BubbleUPnPServer, Qobuz Highres and local files

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I paid for a year just before they lowered the price!

I don’t notice this. I use a Synology running Bubbleupnp & Minimserver.

I DO normally prefer my local files, which just tend to my ear to be a tad more dynamic & fuller, but this is quite close.

What I also noticed was that when my free demo period ended, over Christmas, I came back to my system in early January and thought it had lost its mojo, THEN remembered about HiRes Qobuz and signed up the next day.

I managed to figure it out a couple of years ago, and it was pretty straightforward with only a small amount of trial and error required before if worked. It’s boring stuff, I admit, but worth a try if you have a Synology.

Been following a lot of discussion here about streaming and using a NAS with interest.

Am currently using BubbleUPnP on my phone to stream Qobuz, but it seems it would be better with a Bubble server set up somewhere on the network.

So my question is do I absolutely need a NAS to do that or will any hardware do (e.g. another Raspbery Pi)?

Thanks @jmtennapel, this is probably an extremely dumb question, but if I install Bubble server on a W10 machine do I need to be on all the time once I’ve set it up and added the renderer?

Bubbleupnp is just one of the standard Synology packages.
Once installed just use the NAS address plus port 58050 to see the interface.
This will detect devices that it can serve content to.
Just tick the openhome renderer box.
WRT Q & T, you can set the maximum quality you want it to stream at, drop down box.

Install it from the Synology Package Centre, part of the Synology NAS GUI.

Bit the bullet and ordered a Synology DS218j… bene thinking about ripping the CDs anyway.

I would do some seraches on your NAS and Bubbleupnp, Q:

Is it powerful enough to run the package?

I find it hard to believe it is not, but worth double checking.
Which NAS are you using?

Loading a non-Synology packaged piece of software is not difficult, as long as it will run.

I am using my relatively aged 1812+ for AV/Home duties. You DS418 should be MORE than capable. I assume that no-one has created the package for your more modern NAS …but you know the routine.

It is a nice piece of software and the resulting audio is excellent; hope that is encouraging!

Download the BubbleServer .spk installer from Bubble site for Synology NAS’s, save to a location then use manual install on the Synology GUI to point to the saved location. Install. Access as mentioned above using 58050. Enjoy.

You can log into the switch if you really want to, and are prepared to have a go at using the CLI, but if it works OK now, probably best to leave it.

Yes, as you say more than capable. As I said in my last my suspicion is that no one has compiled a specific package for your NAS. My much older NAS has, age DOES have some advantages after all! Or it could be that it is easier to achieve on my NAS architecture.

Hopefully you will get it up and running. It is more convenient to NOT have it on your personal machine.

Thanks for this, NAS has just arrived and I’ll try it with the Bubble server first. I don’t think I need the transcoding really.

Also going to be avoiding steps in the chain and worry about cables etc. by using WiFI (strong signal from good Netgear router).

Managed to make it work on a Mac with a synology NAS and the Linn Kazoo app and NAC272 yesterday. I spent a couple of hours and thought it would never work but in the end it did !

I already had the NAS up and running and for me it was all about setting up the BubbleUPnp server.

I’ve also followed the instructions from : https://www.hifizine.com/2019/07/stream-qobuz-to-anything.

The part about typing code in the Terminal window of the Mac was a bit scary as just copy/pasting stuff that was totally foreign to me. But step by step and in the end it worked.

The main issue I faced was to get the NAC272 listed in the list of ‘media renderers’ when setting up BubbleUPnp. I had to tweak some settings on my firewall and I suppose that’s what made it work ultimately.

Now enjoying Qobuz on the 272 and very happy about it. A clear uplift in SQ vs Tidal on a number of tracks. But this is just first impressions.

Next step might be to set up Roon but I’ll first explore about Roon.

It feels like the lifespan of my 272 just got further extended !

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You don’t say what streamer you have unless I have missed it.
I found the with the Naim legacy streamers, media was subtly different from different media servers. I found a correlation between sonic performance and inter media frame timing consistency during the media bursts, and TCP session management exchanges. I shared my findings and traces with Naimbased on my NDX whilst they were developing the new streamers. So for example Asset and BubbleUPnPServer sounded different (subtly… but always clearly identifiable) despite playing the same media on the same platform.

This is not the case in any meaningful way with the new streamers especially with decoupled DACs.

So in all this it is now the streamer that is key, not the stream aggregator or media server. In the new architecture Naim in conjunction with StreamUnlimited went to great lengths with their NP800 subsystem to decouple the stream transport variances with sonic performance. I think they have done a superb job… and arguably is one of the main benefits between the legacy and current architectures.

BTW regarding some of your posts above it’s worth noting Naim UPnP renderer in the streamer uses the pull approach… some other control points such as those that control BubbleUPnPServer are server push… which is why there is a difference and why the Naim app won’t work with Bubble… as the Naim app actually communicates with the streamer, for playback functions.
The streamer itself however will accept Naim pull or third party push.

They both act as media servers providing media streams … that is my point, and as such impart a sonic character on the legacy streamers. Just like Asset or MinimServer or ReadyDLNA will sound slightly different streaming identical media from the same NAS. This is why you are no doubt hearing a difference local and remotely stored media as you are using different servers. I also noticed exactly this with my old NDX… and if one was to search back on the old forum one might find my ramblings on this specific observation.

On my newer NDX2 streamer, I use a stream aggregator and proxy (Roon Core) and now the same media sounds identical irrespective of source location. Even without using Roon, the newer streamers are significantly improved in this regard… no doubt because of the NP800.

As far as sound wise whether the media is ‘pushed’ or ‘pulled’, indeed I have found no noticeable difference in sonic performance.

totally agree

Your post should become a sticky! I’ve had BubbleUPnPServer installed on my Synology for quite some time, but was quite overwhelmed to go through the steps needed for enabling transcoding…

I uninstalled everything, followed your advice to the letter (taking care to download the x86_64 version of Optware-ng for my 918+) and everything worked like a charm! I am now streaming transcoded Qobuz to my Digione Sig -> DAC without any issue.

Not sure if my cloth ears can tell a difference to the FLAC stream I had before, but now it’s one less thing to worry about! :grin:

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If it really that difficult, then how come no one mentioned it before?

There are lots of people on the forum who have used bubble on a NAS for years. Are they all really good at programming, or has it recently got harder?