Options For 'Easy' LMS Server Device

[Mycenius]

Hi All,

Haven't been around for a bit and am a bit out of date on where we are up to with Vortexbox and devices that host LMS. Looking to potentially replace my home built Vortexbox and was looking for any 'ready-made' devices or 'easy' installs/set-ups for VBX? Ideally looking for a compact device (my current VBX build has no moving parts but is the size of a standard traditional consumer DVD player).

3 Key things I need are:

• Ethernet (cabled) Networking (wi-fi not required)
• DSD Support
• Digital Output via Asynchronous USB

Internal Storage (4TB+) would be nice but not essential as long as LMS can access NAS shares or have large USB drives directly attached (former preferred).

FWIW my system/room set-up is:

• Server USB into main Audiophile hi-fi set-up
• Squeezebox Touch (in second room via wi-fi)
• iPeng on iPhones/iPads for player control and playing to device from VBX.

Any suggestions or recent experiences appreciated.

EDIT: are then any ready made VBX install packs for devices like RaspberryPi or whatever the latest equivalent NUCs are, etc?

TIA

[garym]

Not Vortexbox, but if you mostly need LMS server and also squeezelite based player, then get an rPi3B+ or rPi4. Install PiCorePlayer on this to run LMS, with USB drive containing music files connected to rPi. The rPi4 has better USB output in its design. But one can also add something like HifiBerry Digital+ for better output with the 3B+. I used rpi3B+ with PicorePlayer 4.0 for LMS server while my VB was broken. Worked very well (with about 112,000 tracks, mostly FLAC).

https://www.picoreplayer.org/

See slimdevices.com forum for several active threads on picoreplayer.

https://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?110727-BETA-piCorePlayer6-0-0-PI4-support&highlight=picoreplayer

https://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?110642-ANNOUNCE-piCorePlayer-5-0-0&highlight=picoreplayer

[chabelo]

I agree with Garym. Rpi/PiCorePlayer is a fine solution. The only downside is that rescanning is rather slow if your collection is large, and Custom Scan searches also plod a bit. I have also used LMS-on-Rpi to create single-purpose dedicated servers. For example I loaded a microSD with all of my holiday music on an Rpi/PiCorePlayer setup and created an instant stand-alone holiday jukebox for a family gathering. The other nice thing is that you can swap out memory cards instantly and repurpose your Rpi at will. One moment it’s a Kodi server, another an in-a-pinch desktop substitute, and another a holiday jukebox. These are wonderful devices.

If you want cheap/simple and you need a little more horsepower shop for old/broken PC’s on Ebay. I like small form-factors that are being salvaged because they have old non-functioning HDD’s. You can often find them for $50 or less. Pop out the HDD and replace it with the capacity of your choice. If there’s an extra SATA you can throw in a SSD for OS/software segregation for another $20 if you care. I require a 64-bit processor (rarely a problem nowadays) and at least 4GB of RAM but these are not high hurdles. Instant cheap VB.

[garym]

I don't use any custom scan components in LMS. A complete new scan of my ~112,000 track library, mostly FLAC files, takes just a few minutes over an hour to complete. This is with a 3B+. I suspect a 4 would be even faster.

[Mycenius]

Thanks guys have been investigating the RPi arena and other RPi based options or hardware....