Antipodes EX User manual
AMSV2 User Guide
Guide Index
INSTALLATION
Introduction
•Introduction to Music Server terminology - p1
Make The Connections
•Install an EX in your system –p8
•Install a CX in your system - p11
•Install a CX+EX in your system –p42
•Install a P1 in your system –p137
•Install a P2 in your system –p139
Basic Operations
•How to start and shutdown your Antipodes music server –p124
•Use any desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone to manage your Antipodes –p14
•Easily manage the applications on your Antipodes –p117
•Optimising Audio Quality –p121
Assemble Your Music Library
•Add internal storage to your Antipodes to enable playback from internal storage –p3
•Rip your CDs to internal storage using any USB Optical Drive, or with high precision using
an Antipodes P1 –p39
•Copy your music files to the internal storage of the Antipodes over your network –p16
•Manage your music library on your desktop or laptop and synchronise the Antipodes
library to it –p18
•Setup an automated backup where every change to the Antipodes music library is backed
up to your desktop, laptop or NAS –p125
•Backup internally stored files to a USB drive –p31
•Add files stored a your desktop/laptop/nas, or on a USB disk, to the music library of your
Antipodes –p29
SETUP
About Playing Music
•Remote control playback using any desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone –p115
•Play from the Antipodes music library –p116
•Play from internet streaming services –p5
Complete Playback Solutions
•Roon Server Local –p35
•Roon Server With Roon Ready –p63
•Roon Server With Squeezelite –p58
•Roon Server With HQPlayer –p87
•HQPlayer Local –p67
•HQPlayer Server With HQPlayer NAA –p78
•SqueezeBox With Squeezelite –p46
•MPD Solution –p55
DLNA Server Options
•Squeezebox Server –p93
•Minimserver –p95
•BubbleUPnP –p98
DLNA Renderer
•MPD Renderer –p91
Other Playback Options
•Shairport –p101
•Spotify Connect –p105
•SONOS Integration –p109
•Plex Media Server –p110
•HQPlayer NAA –p122
Music Server Terminology
MUSIC SERVER TERMINOLOGY:
The purpose of this article is explain a handful of basic terms we use on this website to describe what our products do.
REMOTE CONTROL – Use your desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone to tell the Server what to play.
SERVER – The Server organises your music, and displays your library, streaming services and radio stations on the Remote Control’s screen.
When told to play a le, the Server pushes the music le to a Renderer.
RENDERER – The Renderer turns the music le into a digital audio signal to send to your DAC.
DAC – The DAC converts the digital signal to an analog signal and sends it to an amplier.
Different products on the market may combine two or more of these functions:
STREAMER – This term is used loosely, but it usually means a DAC with an Ethernet input, and combines the Renderer and DAC functions in a
single device. Many streamers work by ‘pulling’ les stored on other devices on the network, and so in this case the remote control talks to the
streamer. Other streamers, such as Roon Ready DACs, work by les being ‘pushed’ from a server to one or more streamers, and so the remote
control talks to the server.
MUSIC SERVER – Most devices called Music Servers combine the Server and Renderer functions in a single device, and may include a ripper.
RIPPER – Ripping simply means reading the data on a CD and storing it as a playable music le. This process needs to be done well or you
will be disappointed in the results, and given that it takes a lot of time to rip a large library, you should make sure this process is done at the
highest possible quality.
HOW THESE TERMS APPLY TO ANTIPODES MUSIC SERVERS
All Antipodes Music Servers combine the Server function and the Renderer function in a single device, for a simple solution. The DX also
incorporates a ripper. The CX and EX do not incorporate a ripper, but you can add a P1 to add a ripper to these models. The P1 is a slim
isolation platform carved from a solid block of alloy, that holds a high quality ripper.
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One of the things we have observed is that many customers that start with our entry product quickly decide they want to move to our top
product. So we have thought long and hard about how to make this easier. The Modular Series (CX/EX/P1/P2) approach addresses it like this:
EX – The EX is our lowest priced model, combining server and renderer functions, plus a simple DAC. So you can move from a CD Player to an
EX and leave getting a DAC till a later date. You can progress from here to our top of the line solution without needing to sell the EX. The two
upgrade steps are to add a USB DAC, and to add a CX. See the CX+EX Solution described below.
CX – The CX is like an EX, but there is no DAC included, and it uses a very powerful computing core to enable DSP functions, and to manage
large libraries with ease. The CX also provides superior sound quality to the EX, when they are used as both server and renderer. So the CX is
an alternative starting point to the EX, except that you will need a good USB DAC. Another option with the CX is to use it with a Streamer, and
this makes most sense with a Roon Ready DAC.
CX+EX – The emphasis in the EX is on the renderer function. The emphasis in the CX is on the server function. In the CX+EX solution, you use
the CX as the server and the EX as the renderer, and connect them together with a short high quality Ethernet cable. In this conguration each
of the CX and EX are performing just one function and this results in much higher performance. Therefore, whether you start with an EX or a
CX, you can progress to our top of the line solution by adding the other unit.
UPGRADING – Upgrading is straight-forward. For example, if you bought an EX and P1, and then add a CX, you can simply disconnect the P1
from the EX and connect it to the CX. Storage disks can be installed and removed from the EX and CX without you having to use any tools,
because the disks slide in through the rear panel. Therefore if you bought an EX and installed storage disks in it, when you add a CX you can
remove the disks from the EX and insert them in the CX. Because the storage has to be optimised, you will need assistance from your dealer or
from Antipodes Support to setup the storage, but this can be done over the internet without you even removing the EX or CX from your stereo
system.
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User Installed Storage
ADD INTERNAL STORAGE:
Because Antipodes Music Servers are so low-noise then you get the best sound quality by playing from les stored on internal SSD storage.
Beginning with the CORE and the EDGE, and in the current line-up with the EX and CX, users are able to buy and install their own storage. This
makes the use of SSD storage, and future expansions of storage more affordable and much simpler to accomplish.
The high-end audio industry is very specialist and low-volume, so adding commodity items at the factory can add a lot of cost before it gets to
the consumer, and SSDs are still costly items. The computer industry is much higher-volume and more suited to selling commodities, so
customers can buy SSDs much more easily and at lower cost from their computer store. SSD Warranty issues will also be much simpler to
manage and resolve if they arise. This is why we introduced user-installable storage.
You don’t need any tools. What you do is this:
1. Buy any one or two 2.5″ 7mm Sata SSDs (the most common kind) from your computer store.
2. Slide the SSDs in the slots at the rear of your Antipodes server and push them home rmly. They will be gripped very securely.
3. Contact Antipodes Support to book an online session to setup your storage.
When installed, the SSDs sit a little proud of the rear panel so that you can grip them for removal.
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The disks should only be inserted or removed when the server is completely shut down and the power turned off.
We recommend you use Samsung EVO SSDs. The quality of rmware differs between SSD suppliers and some brands can create problems
for you under various circumstances, but we have found that the Samsung SSDs have the best and most robust rmware out of the many we
have tested. Some people claim different SSDs sound different, and we agree that is true during a burn-in period of about a week, but that
after burn-in the sound is very similar. One exception to this is that we nd 2.5″ Sata SSDs to sound considerably more natural compared with
any of the msata or m.2 SSDs.
The online support session will setup a single logical location across the disks so that it appears to you to be a single large disk and all the
les will automatically be part of your music library.
Similarly, you can replace the disks with larger capacity disks with the assistance of Antipodes Support without the Antipodes server even
having to be removed from your stereo system.
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Internet Streaming Services
MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES:
Most Antipodes users use Roon and therefore have the option to have TIDAL and QOBUZ integrated with their libraries.
Users of Squeezebox can also use TIDAL, QOBUZ, DEEZER and a number of others, plus can access internet radio stations.
Many of you also use Spotify Connect on your Antipodes to allow your family members to easily use your system.
But there are some less obvious ways to access streaming services.
What you can do is this:
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1. Set MPD as your renderer and set the resolution that matches your TIDAL and/or QOBUZ memberships (see above).
2. Setup DLNA access to your Antipodes library (Using Squeezebox Server, MiniDLNA or MinimServer).
3. You can also setup DLNA access to your NAS or other devices on your network.
4. Make sure BubbleUPnP is uninstalled.
5. Open your remote control device (tablet or smartphone) and search your App Store for DLNA/UPnP apps, to install an appropriate app
(see below).
There is a large number of potential apps to control DLNA/UPnP solutions. They work by discovering DLNA libraries on your network and
compatible players on your network, and letting you select which ones to use and then what music les to play.
A growing number of these apps are including streaming services, particularly TIDAL, QOBUZ, Google Music, plus the ability to play from les
on cloud storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.
We currently recommend you try ‘mconnect Player HD’, ‘BubbleUPnP’ and ‘Linn Kazoo’. Be aware that some players limit the resolution of
streamed les or will downsample them. If you have a Hi-Res QOBUZ subscription, ‘mconnect Player HD’, is available on both iOS and Android
and is the only one that QOBUZ lists as able to stream Hi-Res content. Note that the app store for your device may list this as just ‘mconnect
Player’ without the HD part of the name.
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We need to add some notes of caution. Many of these apps are in rapid development and may have bugs from time to time, but the
competition is erce and winners will emerge that are very good. Some are pretty good already. You also need to have a good local network in
your house for these services to work well at high bit rates, preferably a wired network. If your network has limited streaming quality you may
nd that playlists stop between tracks, and sometimes during tracks.
The sound quality varies but can be excellent, suffering only a little of the softening and lack of immediacy and image specicity that is typical
of playing across a noisy network.
As always – contact us if you need assistance.
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Install An EX
HOW TO INSTALL AN EX:
The image below illustrates all EX functions
This is broken down into the four separate functions below. Select the tabs to see the network conguration and the rear panel connections for
each function. You can make the connections shown to run either functions 1, 3 and 4, or functions 2, 3 and 4 at the same time.
1. Play from the EX to your Amplier via Analog Interconnects
CongurationConnections
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