Moode USB Output

[ColinM]

@pyhfsg

Seems like maybe your speaker system is lying to Linux about its capabilities. I've never run across this and don't know how best to prove it [1]. I couldn't find any technical information worth spit about the PSB Alpha AM3 but after I read they claim "zero distortion" I didn't really expect useful technical information anyway.

One experiment which takes Spotify out of the equation is to transfer a 44.1 kHz track to the uSD card and see what setting changes you have to make to be able to play it through the speakers.

You can also try using Bluetooth out to the speaker. That, at least, would allow you to enjoy music while pondering

Regards,
Kent

[1] Also, I've been known to be wrong before.

Oddly enough, I've just tripped over the same problem. I've just bought this xDuoo XQ-50 Pro for my headphone system, for easy switching between streaming and Bluetooth sound from the TV. On USB it reports:

Code:

Card 1, ID `Pro', name `XQ-50 Pro'                                                                                                                                                            
 Device 0, ID `USB Audio', name `USB Audio', 1 subdevices (1 available)                                                                                                                
   2 channels, sampling rate 8000..48000 Hz                                                                                                                                                  
   Sample formats: S16_LE                                                                                                                                                                    
   Buffer size range from 32 to 262144                                                                                                                                                      
   Period size range from 16 to 131072                                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                                                             
     Subdevice 0, name `subdevice #0'                                                                                                                       
                             

but will only play 48kHz files from Moode. First noticed when I played the test track, of course.

I'm using SoX resampling to make it work, but I think the Pi Zero W is getting a bit breathless, so there's a Pi 3B+ in the post for an upgrade.

I wonder if this is a result of these devices being primarily Bluetooth appliances, with USB being an add-on. Whatever, I can live with resampled CD quality, age and tinnitus haven't done my hearing any good.

Colin

[TheOldPresbyope]

@ColinM

Curiouser and curiouser! I suppose they're all using the same controller chip.


@pyhfsg

Your moOde player publishes its music directories as SMB (aka Windows) shares to your LAN. So, for example, when I open the file browser on my Linux laptop and browse the network I see a folder named "moode" ('cuz that's the hostname). Opening it, I see folders for my memory stick, NAS, playlists, Radio, and SDCard. I can copy folders and files across the LAN to the SDCard folder [1].  When done copying, I tell moOde to update the library.

An alternative is to copy the test tracks to a USB memory stick, plug it into the moOde player, and update the library (note that moOde's Library Config page has a user setting to automate this update when the USB stick is inserted).

Regards,
Kent

[1] Or memory stick, etc. When Linux challenges me for a password to open a share I choose to connect as "Anonymous" and proceed.

[pyhfsg]

Following Kent's suggestion, I downloaded the following sample audio files and tested it on Moode (from the SD card and USB out). Guess what, it all played fine. Does that mean the problem is not with the active speakers?

   

Any suggestion how I can resolve this is much appreciated. Thanks.

[TheOldPresbyope]

@pyhfsg

I'll get back to this tonight (East Coast USA time).

Regards,
Kent

[TheOldPresbyope]

@pyhfsg

Sorry, I've been tied up completing a household move (yay, we've escaped from our hotel room after 11 weeks!!!!). Just starting to unpack all the boxes but getting time here and there to catch up with moOde issues.

Did you ever resolve this problem you were having with your Klipsch speakers?

Regards,
Kent

[pyhfsg]

@pyhfsg

Sorry, I've been tied up completing a household move (yay, we've escaped from our hotel room after 11 weeks!!!!). Just starting to unpack all the boxes but getting time here and there to catch up with moOde issues.

Did you ever resolve this problem you were having with your Klipsch speakers?

Regards,
Kent

Kent,

No problem, I understand.

 
Unfortunately, no. I even installed the older versions including 6.x where some of the postings said the Spotify on USB was working fine and 7.2 where the problem was fixed by changing the “_deviceout.conf” file, none of these worked. The only time I get audio out of the USB is by changing the sampling attributes to 16/48, and this worked only for web radio and files from the SD Card. It never worked for Spotify or Airplay. I am not sure this is a problem with my PSB active speakers even though I was able to playback files of different sampling rates from the SD card directly.
 
I don’t know if there is anything else I can try other than getting an audio hat for my RPi4B but that defeated my initial intend to take advantage of a free USB port on my speakers. I only have 1 optical port (no RCA) which is already used by my TV.
 
Any other suggestions?

[pyhfsg]

I believe I have exhausted all means to get RPi4B to work with Spotify via USB. Instead of turning the RPi4 into an expensive paper weight, I thought I shall invest in an audio HAT to resurrect this project.
 
My dilemma now is should I get an audio HAT with digital outputs to connect to the optical port on my PSB Alpha AM3 speakers (via optical splitter since the speaker has only 1 optical port) or should I get one with analog outputs to connect to the 3.5mm aux port in the speaker?
 
The PSB speaker from what I read is a powered speaker that have a single amplifier for each channel, and passive crossovers that come after the amplifier in the signal path and built-in DSP - all analog input signals are first digitized.
 
Given the setup of the speaker, is there a audible difference if the source is analog or digital and why? Your comments and suggestions are most appreciated.