What's necessary to play files and stream music: Drowning in new technology

[Timinla]

All,

 

Your comments have been very helpful. But as the discussion gets more detailed, I get more confused. How does UPnP/DLNA work? Does it run (unlikely) on the Marantz? The NAS? And, Android? This is not a PC based OS.

 

I'm also confused by the notion that a Windows based PC would run audio better than a Mac. How would you control the Win machine? Can one run Jriver on a Win machine and control it with an iPad? I have not witnessed this sort of compatibility.

[crenca]

You are going to need to say exactly what you tried and setup wrt the BubbleUPnP Server and the BubbleUPnP Android controller app when using them to stream TIDAL to your Marantz, if you are having issues and require help. As it's starting to get a bit off topic, it may be worth starting your own thread on the network and streaming section or perhaps posting the issue on this existing thread created by Bubbleguuum, developer of BubbleUPnP (it's certainly worth a read if nothing else):

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f22-networking-networked-audio-and-streaming/play-qobuz-any-streamer-bubbleupnp-android-25075/

 

Again, thanks for the tip on this software. I was having a Homer moment yesterday and did not bother to verify my that my route to the internet was OK (it wasn't, so thus the drop outs). BubbleUPnP is streaming Tidal to my Marantz cleanly today and this is exactly what I was looking for!

[crenca]

All,

 

Your comments have been very helpful. But as the discussion gets more detailed, I get more confused. How does UPnP/DLNA work? Does it run (unlikely) on the Marantz? The NAS? And, Android? This is not a PC based OS.

 

I'm also confused by the notion that a Windows based PC would run audio better than a Mac. How would you control the Win machine? Can one run Jriver on a Win machine and control it with an iPad? I have not witnessed this sort of compatibility.

 

Think of UPnP/DLNA (you can Google them and read up for more detail) as high level protocols designed to get various (and normally non-compatible) devices talking to each other on a TCP/IP network. How do you get a non-computing device like an AV receiver manufactured by Marantz onto a TCP/IP network and talking to other devices/software so that it can do something useful like stream CD or high res files from an application (such as JRiver) which is running on a PC somewhere on the network? The protocol is DLNA.

 

For all but the most novice of computer/network users, it is very simple. Simply run JRiver on computer as a DLNA server (well documented in the help), push the "online music" button on your Marantz remote, and select the JRiver media server from the menu. You can then use the Marantz remote to browse playlists/libraries you set up in JRiver of all you audio files (or video for that matter) and play them.

 

You are not "controlling" the Win machine itself, just the UI that JRiver and Marantz (through the magic of DLNA) is presenting you on your TV screen.

[Cebolla]

How does UPnP/DLNA work? Does it run (unlikely) on the Marantz? The NAS? And, Android? This is not a PC based OS.

The CA Academy article on the subject should make things a bit clearer:

Computer Audiophile - The Complete Guide To HiFi UPnP / DLNA Network Audio

 

Essentially, there are three components to UPnP streaming:

UPnP renderer (aka network streamer aka network audio player) to stream the music files over the network and play them,

UPnP media server to organise the music file library and make the files available for network streaming,

UPnP control point (aka UPnP controller) to provide the user interface for selecting and controlling the playback of the music files that the UPnP renderer streams from the UPnP media server.

 

Any of these components can be either part of the hardware/firmware of a purpose built network audio device or running as software on a more general networkable computer, NAS, etc.

 

The Marantz does actually 'run' one of these components in its support of UPnP/DLNA, the UPnP renderer. A NAS would naturally tend itself to running the UPnP media server and an Android handheld device the UPnP control point app.