A powered USB hub is required for USB DACs that threaten iOS’ power draw limit. Hook in an AudioQuest DragonFly Red or Black via a Lightning to USB connector and you have a streaming endpoint that will compete with a DAC-HATted Raspberry Pi. The most attractive by far is iPeng (iOS-only, US$8.99) an additional in-app purchase turns the iOS host into a virtual Squeezebox.
#Logitech media server skin#
The default skin has barely changed since the mid-00s but it’s only one reasons why we look to third-party remote control apps for music library access and playback control. LMS’ web interface, accessible from ANY device running a web browser, has a face only a mother could love. Where LMS fails to compete with Roon is with its UI. This single-box client-server accommodation forms the backbone of digital audio streaming on Innuos music servers when Roon is disengaged: LMS’s ‘New Music’ section – that lists newly added music to the server – can be customised to go further back in time than Roon’s back-end plugins give us direct access to Tidal and Qobuz but also Spotify, Deezer and Mixcloud web radio service integration is superior to Roon’s URL drop LMS puts one past Roon with its podcast integration the Don’t Stop The Music plugin, that continues playback of similar songs once the current playlist is finished, does a halfway decent job of standing in for Roon Radio but it can’t swim out into streaming services. (A forthcoming review of one such device was the genesis of this article).
#Logitech media server full#
Some SBC-based operating systems ship with both LMS and Squeezelite as installable options - just connect a hard-drive full of music to one of the SBC’s USB inputs for a server that streams to itself. Streamers running Small Green Computer’s SonicOrbiter OS offer Squeezelite as an installable option servers running SonicOrbiter OS additionally offer LMS (‘Squeezebox Server’). This LMS/Squeezelite two-fer isn’t only for budget-conscious audiophiles. The compromise is that self-built Pi solutions often look a little homebrewed. An audio HAT – like those offered by ALLO, HifiBerry, JustBoom – will see our Pi-Squeeze comfortably surpass the Squeezebox Touch on sound quality (with analogue OR digital). Adding a touchscreen to the Pi returns much of the original’s hands-on functionality.
Squeezelite on a Raspberry Pi gives us a virtual Squeezebox for a fraction of the originals’ pricing. Logitech put a bullet in the Squeezebox Touch (pictured above) back in 2012 but the software ecosystem lives on: Logitech Media Server (LMS) continues to enjoy community development and distribution as a free download under a GNU GPL software client SqueezeLite can be installed to turn the host device into a virtual Squeezebox, complete with hi-res audio support up to 384kHz and – even more crucial – gapless playback.