Soundirok iOS app

[Mike Rubin]

Someone on this forum referred favorably to the iOS app called Soundirok as an alternative to the unloved mPad. For $3, I decided to gamble and purchased it.

 

Unfortunately, i's not working for me, for the reasons set out below. I have written to Soundirok's developer without a response and, before I leave a negative review at the Apple App Store and complain about wasted money, I thought I would see if anyone here has some thoughts about this app. I installed it on an iPad Air 2 and am trying to use it to control microRendu as an MPD renderer.

 

The app installed easily and I was able to add the microRendu as a device by setting out its IP address in the settings. The app began to scan my library, which is located on a NAS that is mapped to the microRendu, but it only scanned a few hundred albums from the 2.8 tb of hi-res, FLAC, and mp3 files. I did not see any way to force a rescan.

 

I looked in the settings and on the developer site for instructions regarding the addition of libraries to the app. I found an instruction to add the collection URL in order to add artwork but not to create or refresh a library database. When I typed in the NAS URL in the space where it would go if I were trying to add artwork, the app said it was scanning my collection again, but no albums appear to have been added to the list. I have no idea where else to refer to the NAS' URL or why it would be necessary to add it if I already have mapped the NAS to the microRendu but I literally get a few hundred tracks added, not the tens of thousands in my library.

 

Obviously, this is not a good result. Do any of you know how to get this app to scan my entire NAS collection so that I can access it from this app? Thank you for any information you can provide.

 

FWIW, I have had consistently better luck trying to control the microRendu on the Android platform. I have been using several different LMS, DLNA and MPD apps on Samsung phones and tablets without significant difficulty. It therefore isn't essential that I find something that works on the iPad. I'd just like to have that option after purchasing the Soundirok app.

[Axiom05]

Someone on this forum referred favorably to the iOS app called Soundirok as an alternative to the unloved mPad. For $3, I decided to gamble and purchased it.

 

Unfortunately, i's not working for me, for the reasons set out below. I have written to Soundirok's developer without a response and, before I leave a negative review at the Apple App Store and complain about wasted money, I thought I would see if anyone here has some thoughts about this app. I installed it on an iPad Air 2 and am trying to use it to control microRendu as an MPD renderer.

 

The app installed easily and I was able to add the microRendu as a device by setting out its IP address in the settings. The app began to scan my library, which is located on a NAS that is mapped to the microRendu, but it only scanned a few hundred albums from the 2.8 tb of hi-res, FLAC, and mp3 files. I did not see any way to force a rescan.

 

I looked in the settings and on the developer site for instructions regarding the addition of libraries to the app. I found an instruction to add the collection URL in order to add artwork but not to create or refresh a library database. When I typed in the NAS URL in the space where it would go if I were trying to add artwork, the app said it was scanning my collection again, but no albums appear to have been added to the list. I have no idea where else to refer to the NAS' URL or why it would be necessary to add it if I already have mapped the NAS to the microRendu but I literally get a few hundred tracks added, not the tens of thousands in my library.

 

Obviously, this is not a good result. Do any of you know how to get this app to scan my entire NAS collection so that I can access it from this app? Thank you for any information you can provide.

 

FWIW, I have had consistently better luck trying to control the microRendu on the Android platform. I have been using several different LMS, DLNA and MPD apps on Samsung phones and tablets without significant difficulty. It therefore isn't essential that I find something that works on the iPad. I'd just like to have that option after purchasing the Soundirok app.

 

I will see if I can help you out. I apologize that this response will be brief, I am short on time at the moment. I am going to assume nothing about what you know about this App. First, lets see if we can get your library loaded. At the top of the screen the name of your device should be visible next a tiny arrow. Hopefully you gave your device a name, otherwise it may just say New Device. Tap on your device name and a drop down menu will appear with a gear symbol. Tap on the gear and a new menu will appear. You many need to go through several cycles of Update MPD database or Refresh Soundirok database in order to load your entire library. I hope that this gets you going. Let me know if screen shots would help or whether this is already common knowledge and not helpful.

 

I have a library of about 1100 albums on a NAS and have been using Soundirok for several weeks with absolutely no real problems. There is definitely a learning curve but I am quite happy with the App but my needs may be fairly basic. There is a bug when you are using Album View: the alphabet side menu does not work as intended, i.e., it does not take you to the first album in your library that starts with the selected letter. I have been told that this will be fixed in the next update. As far as filing help tickets, my experience has been that Daniel has replied within 24 hours. However, the one enquiry I had that was a result of not understanding how the App features worked was not answered. Not sure if that is a trend or not. I am happy to try to help if I can. For me the App works well and shows great potential. You can see my audio set up in my signature, very simple, hopefully the microRendu does not complicate things for you, but it should work.

[Mike Rubin]

Thanks very, very much. This is very helpful. That pull-down at the top of the screen was what I needed to find.

 

I am trying to get the Soundirok database to update as we speak, but, if it does find everything, that process should take hours. I will post again if I continue to have issues adding music to the database.

[Mike Rubin]

Eventually, I got the app to load all the titles. I figured that, with your help, I had solved my problem. Unfortunately, however, if I use the ipad for anything else and then go back to Soundirok, it seems to need to re-load the entire library all over again, which takes a really, really long time, as though it were starting over from scratch. This makes it virtually unusable.

 

I previously used Lumin, although it's DLNA rather than MPD. Unfortunately, it gets the album art out of sync, so that became annoying. Soundirok's default lack of art is better than the wrong art, but the lack of functionality without a long wait is a deal killer for me.

 

As I posted originally, I am happy with several of the free MPD applications on the Android platform. I think I will focus my attention on those apps instead of the less capable set on iOS.

 

I appreciate your assistance. Glad you have greater success with Soundirok than have I.

[Mike Rubin]

I just timed how long it takes to load the database for my 2.8 tb collection: 22 minutes. During that time I could neither listen to music nor use the iPad for anything else. Back to Android....

[Axiom05]

I just timed how long it takes to load the database for my 2.8 tb collection: 22 minutes. During that time I could neither listen to music nor use the iPad for anything else. Back to Android....

That kind of sucks for sure. Might be worth submitting a support ticket to k.vibes describing the problem along with details of your configuration. Never know, it might be a solvable problem or maybe a fix in a future update. Your library is 5X bigger than mine but 22 minutes is way more than 5X as long. I am not sure why it is reloading your database every time you switch to the App, I don't see that behavior. Updating my database takes maybe 1 minute at most; refreshing Soundirok's cache takes no more than 10 seconds and I only see that happen if the App has not been used for a while.

[ClothEars]

Does a manual exist for this app or are you supposed to be able to work it out yourself.

If so, how do you get a playlist to play all tracks?

Thanks in advance!

[Axiom05]

Does a manual exist for this app or are you supposed to be able to work it out yourself.

If so, how do you get a playlist to play all tracks?

Thanks in advance!

 

No manual that I am aware of (that would be too easy). For a Playlist, I thought that you just start playing the first track and it would work its way through the list. I don't use playlists much so I don't exactly remember what I do. For playing a complete album, in the album window, tap and hold "Complete Album" and a selection list will pop up. Choose which option you want. Hope this helps, if not, reply with some more details about what you are actually doing.

 

Soundirok uses "standard" iOS App interface features, it's a matter of finding them.

[ClothEars]

Soundirok uses "standard" iOS App interface features, it's a matter of finding them.

 

Where would I find a list of these standard features? I shall Google in the meantime to see if it helps.

 

I have no problem playing an entire album. It is specifically playlists that cause the problem.

In the playlist window (at the top in the center) there are 3 icons. (Sorry for the crappy photo).

 

 

I understand they are for:

1) Random selection from playlist

2) Repeat track or playlist

3) Play single track

 

After selecting the first track of a playlist how do I get it to play an entire playlist without individually selecting every track in the list? Your collective help is much appreciated.

[Axiom05]

Where would I find a list of these standard features? I shall Google in the meantime to see if it helps.

 

I have no problem playing an entire album. It is specifically playlists that cause the problem.

In the playlist window (at the top in the center) there are 3 icons. (Sorry for the crappy photo).

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]33697[/ATTACH]

 

I understand they are for:

1) Random selection from playlist

2) Repeat track or playlist

3) Play single track

 

After selecting the first track of a playlist how do I get it to play an entire playlist without individually selecting every track in the list? Your collective help is much appreciated.

 

Something is not right with playlist playback in version 1.8 (or I am not aware of how it works). As I mentioned, I don't use playlists much and may not have used one since the update to Soundirok 1.8. I do know that the last time I did use a playlist, it worked just fine. I have submitted a help ticket to find out what the story is. I will post when I have an answer.

[Axiom05]

This is the response that I received from Daniel, the developer, regarding the playlist issue:

 

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[TD=width: 100%]Daniel (k.vibes Support)

Mar 5, 17:33 CET

Hi Robert,

the complete playlist is added to the queue if your default playback option is set to "Play now" in Soundiroks settings. If you've changed this then only the selected track will be added or played. In Soundirok 2.0 (already submitted to the app store, should be available during the next week) you can also add a complete playlist to the queue when the default action is not "Play now".

Kind regards,

Daniel

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

Hope this helps. I did change my settings since I last used a playlist.

[ClothEars]

@Axiom05

 

Thanks very much for that - I'm just downloading the latest version now so hopefully that will solve the problem.

Now if we can just get a larger font so I can read the display without a magnifying glass I'll be buzzing!

[ClothEars]

I've installed the latest version - and it won't work.

I have changed nothing in the setup but when I refresh the Soundirok database it still can't find or show the library.

 

Also what does "Update MPD database" actually do. Does it update it on the iPad or does it force the device to update it's own database (in my case a SOtM SMS-200 running MPD server)?

 

Is anyone else having problems?

[ClothEars]

Just to follow up, I've got the new version up and running and it's very good. (Operator error again!!!)

The additional views are great especially the Journal view with much more information presented so well done Daniel!

 

Still wouldn't mind knowing what "Update MPD database" actually does.

[Axiom05]

Just to follow up, I've got the new version up and running and it's very good. (Operator error again!!!)

The additional views are great especially the Journal view with much more information presented so well done Daniel!

 

Still wouldn't mind knowing what "Update MPD database" actually does.

 

Glad that you have it up and running. I updated my iPad, App works, but I haven't actually had a chance to play around with it and play some music. There are definitely some features that I was hoping for that aren't there.

 

"Update MPD Database:" There are two steps to this process. When you make changes to your music library, you have to let MPD know about it. "Update MPD Database" tells MPD to find the changes and update its local catalog. This step is followed by Soundirok updating its local cache to reflect the changes in the MPD catalog. I'm sure that this is over simplified but is about as detailed as I understand it.

 

How do you like the SMS-200, any set up issues? This is one of the units I am considering to replace my NUC.

[ClothEars]

The SMS-200 replaced my laptop running JRiver and I wanted the process of getting files to play on my DAC with as little computer involvement as possible. Sound wise it is an absolute no brainer. The SMS-200 leaves the laptop for dead.

I know other folks are using it as a renderer using a server based system, but that requires a server to be running and that introduces more complexity and more levels of required communication between the server and renderer.

So the simple method is to run MPD on the SMS-200 and control it with Soundirok. I have tried other topologies (server, etc) but the simple topology I am using simply sounds better.

Setup is pretty straight forward but I did run into a problem with my external HDD. I thought I had to specify a library name and path but I have just discovered (through a remote team viewer session with SOtM who are fantastic with customer support) that you do not need to. The SMS-200 will automatically find and mount an attached hard drive. Problem over!

Thanks for the info about the Database update. That clarifies it for me and explains why it seems to take a while to execute the command.

[ClothEars]

The new version (2.1) of Soundirok has been available for a couple of days now and it's a big step up from the previous version.

The "Journal" view is great but there is also a "File" view which is very useful. The implementation of the "Play Now" setting has changed a little and it is now very easy to play an entire playlist or a single track. All up it's an excellent upgrade!

Here is the Journal view (which is now my default) showing artist information etc.

[StefT]

I'm using Soundirok and MPDroid (free) with my Android phone and tablet.

For me, MPDroid is better. More stable, more fast, more reactive...

Since 27.09.2016, no update on Android (1.7 version). On iOS, many updates (the last one is 2.7; 26.06.2017).

 

Why no updates on Android?

Android users have paid the app and the app is not updated. Are Android users less important than iOS users?

[bmoregnr]

Are people using Soundirok still experiencing that each time you use the app it has to build the whole library from scratch each time?  Is that something that got fixed eventually or was it a sporadic occurrence across users?

[ClothEars]

9 hours ago, bmoregnr said:

Are people using Soundirok still experiencing that each time you use the app it has to build the whole library from scratch each time?  Is that something that got fixed eventually or was it a sporadic occurrence across users?

 

That shouldn't be happening. When you select "Update MPD Database" the whole MPD database is rebuilt (on the endpoint device) and the Soundirok database is also rebuilt on the remote device (like an iPad).  After that it should load the stored database file which should only take a minute or so.  (I have 3Tb of files and it loads in under a minute).

 

One problem with Soundirok v2.1 though is that the size of the artwork files use a lot of RAM which slows down the scrolling.  Daniel is aware of the problem and will be providing an update soon to address it.

[Elon]

Am I the only one who kinda prefers MPaD?  The interface is a little old school and not as polished, but it is quick compared to Soundirok. I have around 1k albums, and just scrolling through the lists is far more responsive. More annoying, I don't like that the alphabetic quick jump strip doesn't show up until you scroll. In general, it takes more taps to get around. When jumping around between apps, soundirok also sometimes take several more seconds to come up, if iOS has dumped the app out of RAM. 

[bmoregnr]

On 12/10/2016 at 7:06 AM, Axiom05 said:

 

I will see if I can help you out. I apologize that this response will be brief, I am short on time at the moment. I am going to assume nothing about what you know about this App. First, lets see if we can get your library loaded. At the top of the screen the name of your device should be visible next a tiny arrow. Hopefully you gave your device a name, otherwise it may just say New Device. Tap on your device name and a drop down menu will appear with a gear symbol. Tap on the gear and a new menu will appear. You many need to go through several cycles of Update MPD database or Refresh Soundirok database in order to load your entire library. I hope that this gets you going. Let me know if screen shots would help or whether this is already common knowledge and not helpful.

 

I have a library of about 1100 albums on a NAS and have been using Soundirok for several weeks with absolutely no real problems. There is definitely a learning curve but I am quite happy with the App but my needs may be fairly basic. There is a bug when you are using Album View: the alphabet side menu does not work as intended, i.e., it does not take you to the first album in your library that starts with the selected letter. I have been told that this will be fixed in the next update. As far as filing help tickets, my experience has been that Daniel has replied within 24 hours. However, the one enquiry I had that was a result of not understanding how the App features worked was not answered. Not sure if that is a trend or not. I am happy to try to help if I can. For me the App works well and shows great potential. You can see my audio set up in my signature, very simple, hopefully the microRendu does not complicate things for you, but it should work.

 

This is working great for me and was easy to set up despite not really finding any instructions out there.  I just named my device and added the ip address of the device, it seemed to pick a port and the only quirk for me, which this thread and quoted post saved my bacon, is the whole dropdown menu at the top of the app; that wasn't apparent to me but luckily I came back here in the first two minutes of not getting anything to happen in the setup section where you expected the library update to be.

 

I have not used artwork for my flac files for a long time now as I have tried to minimize the work required of a Pono and FiiO X5ii, so this app is working very well and is nice and fast for me; list view works best for me but then maybe that is habit from the DAPs I have used over the years.

 

Thanks for everyone's help especially @Cloth Ears both here and in the sms-200 threads.

[ClothEars]

@bmoregnr

My pleasure.  Glad you are up and running and enjoying the sound.

Don't forget you will get a nice lift in sound quality if you can power the SSD separately and not from the sMS-200. 

[tubegem]

On 3/13/2017 at 12:55 AM, ClothEars said:

The new version (2.1) of Soundirok has been available for a couple of days now and it's a big step up from the previous version.

The "Journal" view is great but there is also a "File" view which is very useful. The implementation of the "Play Now" setting has changed a little and it is now very easy to play an entire playlist or a single track. All up it's an excellent upgrade!

Here is the Journal view (which is now my default) showing artist information etc.

 

[tubegem]

Looks great, but I can't seem to repeat it. 

 

I have an sMS-200, with an attached WD drive powered by it's own walwart power supply. I copied my entire iTunes library to the WD.

The music plays fine and even the Journal option displays all the additional information, but I get ZERO art work.  

 

I have tried changing the Collection URL to duplicate the iTunes, the Cover Filename to 'album artwork.jpg' to duplicate the iTunes name, but to no avail.  

I did contact Daniel and he responded right away. As per his suggestion, I did delete the Cover Script URL, but still no go. 

 

Mr. ClothEars, would you mind explaining what you did in order to get your art work displayed. Looks like we have similar set ups.  Much appreciated. 

 

Eduard