ezbeq
A simple web browser for beqcatalogue which integrates with minidsp-rs
for local remote control of a minidsp or HTP-1.
Setup
Windows / MacOS
Python is required so use an appropriate package manager to install it.
chocolatey is a convenient choice for Windows
homebrew is the equivalent for MacOS
Linux
Use your distro package manager to install python.
Installation
Example is provided for rpi users
$ ssh pi@myrpi
$ sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip libyaml-dev
$ mkdir python
$ cd python
$ python3 -m venv ezbeq
$ cd ezbeq
$ . bin/activate
$ pip install ezbeq
Example Config Files
See examples
Using with a Minidsp
Install minidsp-rs as per the provided instructions
Using with a Monolith HTP-1
See the configuration section below
Upgrade
$ ssh pi@myrpi
$ cd python/ezbeq
$ . bin/activate
$ pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall ezbeq
then restart the app
Running the app manually
$ ssh pi@myrpi
$ cd python/ezbeq
$ . bin/activate
$ ./bin/ezbeq
Loading config from /home/pi/.ezbeq/ezbeq.yml
2021-01-16 08:43:15,374 - twisted - INFO - __init__ - Serving ui from /home/pi/python/ezbeq/lib/python3.8/site-packages/ezbeq/ui
Now open http://youripaddress:8080/index.html in your browser
Configuration
See $HOME/.ezbeq/ezbeq.yml
The only intended option for override is the port option which sets the port the UI and API is accessible on. This defaults to 8080.
Using a custom catalogue
If catalogueUrl
is added to the configuration, e.g.
catalogueUrl: http://localhost:9999
ezbeq will instead load the catalogue from http://localhost:9999/database.json
This provides the ability to run ezbeq against a custom, or locally provided, catalogue.
Configuring Devices
The devices section contains a list of supported device, the format varies by the type of device and each item is a named device with the name subsequently appearing the UI (if multiple devices are listed)
Minidsp
Default values are shown, the only required value is the type field
minidsp:
cmdTimeout: 10
exe: minidsp
ignoreRetcode: false
options: ''
slotChangeDelay: false
type: minidsp
- cmdTime: default timeout in seconds for a command sent to minidsp-rs to complete
- exe: location of the minidsp-rs executable
- ignoreRetcode: if true, errors generated by minidsp-rs will be ignored (for debugging/local testing only)
- options: additional command line switches to pass to minidsp-rs (refer to minidsp-rs docs for details)
- type: minidsp
- slotChangeDelay: if true, the command to change the slot is always sent to minidsp-rs as a separate command. If a positive integer or float, it represents an additional delay (in seconds) that will separate each command.
By default, it is assumed the Minidsp 2x4HD is in use. To use a different model, specify via the device_type option. For example:
minidsp:
cmdTimeout: 10
exe: minidsp
ignoreRetcode: false
options: ''
type: minidsp
device_type: 4x10
In order for the ezbeq ui to update when the device status is updated outside of ezbeq (e.g. using minidsp remote control), additional configuration is required to enable the minidsp rs websocket interface
This requires 2 optional additional values in the configuration
wsDeviceId: 0
wsIp: 127.0.0.1:5380
wsIp
is the address of the [http_server]
from /etc/minidsp/config.toml
wsDeviceId
is the device id provided by minidsp probe
, in this example 2 device ids (0 and 1) are available
$ minidsp probe
Found 2x4HD with serial 911111 at ws://localhost/devices/0/ws [hw_id: 10, dsp_version: 100]
Found 2x4HD with serial 911112 at ws://localhost/devices/1/ws [hw_id: 10, dsp_version: 100]
Using, and controlling, multiple devices independently is supported but does require use of the options
key in order to direct commands to the right device. Precise configuration of this option depends on the minidsp-rs setup so is out of scope of this readme. Typical configuration would involve use of the --tcp
option combined with changes to minidsp.toml
as mentioned in the minidsp-rs docs.
For reference, a community provided example configuration guide can be found via avs
Naming Slots
By default, the slots are numbered 1-4 as per the minidsp console.
To override, extend the device configuration with the slotNames
key as illustrated in this example. It is not necessary to list every slot, just those that require an explicit name.
Minidsp Variants
Device support largely tracks minidsp-rs device support.
BEQ MV adjustments are applied to input peq channels only.
set device_type: 24HD
BEQ filters are written to both input channels.
configure as per 2x4HD
add slotChangeDelay: true
to workaround issues with slow slot changing. If it remains unstable, use slotChangeDelay: 1.5
(or some other number, experiment to find the smallest value that enables a reliable experience).
Dirac mode (PEQ on output) is only supported at present via a custom configuration.
set device_type: DDRC24
BEQ filters are written to all output channels.
set device_type: DDRC88
BEQ filters are written to output channel 3 by default.
Add the sw_channels
config key to override this, provide a list of channel indexes (0 based) to which the filters should be written. For example to write to the last two output channels:
device_type: DDRC88
sw_channels:
- 6
- 7
requires minidsp-rs 0.1.12 or later
set device_type: HTx
BEQ filters are written to output channel 3 by default.
Add the sw_channels
config key to override this, provide a list of channel indexes (0 based) to which the filters should be written. For example to write to the last two output channels:
device_type: DDRC88
sw_channels:
- 6
- 7
set device_type: 4x10
The limited biquad capacity (5 per channel) means that filters are split across input and output channels and there is no capacity for user filters.
set device_type: 10x10
The limited biquad capacity (6 per channel) means that filters are split across input and output channels and the last 2 biquads per output channel are left under user control.
To avoid this, use the crossover biquads to hold the remaining beq biquads. This leaves the output PEQ untouched. Set use_xo
to one of the following values to activate this mode:
- all : apply beq to both crossover groups
- 0 (or true) : apply beq to crossover group 0
- 1 : apply beq to crossover group 1
set device_type: SHD
BEQ filters are written to all output channels.
set device_type: 8x12CDSP
BEQ filters are written to all 6 input channels.
Custom Layouts
TODO
Monolith HTP1
htp1:
ip: 192.168.1.181
channels:
- sub1
autoclear: true
BEQ filters are loaded into the bottom 10 slots of the specified channels only.
- ip: ip address of the HTP1
- channels: list of channels to apply filters to (sub1, sub2 and sub3 are the standard subwoofer channels in the HTP1)
- autoclear: if set to true, BEQ filters will be reset on power state or input change
JRiver Media Center
Media Network must be enabled
jriver:
address: 192.168.1.181:52199
auth:
user: foo
pass: thisismypass
secure: true
channels:
- SW
- C9
- C10
block: 2
- address: the ip and port on which the Media Center media network is listening
- auth is optional, leave this out if MCWS is not secured
- secure is optional, leave this out if SSL is not used
- supported channels are L R C SW SL SR RL RR and C9 upto C32 (if more than 8 channel output is used)
- block is 1 or 2 and refers to the dsp slots Parametric Equalizer and Parametric Equalizer 2 respectively
This information is not validated, it is left to the user to configure the output format on the zone to match the supplied configuration.
Q-Sys
Q-Sys Designer is supported via the QRC protocol
qsys:
ip: 192.168.1.181
port: 1710
timeout_secs: 2
components:
- beq
content_info:
- beq_movie_info:
text.1: title
text.2: genres
text.3: audio_types
text.4: mv_adjust
text.5: overview
text.6: images[0]
text.7: images[1]
type: qsys
Configuration of the audio pipeline in Q-Sys Designer is left as an exercise for the user.
2 alternative implementations are possible.
One uses a IIR Custom Filter component which must be connected to component which provides a text field.
This can be implemented using either a Text Controller or a Custom Control.
This component allows for a mapping of a text field control key to a CatalogueEntry
field name.
Two fields have special treatment:
- filters: will be set in a format that can be linked to a IIR Custom Filter and feeds it with the required biquad coefficients.
- images: there can be a variable number of images so each individual image can be specified in a separate field
The alternative approache uses a Parametric Equaliser component which should be configured with:
- at least 10 bands
- q factor
The component name should be supplied in the configuration above.
Note that this format does not support variable Q shelf filters.
CamillaDSP
CamillaDSP is supported via its websocket api which means CamillaDSP must be started with additional options:
-p
to specify the port-a
to specify the listen address (required if ezbeq runs on a different host to camilladsp)
camilla:
ip: 192.168.1.181
port: 1710
timeout_secs: 2
channels:
- 4
- 7
type: camilladsp
- ip: the ip on which camilladsp is listening
- port: the port on which camilladsp is listening
- channels: a list of channel numbers to which BEQ filters will be appended
On load, the camilladsp configuration will be updated as follows:
- each filter will be added to the
Filters
section in IIR format using one of the Peaking, HighShelf or LowShelf filter types. Filter names will be BEQ1 to BEQ10 - each filter will be appended to the Pipeline for the specified channel, an entry of type
Filter
will be added if not already present for that channel
On unload, the camilladsp configuration will be updated as follows:
- the filters will deleted from the
Filters
section - the filters will be removed from the
Pipeline
section
User controlled master volume adjustments are supported using the Volume filter if that filter has been configured in the pipeline.
BEQ specific input gain adjustments are supported via the use of a Gain filter which is inserted into the pipeline ahead of the BEQ filters themselves.
Starting ezbeq on bootup
This is optional but recommended, it ensures the app starts automatically whenever the rpi boots up and makes
sure it restarts automatically if it ever crashes.
We will achieve this by creating and enabling a systemd
service.
- Create a file ezbeq.service in the appropriate location for your distro (e.g.
/etc/systemd/system/
for debian)::
[Unit]
Description=ezbeq
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=pi
WorkingDirectory=/home/pi
ExecStart=/home/pi/python/ezbeq/bin/ezbeq
Restart=always
RestartSec=1
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
- enable the service and start it up::
$ sudo systemctl enable ezbeq.service
$ sudo service ezbeq start
$ sudo journalctl -u ezbeq.service
-- Logs begin at Sat 2019-08-17 12:17:02 BST, end at Sun 2019-08-18 21:58:43 BST. --
Aug 18 21:58:36 swoop systemd[1]: Started ezbeq.
- reboot and repeat step 2 to verify the recorder has automatically started