Simple solution for streaming Tidal Hifi from iPhone to stereo

[smith123]

Hello,

 

I'm looking for a temporary solution that work with Tidal Hifi.

 

I'm using a Airport Express 802.11n 2 generation and the optical out to The Beresford Caiman Mk. II DAC at the moment. Everything is controlled with my iPhone and the Tidal app. The sound quality is not that bad except from jitter errors, pops and so on that is making me insane.. My AE and firmware seems to be the problem (after extensive reading), and can't be fixed. I'm not able to downgrade to the firmware version where everything works.

 

Would replacing the AE with a Chromecast Audio help?

 

Planning on buying a new music server and USB dac in the near future. Just looking for a cheap solution that work decent with Tidal Hifi until then.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

[franz159]

I stream Tidal using a raspberry pi3, with Moode + BubbleUPnP Server on it.

You can connect it to you Caiman MK II DAC on using USB.

With iPhone orTablet I simply control everything using Linn Kazoo app.

Final quality will be very good!

 

 

[Apesbrain]

Have you tried connecting them using optical?  I don't see anything on Google about using the AE USB output for a DAC.

[smith123]

41 minutes ago, franz159 said:

I stream Tidal using a raspberry pi3, with Moode + BubbleUPnP Server on it.

You can connect it to you Caiman MK II DAC on using USB.

With iPhone orTablet I simply control everything using Linn Kazoo app.

Final quality will be very good!

 

 

 

That would maybe be a solution. I will have to read into it.

 

I did however notice that my laptop with Daphile connected over USB to the Chaiman sounded less entertaining (thinner and flatter). I think that I will have to find a solution where I can use the optical in (Chaiman is not a asynchronous USB DAC from what I understand).

 

48 minutes ago, Apesbrain said:

Have you tried connecting them using optical?  I don't see anything on Google about using the AE USB output for a DAC.

 

I use the optical output from the AE right now into my DAC. It is not possible to use the AE USB-output for audio. The problem is that the AE optical output is bad since firmware updates. It would be a prefect temporary solution otherwise. 

[Cebolla]

There are output boards that you can add to the Raspberry Pi for optical, eg the HiFiBerry Digi+:

https://www.hifiberry.com/products/digiplus/

 

BTW, an alternative to using standard UPnP/DLNA supporting players like Moode, which require you to also use the BubbleUPnP Server software for OpenHome Streaming Services (TIDAL & Qobuz), would be to use openhome.org's OpenHome Player on the RPi, which has built-in OpenHome Streaming Services support:

OpenHome Player for Raspberry Pi

[franz159]

Hi Cebolla.

Thanks for chiming in.

I see a sort of at rend here   where I suggest BubblleUPnP server on top of Moode for Tidal/Qobuz and you explain that using OpenHome player is even easier.

 

I confirm that and in fact on my Mac I installed also the OpenHome Player.

I also  recommended it on another Italian forum to somebody searching a solution on an Ubuntu system.

 

On a Raspberry, I still prefer "my" solution on top of Moode, but that's just me, because for various other reasons I still continue to use Moode, so it is just convenient for me.

Or do you think I should be able to install the OpenHome player itself  (which seems to be lighter) on top of Moode, which is now going to run on Raspbian Stretch?

 

Finally, a question for you, just to confirm: as I understand it  the OpenHome player send its output to the whatever "default" alsa device is configured on the system, correct?

 

Thanks

 

 

[smith123]

On 2017-10-09 at 3:04 PM, Cebolla said:

There are output boards that you can add to the Raspberry Pi for optical, eg the HiFiBerry Digi+:

https://www.hifiberry.com/products/digiplus/

 

BTW, an alternative to using standard UPnP/DLNA supporting players like Moode, which require you to also use the BubbleUPnP Server software for OpenHome Streaming Services (TIDAL & Qobuz), would be to use openhome.org's OpenHome Player on the RPi, which has built-in OpenHome Streaming Services support:

OpenHome Player for Raspberry Pi

 

Thanks. I've read a bit into it now. Raspberry Pi and HiFiBerry Digi+ seems like a serious solution. Which I could use with a better DAC later on to. The only downside (from what I've read) is that you should use a linear power supply and solder something on the main board (regarding power?) to make it really sing. Can you maybe recommend a product that is just plug and play like the the Bryston BDP π, but cheaper?

 

I think that I could put a Pi and Digi + together, but I lack the skills to solder. 

 

I've installed Open Home Player on my PC btw, it seems like a nice system. I like the Linn Kazzo App to. But I do not know how it sounds yet.

[franz159]

38 minutes ago, smith123 said:

 

Thanks. I've read a bit into it now. Raspberry Pi and HiFiBerry Digi+ seems like a serious solution. Which I could use with a better DAC later on to. The only downside (from what I've read) is that you should use a linear power supply and solder something on the main board (regarding power?) to make it really sing. Can you maybe recommend a product that is just plug and play like the the Bryston BDP π, but cheaper?

 

I think that I could put a Pi and Digi + together, but I lack the skills to solder. 

 

I've installed Open Home Player on my PC btw, it seems like a nice system. I like the Linn Kazzo App to. But I do not know how it sounds yet.

Allo DigiOne should be also very good (and no soldering!)

https://www.allo.com/sparky/digione.html

You can read a review here:

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/08/allos-digione-pulls-five-star-sound-quality-from-the-raspberry-pi/

 

[The Computer Audiophile]

Check out the new Allo Club here on CA, to interact with the Allo team - 

 

[smith123]

22 minutes ago, franz159 said:

Allo DigiOne should be also very good (and no soldering!)

https://www.allo.com/sparky/digione.html

You can read a review here:

http://www.digitalaudioreview.net/2017/08/allos-digione-pulls-five-star-sound-quality-from-the-raspberry-pi/

 

 

Big thanks! It seems like a very good solution for me. I will have to read into it though. It's not that expensive but I would love if I could keep using it with a better DAC to.

 

27 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Check out the new Allo Club here on CA, to interact with the Allo team - 

 

 

I will do. Thanks

[DarwinOSX]

The AE is known for jitter but the 3rd Gen apple TV with optical is not. 

[dongi]

I am looking for a similar solution for Tidal streaming ONLY. No NAS, no nothing else.

I have tried Moode but it kept crashing the raspberry (RPi3). Plus I need to run the BubbleUPNP on a PC separately; something I do not want to do.

I found out about Openhome Player as a solution but I could not install it. I am not an expert with Raspberry but I can follow directions. No go. openhome-player command cannot be found. Although I get the package via terminal it just saves, not installs for some reason. Yes, I used Jessie.

I want all in one; Raspberry +Allo Boss and everything is in this; server, player, etc. I would control it from Lumin or Kazoo.

So far, I could not find or successfully do what I want.

Any suggestions?

[franz159]

On 4/19/2018 at 3:23 PM, dongi said:

I am looking for a similar solution for Tidal streaming ONLY. No NAS, no nothing else.

I have tried Moode but it kept crashing the raspberry (RPi3). Plus I need to run the BubbleUPNP on a PC separately; something I do not want to do.

I found out about Openhome Player as a solution but I could not install it. I am not an expert with Raspberry but I can follow directions. No go. openhome-player command cannot be found. Although I get the package via terminal it just saves, not installs for some reason. Yes, I used Jessie.

I want all in one; Raspberry +Allo Boss and everything is in this; server, player, etc. I would control it from Lumin or Kazoo.

So far, I could not find or successfully do what I want.

Any suggestions?

I've been using Moode for years to stream Tidal...initially also installing BubbleUPnP Server.

Since version 4.0 this is no longer necessary: through updmpcli, Tidal (or Qobuz) are directly supported.

The more recent version 4.1 runs also on the latest raspberry pi3 model b+.

You can control either with Lumin or Linn Kazoo (or any other UPnP controller app)

 

Which Moode version were you using?

If you were experiencing crashes maybe it was a defective SD card. I would give it another try...

[dongi]

@franz159 thanks!

 

With the help of another member here, I was able to install the Openhome player and it works very well so far. I will try the Moode again, thanks. 

[DarwinOSX]

On 10/8/2017 at 1:14 PM, smith123 said:

Hello,

 

I'm looking for a temporary solution that work with Tidal Hifi.

 

I'm using a Airport Express 802.11n 2 generation and the optical out to The Beresford Caiman Mk. II DAC at the moment. Everything is controlled with my iPhone and the Tidal app. The sound quality is not that bad except from jitter errors, pops and so on that is making me insane.. My AE and firmware seems to be the problem (after extensive reading), and can't be fixed. I'm not able to downgrade to the firmware version where everything works.

 

Would replacing the AE with a Chromecast Audio help?

 

Planning on buying a new music server and USB dac in the near future. Just looking for a cheap solution that work decent with Tidal Hifi until then.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks.

 

 

‘The 3rd gen Apple TV with optical port doesn’t have the jitter issues of the airport express.