Track Info etc. on OLED for PCP

[connoleg]

Hi Pete,
I managed to sort it out. DEBUG gave me details that the player was being refused connection to LMS. I tried switching off the NAS firewall which made no difference. I dont have a username/password set in LMS. As a last resort I restarted the Synology NAS and it resolved the issue. All working as it should. Odd one, thanks for your support mate, much appreciated.

[psketch]

Hi Gary

Glad you got it working :-) FYI, I posted a very slightly updated version of the files a couple of days ago. Basically just moved a couple of things a little, but the main thing was to allow you to specify the fonts you want to use for the display - have a look in the oled cfg file. You can just put anything .ttf you like in the fonts folder and modify the cfg file to choose what font you want.

If you pull down the updated files, or add a font, don't forget to do a pcp bu afterwards or you'll loose things after a reboot.

pete S

[Parsival]

Hi Pete,
that is so cool! Thank you!
I really like Picoreplayer. I'm on the search for a "one-box" up-to-date streamer-DAC with in-built-volume-control, which could be used as a pre-amplifier in a multiroom setup. Audiophonics Evo-Sabre seems to be one of a few, which could be used as a squeezlite Streamer-DAC. I didn't buy one yet, but I think I will. How do you like it?
Paul

[psketch]

Hi Pete,
that is so cool! Thank you!
I really like Picoreplayer. I'm on the search for a "one-box" up-to-date streamer-DAC with in-built-volume-control, which could be used as a pre-amplifier in a multiroom setup. Audiophonics Evo-Sabre seems to be one of a few, which could be used as a squeezlite Streamer-DAC. I didn't buy one yet, but I think I will. How do you like it?
Paul

Hi Paul

Yes, I'm really happy with the evo-sabre. I got it as a replacement for a much loved Transporter - I wanted support for modern hi-def formats. I already have 6 other Pi running PCP, so being able to have my Transporter replacement running PCP was a big attraction. It was quite a bit of work to get the second screen working since Audiophonics don't focus on it, but I think it's all working fine now, and the way I've built it now means it's easy to apply to any new PCP release.

I did fork out for a decent linear power supply for the evo-sabre. AUDIOPHONICS LPSU25 Linear Regulated Power Supply EMI RFI Filter 9V 2A 25VA - Audiophonics

Any questions, let me know.

pete S

[Livs]

Hi Pete,

2 questions for you:
- is it an improvement using Audiophonics power supply?
- do you think is possible to use 2 oleds on the same time, but showing different information?
I was thinking to have 2 oleds and an encoder in the middle, just between those 2.
So could be more close to Transporter.

[psketch]

Hi Pete,

2 questions for you:
- is it an improvement using Audiophonics power supply?
- do you think is possible to use 2 oleds on the same time, but showing different information?
I was thinking to have 2 oleds and an encoder in the middle, just between those 2.
So could be more close to Transporter.

Yes, I do think the upgraded power supply make an audible difference for me, but then I'm a Naim devotee, so decent power supply is somewhat part of the religion. Still, I did do a bit of A/B checking with the old psu, and I think it's certainly worthwhile.

On the 2 OLEDS, i think this should be possible. Software wise, the SPI interface I'm using is from luma.core.interface.serial — Luma.Core: SBC display drivers 2.4.0 documentation (luma-core.readthedocs.io) and it takes port and device (and gpios) as params, and a quick read suggests that you can setup a second spi device (spi1). Haven't ever looked into how to do it though, or weather the extra gpio's are available.

[Parsival]

It was quite a bit of work to get the second screen working since Audiophonics don't focus on it, but I think it's all working fine now, and the way I've built it now means it's easy to apply to any new PCP release.

Hi Pete, thank you for your effort and your recommendation! The Evo Sabre and the power supply arrived yesterday and I tested it using the USB and the optical input. Both works fine.

I didn't figure out, how to start Bluetooth. I changed the input to Bluetooth, but I can't see it. I don't know why it doesn't advertise itself. Do you know what I have to do to start Bluetooth?

And I wasn't able to control the volume of the Evo Sabre by USB, but that could be a problem of the LMS- and Player-System (daphile) I'm using at the moment. That won't be a problem because I will change to in-built rpi and picoreplayer with your modification for the display as soon as the new SD Cards arrive.
I'm looking forward to it.

I'm really pleased by the support and community in this forum! It's amazing 🤩

Paul

[Livs]

That won't be a problem because I will change to in-built rpi and picoreplayer with your modification for the display as soon as the new SD Cards arrive.

You can try usb boot with any flash. It works fine for me.

[Parsival]

psketch , thank you again for sharing! Everything went smooth. I installed PiCorePlayer and your modifications in less then twenty minutes - twice! Thanks for your very good description! Display and infrared remote control are working.
I'm not sure about the setting for the Play/Pause-button because it does not pause the track but jumping back to the beginning playing the track again.

I'm using the second SD-Card for testing:
Klaus aka soundcheck set up a solution for linear volume control ( https://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.co...-controls.html ), which is really great.
The builder and some other tools called sKit ( https://github.com/klslz/sKit ) are really easy to use. With the SKit you build a custom Squeezelite and implement some tweaks. Building etc. went fast and smooth.
But it took me some hours to make the custom Squeezelite running because I missed the explanation that it is a stripped down build without some extensions and features, e.g. infrared control (lirc). I hadn't read everything at that moment. I had to uninstall lirc to make the custom Squeezelite running. But after that it works like a charm. I really like that both volume numbers are in sync (dac and lms/squeezelite are showing the same).
Only downside is the missing infrared control for pCP: by the infrared remote control volume is only changed on the dac side, it's not shown inside LMS/Squeezelite. Next change inside LMS/Squeezelite will send the number which is shown inside LMS/Squeezelite to the DAC and will sync it again.

(The same "not-syncing" happens if you use the rotary encoder but that is the same for both versions - I stumbled over an information that volumio has an option to give back/sync the volume from the dac side to volumio - maybe someone will find out a way how to do this inside Squeezeplay/ALSA)

It is a really great setup! Thx again!
P.S. Thank you Livs for your tip!

Paul

[psketch]

psketch , thank you again for sharing! Everything went smooth. I installed PiCorePlayer and your modifications in less then twenty minutes - twice! Thanks for your very good description! Display and infrared remote control are working.
I'm not sure about the setting for the Play/Pause-button because it does not pause the track but jumping back to the beginning playing the track again.

I'm using the second SD-Card for testing:
Klaus aka soundcheck set up a solution for linear volume control ( https://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.co...-controls.html ), which is really great.
The builder and some other tools called sKit ( https://github.com/klslz/sKit ) are really easy to use. With the SKit you build a custom Squeezelite and implement some tweaks. Building etc. went fast and smooth.
But it took me some hours to make the custom Squeezelite running because I missed the explanation that it is a stripped down build without some extensions and features, e.g. infrared control (lirc). I hadn't read everything at that moment. I had to uninstall lirc to make the custom Squeezelite running. But after that it works like a charm. I really like that both volume numbers are in sync (dac and lms/squeezelite are showing the same).
Only downside is the missing infrared control for pCP: by the infrared remote control volume is only changed on the dac side, it's not shown inside LMS/Squeezelite. Next change inside LMS/Squeezelite will send the number which is shown inside LMS/Squeezelite to the DAC and will sync it again.

(The same "not-syncing" happens if you use the rotary encoder but that is the same for both versions - I stumbled over an information that volumio has an option to give back/sync the volume from the dac side to volumio - maybe someone will find out a way how to do this inside Squeezeplay/ALSA)

It is a really great setup! Thx again!
P.S. Thank you Livs for your tip!

Paul

Hi Parsival. I'm pleased to hear that it's working well for you. I really like this DAC, and I see that you've got the same linear power supply as well, which is well worth it IMHO.

The remote is a bit strange - there's actually 3 different buttons under the one physical button - pressing left, right or centre does different things. Give pressing in the middle a try.

I'm also a big fan of Klaus' work and use quite a few of his ideas in my setup. I don't actually use the DAC or Squeezelite volume - my DAC is connected a pre-amp, so I use the volume control in there and have the player set to 100%. However, I don't think you need Klaus' build for the linear VC - Ralph has added the -X option to his builds now I believe.

pete S

[Livs]

Hi Parsival
You probably know that by default PCP include the squeezebox remote config, ready to use. So it is easy to find an original remote on ebay or to use a programable remote like Logitech Harmony. It is a solution, but in this case you will have 2 remotes, one for the dac and one for PCP.
However, I notice from your picture that you have to use either PCP or DAC as preamp. I will suggest to use DAC as preamp, and let PCP at 100% volume. The remote of Audiophonics can be used to control PCP, at least Play/Stop/Next/Previous by a configuration file which may be uploaded to PCP to replace default squeezebox remote. This is the way I use it, but I have an integrated amplif for volume control.

[Parsival]

Hi psketch, yeah, thank you again for pointing out that linear power supply! I'm really pleased how the entire setup works.
Unfortunaly. the -X option inside Squeezelite doesn't do the trick. The special linear volume control by Klaus is doing some kind of translation in a way that one volume step inside squeezelite is one volume step inside the dac. And that is really a cool thing, exspecially with that audiophonics dac board which has a scale from 0-100 - like the scale inside squeezelite. Otherwise - without that linear volume "hack" - the volume steps inside squeezelite are not in sync with the volume steps of the dac: for some steps it doesn't change anything at dac side and for other steps it is some kind of jumping (leaving out steps between), e.g. 43 in squeezelite becomes 59 inside the dac, 44 becomes 61, 45 becomes also 61, 46 becomes 62. With the linear volume hack 43 becomes 43, 44 becomes 44, and so on. And both displays show the same volume step and the same like inside material, ipeng or orangesqueeze. That is really great thing, exspecially if you are not the only person using the music system :-)
I wish I would be able to implement this in a own build. Klaus configurated his sKit makefiles without the "-DIR" option (for lirc). I think I need some weekends to understand on which way I could build my own squeezelite making use of that hack and the "-DIR" option for lirc. I'm new to this and not a tech guy ;-)

Hi Livs: I didn't know about the included remote config for original Squeezebox remotes. If I'm not wrong, it will need a integration of lirc or some ir remote funtion inside squeezelite too...
Like you suggest, I use the DAC as an preamp. I make use of "-V Digital", so the Squeezelite volume control/PCP doesn't change the volume on the software side but send a command to the dac to change volume inside the dac. That is my new system since last Firday. Before - with my old USB dac and the integrated amp - I did it the same way you did.

I appriciate your support!
Paul

[psketch]

Hi psketch, yeah, thank you again for pointing out that linear power supply! I'm really pleased how the entire setup works.
Unfortunaly. the -X option inside Squeezelite doesn't do the trick. The special linear volume control by Klaus is doing some kind of translation in a way that one volume step inside squeezelite is one volume step inside the dac. And that is really a cool thing, exspecially with that audiophonics dac board which has a scale from 0-100 - like the scale inside squeezelite. Otherwise - without that linear volume "hack" - the volume steps inside squeezelite are not in sync with the volume steps of the dac: for some steps it doesn't change anything at dac side and for other steps it is some kind of jumping (leaving out steps between), e.g. 43 in squeezelite becomes 59 inside the dac, 44 becomes 61, 45 becomes also 61, 46 becomes 62. With the linear volume hack 43 becomes 43, 44 becomes 44, and so on. And both displays show the same volume step and the same like inside material, ipeng or orangesqueeze. That is really great thing, exspecially if you are not the only person using the music system :-)
I wish I would be able to implement this in a own build. Klaus configurated his sKit makefiles without the "-DIR" option (for lirc). I think I need some weekends to understand on which way I could build my own squeezelite making use of that hack and the "-DIR" option for lirc. I'm new to this and not a tech guy ;-)

I appriciate your support!
Paul

Ah - interesting. As I said, I don't use the volume functions myself as I use an external preamp and basically just use fixed volume on squeezelite and the da. Might be worth trying to build the version you're looking for then - with lirc and linear (or maybe ping Klaus and see if he's interested in lending a hand ...)