Antipodes EDGE User manual

Antipodes Audio Music Server User Guide
v17.09
antipodes audio limited - antipodesaudio.com - [email protected]

About is User Guide
© Antipodes Audio Limited 2017
A printed version of this User Guide accompanies every Antipodes Audio Music Server sold.
is User Guide is current at the time of publication, but be aware that the software is regularly updated. You should
regularly update your Antipodes software at the Antipodes GUI, and you can view or download the latest version of this
User Guide at the Antipodes Audio web site at any time. If you need further assistance you should email Antipodes
Support - they are there to help you whenever you get stuck with anything
Note that Antipodes Audio music server software comprises three types of software that you will use:
1. e Antipodes GUI. is User Guide contains complete step-by-step instructions for how to use the Antipodes
GUI to setup and manage your music server.
2. File Sharing. Antipodes Audio music servers are SMB compliant meaning you can manage music les on your
music server using a computer or tablet attached to the same network. is avoids you needing to attach a keyboard,
mouse or screen to the music server. erefore it is very simple to copy, delete, rename, backup and re-tag your
music les, and it is easy to download music direct to your music server, without needing to physically interact with
the music server. It can all be done remotely from another computing device while your music server remains in
your system. is User Guide explains how this works and provides examples. Because you will be using third-
party applications, such as File Explorer on your Windows computer or Finder on your Mac computer, and these
applications are subject to change and variations in setup, this User Guide can only provide examples to illustrate
how to complete these tasks.
3. ird-Party Applications. Some music servers lock you into music player applications that are proprietary to the
manufacturer of the music server. Antipodes Audio takes the opposite approach and focuses on fully integrating best
of breed third-party music playback applications, and optimising the sound quality you can get from them. For this
reason, this User Guide cannot provide you with complete and always up-to-date guides for each of these third-party
applications. is User Guide covers getting started with each of the third-party applications. As well as contacting
Antipodes Support, you can visit the web site of the application developer to access guides and get application
support.

USER GUIDE | III
Table of Contents
1 Installation & Turning On/O 1
Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Turning On/O . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Opening The Antipodes GUI 3
3 Playback Solutions Overview 4
4 Setting Up A Renderer 5
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4.1 Setup Roon Ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.2 Setup Squeezelite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.3 Setup MPD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.4 Switch Between Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5 Setup Remote Control 10
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
5.1 Setup Control Of Roon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2 Setup Control Of Squeezebox . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.3 Setup Control Of MPD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6 Add Music To The Server Library 21
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.1 Import Music From Your CDs . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6.2 Copy Music To The Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6.3 Download Music To The Server . . . . . . . . . . 24
6.4 Mount External Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
7 Other Playback Solutions 27
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
7.1 MinimServer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
7.2 BubbleUPnP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7.3 Plex Media Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.4 SONOS Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
7.5 HQPlayer NAA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
8 Managing Applications 47
Updating The Software Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Installing Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Uninstalling Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
9 Administration Applications 51
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
9.1 FLAC Mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
9.2 Storage Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
9.3 System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Local Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Localisation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Network System Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
INDEX 58

iv | Antipodes Audio Music Server

USER GUIDE | 1
1 Installation & Turning On/O
INSTALLATION
In most cases you will be using the music server to
play direct to a DAC. See One-Box Installation below
for this case. See Multi-Box Installation below where
you are using separate renderers from the server.
Set the Antipodes on its own shelf with good ventilation.
ONE-BOX INSTALLATION
Connections
Make 3 connections to the back panel of the Antipodes:
1. Mains power (for models with internal power
supplies) or DC from the External PSU (all other
models)
2. Wired Ethernet connection to your network
3. Signal output to your audio system - USB, S/PDIF,
AES3 or Analog as tted.
MULTI-BOX INSTALLATION
Connections
Make 2 connections to the back panel of the Antipodes
that will run the Server application.
1. Mains power (for models with internal power
supplies) or DC from the External PSU (all other
models)
2. Wired Ethernet connection to your network
Make 3 connections to the back panel of the Antipodes
that will run Renderer applications:
1. Mains power (for models with internal power
supplies) or DC from the External PSU (all other
models)
2. Wired Ethernet connection to your network
3. Signal output to your audio system - USB, S/PDIF,
AES3 or Analog as tted.
CABLES
Audiophile cables - power, Ethernet, USB, S/PDIF,
AES3 - will generally improve sound quality.
One reason is the reduction in noise interference. All
cables are both an antenna and transmitter to some
degree and will pick up noise and transmit noise to
nearby cabling.
Another reason is that the crystal and lattice structures
of the metal wires have an impact on perceived sound
quality. Wires with poor crystal or lattice structures
create obstacles to the ow of electrons and the small
eddy current e󰀨ects are surprisingly audible.
Another reason is that the cable insulation can never
absorb and release the eld surrounding the wire as
quickly as the signal changes in the wire itself, causing
the signal to be smeared in time.
Audiophile cabling is designed to reduce these impacts
and some rms do a better job than others. Let your
ears be the judge, but do try better cabling.
NETWORK
Just because you successfully browse the internet,
does not mean your network is of suitable quality to
run a demanding client-server application. A small
investment in your network setup may pay large
dividends in the user experience.
Antipodes music servers are controlled over your
network from computers, tablets or smartphones
so must be connected to your network. Ripping
CDs requires a connection to the internet to gather
metadata.
Ideally, get an expert to install wired Ethernet from
your router to your audio system as this will give
you the best performance, particularly for internet
streaming services. If that is not practical then you
can bridge between your audio system and your
router by using wi access bridges or powerplugs, but
performance may or may not su󰀨er, depending on the
circumstances.

2 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
TURNING ON & OFF
To power on an Antipodes music server, rst make the
rear panel connections and ensure the power supply
is on. Then click the front panel power button briey,
and wait 2 minutes for the Antipodes to power up fully
before proceeding.
To power o󰀨 an Antipodes music server, click the front
panel power button briey, and wait a few seconds till
the front power light extinguishes. Note that a minor
incompatibility in the design of your DAC’s USB input
may hold a service open on the Antipodes and prevent
shutdown, and the power light will remain on. If this
happens, power o󰀨 by clicking the front panel switch,
wait 20 seconds and then complete the shutdown by
holding the front panel button in until the power light
goes o󰀨.
Only after the power light has gone o󰀨 is it safe to
remove power from the rear of the Antipodes. Failure
to shutdown correctly may require the Antipodes to be
serviced.
StandBy Mode
To maximise sound quality all critical power supply
capacitors remain powered when power is applied to
the rear of the Antipodes, even when the Antipodes is
o󰀨 at the front panel. This is called standby mode.
If you wish to shutdown your Antipodes for extended
periods we recommend you leave the Antipodes
in standby mode, that is, powered at the rear of the
Antipodes. If power is removed for more than a few
minutes, the Antipodes may take up to three days of
being powered to return to its optimum sound quality.
Leaving the Antipodes in standby mode avoids this
warm-up period.
There is a downside to putting your Antipodes into
standby mode with some DACs, due to the way
di󰀨erent DACs are designed. Your DAC may power
down its USB input when you put the Antipodes into
standby and may fail to power the USB input back up
again when the Antipodes is restarted. The problem is
caused by poor design of the DAC’s USB input.
The simplest solution is to restart your DAC after
restarting your Antipodes. Restarting your DAC may
mean turning it o󰀨 at the back panel and back on
again. And DACs with external power supplies may
need the power to be turned o󰀨 and on again at the
external power supply, or at the wall if it does not have
a power switch.
Burn In Period
Your Antipodes music server will only reach peak
performance after about two full weeks of use. During
the rst 100 hours of use the sound can be relatively
poor. At around 250 hours the sound will be good.
Small improvements will be heard after that, perhaps
for a month or more.
The reason for this is that the high quality capacitors
used take a long time to form and therefore for the
power supplies to fully stabilise. Digital circuits need
very nearly perfect power supplies before they can
perform as designed.

USER GUIDE | 3
You never need to connect a mouse, keyboard or
screen to an Antipodes music server. To setup an
Antipodes music server, make the connections
described in the previous section, then turn your
Antipodes on and wait 2 minutes.
Open a browser (eg. IE, Chrome, Firefox Safari etc)
on a computing device (eg. desktop, laptop, tablet or
smartphone) and browse to this address:
myantipodes.com
Click on the ‘Manage’ button to open the Antipodes
GUI for that music server.
The GUI is intuitive and you can just look around and
try things.
The next sections show you some basics for getting
started with playing music. If you cannot open the
GUI for any reason or are confused about how to
accomplish something in the GUI, please contact
Antipodes Support for assistance rst.
2 Opening The Antipodes GUI

4 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
With Antipodes music servers, you have the choice of:
• Three complete playback solutions (incorporating
both server & renderer apps):
• Roon - Roon Server & Roon Ready
• Squeezebox - Squeezebox Server &
Squeezelite
• MPD - A special case as it is just a renderer
app but it can play from the Antipodes library.
• Two separate renderer solutions.
• The HQPlayer NAA solution enables your
Antipodes to be a renderer to play from
HQPlayer. HQPlayer (the server app) needs
to be running on computer elsewhere on your
network.
• The MPD solution enables your Antipodes
to be a renderer to play from a DLNA/UPnP
server on your network. The server app could
be on an Antipodes or on another device.
• A range of server solutions, including DLNA/UPnP
and Plex Media Server, plus your Antipodes can
be easily congured to be a music source for a
SONOS system.
Playback solutions typically require two applications:
• a server application for managing your les and
for selecting what plays; and
• a renderer application that turns the le into a
music signal and sends it to your DAC.
With Antipodes music servers you can choose to run
both the server app and the renderer app on the same
device, for a simple and complete solution.
Or you can run them on separate devices. For
example the server app might run on one Antipodes
and the renderer app might run on another Antipodes.
Or you might do both:
• run the server application on one Antipodes;
• run the renderer application on the same Antipodes
to play direct to a DAC; and
• run the renderer application on other Antipodes
devices on your network to play from the library
on the rst Antipodes.
Most of this guide refers to running both the server
app and the renderer app on the same device, but the
principles are the same for the other options.
3 Playback Solutions Overview
The most popular playback solutions on Antipodes
music servers are Roon (for which you need to obtain
a subscription), and free options Squeezebox and
MPD.
Therefore the early parts of this guide cover these
three most popular solutions.
The other solutions are covered later in the guide, and
remember, you can use as many solutions at the same
time as the number of renderer devices you have.
To start playing music using Roon, Squeezebox or
MPD, there are three setup steps:
1. Setup the renderer app.
2. Setup remote control of the server app.
3. Get your music into the server app’s library.
The next sections of this guide cover these three steps
for the three popular playback solutions, to get you
underway playing your with your Antipodes.

USER GUIDE | 5
4 Setup A Renderer
the only ones shown on the ‘Settings’ screen.
At the ‘Settings’ screen you will see icons for the
installed renderer apps. In the screen shot below,
these are Squeezelite, MPD and Roon Ready.
To setup one of these renderer apps, you begin by
clicking on the relevant icon, to open that application’s
settings.
Each renderer app settings screen is a little di󰀨erent,
but there are two main settings:
• Regardless of what physical audio outputs are
tted to your Antipodes, the renderer needs to
know whether to load the driver for Analog Output,
SPDIF (& AES3) Output, or USB Output.
• The renderer also needs to know how to send
DSD les to your DAC. For example, as PCM
les, DoP, Native DSD etc.
At the myantipodes.com screen, you will see the
Antipodes devices attached to your network.
Most users use a single Antipodes for both server
and renderer, and so it will be the only one shown
in myantipodes.com. Click on ‘Manage’ to open the
GUI for the Antipodes you will use as a renderer (the
one that sends a digital audio signal to your DAC over
USB, SPDIF or AES3, or the one that sends an Analog
signal to your amplier).
At the Antipodes GUI, select the menu item ‘Settings’.
You should now see a screen like the one shown
below.
Note that all Antipodes have the same application suite
available to them. In Section 8 of this guide, we cover
how you can install/uninstall apps whenever you wish.
Some installed apps have user settings and these are
INTRODUCTION

6 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
4.1 Setup Roon Ready
At the Antipodes GUI:
• Select the ‘Settings’ menu item
• Click on the ‘Roon Ready’ icon
This will open the screen shown below. Now:
• Select the correct output driver
• Select how you want to control volume (if you will
use your preamplier select ‘None’)
• Select how your DAC should receive DSD les.
• Click on ‘Save Changes’.
You can now proceed to Section 5 to setup remote
control of the Roon Server application.

USER GUIDE | 7
4.2 Setup Squeezelite
At the Antipodes GUI:
• Select the ‘Settings’ menu item
• Click on the ‘Squeezelite’ icon
This will open the screen shown below. Now:
• Select the correct output driver
• Select how your DAC likes to receive DSD les
• Leave the other settings at the default values
• Click on ‘Save Changes’.
You can now proceed to Section 5 to setup remote
control of the Squeezebox Server application.

8 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
At the Antipodes GUI:
• Select the menu item ‘Settings’
• Click on the ‘MPD’ icon
This will open the screen shown below. Now:
• Select the correct output driver
4.3 Setup MPD
• Select how your DAC should receive DSD les.
• Click on ‘Save Changes’.
You can now proceed to Section 5 to setup remote
control of the MPD application.

USER GUIDE | 9
4.4 Switch Between Apps
You can setup several renderer applications at the
same time. The last one you setup will be the ‘active’
application.
You can also easily switch between them.
At the Antipodes GUI:
• Select the menu item ‘Apps’
• Click on the ‘Audio App Switcher’ Icon.
• Click on any renderer app to make it ‘active’.

10 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
To control what your Antipodes plays, you need to
setup remote control on a desktop, laptop, tablet or
smartphone that is connected to the same network as
the Antipodes.
The Antipodes and remote control device talk to each
other over your network. The Antipodes displays your
music les and streaming services on the remote
device, and you use the remote device to tell the
Antipodes what to play.
5 Setup Remote Control
The remote control applications are simple and
intuitive to setup and use.
The steps involved are:
• download the remote control application to your
device
• complete the setup of the remote control
application, and set it to control the Antipodes.
• use the remote control application to play music.
INTRODUCTION

USER GUIDE | 11
LICENSING
Roon Server is already installed on your Antipodes.
But to control Roon Server remotely you need to
download and install Roon to a desktop, laptop, tablet
or smartphone connected to the same network as the
Antipodes.
You need a license from Roon Labs to run Roon
Server on the Antipodes, but using Roon as a remote
control on another device does not require a license.
You can download Roon to multiple devices and use
them all to control your Antipodes with one license.
If you are not sure whether you wish to meet the cost
of a Roon license then you should try a Roon free
trial rst.
DESKTOP/LAPTOP
To control Roon Server on your Antipodes from your
desktop or laptop, open a browser on the device and
browse to ‘roonlabs.com’ and nd the ‘Download’
page.
Select the download you need from the three options
at the top of the list of options on the downloads
page, to match the operating system on your
desktop/laptop (see the screen shot below).
Once the download is complete, open it to run the
installation process. Go to the next page in this guide
for detailed help with installation.
5.1 Setup Control Of Roon
TABLET/SMARTPHONE
To control Roon Server on your Antipodes from your
tablet or smartphone, use your tablet or smartphone
to search for ‘Roon’ at the App Store for your device.
Download the Roon app and complete the installation
steps. Go to the next page in this guide for detailed
help with installation.

12 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
The Roon installation process is intuitive, but we
have included some guidance here to assist you.
Your Antipodes needs to be connected to your
network and powered on, and the Roon installation
process will display devices that are running Roon on
your network.
Click ‘Connect’ for your Antipodes server.
You will then see a login screen. You can enter your
Roon license credentials here, or sign up for a free
trial.
When you have successfully logged into Roon you
will be presented with a Roon application screen.
You will be asked for the location of your music
les. You do not need to complete this step for les
located on your Antipodes as they will be added to
the Roon library automatically.
But you can use this screen to add les on a ‘network
share’, such as a NAS, at this screen. This option
can be set now or later via ‘Settings’ and you can
click on ‘Next’ to skip this step.
You will be asked to add other services such as
TIDAL streaming. You can add this later, but if you
have a TIDAL account, enter your credentials at this
screen. TIDAL streaming is integrated seamlessly
with Roon for an excellent total experience, and is
highly recommended.
The next step is to enable the Antipodes as a Roon
renderer.
Click on ‘Manage Audio Devices’ at the bottom of
the screen. In the pop-up screen, scroll down to the
Roon Ready section, and locate the Antipodes. Click
on the ‘Enable’ button and type in a name for the
player.
Depending on your setup you may need to select the
‘Audio Zone’ you wish to control.
Roon will automatically import music les on the
Antipodes into the Roon library. If the Antipodes is
new then it will only include the Demo Track.
You should now go to Section 6 of this guide to
learn how to get music les onto your Antipodes and
imported into the library of your Server applications.

USER GUIDE | 13
Squeezebox Server is already installed on your
Antipodes and is free to use. However the remote
control applications for download to tablet and
smartphone have a small charge. As with Roon, visit
the relevant App Store for your tablet/smartphone
and search on Squeezebox. We recommend iPeng
for iPads and Orange Squeeze for Androids.
DESKTOP/LAPTOP
You can use your Desktop or Laptop computer to
control what plays. To do this, open the Antipodes
GUI and click on the ‘Apps’ menu item.
5.2 Setup Control Of SqueezeBox
Click on the Squeezebox Server icon.

14 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
This will open the admin interface for Squeezebox
Server in a new tab. This interface not only allows
you to play music, but it also allows you to manage
the setup of Squeezebox Server.
You get much better interfaces for playing music from
Tablet and Smartphone Apps, but it is useful to get to
know the Squeezebox admin interface available on
Desktop and laptop, because of the large range of
features included.
At the top right hand corner of the screen you will
see the name you previously gave to the Squeezelite
player, in this example ‘Antipodes_USB’. If the name
does not show there click the downward arrow and
select it from the displayed list.
The pane at the left of the screen, headed ‘Home’ is
where you select the source of the music you want to
play. You can select from ‘My Music’, ‘Radio’ or ‘My
Apps’. The pane on the right hand side will display
the music you have selected to play.
Here is a quick run through of the playback options.
Radio gives you access to a wide range of streamed
Internet radio stations from around the world
My Apps lists streaming services you have setup and
are subscribed to, such as Tidal, Spotify, Pandora,
Rhapsody, Qobuz, and Deezer.
You need to have a ‘mysqueezebox.com’ login to
register for some of these streaming services.
My Music consists of music tracks stored on the
Antipodes, on network-connected NAS drives, or
on other shared devices in your home network. You
have a wide range of selection choices available,
from ‘Artists’ or ‘Albums’ to ‘Playlists’ that you have
compiled and stored, and random mixes of tracks
from your music library:

USER GUIDE | 15
PLAYING MUSIC
To play music you make your selection from one of the options in the left hand pane:
You then click on the or the symbol to add the selection to a ‘playlist’ in the right hand pane:
The controls at the top of the ‘playlist’ pane allow you to play or pause the music.
To clear the ‘playlist’ pane click the icon at the bottom right of the screen.

16 | Antipodes Audio Music Server
STREAMING SERVICES
You need to have a ‘mysqueezebox.com’ login to register for some of the streaming services in Squeezebox.
As an example we will go through the steps to enable TIDAL streaming. Go to ‘Squeezebox Server /
Settings/Plugins’ and check that TIDAL is enabled. If it is not there, look under ‘Inactive plugins’ or
‘Recommended 3rd Party Plugins’, tick the ‘Enabled’ box and then click ‘Apply’, to enable it.
Log in to your mysqueezebox.com account, click the ‘App Gallery’ tab, select TIDAL and click ‘Install App’.
Now go to Squeezebox Server/Settings/mysqueezebox.com, check that you have an account, or create a
new one.