Thinking about setting up a Raspberry Pi 3 as music server

Alobar

Addicted Member
I am currently running JRiver with a desktop pc running win 10 with a USB Modi DAC and it sounds pretty nice however not without issues. Main gripe is with win 10 itself (although the hp desktop could be the culprit which was upgraded from win 8.0)which has been buggy for quite some time. Main issues are the fickle start menu which currently is not working, and the DAC sometimes plays noticeably fast or pulses on and off rapidly. A reboot cures this but still.. Another issue was the pc locked up the other day and the monitor would not show anything from the pc. Reboot several times before finally getting a very unstable boot up. In the meantime I had no access to my music for most of the day which was not tolerated very well!

So that brings me to the subject of this thread. I have been thinking about a Raspberry Pi 3 with a hard drive remote located in another room and running JRiver and using a flat screen TV with hdmi as a monitor. I would like to stick with the Modi USB DAC at least for the time being. This would be a dedicated music server. I am not super tech savvy, especially on this platform. I am not terribly interested in streaming music as I have a slow isp plan.

What are the issues for setting this up?
I would like to use a small wireless keyboard to access and control the Raspberry and JRiver from my listening chair. I am looking for
(a) increased reliability,
(b) possibly better sound,
(c) keeping my music completely separate from my buggy pc. Is this something a novice can tackle? Are there any Raspberry platform systems that are pre set up for music server use? I know that there are other options out there but for the purpose of this thread I would like to stick to information relevant to the Raspberry (or similar) systems as a music server. Thanks for any information and experience using this computer.
 
I am not using JRiver but I have Raspberry Pi 2 setup as my HTPC (for music and movies). Sound goes from RPi2 via HDMI to my stereo but I had it connected via USB to a DAC and then to vintage stereo before. The only difference is that my RPi2 is pulling media from NAS instead of external drive connected directly to it. This way, I can also utilize Chromecast Audio to play music in other rooms (NAS turns my media files into DLNA compatible source). RPi2 runs 24/7 and my NAS goes to sleep whenever there is an inactivity for a period of time. The software I am using is OpenElec (Kodi) but I also have another Raspberry Pi 1 setup running Volumio. This is strictly for web radio but can be used for music files as well.

Most of the software (OpenElec and Volumio) is available as disk images which you burn onto a SD card so the installation is plug and play.

Not sure if that helps as I am not familiar with JRiver though I think the idea is pretty much same.
 
I am not using JRiver but I have Raspberry Pi 2 setup as my HTPC (for music and movies). Sound goes from RPi2 via HDMI to my stereo but I had it connected via USB to a DAC and then to vintage stereo before. The only difference is that my RPi2 is pulling media from NAS instead of external drive connected directly to it. This way, I can also utilize Chromecast Audio to play music in other rooms (NAS turns my media files into DLNA compatible source). RPi2 runs 24/7 and my NAS goes to sleep whenever there is an inactivity for a period of time. The software I am using is OpenElec (Kodi) but I also have another Raspberry Pi 1 setup running Volumio. This is strictly for web radio but can be used for music files as well.

Most of the software (OpenElec and Volumio) is available as disk images which you burn onto a SD card so the installation is plug and play.

Not sure if that helps as I am not familiar with JRiver though I think the idea is pretty much same.
Thanks, your post was helpful. I do know that JRiver supports Raspberry so that part should be fine. Main concerns are setup and learning how everything works. If I keep having trouble with my pc I am going to pick up a Raspberry and start figuring everything out.
 
Have you tried using the System File Checker to find out what's wrong with your Windows 10 installation? There isn't any reason you should be experiencing the issues you describe, assuming there aren't any hardware issues.
 
Thanks, your post was helpful. I do know that JRiver supports Raspberry so that part should be fine. Main concerns are setup and learning how everything works. If I keep having trouble with my pc I am going to pick up a Raspberry and start figuring everything out.
Raspberry Pi is cheap so you may want to pick one up and play with it. The OS runs off SD card so you can have two cards (one with Volumio, the other one with Kodi) and swap them to see which system works better for you. RPi3 has built in wi-fi so if you have some of the extra 2GB SD cards from old cell phones and decent power supply, you will be out only $35.
 
Have you tried using the System File Checker to find out what's wrong with your Windows 10 installation? There isn't any reason you should be experiencing the issues you describe, assuming there aren't any hardware issues.
I don't recall what I used the last time the start menu stopped working. I think there was some file or files that were corrupted and I reinstalled them. It worked for a few months and then once in a while would stop working. A reboot always brought it back. It started occurring more often until I was rebooting several times a day. Finally it died all together again . Someday I'll bring myself to get it going again but I have most of the exe files I commonly use on the the desktop or pinned to the task bar. Funny it sort of reminds me of Windows 3.1! Regardless I think a dedicated music server would be nice and the Raspberry is only 35 bucks and seems to have a good reputation for reliability and functionality.
 
Raspberry Pi is cheap so you may want to pick one up and play with it. The OS runs off SD card so you can have two cards (one with Volumio, the other one with Kodi) and swap them to see which system works better for you. RPi3 has built in wi-fi so if you have some of the extra 2GB SD cards from old cell phones and decent power supply, you will be out only $35.
That's a good idea. I have been wanting one for my weather station for posting it's data on the Web so if it doesn't work for me as a music server it could work that way. What else is needed for the Raspberry to function? I heard that an SD card is needed as well as a power supply and a box to mount it in. Does it come with an hdmi port for the TV or monitor? I don't know very much about these devices yet as you can probably tell!
 
That's a good idea. I have been wanting one for my weather station for posting it's data on the Web so if it doesn't work for me as a music server it could work that way. What else is needed for the Raspberry to function? I heard that an SD card is needed as well as a power supply and a box to mount it in. Does it come with an hdmi port for the TV or monitor? I don't know very much about these devices yet as you can probably tell!
Sorry for a late reply. With RPi3 you will need SD card, power supply and case. For SD card, check your drawers. I have tons of 2GB cards that came with my smartphones. Power supply uses micro-USB connector so any decent phone charger should work fine (I think RPi2 requires at least 1.2A). There are plenty cheap cases on Ebay. My RPi is behind the HTPC receiver and out of sight so I got the cheapest case just to protect the board.

I would recommend starting with Volumio (make sure that they have build for RPi3 as the hardware is pretty new). GUI has all the options for setting up wi-fi connection and access to music files. No need to fiddle with any of the command line settings. Kodi is same but has option to stream movies as well.
 
Sorry for a late reply. With RPi3 you will need SD card, power supply and case. For SD card, check your drawers. I have tons of 2GB cards that came with my smartphones. Power supply uses micro-USB connector so any decent phone charger should work fine (I think RPi2 requires at least 1.2A). There are plenty cheap cases on Ebay. My RPi is behind the HTPC receiver and out of sight so I got the cheapest case just to protect the board.

I would recommend starting with Volumio (make sure that they have build for RPi3 as the hardware is pretty new). GUI has all the options for setting up wi-fi connection and access to music files. No need to fiddle with any of the command line settings. Kodi is same but has option to stream movies as well.
I see where JRiver is going to offer a Raspberry Pi2 with JRiver installed for $89. Since I am familiar with JRiver and have set up quite a bit of playlist stuff I think I am drawn to this however it says it is not yet available so who knows how long that will take.
http://jriver.com/Id/
 
Looks like a good option for users who do not want to mess with manual installation. Kinda overpriced considering that the RPi is $35. So $54 goes towards SD card and putting JRiver onto it. I bet when you search, you can find an image file with JRiver that you could just write to the SD. Then it is just plug and play.
 
If your current media library is accessible thru home network, then you don't need to move it to an external hard drive connected directly to RPi. Volumio, Kodi and JRiver (I think) should be able to access the files via one of the available network protocols (NFS, Samba, etc). For both Kodi and Volumio this is just a simple few click setup thru GUI. No deep knowledge of networking is required.
 
Forgot I had this thread going since March! My PC problems as a music server has gotten worse over the past several months for whatever reason. Been noisier, music sometimes plays slightly fast, stutters very fast at times etc. Rebooting usually fixes it, but that is a slow process waiting for it to come back. Then I have to keep other applications closed down when I play music. I have about had it with the PC being my music server!

Here is something that has come out new since this thread was started. It is a micro SD card with JRiver loaded on it for the Raspberry. http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,106807.0.html
I was wondering how easy this would be to set up. Seems like I could get it up and running for about $100, network it to my PC at first and then save for a NAS. I have never worked with these little Raspberry's and my limited computer skills might be put to the test. This does seem like a good way to go for me however.
What do you think??
 
I too am looking at doing a similar setup with a Raspberry Pi 3. I have 2 of them currently sitting unused...for other projects not started. I do have an older Pi running RasPlex in my kitchen on a monitor, to connect to my Plex server.

Ideally the USB DAC makes most sense for me to get better quality, and pulling across the network either via DLNA or SMB share off my NAS. Most of my digital library is MP3, but I have been working on building up a FLAC collection as well. So I'd want to stream FLAC from my NAS to a Pi to a "new to me" / yet to be purchased vintage int amp or receiver.
 
So I went and bit the bullet and ordered and received the JRiver microSD (42$ shipped) with its media center installed and I have a Raspberry Pi3B ($49 on Amazon Prime) on the way as well. My plan is (I think) to simply use the RPi as a DLNA renderer and use my windows JRiver copy to serve to it. This will get my Schiit MB DAC off my pc's USB and onto the quiet Raspberry's USB. Hopefully all will work easily and later perhaps I will figure out how to set it all up pulling tracks from a NAS as a stand alone, and leave the RPi run 24/7..
 
That sounds like a good plan. I've looking at the JRiver microSD idea too...not sure if I am going to go that route or something more custom. First thought was to just pull FLAC files off a usb flash drive plugged into the Pi. There should be no feedback issues since it's a 24x7 silent solution.

Like you, ideally I want it to pull from NAS. My library is actually on a DAS vs a NAS. I have a DroboPro hooked up via iSCSI over ethernet to a dedicated nic on my server and then served out from there either via SMB shares, or DLNA depending on the end device.
 
I really use JRiver's features quite a bit now and like all the things it can do so it seems like this SD card option is a good fit for me. One nice thing I suppose depending on your level of expertise is that JR maintains this Pi version with updates, something I would need to figure out on my own if I just set up a Linix version of JR and installed it on the Pi myself. I am nowhere near at that level, but this version is supposed to be plug and play simple so we'll see..
 
I downloaded JRiver awhile back but haven't really messed with it. I run Plex at home for my media needs, Serviio on top for DLNA to devices that don't support Plex, and have my old WDTV 's that play every format possible in case Plex won't play it, or I don't want it to transcode.

Interested to hear how you like the Pi w/ SD card from them and how well it works. I'm waiting till I get a DAC before I start on that project.
 
Interested to hear how you like the Pi w/ SD card from them and how well it works. I'm waiting till I get a DAC before I start on that project.
I'll report back next week sometime.. Stuff from Amazon takes forever to get to Alaska.. :(
 
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