizingly good for what they are and would be easier to setup than Raspberry Pi + powered speakers for your teens' rooms. :-)

 

I'm looking forward to hearing about what you put together!

[LewinskiH01]

I am currently running Roon core on 2012R2 Minimum Server, A0, Process Lasso and Fidelizer on a Xeon server.

 

The endpoint is a single mode fiber connected Raspberry Pi A+, Picore Player, Hifi Berry Digi + pro SPDIF out to a Schiit Multibit DAC.

 

I have also ran the Roon endpoint on a PI 2B and it works fine. Tidal integration is seamless in Roon. Lots of devices to easily stream to as a Roon endpoint, NAA, Squeezebox etc.

 

Regards

Bob

 

Hello Bob.

 

I'm attempting HQP with WS2012R2 and ran into trouble early on.

 

I did a new WS2012R2 installation in GUI, ran all the updates, and installed HQP. Unfortunately it doesn't even start: it says api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll is missing.

 

I tried installing a Viaual C++ update, but it fails to install.

 

Did you run into similar issues when you installed yours?

 

Cheers!