[IDEA] upmpdcli 1.5.0 and Bluetooth SBC XQ

[deafnut]

It would be nice if upmpdcli 1.5.0 could be implemented in moOde 7. It changes some UPnP/Open Home things.

And i just disovered that the Bluetooth SBC codec can pushed to quality levels of aptx HD or even higher. Range is also higher this way. It's called SBC XQ. It seems to work by raising bitpools, changing to dual channel mode and by raising maximum bitrates to 500kBit/s and beyond.
I found bluetooth SBC with moOde quite disappointing and wonder if this is already implemented or if it could be done.


A few sites about this:
http://soundexpert.org/articles/-/blogs/...tooth-aptx
http://soundexpert.org/encoders-320-kbps
https://www.lineageos.org/engineering/Bluetooth-SBC-XQ/
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/Hyperion/...ree/SBC-XQ
https://github.com/Arkq/bluez-alsa/issues/272

[TheOldPresbyope]

It would be nice if upmpdcli 1.5.0 could be implemented in moOde 7. It changes some UPnP/Open Home things.

I can't speak for Tim but from my perspective, version 1.5.0 dropped just 3 days ago and we've had no time yet to evaluate it. In principle, bumping to 1.5.0 (and bumping the attendant two libraries as well) is just a matter of changing some build parameters; in practice, assessing the impact on the configuration options will take actual thinking. Can we get it done in time for 7.0, maybe; in time for 7.1, very likely.

And i just disovered that the Bluetooth SBC codec can pushed to quality levels of aptx HD or even higher. Range is also higher this way. It's called SBC XQ. It seems to work by raising bitpools, changing to dual channel mode and by raising maximum bitrates to 500kBit/s and beyond.
I found bluetooth SBC with moOde quite disappointing and wonder if this is already implemented or if it could be done.


A few sites about this:
http://soundexpert.org/articles/-/blogs/...tooth-aptx
http://soundexpert.org/encoders-320-kbps
https://www.lineageos.org/engineering/Bluetooth-SBC-XQ/
https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/Hyperion/...ree/SBC-XQ
https://github.com/Arkq/bluez-alsa/issues/272

I'm not sure what to think of this. The Sound Expert's comparative tests are exciting but if I'm reading your last link correctly, Arkq has already incorporated the proposed changes for SBC XQ in bluez-alsa as of last December. I haven't had time to absorb the contents of all the links to understand what has to be done (equivalently, what isn't being done) in terms of configuration to enable the XQ "mode". 

Just my 2 cents worth.

Regards,
Kent

[Tim Curtis]

Since 7 is image-only release we might be able to slip these in but I can't seem to find the libupnpp-samples download. This suite of utilities contains the upexplorer util thats used to get the album art. 

Code:

pi@rp3:~ $ upexplorer
upexplorer: usage:
-l : list devices
 -1 : loop only once (initial discovery)
 [-u] Add url to device lines
-r <server> <objid> list object id (root is '0')
-s <server> <searchstring> search for string
-m <server> <objid> : list object metadata
-c <server> get search capabilities
-M <renderer>: monitor AVTransport
-v <renderer> get volume
-V <renderer> <volume> set volume
-p <renderer> 1|0 play/stop
-P <renderer>  pause
--album-art <renderer> print album art uri for playing track

<renderer> params can be either "friendly names", or UDNs
<server> params must be "friendly names"

[TheOldPresbyope]

@Tim Curtis

I sent a query to Jean-Francois.

Regards,
Kent

[Tim Curtis]

Ok, cool. it may be that the upexplorer we are currently deploying will be fine.

[Tim Curtis]

No issues after compiling and testing bluez-alsa 3.0.0. I assume that XQ mode is now the default but its not explicitly stated in the issue. https://github.com/Arkq/bluez-alsa/issues/272

[Tim Curtis]

Upmpdcli 1.5.0 compiles fine but the upmpdcli.conf file has been updated so I'll have to see if there is any breakage.

[Zigzag]

@Tim Curtis, @TheOldPresbyope

If I understand things rightly, there’s been a bit of a change to upmpdcli. 

Firstly, up until version 1.5.0, if both OpenHome and UPnP AV were enabled (upnpav=1 and openhome=1) some control points (notably, BubbleUPnP) would favour OpenHome so would only list that as an available UPnP renderer rather than the two instances (OpenHome and UPnP AV) separately.

And secondly, if upmpdcli had been configured to act only in UPnP AV mode (upnpav=1 and openhome=0) it should have been feasible for BubbleUPnP Server to provide an OpenHome wrapper to this, enabling support for Qobuz and Tidal.  I gather this sort of worked but an issue relating to gapless playback had been identified – see: https://framagit.org/medoc92/upmpdcli/-/...ote_733822

Hence, Jean-Francois has been prompted to modify upmpdcli, in a good way I feel.  Incidentally, it now also provides support for HRA streaming (https://www.highresaudio.com/); the Qobuz plugin and support for the Lumin control point are reported to be working again (? how long will the former last);  and the most recent version is apparently 1.5.2.  Jean-Francois says he’s going to wait a few days before updating the repositories, but hopefully this should occur by the end of the week.

[Tim Curtis]

For upcoming moOde 7 upmpdcli.conf is configured as follows.
https://github.com/moode-player/moode/bl...pdcli.conf

upnpav=0
openhome=1