Beta Release 20261015 - 4149

Verox Software Discussion Releases
1

Hey all,

There’s a new beta out on the Beta update channel, and this one brings Plex back.

What’s new:

  • Plex is back, through Caldera Headless. There’s a new Plex tab on the Services page. Connect your Plex account there, enable the service, and your Verox device shows up as a player in Plexamp. It takes part in Convenience Switching too, so starting Plex pauses whatever else is playing, and the other way round. Caldera itself is still in beta (this build ships v1.2.0-beta.1), so expect a few rough edges. For the background on why Plex disappeared and how Caldera came in, see the Plex update post.
  • Soloist volume normalisation is now a setting, and off by default. Soloist always normalised loudness, even with normalisation switched off in the Spotify app, which made it play 2-6 dB quieter than Spotify Connect and not bit-perfect. The Soloist tab now has a Volume Normalisation switch, off by default. Thanks to @ple for digging up the fix.
  • One Spotify service at a time. Spotify Connect and Spotify Soloist can no longer be enabled together: turning one on turns the other off.
  • Two new languages: Italian and Danish, plus an updated German translation. Thanks to everyone who contributed. More of the web interface can be translated now too. Want to help? See Help translate Verox.
  • WiFi setup is more patient. Joining a WiFi network now gets more time before it gives up, which helps with slower access points.
  • Sendspin recovers on its own. If the Verox Spinner player gives up, it now restarts automatically instead of staying silent.
  • Newer kernel. Linux 6.18.56 on Pi 3, Pi 4, Pi 5 and the PecanPi.
  • More rebranding under the hood. Another round of moving things from RoPieee to Verox behind the scenes. Nothing changes for you.

How to get it:

If you’re already on the Beta channel, it’ll come to you on its own within a few hours, with nothing to do. If you’re on Stable and want in: Advanced → Update Channel, switch to Beta. Nothing to download or re-flash, and it’s reversible: switch back to Stable whenever you like.

Usual beta caveat: it should be fine, but “beta” means what it says. If you’d rather not take on the risk, stay on Stable and I’ll post again when this reaches general release.

Let me know how it goes, good, bad, or otherwise. Plex users especially: I’d love to hear how Caldera works for you.

2

Succesfully upgraded, and Spotify Soloist is currently playing. Directly after the upgrade both Spotify Connect and Spotify Soloist were (still) enabled, as this was the case with the older Beta. Only after disabling manually one of them the dialog about ‘one Spotify service’ was shown.

I plan to test the normalisation function later. Does it work per track or should it already have an effect when turning on in the middle of a song?

3

spotify lossless possible?

4

I don’t know what Spotify’s behavior is. Except that it is/was enabled by default, so now we can disable it.

5

I don’t know what Spotify’s behavior is. Except that it is/was enabled by default, so now we can disable it.

So far I can’t hear a difference in volume between Spotify Connect and Soloist (with or without Normalisation turned on). Is there a way to measure it more exactly, as the human ear is rather unreliable regarding this?

6

Sure, but what do you want to know/find out?

The only thing I measured (although I can hear it too) is whether the toggle actually does something.

7

I think it helps if it’s possible to analyze the stream, measure what volume it has and (bit)compare it with the results of different settings. I simply don’t trust my ears on this, also partly because switching between the Normalisation settings takes a few seconds which make be doubt what I heard.