What is Plexamp?

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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I am planning to build a home theatre over the next couple months and would like to be able to stream high quality audio to the receiver using a mobile device as the “controller”. I would not like to have to open the Plex/Plexamp client app on the TV and use a TV/Video controller to manage playback. Ideally I would like to be able to play music from my NAS server Plex library with only using a mobile device as the “controller”. Plexamp seems like a great way to do this and has other nice features like remote client app on various mobile devices, which would be great for travel. However, I am not sure I understand how this works and what I need to do to accomplish this.

Does plexamp require a server in addition to my Plex server or just the client app?

Should I consider a receiver that supports apps like plexamp or can I just cast to it from a mobile device with the plexamp client app?

When casting to a streaming device (hifi reciver), is direct play an option or will it always be compressed?

The current server is a Synology NAS with DSM 7.2 OS.

Thank you for any info and also for your patience with a Plex novice. Please feel free to suggest or advise other ways to accomplish the same things if my ideas are obtuse or overly complex.

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Yes, you can use Plexamp headless for this - Basically its plexamp running on a Pi connected to your receiver/AMP via say SPDIF, analogue audio etc. and plexamp on your mobile is then used to control playback - Plexamp on the Raspberry Pi

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Thanks for the reply.

So I would get a suitable Raspberry Pi, install Linux of some flavor and then Plexamp, connect to my Plex server and connect the R Pi to the receiver with wifi (or a cable?) Can other OS besides Linux run on R Pi?

Are there receivers that would support Plexamp natively?

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You can connect the Pi, depending on version, either wirelessly or wired to your network.

The Pi will run Linux OS.

No receivers support Plexamp natively (ie built in)

This may help you if your new to Pis - Plexamp Pi With a Desktop - Setup Guide for Plexamp on the Raspberry Pi

I suggest you install Plexamp on your mobile first if you haven’t already, and get used to that as it will be used as the “controller” of Plexamp headless.

Edit: If your receiver support’s bluetooth then of course you could just bluetooth the audio from your phone running Plexamp to it, but if you want the best quality I would recommend using a Pi Audio HAT, eg Raspberry Pi Audio HATs | The Pi Hut

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I pointed Plex to my audio library and have been familiarizing myself with Plexamp for the last day or so.

I’m going for full audio geekery here, within reason, so I’ll probably go with a dedicated Pi audio board of some type.

I’ve bookmarked this thread so I can revisit when I am ready to acquire hardware. Thank you again.

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Here are some more variants/options for the setup.

Scripts supports both the HifiBerry cards and the ALLO-cards. Wiki-page has images of cards and PSUs.

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RopieeXL is another OS that you can install that has Plexamp as a service built in. RopieeeXL offers other services to stream to other devices. So if you need more ways to stream from device to device RoPIeeeXL is a good option. Link: RoPieeeXL Raspberry Pi OS for Audio

Lumin Network players have Plex built in.
Luminmusic.com

The Fiio R7 has Android built in, that lets you download from the play store. You can download Plexamp to the R7 and can be used just as if it was on a mobile phone.
Link: Fiio R7 Product Page

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