First Class Digital Music Source

[PeteCallaghan]

Inspired by the threads on the Lejonklou forum, I put together an Intel DN2800MT player and a NAS with SnakeOil on both. 

They sound fabulous: the best digital source I've ever owned and for very little money. Clearly SnakeOil does not get in the way of the music. 

The only part of the installation I struggled with was creating a working bootable USB image. Once I paid close attention to the log output of Rufus I realised why it wasn't working and followed the instructions precisely, which then worked. 

The SnakeOil installation and config guide is pretty good. It took me a few days to work out the best combinations of player, library and control point software and settings to get what I wanted, but I now have a really good set up. 

Here's the hardware and software: 

Player Hardware

• Intel DN2800MT 1.86GHz Intel Atom N2800
  
• Fanless thin case
  
• 2GB Kingston RAM
  
• 120GB Intel 320 SSD
  
• Deltaco Serial ATA-600 0.3 m cable
  
• Supra USB A - USB Mini-B, 1 m USB cable
  
• ESI Gigaport+ DAC
  

NAS Hardware

• Intel DN2800MT 1.86GHz Intel Atom N2800
  
• Fanless thin case
  
• 4GB Kingston RAM
  
• 480GB M.2 SSD 
  

Player SW

• Hyperthreading disabled (dual core to dual CPU instead of dual core to quad CPU)
  
• SnakeOil 1.1.9 (Blind Testing U9)
  
• Boot kernel 4.4.9-rt117-snakeoil-x64
  
• Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS
  
• Cpuset and CPU#1 allocated to user
  
• mpd, irq/23, irq/25. upmpdcli all set to priority 99
  
• upmpdcli (OpenHome disabled)
  • Uses mpd as the player
    
  • Could not get Qobuz to work reliably with upmpdcli config so use Bubble UPnP control point Qobuz config instead
    
  • Could not get internet radio playlist to work with Bubble UPnP control point, so use minimserver playlist for this instead. 
    

NAS SW

• Hyperthreading disabled (dual core to dual CPU instead of dual core to quad CPU)
  
• SnakeOil 1.1.9 (Blind Testing U9)
  
• Boot kernel 4.4.9-rt117-snakeoil-x64
  
• Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS
  
• Cpuset and CPU#1 allocated to user
  
• java, irq/26, irq/25 all set to priority 99
  
• minimserver
  • I created a m3u playlist for minimserver to provide internet radio for BBC, local radio and Radio Paradise. 
    
  • Could not get the Radio Paradise FLAC streams to work - mpd complained about the format, so using the AAC streams. 
    
• BubbleUPnP (open home enabled for the player)
  • Manages the playlist so I don't need to keep the control app open.
    
  • Also provides transcoding but I don't think I use that
    
  • I found the upmpdcli open home support to be flaky, and Bubble UPnP completely reliable in contrast
    

Control App

• Bubble UPnP on Android
  • Qobuz streaming
    
  • Ripped / downloaded sources on the NAS
    
  • Radio playlist on the NAS
    

Full credit to Agent Kith for a really robust well-behaved OS interface that gives pretty intuitive control and once set up just runs reliably. 

The music is flowing. I haven't experienced any fatigue or harshness using mpd+upmpdcli. It sounds full, rich, sweet and tuneful.

[PeteCallaghan]

I thought I'd post an update. I have upgraded my player (and amplifier, but that's another story).

It now sounds gorgeous. It's the most enjoyable music system I have owned in 40 years of messing with hi fi.

Here's the current hardware and software: 

Player Hardware

• Gigabyte GA-N3150N-D3V motherboard and Celeron N3150 CPU
  
• RGeek mini ITX case and 120W PSU
  
• 2GB Kingston RAM
  
• 120GB Intel 320 SSD
  
• Deltaco Serial ATA-600 0.3 m cable
  
• Supra USB A - USB Mini-B, 1 m USB cable
  
• ESI Gigaport+ DAC
  

NAS Hardware

• Intel DN2800MT 1.86GHz Intel Atom N2800
  
• Fanless thin case
  
• 4GB Kingston RAM
  
• 480GB M.2 SSD 
  

Player SW

• SnakeOil 1.1.9 (Blind Testing U9)
  
• Boot kernel 4.4.9-rt117-snakeoil-x64
  
• Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS
  
• Cpuset and CPU#2,3,4 allocated to user
  
• mpd, irq/23, irq/25. upmpdcli all set to priority 99
  
• upmpdcli (OpenHome enabled, OpenRadio enabled with Radio Paradise FLAC Python script)
  • Uses mpd as the player
    
  • BubbleDS control app for Qobuz, NAS, Radio
    

NAS SW

• Hyperthreading disabled (dual core to dual CPU instead of dual core to quad CPU)
  
• SnakeOil 1.1.9 (Blind Testing U9)
  
• Boot kernel 4.4.9-rt117-snakeoil-x64
  
• Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS
  
• Cpuset and CPU#1 allocated to user
  
• java, irq/26, irq/25 all set to priority 99
  
• minimserver
  

Control App

• BubbleDS on Android
  • Qobuz streaming
    
  • Ripped / downloaded sources on the NAS
    
  • OpenRadio from upmpdcli
    

Fabulous!