PS Audio Bridge Beta Testing

[silverlight]

Paul McGowan suggests the netgear router I mentioned a few posts up to connect a USB drive rather than a dedicated NAS. Of course he's most excited about their upcoming NAS solution given they're customizing the software in some way which will optimize file access, ripping, etc.

 

Interestingly, and as a total aside, I did read a post on their forums last night when doing a little research where Paul said he did hear better quality sound from a WAV file than from ALAC and FLAC. He believes it has to do with the on the fly conversion based on his tests, so it's one of the items they're going to target to solve. So in the meantime they were able to add with their software (not sure if it's in the bridge firmware or their upcoming software library management tool, the ability to store artwork and tags associated with WAV files).

 

[reverendo]

I have the Netgear router with USB input... the DGND 3300...

now I'm even more interested

 

[catastrofe]

The Netgear is a great solution if you don't already have a router. My DSL modem is also a router, so purchasing an additional router (and making it work) is not practical for me.

 

[vortecjr]

Bob, I have arranged to offer you a demo Vortexbox unit. The unit is a 1TB NAS that will also auto rip cds and does not need a mouse, keyboard or monitor to function. The unit is DLNA and has the Twonky app available and should work with the PS Audio Bridge. All comments on the integration are welcomed and I would help you with any setup questions.

 

Let me know if you’re interested!

 

Jesus R

www.sonore.us

 

PS for kicks we could also get it to play via usb in the dac:)

 

 

[reverendo]

silverlight,

is there a software inside the PWD which could work with the Netgear router?

best regards

 

[Audio_ELF]

Who's Bob?

 

[catastrofe]

Me!

 

[Audio_ELF]

I should have known Bob would be a catastrofe...

 

:-)

 

Eloise

 

[kana813]

reverendo-

 

Suggest you read:

 

http://www.psaudio.com/uploads/files/Digital_Audio_Primer.pdf

 

[catastrofe]

That's Major Catastrofe!!

 

[catastrofe]

The server software (Twonky, Asset, etc.) resides either on your host computer, or in some cases, integrated within a NAS. If integrated into your NAS, you theoretically don't even need a computer. However, if you plan to rip CDs and/or download files from the internet, you would need one or you would need some other means of doing this (Vortexbox, RipNas, etc.).

 

The controller software is an iTunes application, but it doesn't need to reside on the computer (if there is one) running the server software.

 

The Bridge contains firmware and DAC codec software.

 

Hope this helps. . .

 

 

 

[reverendo]

thanks for the links and info

I just read it and still have a few questions. Here is my current situation:

I have a uPnP router, the Netgear 3300 which should be enough for this task, since I would use it wired to the Bridge.

What I don't get is how the files will be able to be played through the Bridge. The external HDD from Iomega that I have would have the information (music files), but how would they be able to be played without a computer? Does the router have the ability to do that?

Hope someone can help me out.

best regards

 

[Audio_ELF]

@reverendo

 

Your router is UPnP ... but UPnP is not the same as being a UPnP AV server which is what you need. With your setup you'll either need to use a computer running a UPnP server (Asset or Twonky or others), or purchase a NAS device which supports UPnP AV.

 

Eloise

 

[reverendo]

Eloise,

thanks for the swift answer.

Is the Netgear 3700 working without a computer or is it mostly the same thing that I have?

best regards

Andre

 

[Audio_ELF]

As far as I can see the specs of the Netgear 3700 don't include a UPnP AV server. I would assume any attached HDD would just be accessed by standard windows file sharing which won't work with the PS Audio Bridge.

 

Personally I would look at something like Netgear ReadyNAS Duo, or a Atom based nettop PC running Windows and Asset UPnP Server.

 

Eloise

 

[kana813]

If you read this:

 

http://www.psaudio.com/uploads/files/Digital_Audio_Primer.pdf

 

you'll see that the Netgear WNDR3700 router comes with server software that will work with the PSAudio TagnPlay app, Bridge and PWD.

 

PSAudio recommends the Netgear WNDR3700 and uses it to demo at audio shows.

 

If you're interested in the Brdige,I suggest you check out

the discussions at:

 

http://www.psaudio.com/ps/forum/viewforum/6/

 

I hope to have my Bridge this week,and will be using the Netgear WNDR3700 and WD HD.

 

[CharlyD]

The primer you linked is going to give PS Audio some severe headaches. A UPnP router means that it inlcudes port forwarding to allow sevices on external networks to access devices (e.g. the Bridge) on the internal network. The Netgear site never explicitly claims that the WNDR3700 contains a UPnP server. I'm guessing that it does as the primer claims all that's needed is the router with a connected USB drive. As Eloise described, there must be a UPnP media server on the same network as the Bridge. This server could be implemented on a computer with Twonky or Asset or via a NAS (or router I guess) which contains the server.

 

[kana813]

PS Audio's CEO says the WNDR3700 will work, so it obviously contains a UPnP server.

 

Later this year,PS Audio plans to come out with their own NAS and server software.

 

 

 

[catastrofe]

The WNDR3700 is not a server, it's a UPnP compatible router. There is no UPnP server software contained in this device. . .you would still need a computer running Twonky or something similar.

 

[catastrofe]

Thanks Jesus. I'd love to demo the Vortexbox with the Bridge. . .thanks so much for the generous offer. I'll try to give it a thorough evaluation.

 

Best,

 

Bob

 

[kana813]

catastrofe-

 

How come PS Audio's CEO says it works, and they use it without

and any PC at Audio Shows?

 

I'll have one here along with the Bridge this week, if it works will you donate a $100. to my favorite charity?

 

 

[Audio_ELF]

kana813...

 

Doing a little more googling you appear correct in that the WNDR3700 does have a UPnP/DNLA Server built in...

 

Having said that I would suspect Twonky (on PC or NAS) or Asset (on Windows PC) would be more flexible.

 

Eloise

 

[catastrofe]

I stand corrected. . .I acutally had a conversation (that I forgot I had) with Paul about this unit on the Beta Blog. He recommended it along with external USB storage as a substitute for a NAS. It's hell getting old!!

 

My apologies. . .

 

 

 

[reverendo]

Can anyone tell me if the DNLA Server in the 3700 is more software (which would make me hope that future firmware updates might pop up for my DGND3300) or hardware related?

best regards

 

[Audio_ELF]

As far as I can see there's not USB connection on the 3300 so would be no way to attach a HDD so any DNLA / UPnP server would be pointless.

 

Eloise