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Author Topic: Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function  (Read 4341 times)

wewill

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Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function
« on: March 26, 2016, 11:20:52 am »

I would appreciate some advice on the best method for remotely controlling JRiver MC (MC) in my home theater.

Here is my current setup:  MC is running on my desktop PC (Windows 7) in my home office.  I have a new Denon X4200W AVR in my home theater; the Denon has a Media Player mode.  The Denon AVR and my PC are networked via Ethernet hardwire through a new LYNKSYS WRT 1900AC gigabit router.  Using the network, I can play audio from my office PC through the Denon AVR in my home theater.

I would like to buy a tablet for my home theater and use it to select and play music from my office PC into my home theater.  The tablet would be wirelessly connected to my network. 

After reading many posts on this forum, it seems I have at least two approaches for this remote control application.

First, I could buy a tablet that runs Windows as the OS and download a full version of MC onto the tablet.  I would use the tablet as the client and the PC as the server.  I believe this approach is called “Tremote” and perhaps (although not sure) I would run the tablet MC in Theater View.

The alternative is to buy a tablet that runs an Android OS and download JRemote.  I don’t know if I would be giving up important functionality in using JRemote vs. Tremote.

What I am looking for in the remote function is a smooth and responsive selection of an album, song or playlist for playback in my home theater.  I would like to see the album cover art, and the song title, on my display in the theater.  I plan to continue to maintain MC on my desktop PC.

Questions:  Have I outlined two viable approaches?  If so, is one preferable to the other? Is there another alternative that would be better? (I am holding off buying the tablet until the issue of the OS is resolved.)

Thank you for any advice you can give me.
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blgentry

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Re: Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2016, 08:27:47 am »

I have no experience with TRemote or windows based tablets, so I can't speak to the experience of using one.  I suspect it would be awkward, as MC is NOT designed as a touch screen application.

I've use JRemote on an ipad and it's a very nice experience.  JRemote on Android is similar, but not exactly the same; it has a lot of fans.  Gizmo is FREE for android and is a decent remote, though not nearly as polished as JRemote.  You can try it for free if you have an android phone or tablet of course.

EOS remote is another android based remote for JRiver, and it's quite nice.  I think it's very much worth the $5 it costs to buy.  It has a free version, which let's you run EOS, but it won't let you make any changes or play any files.  So you can use it's interface, all the way up the point of playback, just to see how it works.  I like it.

Brian.
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imugli

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Re: Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function
« Reply #2 on: March 28, 2016, 05:10:42 pm »

Both your suggestions are viable, so no problem there.

As Brian has suggested, there are 3 (Gizmo, Eos (which does TV streaming to device as well), and JRemote) options available on Android, so simply by weight of choice of apps, I'd lean towards Android. JRemote and Eos are also available on iOS though, if that's an option for you.

DJLegba

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Re: Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function
« Reply #3 on: March 28, 2016, 06:37:00 pm »

I have Gizmo on my Android phone and JRemote on the phone and also on an iPad. I prefer JRemote on iOS when using it as a remote to control playback from the MC computer. JRemote on iOS will let you view associated material (such as a PDF booklet) when playing an album. JRemote on Android does not have this fantastic feature yet.

For a while a was plugging external speakers into my phone or iPad to have "portable" audio while BBQing or exercising, for example. My inexpensive Android phone will only play mp3, but this isn't a problem as MC will transcode my FLAC files (and even my DSD files) to mp3 automatically when I play them through Gizmo or JRemote. Gizmo will buffer up to 10 tracks, which is great if your WiFi signal is weak. Out on the patio JRemote on my Android phone will play one track and then stop. Gizmo will play the whole album or playlist. JRemote on iOS seems to handle a weak WiFi signal a little better, but while my phone is always available to me, sometimes someone else is using the iPad. And when JRemote is playing through the iPad I sometimes encounter a format it tries to play but cannot. I could have reconfigured things to always transcode to mp3, but I just found it more convenient to use Gizmo and play through my Android phone in most situations.

My problem with Gizmo is that it can be difficult to find a specific track. I have a lot of Beethoven in my collection, and many different performances of the same piece. Perhaps I don't know the best way to use Gizmo, but it's a lot easier for me to find specific material using JRemote. So I bought a Chromecast Audio device. If you follow the clear setup instructions at computeraudiophile.com the CCA will appear as a zone in JRiver. Now I can use JRemote to control playback through the CCA when I'm outside on the patio, with the additional benefit that the CCA will play natively up to 96/24 - not that it makes a difference when listening through crudly Altec Lansing powered speakers, but it makes me feel better. The CCA device works very well on the patio where playback through JRemote Android did not.

So there are situations where Gizmo is the clear winner (if you're not prepared to also buy Chromecast Audio) and others where JRemote is superior. For sitting in front of the audio system or home theatre and controlling playback, my choice is JRemote on the iPad.

BTW, I bricked my iPad last week with the iOS 9.3 "update". I could revive it by reinstalling and then buying JRemote again (I've never done a backup of the iPad because I have all of one purchased app and I don't have any data I need on the iPad), but I'm choosing to wait until Apple releases some fix. If I didn't have a viable alternative to JRemote on the iPad I would not have hesitated to reinstall and repurchase JRemote, because remote control of my MC computers is essential.

If I had a Windows tablet that was capable of running JRiver I'd probably use that as my remote. From time to time when listening I'll see an album that has some obvious tagging errors. If I could fix them at the time I would, but JRemote only gives you access to the tags that already have values, and editing them is clumsy. So I wait until I'm back at my desktop computer, and by then I may have forgotten what to fix. If I had a JRiver client I'd fix the tags right away. I downloaded the Remote Desktop app for the iPad, but it's really awkward to use. However, if I really had to I could update the tags that way.
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blgentry

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Re: Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function
« Reply #4 on: March 28, 2016, 06:52:35 pm »

Interesting stories and thoughts.  See below for more...

If I had a Windows tablet that was capable of running JRiver I'd probably use that as my remote. From time to time when listening I'll see an album that has some obvious tagging errors. If I could fix them at the time I would, but JRemote only gives you access to the tags that already have values, and editing them is clumsy.

I haven't tried this on JRemote.  But EOS lets you see all tags with values and lets you edit the big 5.  It seems straight forward enough, but I have only played with it to test it.

Brian.
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AndrewFG

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Re: Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function
« Reply #5 on: March 29, 2016, 03:22:16 am »


PS MC also has a regular web UI that enables you to can browse and play from any web browser on any platform, so you can use a really basic tablet without spending $$ on a high end device.
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senojhrj1

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Re: Need Help In Choosing A Remote Function
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2016, 07:58:51 am »

The best, cleanest, best-looking and most intuitive remote is JRemote, in my opinion.  Since I am an IOS user, I prefer the JRemote for IOS.

I have iPhone and iPad JRemote versions using with Windows 7 and Windows 10 computers running JRiver.  I use JRemote for audio and video.  JRemote does not restrict your use of IOS devices for other functions such as texts, calls, and surfing while using the IOS device as a remote.

You can also cast to Chromecast devices.  I cast to a Chromecast Audio device connected to powered speakers in my home office from my iPhone 6s Plus. Here is a tutorial from Computer Audiophile for using JRemote and Chromecast audio.
http://www.computeraudiophile.com/content/685-streaming-around-globe-or-around-home-jriver-media-center/
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