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Playing audio in AP-Linux with MPD

April 20, 2014 / Marko / Documentation
83

What is MPD? Many people misunderstand what MPD is. To be able to use it, first you need to know what MPD is and how it works. MPD is a service running in the background of your computer. His primary role is to search your folders for music files, put it in some kind of database, and when somebody wants to play some music, he will play it for you. How that works? You access this database and play music with your client. Client can be your iPhone, Android, Mac or some Windows machine. The thing is, no matter what client you use, MPD is the one who plays the music, and it plays it well. In the previous versions of AP-Linux you could install MPD from officially Linux Mint repository, but that packages were buggy and unstable. This time, we have build our version of MPD that plays perfect and have support for DSD. AP-Linux comes with three clients pre-installed. Cantata, GMPC and Ario. So lets go to configuration.

Configuration

The first thing we need to do is to tell MPD where we store our music and what sound card we are going to use. We decided that all our music will be in the /storage/Music directory. Don’t worry. If you have music scattered on many places, MPD can easily search this places to. If you have music on some remote storage, AP-Linux can access this remote storage also and play music over network. But now we will focus on local storage and music located on AP-Linux disks. This is how our tipical MPD configuration looks like:

### PATHS section start ############################
music_directory    "/storage/Music"
playlist_directory "/config/.mpd/playlists"
db_file            "/config/.mpd/mpd.db"
log_file           "/config/.mpd/mpd.log"
pid_file           "/config/.mpd/mpd.pid"
state_file         "/config/.mpd/mpd_state"
sticker_file       "/config/.mpd/sticker.sql"
### PATHS section end ##############################
####################################################
password "1234@read,add,control,admin"
user "muser"
####################################################
### AUDIO section start ############################
audio_output { 
 type              "alsa" 
 name              "Card0" 
 device            "hw:0,0"
 mixer_type        "none"
 dsd_usb           "no"
 buffer_time       "200000"
 period_time       "256000000"
 use_mmap          "yes"
 auto_resample     "no"
 auto_channels     "no"
 auto_format       "no"
} 
### AUDIO section end ###############################

In AP-Linux V3 final, mpd.conf is already configured to output sound on first four sound cards attached to your PC. So actually you only need to configure path to your music. If you have DSD capable player, you should change configuration with Menu -> DAC Setup -> Set DSD-PCM playback and restart mpd service.

To find out what sound cards are in your system, right click on empty desktop space to open a menu, and select DAC setup -> List Cards.

List sound cards

Here you can see all sound cards that are attached to your PC. Find that one you want to use. Now open MPD configuration file: Menu – DAC Setup – Edit mpd.conf (For Audiophile Linux version3 final you don’t have to do that. Everything is already configured)

mpd configuration file

As you can see, we have replaced “hw:0,0” with “hw:M20”. This is sound card that we want to use. We also added “Music” to the “music_directory” part. So MPD will look for music in /storage/Music directory. Save the configuration and exit editor.

If for some reason you also have music in for example /media/some/other/dir, you can create link (shortcut in MS windows world) in /storage/Music directory and MPD will find that files also. You can create link like this: Of course, you need to open that black terminal and type this.

$ ln -s /media/some/other/dir /storage/Music/other-dir

This will create link in /storage/Music directory called other-dir that points to /media/some/other/dir and the MPD will find it. The principle is this: path to the original place – path where you want your link (shortcut) to be.

Now that we have changed default configuration and saved it, we must restart MPD server. We do that with: Menu -> DAC Setup -> Restart MPD. The terminal will pop-up and you need to enter administrator password which is “muser”.

restart mpd

If you have large database of music, it will take some time for MPD to populate the database. Now we can use our client to play music. Open GMPC (v3 beta1) or Cantata v3 final.

Cantata

cantata

GMPC

GMPC Config

Click on “Use Authentication” and enter password you set in mpd.conf. The default is 1234. Click “Connect” and then “Forward”. Now you are ready to play music. Add music navigating in “Database” and “right clicking” on the Folder or File.

GMPC and MPD

If you want to connect your phone to MPD you must have:

– Wireless network in your home

– AP-Linux connected to local network via network cable

All you need to know is the IP address of AP-Linux and password that you entered in mpd.conf file. You can find what’s your IP on the right of your desktop. For Android, we like to use MPDroid app. It’s very nice and user friendly.

mpdroid

This concludes MPD part for now. If you don’t have DAC that have DSD support, in “dsd_usb” section, write no. To summarize, MPD is a great tool. MPD can output sound to many sound cards at once, so you can test the sound in real-time. You can put AP-Linux with MPD in some corner, load it with music, and play your music from your Mac, phone or tablet never needing to use TV or monitor. But you don’t want to do that because new AP-Linux comes with great video players and XBMC. So it’s a great HTPC…with audiophile sound…

Checklist For Buying a New Mattress
ario, cantata, gmpc, mpd

83 comments on “Playing audio in AP-Linux with MPD”

  1. biqueto says:
    April 25, 2014 at 09:56

    Hi,
    I’ll use some of these infos to install MPD on my HTPC.
    Thank you 🙂

    Reply
  2. Mario says:
    May 6, 2014 at 11:50

    Just a few words to comment how MPD change my ( audiophile and radiophile ) life.
    I installed ap linux 3 on a laptop one week ago, and it’s impossible to me to imagine my musical life whitout:

    1) whit a good asynchronous DAC the question if a pc based system can beat the most expensive dedicated players (cd, sacd etc) found the final answer. YES!!! if you are not too addicted to the static, solid and massive old digital sources and mechanichs, spend your money on the right d-d converter and dac.

    2) the mpd clients can do incredible things, also outside the specific audiophile area: with a good client, for example “cantata” for windows systems, you can menage not just your files or supports, but also all the online resources. The right MPD client can ask mpd for playing online radio stations, cloud files and all the liquid music you can imagine, and is AP linux downloading the stream or files, not the machine where the client is running!
    I now online resources are not so relevant on audiophile specific area, but if you will tray it, it will be difficult to be whitout!

    Once again,

    Thank you guys !

    Reply
    • octavian says:
      July 26, 2015 at 20:27

      How do you imported the music in cantata player? Since with audaciois and ddbeef i have no problem, i can’t figure out how to create a working play list in cantata. Thank you.

      Reply
  3. Dan says:
    August 26, 2014 at 05:18

    I cant find GMPC in the new version, only Cantata. Is it hiding in there somewhere?
    Dan

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      August 26, 2014 at 06:50

      You can launch it from terminal. Just type gmpc. GMPC is abandoned project so we didn’t include it in the menu.

      Reply
  4. Robert Goerig says:
    August 28, 2014 at 10:46

    Hi!

    I’ve tried MPD with gmpc and cantata. MPdroid is also working with my smartphone. But I’ve no sound. When playing 32bit/44.1 khz is shown.
    Files are wav 16bit/44.1 khz. I use the ESI Juli@ soundcard and have toslink connected to my DAC. Tracks are playing- but no sound. I have 4 Outputs activated as I could see. What is wrong in this case?

    Greetings, Robert

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      August 28, 2014 at 19:39

      I had this card for a few days. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. It’s full of bugs. Maybe this is the case…

      Reply
      • Robert Goerig says:
        August 28, 2014 at 19:46

        Thanks!

        Reply
  5. Robert Goerig says:
    August 28, 2014 at 20:45

    But with Dead Beef player Juli@ card works without problems.

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      August 28, 2014 at 21:26

      Then change mpd.conf. hw:0,0 to hw:0,1 etc…

      Reply
      • Robert Goerig says:
        August 28, 2014 at 22:42

        Man, you’re perfect! It works! Yeah!

        So, we know- Juli@ is compatible:-)

        BTW: Although coax and esp. USB are the better way to go for digital output, I can recommend LIFATEC’s Siltech glass fiber cable.
        Probably one of the best cables if someone want to go with toslink.

        Thanks!

        Reply
  6. Fernando says:
    September 28, 2014 at 12:38

    Hi!
    I’ve been trying to add music from my NAS to the Cantata database but I just get a broken link in /storage/Music
    I don’t know what I’m doing wrong I tried several ways to write the path but I always get a broken link (red x icon). Files already in /storage/Music and the radio plays perfectly. I’m using AP-LINUX V3

    Reply
    • Fernando says:
      October 2, 2014 at 21:03

      I’m puting on terminal
      $ ln -s /smb://wdmycloud/smartware /storage/Music/smartware
      but I just got a broken link.
      Could you help me to config this?

      Reply
      • mlerota says:
        October 5, 2014 at 23:08

        You can’t do ln -s /smb://somedir… Use ln -s /path/to/the/mounted-smd-dir /storage/Music/smartware

        Reply
        • Shin says:
          July 23, 2018 at 22:29

          I tried $ ln -s /IP Address but I cannot access my music library on my NAS device.

          Reply
          • Shin says:
            July 23, 2018 at 22:32

            I can access my NAS through KODI, but it is crashing very often… AP-Linux is not usable for me at this point.

          • Shin says:
            July 24, 2018 at 16:30

            I accessed my NAS directly from a web browser. However, no sound is coming from browsers. PLEASE HELP!!!

  7. micatske says:
    September 29, 2014 at 05:23

    Failed to send command to “Default” (localhost:6600)-not connected

    This is the message from Cantata, what should I do to fix it?

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      September 30, 2014 at 00:46

      Cantata should work out of the box. If you have problems reset config of with: Menu-Misc-Reset Config-Reset Cantata.

      Reply
      • micatske says:
        September 30, 2014 at 04:57

        I have another issue with audiophile, when I started use it today, there is no sound from my Yulong D200 DAC, which works yesterday. I already fix the Cantata issue.

        Mine list as
        **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
        card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: CX20590 Analog [CX20590 Analog]
        Subdevices: 1/1
        Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
        card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
        Subdevices: 1/1
        Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
        card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
        Subdevices: 1/1
        Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
        card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
        Subdevices: 1/1
        Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
        card 1: DAC [YULONG Audio 384k DSD DAC], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
        Subdevices: 1/1
        Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

        # DSD config
        ### PATHS section start ############################
        music_directory “/storage/Music”
        playlist_directory “/config/.mpd/playlists”
        db_file “/config/.mpd/mpd.db”
        log_file “/config/.mpd/mpd.log”
        pid_file “/config/.mpd/mpd.pid”
        state_file “/config/.mpd/mpd_state”
        sticker_file “/config/.mpd/sticker.sql”
        ### PATHS section end
        #######################
        ############################
        password “1234@read,add,control,admin”
        user “muser”
        ### AUDIO section start ############################
        audio_output {
        type “alsa”
        name “Card0”
        device “hw:0,0”
        mixer_type “none”
        dsd_usb “yes”
        buffer_time “200000”
        period_time “1024000000”
        use_mmap “yes”
        auto_resample “no”
        auto_channels “no”
        auto_format “no”
        }
        audio_output {
        type “alsa”
        name “Card1”
        device “hw:1,0”
        mixer_type “none”
        dsd_usb “yes”
        buffer_time “200000”
        period_time “1024000000”
        use_mmap “yes”
        auto_resample “no”
        auto_channels “no”
        auto_format “no”
        }
        audio_output {
        type “alsa”
        name “Card2”
        device “hw:2,0”
        mixer_type “none”
        dsd_usb “yes”
        buffer_time “200000”
        period_time “1024000000”
        use_mmap “yes”
        auto_resample “no”
        auto_channels “no”
        auto_format “no”
        }
        audio_output {
        type “alsa”
        name “Card3”
        device “hw:3,0”
        mixer_type “none”
        dsd_usb “yes”
        buffer_time “200000”
        period_time “1024000000”
        use_mmap “yes”
        auto_resample “no”
        auto_channels “no”
        auto_format “no”
        }
        ### AUDIO section end ##############################

        ### MISC section start #############################
        filesystem_charset “UTF-8”
        id3v1_encoding “UTF-8”
        auto_update “yes”
        connection_timeout “3600”
        restore_paused “yes”
        ### MISC section end ###############################

        What should I do? I am really new here

        Reply
        • mlerota says:
          September 30, 2014 at 08:18

          Type alsamixer in terminal, select your DAC and check that there’s no muted channels.

          Reply
          • micatske says:
            September 30, 2014 at 15:03

            I check that And unmute all. Seem still now work. It just work when I install yesterday. I have no idea. It work even on Windows, so confused. I am new to archy

          • mlerota says:
            September 30, 2014 at 15:38

            Who knows what you did. Install it again and then try.

          • micatske says:
            September 30, 2014 at 15:21

            Yes, I unmute all this morning, but still not work. Even for the deadbeef which I tried all most all output. Deadbeef could detact my DAC, and DAC also has signal in, but no sound. I have tried to change several songs, and still not work. So sad. I am really new to the plantform. Sorry about that

  8. Ray Garrison says:
    October 18, 2014 at 07:43

    How do you adjust the volume when using Cantata and MPD? The only thing I could figure out was opening up a terminal, running alsamixer, and reducing the volume there. But my understanding is adjusting the volume using alsamixer is doing it in the digital domain, resulting in a reduction in bit resolution? Devices like the Dragonfly or Geek Out say that the music player software should be able to adjust their internal volume control, and they instruct you to set the computer volume to max and use the player’s control (Deadbeef, etc.) to set the volume.

    How do you do that with MPD and it’s client?

    Reply
    • Alexma6060 says:
      December 28, 2014 at 12:44

      To change the volume for mpd independent from other programs, uncomment or add this switch in mpd.conf:
      /etc/mpd.conf
      mixer_type “software”

      Reply
  9. Big Circle says:
    November 14, 2014 at 09:16

    http://archphile.org/blog/alternative-mpd-package-ffmpeg-support/

    This Package of MPD support playing DTS WAVE, How can I install it to the ap-linux mpd?

    Reply
  10. Eric says:
    February 16, 2015 at 21:03

    Hello,
    I’m using aplinux for 2 or 3 months and I really enjoy it.Thanks a lot for this application, It’s a very good work !!!
    I’ve got a little problem. When playing music with cantata / mpd and switching from a type of file to another (from wav to flac or wav to dsd for example) cantata displays an output error : “MPD reported the following error : Failed to open audio output”.
    The log file gives more details : “alsa_output : Failed to open “card1” [alsa]: error opening ALSA device “hw:1,0″ (snd_pcm_hw_params) : no such device or address”.
    Do you have any idea about how to avoid this error ?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      February 16, 2015 at 21:14

      Delete all cards in mpd.conf except one that you are using. Replace “hw:1,0” with “hw:DAC-NAME”.
      DAC-NAME is the name that you get with dac list command (“aplay -l” in terminal). Remove buffer_time
      and period_time also from mpd.conf. Restart MPD. If that doesn’t work, than it’s the firmware
      issue of your DAC and you need to contact the manufacturer.

      Reply
      • Eric says:
        February 17, 2015 at 21:43

        Thanks a lot for your fast answer.
        I made the changes you suggested but unfortunately things still remain the same …
        My DAC is the DENON DAC300USB. I’m going to contact DENON …
        Thanks

        Reply
      • Eric says:
        February 24, 2015 at 22:06

        I’ve got no news about Denon, but I tried new tests. I took my hard disk in witch aplinux is installed from my lenovo G50-30 labtop and put it in a Dell L412. All works fine : no more error message when playing a flac file and switching to a wav or mp3 file !!!! Do you have ideas about what’s wrong with my lenovo G50 ?!!!
        Thanks.

        Reply
  11. guibert says:
    February 22, 2015 at 18:27

    Hello

    I am using Ap-Linux V3 since a few days.
    Fisrt thanks for this nice out of the box distro .
    PCM playback is so nice on my Audio-gd master7 dac but Cantata can t play .dff file

    This Dac have an USB 32/384 DSD .
    I can play .dff file with JRiver on Ubuntu 14.04 or Mac OSX on usb so the dac is OK.

    This is my last mpd.conf

    ### AUDIO section start ############################
    audio_output {
    type “alsa”
    name “Card2”
    device “hw:Audiogd”
    mixer_type “none”
    dsd_usb “yes”
    buffer_time “”
    period_time “”
    use_mmap “yes”
    auto_resample “no”
    auto_channels “no”
    auto_format “no”
    }
    ### AUDIO section end ##############################
    buffer and period are empty as i read on this post
    but if they are not i can t play dsd anyway.

    and my list cards

    **** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
    card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 0: ALC889 Analog [ALC889 Analog]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 1: ALC889 Digital [ALC889 Digital]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 1: Generic_1 [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 2: Audiogd [Audio-gd], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

    usb dac is USB32/384DSD and i can play .dff file with
    JRiver on Ubuntu 14.04 or Mac OSX so the dac is OK.

    Can you help me ?
    Secondly how can i choice french azerty keyboard and french langage too ?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      February 22, 2015 at 23:36

      Remove buffer_time “” and period_time “” and restart MPD. For French keyboard put “setxkbmap fr” line in /home/muser/.fluxbox/startup file.

      Reply
      • guibert says:
        February 24, 2015 at 11:31

        Hello and thanks for answer,

        I removed buffer_time “” and period_time “” and restart MPD but I still can not hear .dff file with Cantata 🙁
        PCM playing is OK.

        I must say that audio ouput seems open as i don’t have error message :
        ” failed to open audio output”
        and i see the indicator reader moving from left to right.

        As i can play .dff file with JRiver/foobar 2000 ( with wine using winealsa.drv ) on Ubuntu 14.04 , what can be the problem ?

        Thanks again

        Reply
  12. tonyh says:
    February 25, 2015 at 00:28

    Hi, I have a problem with cantata the data base will not populate, I have checked path /storage/Music and mpd config. is there any solution.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      March 1, 2015 at 01:08

      Yes, check your config again 😉

      Reply
  13. jtsunxp says:
    March 1, 2015 at 10:25

    Hello,
    I am enjoying music with aplinux+mpd! But I have a problem when using mpd to play music:
    Sometimes sound was stopped suddenly in very short time(is also named: “jitter” ? ) my mpd.conf is setted by default values:
    dsd_usb “yes”
    buffer_time “200000”
    period_time “1024000000”

    above preferences can affact smoothing of sound?
    Can you give me some suggestion?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      March 2, 2015 at 00:21

      Yes they can. Loose the buffer and period time.

      Reply
      • jtsunxp says:
        March 3, 2015 at 02:06

        Thanks your answer, I commented buffer time and peroid time lines and now seems ok.

        Another issue occured, mpd can’t recognize cue file. but deadbeaf can. My cue files is UTF-8 format.

        Can you help me ?

        Thanks!

        Reply
      • jtsunxp says:
        March 3, 2015 at 08:19

        I use client : MPDroid to control mpd on android phone via wireless network .

        Reply
  14. Remco says:
    May 3, 2015 at 23:13

    Hello,
    Just installed AP3.0 and love the sound.
    I do get crackels because the output level was too high, but after setting Cantata to use replaygain it is fine.
    Now i have rebooted and the setting for replaygain is gone. How can i make the replaygain setting to stay?
    Thanks, Remco

    Reply
  15. Echo Airiti says:
    May 7, 2015 at 16:42

    V3 final sound great, I am very satisfied, it just a little inconvenience that the Cantata player does not support traditional Chinese, cause metadata and album unreadable, can it be improved ?

    Reply
  16. demo01 says:
    May 11, 2015 at 21:11

    Hello,

    I re-installed mpd. After a boot I have to start mpd manually.
    I tried mpd to start automatic after a boot with:

    1. ~/.fluxbox/startup
    2. /etc/xdg/autostart/mpd.desktop

    [Desktop Entry]
    Encoding=UTF-8
    Type=Application
    Name=Music Player Daemon
    Comment=Server for playing audio files
    Exec=mpd
    StartupNotify=false
    Terminal=false
    Hidden=false
    X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=false

    3. systemctl –user mpd

    Nothings works. What is the solution for this?

    Best regards, fvdb06

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      May 11, 2015 at 22:21

      You have installed official MPD over Audiophile Linux MPD. This will brake things. The easiest way is to reinstall Ap-linux.

      Reply
      • MOT64 says:
        March 30, 2016 at 10:57

        mlerota: “”You have installed official MPD over Audiophile Linux MPD. This will brake things. The easiest way is to reinstall Ap-linux.””

        What are the differences among “official” and “Ap-L MPD”? After installing AP Linux 3.1 I shold not reinstall MPD, other linux components only?

        Reply
  17. Hazard says:
    May 12, 2015 at 13:31

    I’ve got my USB Dac running with Windows and think its great. So I’m taking the plunge and moving to Linux for even better sound. I installed AP Linux tonight and now have a million questions but will start with just 2.

    1. Why doesn’t Linux recognise my on-board PCI sound card? I have an EMU1212M and it works perfectly with windows 7/8 (after installing the drivers). I thought Linux was supposed to recognise sound cards automatically? Do I need to install some drivers?
    2. Is Cantana the most incredibly non-user friendly software ever invented? I am a Linux noob, sure, but I am not an idiot (well my wife often tells me I’m an idiot but mainly when she’s mad at me). But I can’t get a peep out of Cantana. I have lots of DSD files that I want to play but I just look blankly at the screen when Cantana opens. There doesn’t appear to be any way to open music files. By contracts DeadBeef seems simple and easy to use (its easy to play files, but it doesn’t make any noise because of Problem #1).

    Looks like I’m on a steep learning curve after using Windows for 20 years.

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      May 13, 2015 at 08:27

      1. You should ask your manufacturer.
      2. No, there are more worse :-). Cantana (Cantata) is just interface to MPD server which is actually playing music. (I know it’s confusing). You can’t select song like in Deadbeef before you configure MPD. So learn what MPD is, configure it and then you can use Cantata, Mobile phone, Tablet, even your Windows and the sound will be great :-).

      Reply
      • hazard says:
        May 13, 2015 at 12:11

        OK thanks for the reply. I will continue to explore AP Linux.

        Reply
  18. hazard says:
    May 14, 2015 at 10:53

    OK I have configured MPD. All my music is stored on another hard drive withing the same desktop case. The drive is called “4TB” and the directory where DSD files are kept is called Hi Res. So in MPD editor I have set the music directory this:

    music_directory “/run/media/muser/4TB/Hi Res”

    I saved this config, then opened Cantata and was able to refresh the database – all the files in Hi Res directory are now available in Cantata. And playing these files through my USB – sounds analog-like. By which I mean that I have never heard digital sound this good. I am very impressed with your software, and very very happy listening to this. But there are 2 small problems:
    1. I can’t restart MPD. When I got to ‘Restart MPD” and the black screen opens and asks for password, I can’t type anything. I see
    [sudo] password for muser: (solid green box).
    Then when I type nothing happens. I can hit enter, and then if try to type I get message “Sorry try again”.
    So, when I reboot APLinux, MPD has gone back to original config.
    2. My DSD DAC is working but I want to look at what is in
    ‘DAC Setup – Set DSD-PCM playback’
    When I select this option I get the following message:
    “New configuration require MPD restart”
    “Please go to DAC Setup —> Restart MPD”

    But as described above, I can’t restart MPD. All very confusing.

    But it is working and sounds great, I just need to iron out the bugs.

    Reply
    • Remco says:
      May 14, 2015 at 12:12

      That you do not see anything happening when you type the password is normal for Linux.
      So just type the correct password and hit enter.

      Reply
    • mlerota says:
      May 14, 2015 at 13:40

      Thanks Remco. The password is “muser”. Yes Linux is little confusing when coming from Win world. But that’s Windows problem ;-). The point is to configure MPD once to suit your needs (I suggest removing buffer_time and period_time) and enjoy the music. And don’t touch “Set DSD-PCM playback” ever again.

      Reply
      • hazard says:
        May 14, 2015 at 14:04

        OK got that. MPD is configured, and as suggested buffer and period are set to zero. I am really enjoying the music. One further question. My DIY DAC will only play back DSD at the present time. Can MPD or Cantata convert PCM to DSD on the fly? Foobar does this in Windows, and HQ Player will do this in Linux, but HQ Player costs $$. I have ripped all my CDs to my hard drive and want to play them through USB DAC. Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

        Reply
        • mlerota says:
          May 14, 2015 at 20:00

          No, Cantata can’t do that. My opinion is, there’s no point of converting PCM to DSD. If it’s recorded in PCM, it’s done. Garbage in, garbage out. You can’t undone what that filters have done. After listening many DSDs, I can’t listen to PCM any more. No matter how good recording is, it sounds plastic to me, artificial. Does not have this more real, analog sound that you say.

          Reply
  19. Hazard says:
    May 15, 2015 at 14:25

    Yes I agree that DSD sounds much better than PCM. But … I have a lot of PCM files – i’ve ripped all my CDs and have bought many hi res down loads from HDTracks and ProStudioMasters. I still want to play these. My DIY DAC is configured to play DSD only for maximum performance, so at the moment I can’t play any PCM files. HQ Player will convert PCM to DSD on the fly – althopugh I would have to pay for this, is it possible to install this application on AP Linux?

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      May 15, 2015 at 14:40

      It’s not.

      Reply
  20. Martin.P says:
    May 24, 2015 at 14:23

    Hi, thank you for perfect optimized audiophile unix based os, traditional PCM and HIRES playback works and sounds amazing! on my stereo equipment.

    I have only one BIG problem with SACD/DSD playback in MPD/Cantata . DSD material plays with high frequency NOISE! , please HELP ME. DSD format is DFF.

    Thank you for response

    Reply
  21. FvdB says:
    May 31, 2015 at 13:56

    Hello,

    If I start GMPC I get the message “The config directory is not a directory”.
    I can start Cantata and also mpd without any problem.
    What is going wrong with GMPC ?

    Reply
  22. Seahill says:
    June 22, 2015 at 21:20

    Hi, I’m using Cantata now. My dac only support 24bit/96kHz, no usb input. I connect it with a usb/spdif converter that can support up to 32/384. My dac cannot receive any signal when I play 192kHz files. Can I resample it to 96kHz?

    Reply
  23. max says:
    January 31, 2016 at 20:47

    Hi,

    I’m using Deadbeef and all is ok with a great sound , but with cantata it’s something wrong :

    Connection to ” default ” local host ( 6600 ) is failed……same issue with GMPC

    thank you in advance

    Reply
  24. Don Vittorio Sierra says:
    October 13, 2016 at 23:37

    Does this support dsd iso files?

    Reply
    • mlerota says:
      October 14, 2016 at 08:22

      If you extract them into .dsf files.

      Reply
      • Marco says:
        November 1, 2017 at 09:54

        In the last version (4.0) are iso dsd files supported? I would like to access them directly without conversion to dsf. Thanks

        Reply
  25. demo01 says:
    December 9, 2016 at 19:22

    Hi, I’m using Cantata now. My dac support max. 24bit/96kHz, no usb input. I connect it with a usb/spdif converter that can support up to 24/192 My dac cannot receive any signal when I play 192kHz files. I tried to resample (ALSA) with MPD. Unfortenately withouit success. Resampling (ALSA) with the other audioplayers, deadbeef and Audacious, is no problem.
    How to resample with MPD?

    Reply
  26. Enrique says:
    March 10, 2017 at 07:48

    Hellow. I can not run Cantata. It says “segmentation fault core dumped” What can I do
    Thanks

    Reply
  27. Dan says:
    August 1, 2017 at 21:54

    Hi,

    I managed to install V4 this evening (had some issues with cleaning an old SSD but other than that very smooth).

    I wanted to ask if small buffer time and period should in theory sound better. I am currently at 512 buffer and 256 period and the music seems faster with more detail. Would it be better to push it to minimum values ? (it seem to be the case on my Puppy Linux – very low values sounded best on ALSA output).

    In any case, the system sounds incredible, thank you for all your hard work !

    Reply
  28. Lesenje says:
    October 12, 2017 at 19:19

    Does anyone noticed the diference in sound quality between Cantata and Deadbeef ? Deadbeef sounds more clear and a littlebit louder than Cantata. What could be the reason ? MPD is on default setting except I removed buffer and period time. Cantata works. I thought that they use the same base (alsa) for playing the sound. Any help ?

    Reply
  29. Ronald says:
    October 20, 2017 at 16:42

    After several days of relative bliss, MPD is messing with me! 🙁
    I turned it on today to find “*MPD PAUSED*.”
    Tried “Restart mpd” in the menu, and got “MPD not responding.”
    Please HELP!

    Reply
  30. Ronald says:
    November 18, 2017 at 16:33

    I bumbled and stumbled around and somehow I fixed it.
    Meantime, I’ve tried a few other “phile” distros on an old computer that’s sitting around unused, and none of them sound as dynamic as APL.

    Reply
    • eloc says:
      December 22, 2017 at 22:39

      how did you fix it Ronald, it’s paused on mine i cant get music with Cantata, but i can with
      deadbeef and audacious, also no sound on the internet. any suggestions?

      Reply
      • Ronald Ellis says:
        February 27, 2018 at 16:50

        eloc,
        Sorry for the huge delay. I got busy and haven’t been back this way in a while. If we’re lucky, you’ve already solved your problem.
        Anyhoo…as I said previously, I was was just stumbling around trying some of everything, but the last thing was to simply go back and repeat the pacman instructions. I re-booted, and when it came back everything was miraculously working. I wish I could be more technical about it but I’m just like anyone else learning a foreign language.
        If all else fails, do as I did in the beginning, re-install and re-install, and re-install. It’s worth the effort because I’ve tried almost a dozen others and this is the sweetest sounding package I’ve encountered, regardless of the platform.

        Reply
  31. DirkjanL says:
    April 26, 2018 at 18:37

    Thanks!
    I had to install it twice becuase the first time it did not work, I should have forgotten something. The second time everything went well. I play music with Audacious. I could not get Cantata working. I keep on trying!
    Regards

    Reply
  32. DirkjanL says:
    April 28, 2018 at 18:14

    Yes, I’ve found it. I had configured Cantata wrong, whil econfiguring Cantata I had choosen the second option. I deleted the cantata.conf file in /home/myname/.config/cantata. And started Cantata again and choose the firts option while configuring Cantata.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  33. DirkjanL says:
    April 28, 2018 at 18:49

    And I have installed the M.A.L.P. app (MPD) app from the Playstore. Password is 1234. And I have now a remote controler for Cantata on my laptop.
    Fun! And again: Thanks

    Reply
  34. DirkjanL says:
    May 11, 2018 at 19:54

    The standard USB protocol of my CambridgeAudio DacMagic 100 is USB Audio 1.0.
    I want to change it to USB Audio 2.0 because then I can use the 24bit – 192 kHz option. How to do?
    If I set the DacMagic 100 to the USB 2 protocol, Cantata won’t play!

    Regards!

    Reply
    • PHG says:
      May 12, 2018 at 17:15

      Poweroff the DAC and AP-Linux and restart? But I think you tried it.

      Reply
      • DirkjanL says:
        May 13, 2018 at 09:07

        Yes I did, I also took off the powercables. No results.

        Reply
  35. Dirk Jan Jan Lekkerkerker says:
    May 13, 2018 at 09:55

    I now see Deadbeef and Audacious play music in 24 bit 192 kHz. Only Cantata refuse to play at all when the Dac is in the USB Audio 2 protocol. I will look if I can find the isue in Cantata itself.

    Reply
    • PHG says:
      May 19, 2018 at 00:36

      It does not make much sense but maybe with USB 2 it has an other soundcard or device number?
      In Terminal: aplay -l and then look at the mpd.conf? hw:cardNumber,deviceNumber.

      Reply
  36. DirkjanL says:
    May 28, 2018 at 18:05

    I’ve tried this: Changed in mpd.conf the hw:0,0 in hw:2,0
    Now the cards are named:
    ´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´
    card 0: Generic [HD-Audio Generic], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 1: SB [HDA ATI SB], device 0: ALC269VB Analog [ALC269VB Analog]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    card 2: C1 [Cambridge AudioDAC100 USB 2], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
    Subdevices: 1/1
    Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
    ´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´´
    And there is USB 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Thanks for helping and motivating!
    Dirkjanl

    Reply
    • DirkjanL says:
      May 28, 2018 at 18:10

      Oeps, I forgot testing. When I switched the DAC to USB 2 mode, Cantata won’t play the music.
      I will try it an other day again.

      Dirkjanl

      Reply
      • dirkjanl says:
        July 23, 2018 at 16:06

        Yes,
        It is a few weeks later, I tried it an other time after reading your posts again.
        Started the laptop, started the DAC in USB mode 2, checked the soundcard, set the Default soundcard, started Deadbeef. Music by 24 bit 192KHz.
        Closed Deadbeef, started Cantata, played the same music and Voilá. 24 bit 192 KHz. I do not know why it is oké by now. Perhaps I made a mistake the former times.
        Thanks you all again for helping.

        Dirkjanl

        Reply
  37. Marmite Sandwich says:
    February 20, 2019 at 15:27

    Can anybody tell me what version of mpd is current in ap-linux? I need 0.21.x to solve a problem with streaming google play music, and I am finding it difficult to compile mpd versions in other distros. You can find out by typing mpd –version at the console.

    Reply
    • Marko says:
      February 20, 2019 at 15:43

      If you can update it, it will be 0.21.4-2.

      Reply

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