Headless PlexAmp on Raspberry Pi 5 Will Not Play via HDMI

Plex Labs
1

Hi there.

I’m revisiting an issue I ran into about a year ago.

I have PlexAmp installed and running on a Raspberry Pi 5. I followed OdinB’s post on HowToHiFi-dot-com(“How To Create a Headless Plexamp Player Using OdinB’s Plexamp Installer Script”).

I was able to get this working via USB output to a pair of powered speakers, which worked great for about a year.

I’ve just upgraded to a sweet pair of KEF LS50 Wirelesss II, which do not have a USB input. I’ve tried using the HDMI connection, but I can’t get it to work. I’ve selected the correct HDMI output via PlexAmp settings as well as in the RPi Audio config. No luck.

What I’m seeing is that the songs won’t actually play. I select the track and hit the lay button, but the player immediately closes.

I’ve tried a new installation on another SD card as well as another RPi5, with the same result.

I’d be grateful for any advice. Roon seems like my best bet, but I’d rather not pay for that when this was working so well before.

Thanks!

2

for headless plexamp (and maybe other apps) on a Pi, the hdmi:x,y alsa outputs work, the hw:x,y outputs do not

(there are workarounds that enable use of hw:x,y on earlier Pi models, but not on a Pi 5)

unfortunately the hdmi:x,y options don’t show on the list of available audio outputs under headless browser / settings

hopefully this can be added in a future release

3

Thanks for the response.

I don’t quite follow, but I’m assuming this means HDMI output is not supported at this time.

Can you tell me what outputs are supported?

Another option I started to look into is picking up a HIFIBERRY DIGI2 PRO, though I’m betting that won’t work.

Many thanks!

4

Guess there are many options, if you use the coax or SPDIF input on the KEF.
You can do USB to digital coax: Amazon.com : usb to digital coax

USB to SPDIF: Amazon.com : usb to spdif

Hifiberry Digi2: Amazon.com: HiFiBerry Digi2 Pro Rev. 2.2 : Electronics

Hifiberry Digi knockoff: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2251832600937846.html

Or if you want to do with an external DAC, you can get a USB-C DAC to 3.5mm: Amazon.com: UGREEN USB C to 3.5mm Audio Adapter, Hi-Res 32bit/384KHz USB C to Aux Dongle HiFi Headphone Jack Cable Cord Compatible with iPhone 17 16 15 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, Pixel 9, iPad Air Mini : Electronics

Or any other variant of these.

1 Like
5

the hifiberry digi2 pro should work fine :slight_smile:

1 Like
6

I seem to remember my HiFiBerry Digi2 was limited in what it would send due to the ancient nature of SPDIF / Digital Coax. You’ll definitely want to investigate what it outputs seeing as the KEF can accept a ton of audio formats. I would want to be able to send a FLACs myself.

7

Hmm, sound weird! I am playing FLAC on my headless Plexamp players, and I use the Hifiberry Digi Knockoff above on my RPi4 devices.
Only issue I have seen with these knockoff-devices are on the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.5 that has a new power management circuit that doesn’t ramp up the voltages as clean as all previous versions did. This results in an inconsistent state of the circuit and the HifiBerry card isn’t detected by the Pi anymore.

To check, run the following command: cat /proc/device-tree/model. If it says “Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.5” you have the new circuit.