Guys,
Now that I am hearing differences between digital cables and what not, I am writing this guide for allo users (especially who use volumio but despise the volumio interface such as myself) to get better sound and simpler experience. It has worked for me. If you prefer volumio interface, this guide is not for you. I dont like volumio interface especially when it tries to scan the library on boot and was pissed off initailly when i did not find any option to browse files/folders. If you are not comfortable with ssh terminals and linux, you may want to avoid this unless you want some adventure.
Volumio has better sound imo than other players and it uses mpd in backend. If you are usng something else, try volumio atleast once, you will be surprised. Below is valid for both usbridge and digione users.
1) I assume you have latest volumio image on the microsd card. If not, then grab latest image and boot using the microsd card. Use ethernet cable for LAN connection to connect, no wifi please.
2) Once booted, it will get an IP from your router. You can check the ipaddress from router settings page and reserve it for allo device so that it gets same everytime its rebooted.
2) After its booted up, enter the ip address (of the usbridge or digione ) in your browser. http://<VOLUMIO_IPADDR>. Initial setup screen comes, you can select the audio output device. Dont scan your NAS or USBdrives for music yet. Press finish.
3) Once done, it will reboot or come to main volumio screen. Now, get the ipaddress of your allo device and enter http://<ipaddress>/DEV. Now press enable ssh.
4) Once ssh is enabled, you can access the allo device using ssh through a terminal or putty software. the default username password is volumio/volumio. Once login, get root access
4) Now we need to disable volumio service. This will disable web interface of volumio. We are disabling it because we need control mpd directly instead of volumio controlling it.
5). First, we try finding the ouput device using below command. For usbridge users, it wll show the dac description which is connected. this is the device that plays all the music.
6) Now we need to get some music. It can be stored in locally connected usb harddrive or NAS. For sound quality, local usb music is preferred. If you are like me and like to store music on NAS , then I found sshfs is identical in quality to locally stored music.
6a) If you use local USB drive, identity local USB drive mount point once its connected. Make note of the name. Here its /media/USB_DRIVE1
6b). If you using NAS, sshfs is best way I found to access network music. It gives quality identical to locally stored music imo better than using samba or nfs shares. Playing through upnp/DLNA/bubbleupnp is strict no no. Install sshfs and mount the remote NAS folder that contains music. For it to work you need to have passwordless root authentication from allo device to NAS device. Google to enable ssh on NAS and setup keybased paswordless authentication.
6). Now we are ready to configure mpd. Open /etc/mpd.conf using nano. Its a text file and needs to be modified. find and replace below lines according to your config
7) After making all changes to /etc/mpd.conf, restart mpd
8) Now, we can use M.A.L.P for android to control and play music. Install MALP app from andorid store on your phone
Open MALP app. Goto profiles. Add ip for your allo device there.
Then goto server properties and press - update server database. it will take some time (may be few hours if music is stored on remote NAS.
Once library is updated, you will have all your music visible in the app and can play. If you add new music to your harddrives, then just need to click update-server-database in the app again. MALP also has the option to browse using files/folders which is very useful.
9) Quick tip for tidal users through bubbleupnp. As you know volumio comes with upnp renderer capability which you can use to stream tidal from bubbleupnp app. But thats not ideal way and doesnt give good sound quality, You need to install upmpdcli-tidal plugin (https://www.lesbonscomptes.com/upmpdcli/downloads.html) and configure your tidal user/password in /etc/upmpdcli.conf. Once done you will get a new media server in your bubbleupnp app through which you can play better quality tidal.
Now that I am hearing differences between digital cables and what not, I am writing this guide for allo users (especially who use volumio but despise the volumio interface such as myself) to get better sound and simpler experience. It has worked for me. If you prefer volumio interface, this guide is not for you. I dont like volumio interface especially when it tries to scan the library on boot and was pissed off initailly when i did not find any option to browse files/folders. If you are not comfortable with ssh terminals and linux, you may want to avoid this unless you want some adventure.
Volumio has better sound imo than other players and it uses mpd in backend. If you are usng something else, try volumio atleast once, you will be surprised. Below is valid for both usbridge and digione users.
1) I assume you have latest volumio image on the microsd card. If not, then grab latest image and boot using the microsd card. Use ethernet cable for LAN connection to connect, no wifi please.
2) Once booted, it will get an IP from your router. You can check the ipaddress from router settings page and reserve it for allo device so that it gets same everytime its rebooted.
2) After its booted up, enter the ip address (of the usbridge or digione ) in your browser. http://<VOLUMIO_IPADDR>. Initial setup screen comes, you can select the audio output device. Dont scan your NAS or USBdrives for music yet. Press finish.
3) Once done, it will reboot or come to main volumio screen. Now, get the ipaddress of your allo device and enter http://<ipaddress>/DEV. Now press enable ssh.
4) Once ssh is enabled, you can access the allo device using ssh through a terminal or putty software. the default username password is volumio/volumio. Once login, get root access
volumio@volumio:~$ sudo su [sudo] password for volumio: root@volumio:/home/volumio# |
4) Now we need to disable volumio service. This will disable web interface of volumio. We are disabling it because we need control mpd directly instead of volumio controlling it.
root@volumio:/home/volumio# systemctl stop volumio root@volumio:/home/volumio# systemctl disable volumio |
5). First, we try finding the ouput device using below command. For usbridge users, it wll show the dac description which is connected. this is the device that plays all the music.
root@volumio:/home/volumio# aplay -L **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices **** hw:CARD=sndallodigione,DEV=0 snd_allo_digione, Direct hardware device without any conversions |
6) Now we need to get some music. It can be stored in locally connected usb harddrive or NAS. For sound quality, local usb music is preferred. If you are like me and like to store music on NAS , then I found sshfs is identical in quality to locally stored music.
6a) If you use local USB drive, identity local USB drive mount point once its connected. Make note of the name. Here its /media/USB_DRIVE1
root@volumio:/home/volumio# df -k Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on /dev/mmcblk0p2 2275928 675848 1464752 32% /imgpart /dev/loop0 299008 299008 0 100% /static overlay 28129548 3111320 23560924 12% / devtmpfs 485020 0 485020 0% /dev tmpfs 497052 0 497052 0% /dev/shm tmpfs 497052 17060 479992 4% /run tmpfs 5120 4 5116 1% /run/lock tmpfs 497052 0 497052 0% /sys/fs/cgroup tmpfs 497052 36 497016 1% /tmp tmpfs 497052 0 497052 0% /var/spool/cups tmpfs 20480 32 20448 1% /var/log tmpfs 497052 0 497052 0% /var/spool/cups/tmp /dev/mmcblk0p1 61522 37184 24338 61% /boot tmpfs 99412 0 99412 0% /run/user/0 /dev/sdc1 972879688 174133796 749907904 19% /media/USB_DRIVE1 |
6b). If you using NAS, sshfs is best way I found to access network music. It gives quality identical to locally stored music imo better than using samba or nfs shares. Playing through upnp/DLNA/bubbleupnp is strict no no. Install sshfs and mount the remote NAS folder that contains music. For it to work you need to have passwordless root authentication from allo device to NAS device. Google to enable ssh on NAS and setup keybased paswordless authentication.
root@volumio:/home/volumio# apt-get install sshfs Setup password authentication to NAS (This is mandatory) Below command should work without any password being asked. root@volumio:/home/volumio# ssh <NAS_IPADDRESS> Mount the NAS folder which contains music to a mountpoint and make a note of it. Here its /mymusic root@volumio:/home/volumio# mkdir /mymusic root@volumio:/home/volumio# sshfs -o allow_other <NAS_IPADDRESS>:/MUSIC_FOLDER /mymusic Put below line inside /etc/fstab file (open using command nano /etc/fstab) so that its mounted on every start. root@<NAS_IPADDRESS>:/MUSIC_FOLDER /mymusic fuse.sshfs x-systemd.automount,_netdev,allow_other,cache_timeout=300 0 0 |
6). Now we are ready to configure mpd. Open /etc/mpd.conf using nano. Its a text file and needs to be modified. find and replace below lines according to your config
music_directory "/mymusic" # Name of mountpoint in step6. This contains all music auto_update "no" # Get rid of all auto library updates on reboot and so on. Make sure below block has approprate values according to your device audio_output { type "alsa" name "alsa" device "hw:sndallodigione" # Name of the ouput device as is step 5 dop "no" } |
7) After making all changes to /etc/mpd.conf, restart mpd
root@volumio:~$ service mpd retstart |
8) Now, we can use M.A.L.P for android to control and play music. Install MALP app from andorid store on your phone
Open MALP app. Goto profiles. Add ip for your allo device there.
Then goto server properties and press - update server database. it will take some time (may be few hours if music is stored on remote NAS.
Once library is updated, you will have all your music visible in the app and can play. If you add new music to your harddrives, then just need to click update-server-database in the app again. MALP also has the option to browse using files/folders which is very useful.
9) Quick tip for tidal users through bubbleupnp. As you know volumio comes with upnp renderer capability which you can use to stream tidal from bubbleupnp app. But thats not ideal way and doesnt give good sound quality, You need to install upmpdcli-tidal plugin (https://www.lesbonscomptes.com/upmpdcli/downloads.html) and configure your tidal user/password in /etc/upmpdcli.conf. Once done you will get a new media server in your bubbleupnp app through which you can play better quality tidal.