eezUPnP Streaming control from the desktop

[ReggieB]

I have a few streaming endpoints.

Servers: A Couple of NAS boxes (Lacie Cloudboxes) and a Melco N1/A1

Clients: The Melco, a Moon 180 Mind, and some network enabled radios.

To control the flow of music between server and client, I use an Android 10" tablet (and occasionally my phone) running BubbleUPnP or the Mind Client

For some time however, I've been looking for some software to control play from my laptop which runs Mint Linux. Over the years I've found solutions that sort of work, for example FooBar2000 can work with the right plug ins but it a bit of a fag.

Then today I was sorting out my bookmarks and I found a link to eezUPnP. I think it's some software I've tried before, but hadn't got it working well with the Moon Mind and I'd given up on it (The Moon plus NAS was my main streaming solution until I bought the Melco about a year ago). So I thought I'd have a play .... and it works a treat using either the Melco or Moon Mind as the client. Perhaps the software had been updated since I last had a play.

The interface is simple - no Album art in the album listings for example - but the up side of that is that it makes it a lot easier to browse through my library as I get 22 album names on screen instead of 6 on my Mind screen, 8 on BubbleUPnP, and scrolling is a little more accurate as I don't need to rely on finder swiping.



I haven't played with gapless play yet (A must when listening to Opera and other music where tracks are really just bookmarks in a continuous piece of music). For that the Moon Mind via it's control software is still best.

Oh and if you're thinking why I still use my Moon Mind when I could just use the Melco as client as well as server, well to my ears the Mind sounds better .... well it did. The problem was mainly because the USB interface of my Bryston BD1 DAC isn't great. However, a Halide Bridge has got me around that problem. Now the two are really close. The Moon Mind is just slightly less edgy and a tad more natural. I could live with the Melco only, but I like the Moon Mind, and the software is probably the best I've used (though not without its own quirks).

[ReggieB]

The playback is gapless ..... engaging smug mode.

[loonytunes]

Oh and if you're thinking why I still use my Moon Mind when I could just use the Melco as client as well as server, well to my ears the Mind sounds better .... well it did. The problem was mainly because the USB interface of my Bryston BD1 DAC isn't great. However, a Halide Bridge has got me around that problem. Now the two are really close. The Moon Mind is just slightly less edgy and a tad more natural. I could live with the Melco only, but I like the Moon Mind, and the software is probably the best I've used (though not without its own quirks).

... and along the same lines - if you're thinking why the heck would I re-introduced an old streamer like the Marantz NA7004 when I have ultra modern alternatives such as SoTM sMS Ultra 200, Bluesound Node 2i and Auralic Mini - it's because, IIRC, of its prowess and superiority as a renderer 'transport'. We all have our weird and wonderful reasons .

I like playing with external DACs, old and new, I would therefore like the very best transport upstream so I can hear each DAC at its best.

[ReggieB]

It is lovely when you find an old bit of kit that just sings to you