Muse Radio Squeezelite

42

[quote=“Manul, post:41, topic:1099”]

  • The device is beautiful and very well built. I was a bit unsure when ordering it as it is listed as “wood color” and I feared some cheesy plasticky fake wood surface. The front is also very nice looking and both dials turn smoothly. The knobs and buttons feel solid.

Thanks

  • Sound quality is a bit of a mixed bag. Overall it’s quite good, but the noise / static level is a bit higher than I would have hoped or anticipated. I’ll find out how much an annoyance that is for my intended use case (bathroom radio) in the long term, could well be one of the things one notices when the device is new but forgets in the long run. Time will tell.

If you have the time to do it I will be curious for you to try the default standalone radio app from apps.rasipaudio.com to check if you have the same static noise? If you have not it will mean that we need to check the codec commands in Squeezelite

  • @Raspiaudio, you mentioned that the display blanking is something that can be set in NVS. I didn’t find the corresponding setting, how would I change that? And is it possible to have it behave differently when it’s plugged in vs. when it’s running on battery?

it’s I think in the LMS pluging SqueezeESP32 settings

  • I understand that the buttons can currently not be used in squeezelite. That is a bit of a disappointment and I think something that should be mentioned on the store page. Out of curiosity, what was the reason to implement them with ADC/resistors? Were there not enough GPIOs?
    Yes it was gpio numbers related, no worry I believe that it will be done one day
43

I did that and it does indeed seem that the noise is much lower. I tried (without success) to find a stream of silence to be sure, but even with the radio constantly playing, noise seemed much better. Could you try whether you can reproduce the high noise level with squeezelite and LMS? What would be needed to reach better sound quality? Can I help in any way? Or do you have some tips how I could experiment on my own?

I did not find it there - nor in the NVS configs as mentioned before. Any more ideas?

I do not worry. I just would have liked to know in advance. I would probably have ordered the radio anyway but I would have know what to expect and not been disappointed.

Any thoughts on or answers to my other questions? Although I’d say the most important right now would be to fix the noise issue - it’s really a bit annoying. Is anybody else here using the device as an LMS player and do you experience the same issues?

44

I use the device as a Lyrion player. There’s a slight noise, especially with quiet music, but it doesn’t bother me. If the device doesn’t play any sound, the noise disappears.

45

Thanks for the feedback. At least that probably means I don’t have a defective device. Now the question remains whether it’s a software issue with squeezelite or an actual limitation of the hardware.

46

Issue Summary:
When playing a stream on LMS, there is small but noticeable background noise at low level. The noise does not appear to depend on the volume level, making it easier to hear at lower volume levels, particularly with music containing silent passages, such as classical music.

Observation:
The noise appears to be significantly lower when using the Radio demo app under the same conditions, reaching an acceptable level (only audible when listening very close to the speaker).

To-Do:

  • Compare the codec initialization sequence between Squeezelite and the Radio app.
  • Test the differences.
  • Submit a pull request if improvements are identified.
  • It is necessary to measure the background noise using a calibrated microphone.
47

I think I’ve figured out the issue, even if I haven’t managed to solve it just yet:

In the dac_controlset, the I2C sequence for volume control is not configured. As a result, Squeezelite defaults to using I2S software volume control on top of the codec forced to max gain. This explains why the noise level is not proportional to the volume. The good news is that if we fix this, there should be a noticeable improvement in audio quality, with less quantization and reduced noise at lower volumes.

However, my current volume sequence doesn’t seem to have any effect on registers 46 and 47 when I test it using the I2C debug tools available in the web interface.

Here’s my current configuration:

{
“init”: [
{“reg”:3,“val”:24}, {“reg”:24,“val”:2}, {“reg”:38,“val”:9}, {“reg”:39,“val”:144},
{“reg”:42,“val”:144}, {“reg”:43,“val”:128}, {“reg”:45,“val”:128}, {“reg”:27,“val”:0},
{“reg”:26,“val”:0}, {“reg”:2,“val”:240}, {“reg”:2,“val”:0}, {“reg”:28,“val”:32},
{“reg”:29,“val”:32}, {“reg”:4,“val”:60}, {“reg”:25,“val”:0}, {“reg”:46,“val”:33},
{“reg”:47,“val”:33}, {“reg”:48,“val”:33}, {“reg”:49,“val”:33}
],
“volume”: [
{“reg”:46,“val”:“volume * 33 / 100”}, {“reg”:47,“val”:“volume * 33 / 100”}
]
}

I have opened a github issue hopping that the 2 gurus will answer.

48

Hi

Not sure if it’s covered elsewhere, but in case it helps others, I needed to add this in the NVS editor to be able to navigate with the bottom rotary controller. Double click is back, long press is play.

A=7,B=6,SW=45,knobonly[=500],longpress

49

Hi, I saw the gurus had responded after you raised this issue on GitHub.

Has the suggestion made now been included in the Raspiaudio Squeezelite app download?

I know this thread is about the Radio but I assume the same level of hiss was also present on Luxe which I was planning to buy.

50

To be totally honest I don’t understand their answer,
I will ask again

51

Thanks.

I noticed in the DAC/I2S configuration section of Squeezelite-esp32 GitHub it says ‘if “model” is not set or is not recognized, then default “I2S” is used’. It goes on to say that ES8388 is a recognized model and ‘For other codecs that might require an I2C commands, please use the parameter “dac_controlset”.’

I also noticed that the specs for the Muse mention it has the ES8388 codec but I can’t see it mentioned at all in the features/specs of the Radio.

Does this mean that the Muse, when used as an LMS player, already achieves the optimum signal to noise ratio whereas the Radio doesn’t (currently)? Have you had reports of small but noticeable background noise at low level from those using Muse with Squeezelite-esp32 or has it just been from those who have got the Radio?

Out of the two, it was the Muse I was planning to get so if it doesn’t have this problem with background noise I will order one.

52

I see that there are codec commands for initialization and other functions, but none specifically for volume control, as volume adjustment seems to be managed directly by LMS. However, how does volume control function when LMS isn’t involved, such as in AirPlay or Bluetooth modes?

Regarding the codec, it is identical in both the Radio and Muse, meaning the signal-to-noise ratio is the same. Last time I checked, I had to literally put my ear against the speaker to hear a faint noise, comparable to typical commercial devices—but everyone’s perception may vary.

53

Thanks for confirming that both devices have the ES8388 codec and that level of background noise is likely in audible in normal listening conditions. I will order the Muse and load Squeezelite-esp32 as I already run LMS.

On your question about how does volume control function when LMS isn’t involved (AirPlay or BT) did you see in the Foreword to Squeezelite-esp32 GitHub that the gurus say:
More and more people seems to use this without a LMS server, just for BT, AirPlay or Spotify. It’s fine but understand that squeezeliteESP32 is primarily a Logitech Media Server player and has been designed around that concept. All the others are add-ons stitched to it, so other modes have their shortcomings.

LMS has plug-ins for Airplay (ShairTunes 2W) and one which converts a Squeezelite player into a UPNP renderer. I might be guilty of trying to teach you to suck eggs!