Vortexbox - Poor man's music server

odysseyhk

After using Vortexbox for a few month, quite comfortably recommend it to CAS fans here.  It is a Linux distribution which is designed for music server use.  Come bundled with MPD player and you can remote control music using iphone, ipod, ipad  or android phone with mpd compatible app.

http://info.vortexbox.org/
http://vortexbox.org/downloads

See following admin screen of Vortexbox showing 5 services.



1/ Auto CD Ripper (Just insert CD and it will rip it automatically for you)
2/ DLNA Server (You may use Vortexbox as DLNA streaming server for other network audio player)
3/ Samba Server (You may use Vortexbox as a file server and simply copy music files you have to Vortexbox)
4/ Logitech Media Server (You my use Vortexbox as music server for your Squeezebox)
5/ Vortexbox Player (It is MPD player which is very easy to use with app on your iphone/ipad/android)

For my case, when I playback music, I only leave Vortexbox Player "on".  That's great as there are very few background process running.

I'm so far happy switching to this linux distribution optimized for music server use.

calcal

Excellent sharing. Will try later! Thanks a lot!

odysseyhk

This is a screen shot of iphone running mpad app.  Chinese, Japanese and cover image are displayed without problem at all.  I'm using FLAC and the tagging is done automatically during CD ripping.  Cover image download is not very accurate and may need to correct manually.

odysseyhk

This is a mpad application on ipad.

odysseyhk

I like the "online update" function.  It download and install the latest Linux OS and app update for you and keep the music server software current.  I need no linux skills at all so far when I'm using Vortexbox as a standalone music server.

wakalaaa

係咪任何電腦都裝到？
需唔需要driver？
一定要經network攞歌？

k500a

謝謝師兄介紹，
和 voyage MPD 聲音素質有分別嗎？

odysseyhk

wakalaaa 發表於 2013-2-27 09:17
係咪任何電腦都裝到？
需唔需要driver？
一定要經network攞歌？

> 係咪任何電腦都裝到？

"Dedicated computer for your VortexBox server (Intel based, at least a P4 with 1GB memory)"

> 需唔需要driver？

DAC support USB Audio 1.0 and 2.0 will be detected and supported without driver.  The wonderful thing Vortexbox is that it already include some freeware driver to support a few popular USB DAC chips.  I'm going to post the list later.

> 一定要經network攞歌？

I use the built-in disk of the PC to store music which is very easy, ready to use after installation with no extra configuration.  You can also remotely use music files on NAS with some configuration set up (optional).  I'm using local harddisk on my notebook.

odysseyhk

k500a 發表於 2013-2-27 09:46
謝謝師兄介紹，
和 voyage MPD 聲音素質有分別嗎？

I did not try voyage MPD.  So I don't have any comment.  

The installation instruction is too complicated to me and I don't know whether I can manage it.  Happy if some ching bring it along and compare with Vortexbox.  Voyage MPD getting started guide =>  http://linux.voyage.hk/content/getting-started-v08x

odysseyhk

DAC support USB Audio 1.0 and 2.0 will be detected and supported without driver.  The wonderful thing Vortexbox is that it already include some freeware driver to support a few popular USB DAC chips.  

http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=Compatibility+Guide

This is the list I cut and paste today. This list came from contribution from some audio companies and audiophile who tested and reported the specific DAC works.

SONORE TESTED DEVICES
Antellope Audio Zodiac+ and Zodiac Gold - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Audiophilleo1 and Audiophilleo2 - USB to spdif playback up to 24/192
Auralic Vega - USB input to analog playback up to 24/384, DoP
Ayre QB9 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Benchmark HGC- USB to analog playback up to 24/192, DoP
EMM Labs DAC2 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192, DoP
Halide Design Bridge - USB to spdif playback up to 24/96
Halide Design DAC HD - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
High Resolution Technologies (HRT) Music Streamer Plus - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
High Resolution Technologies (HRT) Music Streamer II - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
MBL DAC 1611F - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
MBL DAC 1511F - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Meitner MA-1 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192, DoP
MSB USB1 input module - USB to analog playback up to 48 kHz
MSB USB2 input module - USB to analog playback up to 192 kHz, DoP
MSB USB2 Signature input module - USB to analog playback up to 384 kHz, DoP
Playback Design MPD-3 and MPS-5 - USB to analog playback up to 384 kHz, DoP (pending review)
PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC, DAC2 and MKII upgrade - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Sonore/exD DSD/PCM DAC - USB to analog playback up to 24/192, DoP (DSD64 and DSD128)
Sonore USB to SPDIF converter - USB to SPDIF playback up to 24/192, DoP (DSD64 converter to 176.4 PCM)
SOtM dAC-200HD - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
SOtM dX-USB-HD - USB to AES/SPDIF RCA/SPDIF Toslink playback up to 24/192
SOtM iM-USB-HD - USB to i2s playback up to 24/192
Wavelength Wavelink - USB to SPDIF playback up to 24/192
Weiss DAC202U - USB to analog playback up to 24/192

STREAMLENGTH CODE BASED PRODUCTS
Aesthetix Pandora and Romulus - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Analog Research Technology Legato - USB to SPDIF interface playback up to 16/44.1
Grace Design m903 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Wavelength Crimson - USB to analog playback varies by configuration
Wavelength Cosecant - USB to analog playback varies by configuration
Wavelength Brick - USB to analog playback varies by configuration
Wavelength Proton DAC with headphone output - USB to analog playback up to 24/96

CENTRANCE CODE BASED PRODUCTS
Bel Canto Design USB Link - USB to SPDIF playback up to 24/96
Bel Canto Design DAC 1.5 and 2.5 - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Bel Canto Design Integrated Amplipfier- USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Benchmark DAC1 PRE - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Benchmark DAC1 HDR - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Centrance DACport - USB headphone DAC up to 24/96

DCS USB BASED PRODUCTS
dCS Scarlatti - USB 26/96 digital upsampling interface
dCS Paganini - USB 26/96 digital upsampling interface
dCS Debussy - USB to analog playback up to 24/192, DoP

COMMUNITY TESTED PRODUCTS
Open Source AB1-1 - USB to analog/i2s playback up to 24/192
Abbingdon Music Research AMR DP777 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
AMR Digital Processor-777 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Arcam rDAC - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Atoll DAC200 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Audioaero La Fontaine - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Audiolab MDAC - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Audio-gd - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Behringer UCA222 - USB to analog playback up to 16/48
Berhringer UFO 202 - USB to analog playback up to 16/48
Beresford Caiman DAC - USB to analog playback up to ?/?
Bladelius - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Bricasti Design M1 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Cambridge Audio DacMagic - USB to analog playback up to 16/48
Cambridge Audio DacMagic II - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Creative SB-Live - USB to analog playback up to ?/?
Emotiva XDA-1 - USB to analog playback up to 16/48
Firestone Audio Fubar IV - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Furutech GT-40 - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Halide Design ds DAC - USB to analog playback up to 16/48
Hegel HD Series - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Lampizator DAC - USB to analog playback up to 32/384
M-Audio FastTrack Pro - USB to SPDIF/analog playback up to 16/48
M2Tech Hi-Face2 - USB to SPDIF playback up to 24/192
Music Hall dac25.3 - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Music Fidelity V-DAC - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Music Fidelity V-Link - USB to SPDIF playback up to 24/96
Music Fidelity V-Link 192 - USB to SPDIF playback up to 24/192 (pending review)
Onkyo ND-S1 - USB to analog playback up to ?/?
Onkyo UWL-1 - USB to analog playback up to ?/?
Peachtree Audio (products that do not need drivers) - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Perreaux Audiant DP32 DAC/Preamp - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Pro-Ject USB Box - USB to analog playback up to 16/44.1
PS Audio Digital Link III - USB to analog playback up to 16/44.1
Ratoc Systems RAL-2496UT1 - USB to analog playback up to ?/?
Schiit Bitfrost - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Simaudio Moon 100D and 300D - USB to analog playback up to 16/48
TeraDak - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Turtle Beach Amigo II - USB to analog playback up to 16/48
Turtle Beach Micro II - USB to SPDIF/analog playback up to 16/48
Yamaha CAVIT APU-70 - USB to analog/speaker level playback up to 24/96 (88.2 is not supported)
Wadia 151 Power DAC Mini - USB to analog playback up to 24/96
Wyerd4Sound W4S-DAC1 USB to analog playback up to 24/96

M2Tech hiFace v1 BASED PRODUCTS
Audia FL Three - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Audio Esclusive
CAD
CHORD MX Series QX DAC - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Corrson
Eeaudio
Empirical Audio - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
Metronome
M2Tech hiFace v1 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192
M2Tech Young - USB to analog playback up to 24/384
North Star
Pathos
Rockna
Rotel
SL Audio
Vitus
W4S DAC2 - USB to analog playback up to 24/192

exaDevices exaU2I BASED PRODUCTS
Mytek Digital Stereo 192-DSD DAC - USB to analog playback up to 24/192

odysseyhk

Quick installation instruction is so short and simple.

http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=Begin

Quick Install Guide
What you need to Install VortexBox on your own hardware (you could buy a per-built VortexBox)

Vortexbox ISO burned to a blank CD (Download ISO)
Dedicated computer for your VortexBox server (Intel based, at least a P4 with 1GB memory)
Monitor and keyboard (only required for installation)


1. Burn the VortexBox ISO to a blank CD using ISO Recorder or some other ISO burning software.

2. Connect a monitor and keyboard to your computer.

NOTE: The VortexBox ISO will format your drive and delete all data on your system.

3. Insert the VortexBox CD into your CDROM drive and reboot your computer. If the VortexBox disk doesn’t boot go into your BIOS and make sure your computers is set to boot from CDROM.

4. At the first boot screen select "Install VortexBox".

5. Select your time zone from the dropdown and click OK.

6. Enter a root password and click OK. This password will only be used for Linux command line maintenance.

7. Your computer will work for a while installing VortexBox and then reboot itself. Remove the VortexBox CD so it doesn’t boot from it again.

8. After the computer boots up you will see the IP address of your VortexBox. Use a Web browser on another machine that is connected to your network to connect to the VortexBox interface. You should also be able to connect to your new VortexBox using http://vortexbox.

You can also log into the Linux command prompt using the user name root and the password you selected. This is not required for you to use your VortexBox.

If your USB DAC does not require driver, it is ready to go.  If driver is needed, just one more step.

odysseyhk

An example of installing audio device driver (for M2Tech hiFace v1 BASED PRODUCTS).  I tested it work with my W4S DAC2.

Login as "root" using the password you set during installation.

The following command will install the M2Tech HiFAce V1 driver:

yum -y install snd-usb-asyncaudio

reboot

odysseyhk

Copy music files to Vortexbox is easy.  It supports most popular formats.  By default, it rip cd to flac.  See the following instruction.

http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-i ... om+a+Windows+system

How to add files to your VortexBox using a PC

Connect to your VortexBox with your PC runing Windows. Once your VortexBox is connected to your network it should be easy to connect to its SMB file share.

Press Win-R (win key is next to Alt) on your keyboard enter \\vortexbox or \\the IP address of your VortexBox.

You can also click on Start -> Network and wait for your VortexBox to show up in the Computer section.

If you want to play files you can play them from /music/flac (Read-Only)

If you want to add music to your VortexBox use /files/music/flac

http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-i ... om+a+Mac+OSX+system

How to add files to your VortexBox using an Apple running OSX

Connect to your VortexBox with your Apple mac running OSX. Once your VortexBox is connected to your network it should be easy to connect to it’s SMB file share.

Open the Finder and click Go -> Connect to Server then in the Server Address box type

smb://vortexbox/

then click connect. If prompted for a username click the Guest radio button. You will then be given a selection of network shares to connect to.

You can also open Safari and enter smb://vortexbox/ as the URL.

If you want to play files you can play them from /music/flac

If you want to add music to your system use /files/music/flac

Note: if you want to edit the ID3 tags on your FLAC files you can use PicardTagger. It’s free. http://musicbrainz.org/doc/PicardTagger

Connect the the web interface is easy just type http://vortexbox into your web browser. If this doesn’t work you can use the IP address of your VortexBox. If you don’t know the IP address of your VortexBox it will be listed in the DHCP client table of your router.

Note: If you have and AirPort you can do this to get the IP address of your VortexBox

To get the Airport to show a list of connected devices :

Using the AirPort Utility,
1. Select the base station, and then, choose Manual Setup.
2. Select the Advanced tab.
3. Select the Logging & SNMP tab, and then, click on the Logs and Statistics button.
4. Select either the Wireless Client or DHCP Clients tabs to get a list of connected clients.

It should list the name of the client under DHCP Clients in the column "Client ID"

Your VortexBox should appear in the list of DHCP Clients.

odysseyhk

Many people said Linux is difficult for music server.  Guess they haven't try Vortexbox yet.  Vortexbox is designed to be a NAS/Music Server which most of us could manage with no Linux experience.  

Remember "KISS" - Keep It Stupid Simple.  If you don't know Linux, don't try to optimize it and just keep Vortexbox a standalone self sufficient music server.  There is not much to optimize unless you are Linux Guru.  Let the Vortexbox Guru optimize it for you.  They built Vortexbox with audiophile use in mind.  Just press the update button to get the latest version regularly to enjoy the benefits of latest updates.  Sit down, relax and enjoy music.

wakalaaa

whar's wrong？

wakalaaa

I must use the Lan cable to connect the Router ?
then what is the vortexbox login and password ?

Aalexx

Login: root  password:vortexbox

Aalexx

Wifi 可看 http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=Wifi

huangkang

I tested vortexbox last night for the follwoing:
1. rip CDs: ripped an English CD and two Chinese CDs, had all the songs name!
2. rip DVD: ripped "Monster Inc" DVD to a 4.x gb mkv file with subtitile! very good!
3. as file server: just type \\vortexbox then you can access files, no need to buy NAS!
Question: if I connect vortexbox PC to my USB DAC, how do I "push" the songs to the DAC? Please advise. Thank you!

wakalaaa

Aalexx 發表於 2013-3-1 21:48
Wifi 可看 http://info.vortexbox.org/tiki-index.php?page=Wifi

完全睇唔明
有冇高手要指點