I was just checking through my settings to see if I have them as you suggest and although I can find the Cache Streams / Natural Streaming setting I cannot track down the Audio Levelling setting. Can you tell me where this little blighter is hiding?
Took me a while to find it again but Additional Player settings>extra player settings>select audio from the top dropdown>if you scroll down there are a bunch of settings, including volume adjustment/replay gain (actually just above the streaming setting). I turned off anything related to altering volume or gain.
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@flachead many thanks indeed for doing that. It seems I had everything turned off there. I was looking for ‘Audio Levelling’ and I assume that was just your description of those settings rather than the name of the settings.
This is a screen shot in case it is useful for anyone else.
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Thanks @flachead for pointing this out and @NickBacon for simplifying the location for the likes of me.
I am wondering if this will be superseded soon by the MarkC post elsewhere:
“We have a re-worked and updated Squeeze that will enable theme change etc currently in testing.
We have a major software roll-out due, it is “big” in terms of size, and function.
ETA yet to be determined as testing and bug-fix is still in progress.”
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@Artoly I have always thought that it would be really useful if Antipodes could publish a note of their suggested settings for LMS + Squeezelite for best sound quality.
It would be in their interests because then they could be sure that their devices were operating at maximum sound quality. The way it is at the moment someone could be comparing an Antipodes streamer to another make and be completely unaware that the Antipodes device was not running at maximum sound quality.
I had thought about posting a screen shot of all my LMS + Squeezelite settings just for starters and so that other users could comment but I’m sure any Antipodes recommendations would be more useful to us all.
@MarkCole do you have anything you could post or shall I just do screenshots of all my settings pages to get the ball rolling? Or will the impending reworked and updated Squeeze you mentioned fulfil what I am asking?
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Great initiative to share recommended settings for LMS + Squeezelite to optimize sound quality. My aim is not to divert attention from that; we need to begin somewhere. Below, I’ve noted some intriguing observations on how Squeeze compares to Roon 2.0 (!) and other options. Fortunately, to experiment with apps the Antipodes AMS web interface makes switching between apps a breeze.
CHRISTIAAN PUNTER @ hifi-advicewho has extensively reviewed and compared various Antipodes servers offers an intriguing perspective on the possibilities for achieving the best sound quality. For instance, I’ll use the latest combination of K41+K22 as an example, along with the Oladra. "On the combo ‘‘Squeeze compared to Roon is slightly nimbler and airier’’ and ‘‘less spacious and lush than Roon but more expressive and more agile’’ (my understanding from his review). (…)
(…)
While on the subject of Roon, I’m sure regular readers and discerning listeners will be aware of the app’s changing sound quality as it goes through its version iterations. This can be observed with any Music Server that runs Roon, not just Antipodes. But while I feel that Roon’s sound quality took a dive after 1.8, I’m happy to note following several smaller software updates, 2.0 is now sounding really good.
(…)
*So far, I’ve only used Roon which is only one of many apps that can be selected on the K41 and K22. It’s the industry standard and with good reason. But besides Roon, there are also server apps for Squeeze, Minimserver, MiniDLNA, Sonos, Plex, and HQPlayer, and player apps for Squeeze, MPD, HQPlayer, Spotify Connect, and Shairport.
(…)
It’s worth noting that some of the apps offer an alternative sonic perspective to Roon. For instance, Squeeze and MPD offer a lighter, nimbler, slightly more expressive, but also less rich and saturated sound, whereas HQPlayer offers a sonic perspective that lies more or less in between Squeeze and Roon: slightly more articulate but still full-bodied.
(…)
The mconnectHD app looks good and works really well. UPnP may be an ancient format but to my ears, it can still sound really rather good. Using Minimserver on the K41, I first tried it with my resident Aqua LinQ, and this resulted in an interesting mix between the Antipodes’ smooth fullness and the Aqua’s neutral directness. It’s less spacious and lush than Roon but more expressive and more agile.
(…)
But as before, the most synergistic match was obtained when the K41 was streaming to the K22. The latter was not quite as articulate and precise as the Aqua, but it most definitely maximized the Antipodes’ core qualities.
(…)
Finally, I also tried Squeeze between the K41 and K22 using the iPeng remote app on iPad. Admittedly, the iPeng app is showing its age and it’s not as intuitive as mconnectHD but once it is set up, it works flawlessly, and also very quickly. Squeeze sounds very similar to UPnP but ever so slightly nimbler and airier.
(…)
Oladra vs. the K41+K22 combo : I was perplexed to find the combo sounding darker, drier, with remarkably robust bass, but somehow more mechanical. (…) What the Oladra ultimately achieves better than any Antipodes server I reviewed before is very important yet often underestimated, which is that it lets the music be its unadulterated self. It does not superimpose character. And because this is an Antipodes, it remains relaxed and will never sound lean, gray, or analytical.
(…)
Oladra’s performance using Squeeze (server and player) instead of Roon . In this mode, the Oladra sounds leaner, spicier, and arguably more neutral, or less saturated and colorful, depending on your perspective. A more matter-of-fact and direct delivery makes for reduced magic while a spicier transient behavior makes for a more immediate, more Grimm-like delivery, although the Oladra remains fluid and refined. This left me divided. On the one hand, I welcomed the more explicit transient behavior, but on the other, I felt that some of the Oladra’s special qualities were reduced. Ultimately, I would say that the Oladra sounds best when used with Roon.(…)
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Christiaan has some great ears and he’s also great at articulating what he hears. I’ve thought he has described the Antipodes magic about as well as it can be described. So I have zero doubt he hears it as he described in the above. So Roon very likely has the redeeming qualities he describes. What I’d love to understand is why the negative qualities that keep Roon from being considered among the best sounding by so many others with excellent systems. Has he implemented his system in such a way that the problem doesn’t show up? Or is he just not bothered by it?
What I find most fascinating is his remark about the Oladra’s “special qualities”. To me what makes Antipodes servers special is the positives he associated with Squeeze
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Thank you Mark. Their were a few settings that differed so I will enjoy listening out for any new nuances. I just need to find that button that turns my S boxes into an Oladra+1.
Thanks Paul for reminding us of those comments. All I can say is that I profoundly disagree with his assessment of Roon. I have tried to like it but even leaving my Oladra using Roon for a couple of weeks to see if I get used to it fails when I switch back to Squeeze + Squeeze and immediately rejoice in the simply better sound. Roon to my ears smears the sounds together and everything has less articulation and note character. Gaps between notes are not as clear, instruments lose their texture. I have also had a Grimm LM1 here playing Roon side by side with my Oladra and to my ears the LM1 with its Roon exhibits exactly the same failings as Roon on any other device. The LM1 is feted as being the first device to make Roon sound good and whilst it is not bad it is nowhere near as good as an Antipodes playing Squeeze + Squeeze.
I wonder what music Christiaan Punter listens to for him to make the comments he does about preferring Roon on the Oladra?
I don’t have an Oladra (still looking for that magic Oladra+1 button in Squeeze though), but even with my S series, as much as I tired to like Roon, and hovered over the lifetime button 1 hour before a major price rise, I couldn’t do it. I really did prefer the interface and feared missing out. However, the additional open tabs with the AllMusic page plus the Qobuz app have been a good enough work-around for me when I fancied some info/research and Squeeze + Squeeze just sounded better to my ears…and it is sounding particularly good right now after a few adjustments as discussed above. All ears/systems/rooms are different though, so enjoy.
Maybe Christian need to check his Squeeze settings as well 
Reply deleted, as it was written in a blond moment (despite the fact of having no hair - but I used to be blond).
Well, having settled on Sq/Sq, it’s now stopped working 
I usually leave my K30 on all the time but there was power cut last night and now I can’t access either the K30 dashboard or Squeeze. Roon server is working but has no player associated with it so its all a bit quiet at the moment.
I’ve tried rebooting several times, the Dashboard does appear initially but when I try to open Squeeze it hangs and then the dashboard disappears.
Anyone aware of a quick fix?
EDIT: After numerous reboots and cycling through other combinations , trying squeeze again finally worked😮💨
Hi Nick,
I hold Christiaan’s opinion and writing style in high esteem. All these perspectives and insights can greatly contribute to making informed decisions. In regard to Christiaan’s evaluation of Roon 2.0, it seems accurate that Roon has improved recently, as affirmed by various users (not all likely), and he always will highlight the excellent user interface of Roon.
To my understanding Christiaan leans towards a sonic preference for the smoothest, richest, and most spacious sound, as opposed to a more neutral, spicier, tighter, leaner, albeit slightly more expressive and agile one. I think while most of us will acknowledge that achieving both qualities simultaneously might be challenging, Christiaan notes that some of Oladra’s special qualities seemed diminished with Squeeze, maybe without entirely dismissing either option (to me he seems less extreme than you or your ears, no offence intended).
In his reviews, while striving for objectivity in describing a device’s inherent qualities, Christiaan seems to “unhear” certain elements, such as cables, outputs (USB vs. reclocked), and player and server apps, to maintain an unbiased perspective. Perhaps, to align with his commitment to objective writing, he gives less weight to these factors in the equation. Consequently, his opinions appear to oscillate between the bare versions of sound quality and the modified versions, whether achieved through Squeeze or Roon, and the choice of cables, such as USB vs. AES. Upon reflection, it does strike me as a bit peculiar to see him involved in Taiko, given that it has evolved significantly to encompass a lot of auxiliary equipment lately.
It’s worth noting that, to the best of my knowledge, Christiaan doesn’t use i2s, consistently employs the same homemade AC cables, and doesn’t disclose the tracks used for evaluation and he invites his neighbors every now and then to evaluate setups (or to avoid complaints ;-).
It has seemed to me that Christiaan has a great set of ears. How he describes the strengths of Antipodes has been spot on. I therefore trust that he’s hearing the positives from Roon he claims to hear.
What I don’t get is why he doesn’t hear the negatives that so many report. It’s rare to see audiophiles mentioning Roon as the best-sounding option when other options are provided. Typically, they mention it doing something that gets in the way of their enjoyment of the music. So, either Christiaan has configured his system in a way that gets that problem to vanish or he’s insensitive to the issue(s) or those issues are somehow contributing to him favoring it.
Ok that helps explain it. As an aside, I recently got to hear what HQPlayer can do with DSD512 and its best modulator. I’ve never had a server powerful enough to scale to this level on the fly so it was a mystery to me. But a friend was able to use HQPlayer Pro offline scale it offline. To my utter shock, it was impossible for me to listen to this track because it actually made me queasy. The transient attack had been so overly smoothed out, it almost seemed like a viscous liquid had been poured over the track. This same track upscaled in PGGB had punch and kick - it was the kind of punch you feel in your got. This had been totally smoothed off to create more of a smooth and lush sound with the DSD512 version.
Maybe not just challenging but impossible if what’s required for some to have the smoothness they prefer is to smooth out the leading edge of transients. Maybe it turned out that what I consider Squeeze’s strengths are what actually pushed Christiaan into preferring Roon. Please don’t take this as me denigrating Christiaan and anyone who prefers that sonic signature. I just mention this as it fascinates me that there could be such a huge variance in musical preferences. I know we each hear things differently, but I am now seeing that it’s more of the case that some hear things very differently. I need to keep that in mind going forward when recommending Squeeze.
One positive I should mention is that I used Roon to compare that DSD512 track to a that same track from PGGG. There was also another version of that same track that came from HQPlayer Pro but it was upscaled to PCM. Roon was the only player that could play DSD512, so that’s why I used it. The differences between these tracks couldn’t have been easier to hear. PGGB easily beat both other versions to my ears, but I’ll have to invite some folks over to hear the comparisons to see their reactions.
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As a headphone listener I find roon superior to squeeze. I find squeeze has a homogeneous sound with slightly recessed mids. So for my pggb files it is roon/hqplayer on the k30 direct stream to naa on EX and usb to my dac. TT2. It appears most squeeze users are speaker users.
On another note I read @antipodes had said he prefers non upsampled redbook. I’ve been giving that some listening time.
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Thank you for sharing. It’s crucial to compare headphones and speakers.
Do you recall where you came across this information above? Currently, even though I would better refrain from introducing file types to my Squeeze/Roon evaluation, its significance is also undeniable.
I am unable to locate the article at present but I will continue the search. I believe it was an article in which he was describing his design philosophy and probably from the CX/EX era.
Thank you for that @Progisus.
I recently came across Mark Jenkins’ (@antipodes) insightful quotes on Christaan Punters’ hifi-advice website, particularly regarding Ethernet- vs. USB connections and the CX-EX and K50. But I couldn’t find his stance on Redbook. It would be interesting to learn his current perspective on Roon vs. Squeeze as well. 