How does ConvoProxy work?

ConvoProxy runs on a Synology/QNAP NAS or aLinux box. When a streamer asks ConvoProxy for a media file, it will contact the ordinary media server and - acting as a ‘man-in-middle’ - ‘proxy’ - convolves and transcodes data sent by the other server. The regular media server does not need to run on the same machine/box as ConvoProxy. If the device running ConvoProxy is, e.g., called xxx, ConvoProxy will present itself as ConvoProxy[xxx]

See the internal processing pipeline used by ConvoProxy here.

Which source media types does ConvoProxy support?

Currently: WAV, M4A, FLAC, MP3, and AIFF.

Why does ConvoProxy produce WAV output?

The experience with my previous project, “ConvoFS”, was a strong demand for WAV output. Furthermore, it is the easiest to implement. So, the easy choice for ConvoProxy, was to do WAV output.

Is ConvoProxy free to use?

ConvoProxy is Open Source and free to use, and licensed under the “MIT license”. The choice of this license rather than , e.g., the GPL license was motivated by the programming language chosen (“Go” aka “Golang”) and the licenses of 3rd party components. It has no really practical consequences for the end-user.

Please refer the Copyright/contact section of this documentation for a lot of more copyright info.

To see the program source code for a given release of ConvoProxy,please download the Linux distribution and unpack it. Alternatively, if you’ve already installed ConvoProxy, you can generate a “log+config” bundle (under the Misc menu) and download it. It is in ZIP format and contains the source code, too.

What do I need to run ConvoProxy?

You can use a NAS from QNAP/Synology Intel/AMD-based (e.g., Intel Atom/Celeron/Xeon/ AMD Ryzen 64 bit) NAS or an ordinary PC/Virtual machine running Linux or a Raspberry Pi (64-bit operating system).

A QNAP NAS has to support running docker containers.

For a list of Synology/QNAP models supporting these requirements, please refer to the links: Synology and QNAP.

Synology NAS devices with known success stories include most ‘+’ models.

For Synology boxes running DSM 6.x, there’s the choice of running a docker-enabled version or a ‘native’ version. For DSM 7.x, there is and only will be the native version. The native versions require the installation of the 3rd party package ffmpeg.

The Docker version will take up to 10 minutes for an initial install.

What products are in use with ConvoProxy?

ConvoProxy initially only supported Linn streamers. Current releases are developed also with Raspberry Pi-based streaming products in UpNp or OpenHome mode. Success stories with other vendors include streamers from Sotem, WiiM, Lumin etc. And MPD based streamers like Moode and Ropieee.

For media files stored on local storage, ConvoProxy has been tested with the Minim media server.

Does ConvoProxy support gapless playback?

Indeed, when the playback of a track nears completion, ConvoProxy will query your streamer for the upcoming music track and start processing it in advance so there won’t be any gaps in live recordings.

Take care

General common sense wrs DRC setups are also advisable when using ConvoProxy - turn down the amplifier volume when a new filter is uploaded, avoiding loudspeakers getting damaged _should_ the filter file be corrupt.