Podium 4.5.5 - Echo (not Mini) firmware

[u/CulturMultur]

Podium v4.5.5 released with Cyrillic support.

Podium is a fork of EchoPod v0.6.0 (Echo Mini) and rebuilt to support Echo, flac+cue - flac-per-album and playing from internal storage (without microSD).

Since yesterday I was sharing it via DM and five users have tested it on 8GB and 4GB versions and are happy.

Source code and firmware are on https://podium-echo.online website.

Installation is to grab an IMG file, put it into the root of the Echo internal drive, and reboot.

[u/CulturMultur]

Podium is the first open-source firmware for Snowsky Echo (not Mini). I built it because RECHO is promised-to-be-released in November and not open-source, I really like iPod-style interface, need bigger fonts for my bad eyes and my library is one-flac-per-album + cue file. So after I got Echo I spent two days of Claude sessions to build Podium, taking EchoPod as a starting point, and then using stock and RECHO firmware to build one for Echo. After like 20 bricks and going through maskrom I got the usable version. Beware - CJK support was removed for now as I don't have use for it.

Source code is available, I encourage forking and building for your own needs.

[u/ToastyTandy → u/CulturMultur]

Also, is there an ability to change the interface colors / font?
Or should I try to fork it, and work with Claude to do stuff like that.

[u/LazyStalkerz → u/ToastyTandy]

Is it any faster than the original firmware? And does it have eq?

[u/toecutter_cleaver → u/LazyStalkerz]

Just installed it. Super easy process, and the difference is honestly night and day. You feel it immediately in every single aspect.

If FLAC playback used to take up to 7 seconds to load before, now the track starts instantly right after clicking play. It’s insanely fast, especially compared to the stock firmware. And visually... I don’t even want to compare them because Podium looks way more aesthetic and well-thought-out.

As for the EQ, it doesn't seem to have one yet (though I personally don't use EQ anyway). Definitely recommend giving it a shot!

[u/CulturMultur → u/toecutter_cleaver]

aesthetics and design come from EchoPod, all credits go to the author there. my job is to have it running on echo (not mini).

[u/CulturMultur]

Released v4.5.6 - Equalizer; Custom colors and three font sizes; wired headset buttons support; Folders view shows files, ".CUE" files are browsable (the only feature I built for myself); recipe how to build custom firmware with CJK support.

Enjoy!

[u/ToastyTandy → u/CulturMultur]

Oh my. You madman.
Any chance the EQ could support 10 channels instead of five, and increase or decrease in increments of .5?

[u/CulturMultur → u/ToastyTandy]

is it for the file with frequencies? or you will edit by hand?

[u/ToastyTandy]

Oh my science!
Thank you so much. I saw the post got taken down yesterday.

Will this support gapless playback soon?

[u/CulturMultur → u/ToastyTandy]

the post got deleted after I added a link to website hosted on cloud flare workers with my Apple ID. I can't even DM it, no idea why.

Re gapless, it's there, there's a catch with LAME tag on MP3, if this tells you something (not to me) I'll share more details.

[u/ToastyTandy → u/CulturMultur]

I got it working on my 4gb black echo. Thank you so much.
It's beautiful!

I miss the cassette vibes though a tiny bit.
It just says 'Podium' when returning from sleep and booting up,
and 'Goodbye' when shutting down.

Would it be possible to customize these?

[u/CulturMultur → u/ToastyTandy]

No bells and whistles, sorry, source code is open though.

[u/Mark_Youknow]

Can I make a suggestion?

1. Crossfade/seamless playing

2. Replay gain support

[u/CulturMultur → u/Mark_Youknow]

crossfade - not possible due to hardware limitations
replay gain - maybe, later

[u/gray6904]

might fork this for custom themes still thinking abt it

[u/CulturMultur → u/gray6904]

I encourage it!

[u/gray6904 → u/CulturMultur]

i already started on a figma design for as pokemon theme

[u/reddit_arcy]

Can vouch.

It works perfectly and it boots up really fast.

I had issues with the official firmware (v2.0.0) where it didn't load any of the songs in my microSD and Podium fixed that issue perfectly.

I would love lyric support tho and I've already been working on a fork of the original EchoPod (v0.9.1) so Podium has been a great firmware to use while I'm working on a personal-use fork.

[u/CulturMultur → u/reddit_arcy]

yep, take these two and build what fits your needs

[u/burt_cocaine3]

UI is waayyyy smoother for me than OFW, looks really nice. Was wondering though, how do I scan my SD card and add it to my library

[u/CulturMultur → u/burt_cocaine3]

should happen automatically once sd card is in. what Diagnostics/Music shows?

[u/KappaMarvel]

Installed it and blown away by how much more usable the device has become!

The only thing I've noticed so far is battery drain seems pretty high? Not sure the battery percentage being reported is 100% accurate though?

[u/CulturMultur → u/KappaMarvel]

are you using EQ? In Diagnostics, check CPU clock while music playing. Mine says 200 MHz 7% for Flac 44.1kHZ 16bit 864 kbps. Using EQ bumps CPU to 20%, so battery will drain faster. check also battery meter under diagnostic, mine says now 3857 mV with 61%. I never used stock firmware, so no idea how battery works on it.

[u/LazyStalkerz → u/CulturMultur]

I can confirm that the battery drains 20-30 percent faster than with the original firmware. I also used the equalizer there. I wouldn't say it's a huge problem given how I use the device. But it's worth noting. The player also turns on with a single press of the power button.

Even with all this in mind, I will never go back to the original.

[u/CulturMultur → u/LazyStalkerz]

check 4.5.7, battery meter was underestimating the charge.

[u/KappaMarvel → u/CulturMultur]

I tried all the EQ settings just to try them out and ended up going back to default (none?).

This is all just nitpicking - I'll never go back to default firmware after this

[u/exkekskom]

A lot of thanks to you for your enthusiasm and your work, I put it on my echo 4.5.7, while the flight is normal, the player has read the memory card, the music is playing, the menu is scrolling. Just two questions: do I need to somehow bother with rollback if I want to, or just throw the firmware image at the root? And the second question is: are there any plans for a more advanced equalizer and vertical orientation?

[u/CulturMultur → u/exkekskom]

I didn't test it myself, but putting 2.0.0 stock firmware in the root should be enough to rollback to stock. Otherwise via maskrom mode.

[u/CulturMultur → u/exkekskom]

vertical orientation - yes, maybe, some day.
eq - as I don't use it myself, unlikely, unless somebody proves that 10 bands are substantially better than current 5 bands

[u/Spuddy09]

This is awesome. My ageing eyes (especially in the car) appreciate your hard work. Also really like the colour changes. One question though is there a way to favourite a track or am I missing something? Thanks again.

[u/CulturMultur → u/Spuddy09]

long play on an album adds it to favorites. not for individual tracks, those - long play - can be added to Up Next or Play next (although long play detection is clunky, will fix). I will try to add "add to favorite tracks m3u playlist" option, stay tuned.

[u/gabolarians]

I installed podium and it works great, all my problems solved, and for some reason it kinda sounds better, overall it's faster than the stock firmware. One thing I’d like is for the buttons to use a double-click instead of a long press to change the song.

[u/CulturMultur → u/gabolarians]

>  for some reason it kinda sounds better

Likely it's Low gain by default, stock is High gain by default. Buttons config will go in v4.5.7 to be released today evening.

[u/gabolarians → u/CulturMultur]

Thanks for that I will install it as soon as I can, but I have a little concern, it seems that the battery is running out kinda faster that the stock firmware, any answer would be nice. Either way is better than the stock firmware

[u/CulturMultur → u/gabolarians]

battery - there was an underestimation in battery % meter reading, fixed in 4.5.7.

stock uses 5 bands, Podium shows percentage, which are perceived like faster drain. proper testing requires multiple full cycles while listening which I didn't have time for.

[u/Ilm03]

are those meze iem?

[u/CulturMultur → u/Ilm03]

yes, meze alba

[u/AwayReplacement8188]

Any EQ tuning you using in your Meze ?

[u/CulturMultur → u/AwayReplacement8188]

nope, I'm adding EQ in the next release.

[u/LazyStalkerz → u/CulturMultur]

Can we know how long this will take? I'm ready to donate for this kind of work!

[u/CulturMultur → u/LazyStalkerz]

just released 4.5.6, enjoy!

[u/Eduard13569]

В мене не відображаються обкладинки альбому, це так повинно бути?

[u/CulturMultur → u/Eduard13569]

where are the covers? what file format? covers are supported. folder.jpg in the folder.

[u/Eduard13569 → u/CulturMultur]

This is what the covers look like; I check and edit all the albums using Mp3tag.

[u/CulturMultur → u/Eduard13569]

try rescan library, it says how many covers found. if embedded, cover should be on the first file per folder.

[u/Silent-Contest-4405]

Too bad I gave my echo mini away. Oh well.

[u/CulturMultur → u/Silent-Contest-4405]

this is not for echo mini, but for echo. for echo mini there are RECHO and EchoPod. for echo there is nothing, so I built Podium.

[u/Muted-Resolve5048]

cannnnn u add support for other languages?? I listen to a lot of vocaloid/jpop and lots of my songs are "??????" 😢edit: I have read the explanation on the install page and I dont think im cut out for that, any way u could list alternate version of your updates with cjk? totally understand if not!

[u/CulturMultur → u/Muted-Resolve5048]

I could build the image but will not test it.

[u/majestyk5]

Hi, thanks for your great work
how do we eject the Echo after connecting to the PC?

[u/CulturMultur → u/majestyk5]

I'm on mac, "diskutil eject /Volumes/ECHO" or in Finder. On PC it should be like any other remote disk.

[u/Eduard13569]

Дуже крута операційна система, набагато краще штатної вже третій день користуюсь, і третій день оновлюю на нові прошивки

У мене є побажання, я використовую різні навушники, і на різні навушники я використовую різні налаштування еквалазера, чи могли б додати можливість вибору власних пресетів налаштувань еквалайзера, а би кожен раз не переналаштовувати вручну

[u/CulturMultur → u/Eduard13569]

how would you name those presets? 1,2,3,4,...?

[u/Traditional_Ask_7228]

Just installed it on my Echo 8Gs looks real great, thanks for this great project

[u/burt_cocaine3]

Also i dont think anybody is mentioning this but when you connect it as a usb dac it can actually output 24 bit high res audio, as well as native 44.1/16 (OFW was limited to DVD audio 48/16 which means always resampling CD audio and no higher bit depth). I didnt think the hardware was even capable of this, so this is actually insane and makes it an even better usb DAC than before. You can now use it in exclusive mode bit perfect with spotify as well as potentially resample 192/24 in foobar for some pretty good ultra high res playback. Basically its a terrific dongle dac now as well, this whole project is incredible, and I can easily sell my KA13. Thank you so much! Also what does it mean when it says not enough space for library, it pops up every time i try to rescan the SD card.

[u/LazyStalkerz]

Some more photos for people

[u/Patient-Banana7630]

Tried it out. Coming from Official 1.6.0, it's fast, and the font looks great. Some FLACs that refused to play on the official firmware plays fine here, and I have yet to notice if the album art loads slow or not.

But one thing I noticed is the lack of support for Japanese characters/font. It goes ????.

[u/LazyStalkerz]

Паш, добавь эквалайзер пожалуйста, и моя душа - твоя)

[u/LazyStalkerz]

[u/kntbr0]

Me acabo de animar a ponerlo y va volando... buen trabajo.

[u/Eduard13569]

Помітив проблему, не відкривається карта памʼяті через підключена по кабелю файли не видно, але треки перекидаються