Article: The Complete Guide To HiFi UPnP / DLNA Network Audio

[magister]

You've put together a great resource, Chris. I've been an audiophile for a long time but got seriously into digital audio last summer. It would have saved me a lot of time and confusion if a guide like this had been available. You do mention that JRiver can act as a server, control point, and renderer. If you ever revise this, it might be good to expand on this topic a little; in the beginning I really didn't understand how one piece of software fulfilled multiple functions. Perhaps also add a paragraph or two about manufacturer-specific iPad/Android apps vs generic upnp/dlna apps. When I brought home a Marantz NA-7004, I didn't realize I could use any upnp controller on my iPad to play the music. For a while I used Marantz's rather primitive iPad app when I could have had more choices.

 

You're right the Kinsky iPad controller is Linn-centric, but I would encourage non-Linn owners to check it out; I use it regularly to control my MinimServer-PS Audio dac combo. PlugPlayer devotes so much of its iPad screen real estate to a big album cover that there is little room for information about the music, hence the annoying scrolling display. Kinsky gives a much more legible display--particularly important for classical music. I don't think MinimServer is hard to set up on Mac or PC, and you get more control over how your information is display than most apps offer. (Yes, the Synology version is perhaps not for novices due to the complexities of getting Java on the NAS.)

 

Thanks again for a great article -- David

[magister]

To get me to go from library curation/management in iTunes to some clunky DLNA-based server interface is going to take a lot of convincing. . . . but can you tell me if Songbox is agnostic to when it comes to what renderers it serves? It should be if it is true to the DLNA standards, but then again, it is a Linn product.

 

Sorry, Alex, I can't answer your question about Songbox since I've never used it. I have not used iTunes either, since its support for classical music is poor and classical is about 2/3 of my collection. With the right tagging and so forth, DLNA servers don't have to be clunky, though. I have what I consider a very good browse/search capability in MinimServer that can be used with a choice of control points. If you'd like more info about that I'd be happy to describe my setup (maybe email me privately, rather than hijack this thread about Chris's new article).

 

Best wishes,

David

[magister]

Audio Elf, that's a very nice summary (the line about the mouse and the elephant is exactly the case, IMHO). I have a Synology NAS with MinimServer and am very happy with it. I am not sure why so many people want to use a general-purpose computer as their music hub, with all the complexities and SQ issues it introduces. A purpose-built machine like a CAPS design avoids many of the SQ issues but still costs money and takes up space, and you need a NAS anyway for storing a large collection. You are also right about the need for being very attentive to tagging consistently.

 

David