Best Ecosystem for External Streaming?

[ChinBo37]

I am a long time user of MediaMonkey. I recently built a file server which is a low powered windows PC running 24/7.

 

I thought I would take the opportunity to fully network my music to the other devices in my house, as well as figure a way to access it outside my house.

 

 

MediaMonkey works fine for anything inside the house. All my other computers can access my library, and I can run uPnP from the MediaMonkey Android ap and have access to my library from my android devices (within my house).

 

 

However, I cannot get anything to work externally. I followed all the instructions, trying programs like BubbleuPNP and I couldnt get it to work. I also looked into other solutions like Subsonic but I note it doesnt use ID3 tags and that is how I have everything organized (by tag I dont rename the actual files for certain reasons).

 

 

I am average at networking, I can open ports and stuff on my router I am doing everythign I am supposed to but its just not working. It seems that in the MediaMonkey forums other users have similar problems and additional support is supposed to come with MediaMonkey 5. I like MediaMonkey but I am not sure I want to wait that long I would like to find a solution now. Is there anything better i can try? I would love to have music stream externally to my phone outside my network, as well as be accessible by web browser. Preferrably with ID3 tags.

 

 

Is JRiver an option? Any other solutions or tips you have for me?

[master]

How large is your collection and what quality do you want to stream in when out of home?

 

If its less than 50K songs and you are ok with lossy streaming then simply upload your music to Google Play Music and you stream from the cloud.

 

If you have the b/w and want lossless streaming out of home then JRiver will work via its Gizmo app.

 

Other options are NAS (Synology OS in particular), Raspberry Pi, PC media server s/w, etc. Some level of geek will be needed... but an easier option is to install Plex Media Server and use their app... works like a charm.

[Paul R]

JRiver Media Center and JRemote do an excellent job of streaming externally, and can talk to most devices that you can stream to in your home. It would most likely replace MediaMonkey for you though.

 

All external streaming relies on having a method to locate the Internet address of your home music server, and being able to pass traffic through your firewall to that server. There are numerous ways to do that, which one is best for you depends upon your situation really.

 

-Paul

[ChinBo37]

How large is your collection and what quality do you want to stream in when out of home?

 

If its less than 50K songs and you are ok with lossy streaming then simply upload your music to Google Play Music and you stream from the cloud.

 

If you have the b/w and want lossless streaming out of home then JRiver will work via its Gizmo app.

 

Other options are NAS (Synology OS in particular), Raspberry Pi, PC media server s/w, etc. Some level of geek will be needed... but an easier option is to install Plex Media Server and use their app... works like a charm.

 

 

Well I only have about 10K songs organized with about 3 times that unorganized, but really looking for a non-cloud solution.

 

I already use Plex for Movies and TV and I love it, I heard the music part wasnt great but I will give it a try. Does it use ID3 tags?

[ChinBo37]

JRiver Media Center and JRemote do an excellent job of streaming externally, and can talk to most devices that you can stream to in your home. It would most likely replace MediaMonkey for you though.

 

All external streaming relies on having a method to locate the Internet address of your home music server, and being able to pass traffic through your firewall to that server. There are numerous ways to do that, which one is best for you depends upon your situation really.

 

-Paul

 

 

Thanks. Yes that is the frstrating part with MediaMonkey because I am doing all that. I am setting up for example, On the MediaMonkey side my server is set up to accept external connections, all the folders are shared correctly. a Port is allocated and opened on my Router. The folders are shared.

 

Using a popular DLNA/UPNP program for android like BubbleuPNP. I put all the inforamation of my my home server info, external IP address, port (which has been opened and tested). BubbleuPNP just cant connect properly. Same with using MediaMonkey from a Windows PC externally and adding my Media Monkey home server. It finds the server and adds it but it doesnt show any tracks.

 

These are problems I have seen replicated on their forums and I havent seen any definative answers, just things like, ya if it doesnt work know that in the next big update there will be additional support etc.

 

 

Its looking more and more like I will make the switch to JRiver. I might use plex as a temprorary solution as suggested by the poster above.

[Paul R]

Thanks. Yes that is the frstrating part with MediaMonkey because I am doing all that. I am setting up for example, On the MediaMonkey side my server is set up to accept external connections, all the folders are shared correctly. a Port is allocated and opened on my Router. The folders are shared.

 

Using a popular DLNA/UPNP program for android like BubbleuPNP. I put all the inforamation of my my home server info, external IP address, port (which has been opened and tested). BubbleuPNP just cant connect properly. Same with using MediaMonkey from a Windows PC externally and adding my Media Monkey home server. It finds the server and adds it but it doesnt show any tracks.

 

These are problems I have seen replicated on their forums and I havent seen any definative answers, just things like, ya if it doesnt work know that in the next big update there will be additional support etc.

 

 

Its looking more and more like I will make the switch to JRiver. I might use plex as a temprorary solution as suggested by the poster above.

 

Just as a guess, it sounds like a firewall on your computer or in Bubbleupnp is still blocking the ports you need access to. I know there is a setting in Bubbleupnp that you have to set to allow access from the internet, but I am unclear on where that might be in the current version.

 

Plex is also a very good choice. I use Plex and there are several options that make it more secure. I believe right now you can get a lifetime "Plexpass" for $149, which is a great deal. (Regularly $4.99/month or $39/year)

 

-Paul

[ChinBo37]

I went ahead and added my organized library to Plex. I just made sure to use Local Assets only. Works like a charm. Only problem is some covers arent showing I need to rename them to Cover (rather than manually adding them all).

 

No lossess streaming when streaming to the webplayer and Android app which is fine for parties or the car or whatever. There is lossless streaming to Plex HT. I will continue to use Media Monkey when I am at home.

 

However, I think I will make the switch to JRiver shortly. Its time.

[Cebolla]

Hi ChinBo37

 

For the BubbleUPnP Android app external/internet streaming method, you also need to be running the BubbleUPnP Server helper application on one of your networked machines.

 

It is the BubbleUPnP Server application that'll provide the BubbleUPnP Android app external access to the UPnP/DLNA media servers running on your home network. The "Allow to access server from the internet" box needs to be ticked in BubbleUPnP Servers's Network and Security tab settings:

BubbleUPnP Server

 

The BubbleUPnP Server Status tab page should allow you to test and indicate if it's been set correctly and is reachable from the internet:

BubbleUPnP Server

 

You also need to tick the "Make this server available in BubbleUPnP for Android" box, in BubbleUPnP Server's Media Servers tab settings, for every UPnP/DLNA media server on your network that you want available externally to the BubbleUPnP Android app - Media Monkey's presumably:

BubbleUPnP Server

 

Finally, you need to configure the (external) BubbleUPnP Android app to connect to the BubbleUPnP Server running on your home network over the internet:

BubbleUPnP Server

 

Hope this helps.

 

John

[ChinBo37]

 

 

 

John

 

 

 

Hi John,

 

Yes I wasnt sure if you needed the Bubble Server or not. I was trying without it. Maybe not with Bubble but from the MM support it would seem that it should be accessible externally with without a server (maybe with a different UPNP app).

 

Ill try it again based on your instructions.

[master]

Well I only have about 10K songs organized with about 3 times that unorganized, but really looking for a non-cloud solution.

 

I already use Plex for Movies and TV and I love it, I heard the music part wasnt great but I will give it a try. Does it use ID3 tags?

 

No idea about the ID3 tags. I use it only for movies. I stream music from a NAS which has it's own OS.

 

I went ahead and added my organized library to Plex. I just made sure to use Local Assets only. Works like a charm. Only problem is some covers arent showing I need to rename them to Cover (rather than manually adding them all).

 

No lossess streaming when streaming to the webplayer and Android app which is fine for parties or the car or whatever. There is lossless streaming to Plex HT. I will continue to use Media Monkey when I am at home.

 

However, I think I will make the switch to JRiver shortly. Its time.

 

I do believe lossless streaming should be possible. Plex lets your turn off transcoding for video... so a similar setting should be there for audio too.

 

As mentioned by Cebolla, BubbleUPnP server is also an excellent option. I've used that and MinimServer quite extensively for audio streaming, but most of it on a local network.