Lyrion_DAB_Radio

Stream DAB+ radio to Lyrion Music Server via RTL-SDR

DAB+ radio reception via RTL-SDR for Lyrion Music Server (LMS).

Receives a full DAB multiplex using welle-cli, decodes all services simultaneously, streams each to a permanent Icecast mount with live metadata, and exposes an HTTP API for service discovery and MUX switching. An LMS plugin integrates it into the Radio menu as a flat station list.

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Architecture

RTL-SDR dongle
      ↓
  welle-cli -c 11C -Dw 9090   (decodes all services, serves MP3 over HTTP)
      ↓ http://localhost:9090/mp3/<SID>   (one stream per audio service)
  ffmpeg → Icecast /dab/dr-p1
  ffmpeg → Icecast /dab/dr-p2
  ffmpeg → Icecast /dab/dr-p3
  ...one ffmpeg per service...
      ↑
  dab-daemon  (HTTP API — service discovery, MUX switching, live metadata)
      ↑
  LMS Plugin  (Radio menu, flat station list)

Service discovery: welle-cli scans the MUX automatically. No manual SID or frequency configuration needed — all services are discovered at startup and cached.

Live metadata: the daemon polls welle-cli every 10 seconds for DLS (Dynamic Label Service) updates and pushes current song, genre, and description to each Icecast mount.

Resilience: a watchdog thread monitors ffmpeg processes and automatically restarts any that die.

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Web UI

The daemon includes a built-in web interface accessible at http://<host>:9980 — no extra software needed.

Features:

• Multiplex selector — switch between configured MUXes with a single click
• Alphabetically sorted service list for the active MUX
• Built-in audio player — click a service to start listening immediately
• Live status indicator (receiving / switching / stopped)

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Option A — Docker (recommended for new users)

This is the easiest way to get started. Everything runs in a single container: welle-cli, ffmpeg, and Icecast are all included — no manual software installation needed.

Pre-built images for amd64 and arm64 are published automatically to GitHub Container Registry on every release.

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• RTL-SDR dongle connected to the host
• DVB kernel drivers blacklisted (recommended — see below)

Blacklisting the DVB kernel drivers

Linux automatically loads DVB drivers when you plug in an RTL-SDR dongle. Blacklist them to prevent conflicts:

echo -e "blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu\nblacklist rtl2832\nblacklist rtl2830" \
    | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-rtlsdr.conf
sudo modprobe -r dvb_usb_rtl28xxu rtl2832 rtl2830

Docker users: The container runs in privileged mode which lets librtlsdr claim the dongle automatically in most cases, but blacklisting avoids edge cases after re-plugging.

Quickstart — pre-built image (easiest)

Create a docker-compose.yml, adjust the values, and run docker compose up.

With built-in Icecast

The container runs its own Icecast server. Each DAB service gets its own mount point (e.g. /dab/dr-p1, /dab/dr-p3).

services:
  dab-radio:
    image: ghcr.io/macsatcom/lyrion-dab-radio:latest
    privileged: true
    devices:
      - /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb
    ports:
      - "9980:9980"   # DAB Daemon HTTP API
      - "8000:8000"   # Icecast streams
    environment:
      ICECAST_MODE:       internal
      ICECAST_SOURCE:     changeme
      ICECAST_ADMIN_PASS: changeme_admin
      ICECAST_PORT:       8000
      DAEMON_PORT:        9980
    restart: unless-stopped

With an existing Icecast server

The container streams to an Icecast server already running on your network.

services:
  dab-radio:
    image: ghcr.io/macsatcom/lyrion-dab-radio:latest
    privileged: true
    devices:
      - /dev/bus/usb:/dev/bus/usb
    ports:
      - "9980:9980"   # DAB Daemon HTTP API
    environment:
      ICECAST_MODE:       external
      ICECAST_HOST:       192.168.1.50
      ICECAST_SOURCE:     your-source-password
      ICECAST_PORT:       8000
      DAEMON_PORT:        9980
    restart: unless-stopped

docker compose up

Once running:

• DAB Daemon API: http://<host-ip>:9980
• Icecast streams: http://<host-ip>:8000/dab/<service-slug>

Quickstart — build from source

git clone https://github.com/macsatcom/Lyrion_DAB_Radio.git
cd Lyrion_DAB_Radio/docker
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env with your values
docker compose up --build

The first build takes several minutes (welle-cli is compiled from source).

Configuring the MUX list

By default the container listens to DR MUX (channel 11C). To change this, set the MUX_LIST environment variable as a JSON string:

environment:
  MUX_LIST: '[{"key":"mux1","name":"My MUX (10B)","channel":"10B"}]'

Multiple MUXes are supported — the daemon can switch between them via the API.

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Option B — Manual installation

Prerequisites

• Linux server (Debian/Ubuntu recommended)
• RTL-SDR USB dongle connected and working
• welle-cli built and installed (see note below)
• ffmpeg installed (apt install ffmpeg)
• Icecast2 server running (apt install icecast2 or Docker)
• Lyrion Music Server 8.x or 9.x

RTL-SDR USB dongle

RTL-SDR is a type of software-defined radio (SDR) that uses a cheap DVB-T TV tuner dongle as a wideband radio receiver. Originally designed for receiving digital TV, these dongles can be repurposed to receive a wide range of radio signals — including DAB+ — when used with the right software. A basic dongle from China costing around 10 EUR works perfectly fine for DAB reception.

Note: Getting your RTL-SDR dongle working and building welle-cli is outside the scope of this guide. See the rtl-sdr quickstart and the welle.io README for instructions. Verify your setup works by running welle-cli -c 11C -s any before proceeding.

Building welle-cli

sudo apt install cmake librtlsdr-dev libfftw3-dev libfaad-dev libmpg123-dev libmp3lame-dev
git clone https://github.com/AlbrechtL/welle.io
cd welle.io && mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DBUILD_WELLE_CLI=ON -DBUILD_GUI_APP=OFF ..
make -j$(nproc)
sudo cp src/welle-cli/welle-cli /usr/local/bin/

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Daemon Setup

The daemon (dab-daemon.py) manages welle-cli and ffmpeg pipelines, and exposes an HTTP API for service discovery and MUX switching.

1. Configure

Edit daemon/dab-daemon.py and fill in the configuration section at the top:

WELLE_CLI_BIN      = "/usr/local/bin/welle-cli"
WELLE_PORT         = 9090              # internal welle-cli HTTP port (not exposed)

ICECAST_HOST       = "your-icecast-host"
ICECAST_PORT       = 8000
ICECAST_SOURCE     = "your-source-password"
ICECAST_ADMIN_USER = "admin"
ICECAST_ADMIN_PASS = "your-admin-password"

DAEMON_PORT        = 9980

And define your MUX list:

MUX_LIST = [
    {
        "key":     "mux1",
        "name":    "DR MUX (11C)",
        "channel": "11C",
    },
]

Optionally create the service cache directory:

sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/dab-daemon
sudo chown $USER /var/lib/dab-daemon

2. Install

sudo cp daemon/dab-daemon.py /usr/local/bin/dab-daemon.py
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/dab-daemon.py

3. Install as a systemd service

sudo cp daemon/dab-daemon.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable dab-daemon
sudo systemctl start dab-daemon

Check that it is running:

sudo systemctl status dab-daemon
journalctl -u dab-daemon -f

4. Test the API

# Current status and active streams
curl http://localhost:9980/status

# List discovered MUXes and services
curl http://localhost:9980/muxes

# Switch to a different MUX
curl http://localhost:9980/switch/mux2

# Force rescan of current MUX
curl http://localhost:9980/rescan

# Stop everything
curl -X POST http://localhost:9980/stop

API reference

Method	Path	Description
GET	/status	Current MUX, welle-cli state, and all active stream URLs
GET	/muxes	List all MUXes with discovered services and Icecast stream URLs
GET	/switch/<key>	Switch to MUX by key (async, ~15–30 s for discovery)
POST	/switch?mux=<key>	Switch to MUX by key
GET	/rescan	Force rescan of current MUX (clears cache)
POST	/stop	Stop all ffmpeg pipelines and welle-cli

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LMS Plugin Installation

Manual install

1. Copy the LMSPlugin/DABRadio folder into your LMS plugin directory:

   • Docker: /config/cache/Plugins/DABRadio
   • Standard: /usr/share/squeezeboxserver/Plugins/DABRadio

2. Restart LMS.

Via external repository

Add the following URL in LMS under Settings → Plugins → Add repository:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/macsatcom/Lyrion_DAB_Radio/main/repo.xml

After adding the repository, DAB Radio will appear in the plugin list and can be installed from there.

Plugin configuration

After installation, go to Settings → Plugins → DAB Radio → Settings and configure:

• Daemon URL — URL to your dab-daemon, e.g. http://192.168.1.10:9980
• Icecast Host — hostname or IP of your Icecast server (leave blank to use URLs from daemon)
• Icecast Port — typically 8000

The plugin will appear under Radio → DAB Radio in LMS as a flat list of all services on the active MUX.

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License

MIT