7. Distributions

I have tested a couple of distributions. With the Evo Sabre i am limited to the audiophonics distributions of volumio, moode and lms until i find out how to install the oled code on a fresh install. The following is my _personal_ take on the distributions i tried so far.

7.1. Raudio 1

Raudio 1 is a successor to runeaudio. It is based on arch linux. Technology stack is php and bash scripts. Setup and operation was smooth. Library import of a large Audiocollection (400GB+) took several hours, yet it succeeded without crashing.

7.1.1. Plus

  • Tageditor

7.1.2. Minus

  • Functionality is somewhoat limited.

  • No DSP

  • Streaming Services via Airplay/UPnP only

7.1.3. Verdict

I liked the distributions. Recommended for a troublefree experience. Should be possible to add CamillaDSP. Probably would have done some tinkering if the Evo Sabre was supported. Replacing mpd for mopidy and its plugins seems promising.

7.2. Volumio

Volumio is based on debian linux. Technology stack is nodejs. Underneath the typical components mpd, shairplay, upnpmpdcli. Setup and operation was smooth. Library import of a large Audiocollection (400GB+) repeatedly crashed mpd. Restart of mpd service or reboot was requiered.

7.2.1. Plus

  • Qobuz Support

  • Interface for reporting stack traces.

7.2.2. Minus

  • not very stable (Volumio 2, Volumio 3 Beta) this might change with newer versions. Also it might be my personal setup.

  • commercial

7.2.3. Verdict

Volumio is a very popular distribution and rightly so. There are a couple of things i personaly dislike though. Nodejs is not a favourite of mine. Volumio some what seems to try to become the poor mans ROON. There is a lot of ‘audiophile’ chatter. Like the importance of expensive USB-Cables and hearing diffrences in the high frequencies after upgrading the OS-Versions. The latter of course is not a problem of volumio per se but gets more encouraged as with other distributions.

7.3. moode

moOde shares a common ancestry with Volumio. Technology stack is php and jquery. moode uses mpd and shares the instability associated with that approach. My local collection is extensive and some files may be broken, so YMMV. Other than that i came to like moode a lot as it is a very complete audio solution. Camilladsp, squuezelite, shairplay, bluetooth …

7.3.1. Plus

  • Lots of features

  • Camilladsp + PEQ

  • ssh Terminal in Browser

7.3.2. Minus

  • The sheer amount of configuration otions make it somewhat difficult for a beginner

  • The extensive changes to the base OS make it hard to do individual changes. (udev, alsa polling)

7.3.3. Verdict

Great distribution. If you don’t have any linux experience and don’t plan on extending the distribution, this is the distribution i would recommend. After some usage i found myself almost exclusivly using the squeezeplayer mode. This lead me to my own solution