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[gryffe]

Hi,

I am playing music over the network to a Chord 2go streamer. The music I am playing are on SD cards that are housed in micro usb slots on the 2Go. One thing I've noticed though is that some files that are 24 bit only appear to be 16 bit. I can see this when I hover over the now playing track. Is this something that can be amended in settings somewhere. Thanks in advance.

[theriverlethe]

What does AudioPath say?

[gryffe]

Hi, it says "Not using JRiver audio engine".

[theriverlethe]

It should just be outputting the original file, then. JRiver usually processes at 64-bits and then outputs the original bit-depth or whatever it thinks your audio interface can handle, but if it's going over DLNA you likely don't have it set to do anything.

[theriverlethe]

Where does it actually say 24-bit or 16-bit? I don't see bit-depth in JRiver except in AudioPath or if I enable the bit-depth column in the bottom panel.

[RoderickGI]

Hi, it says "Not using JRiver audio engine".

Display of the Audio Path for DLNA playback was added in MC26.0.51. Update to the latest version, MC26.0.90 to use it.

If MC is actually transcoding to 16 bit for DLNA playback, it is because you have told it to. Check your MC DLNA Server settings. If you set the Audio Mode to "Original' mc will send the original, untouched file.

I can see this when I hover over the now playing track.

Hovering over a file in Playing Now will show the original file information, not what is being sent to a DLNA Renderer.

[Scobie]

You'll only see the transcode information for DLNA if your server is set to "Specified Output Format", otherwise it will show what you're seeing.

It may be it is set to "Specified Only when necessary" and is being told to transcode 24 bit to 16 for the file type in question.

[gryffe]

Hi RoderickGI, theriverlethe and Scobie, thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.

I have updated to MC26 but still see "Not using JRiver audio engine" when looking at Audio path (see screenshot)

I can see the bit depth of the song by hovering over The Playing Now view. You can see from the size of the file (210mb) and the sample rate (96khz) that this song should be 24bit, but shows as 16bit (see screenshot)

I have tried changing "Specified Only when necessary" in Audio Mode to be "Specified Output Format" or "Original", but when I do that it does not give me the option to save and so it reverts back to "Specified Only when necessary" (see all 3 screenshots)

I'm sure I must be doing some silly, so thank you for helping me to try and resolve this.

Edit - turns out I can't attach screenshots, says they are too large!!??

[RoderickGI]

Make your screenshots smaller with any image editor. Or make smaller screenshots. https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,125612.msg870781.html#msg870781

Make sure you click OK to exit the Options dialogues, so that changes are saved. If thy are saved you must be cancelling out of them, or clicking the X close in the top right corner.

The Audio Path should show whenever transcoding is happening. https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,125100.msg867128.html#msg867128

[gryffe]

Thanks for reply RoderickGI

This is what I'm seeing when in the Add or Configure DLNA servers screen - see screenshot. I'm assuming my Chord 2Go is just a generic DLNA server? If it is not, you can see from the screenshot it is not in the list of servers that can be added.

Assuming the Chord 2Go is a generic DNLA server : As regards saving the Audio mode to "Specified Output Format", I have to click the X close in the top right corner. This is the only way I get the chance to save the changes. But even when I select "save" it does not apply the change to "Specified Output Format", it just reverts back to "Specified Only when necessary"

Thanks

[Scobie]

"Generic DLNA Server" is just a template of settings, that one is a catch all in that it will work with most devices. Once you have done this you associate your renderer with the server settings you have tweaked.

If you Add the server and OK, you should be able to go back and change any of the settings. While you're playing around you could also try using the Audiophile 24-bit DAC and see if that works for you.

[RoderickGI]

I am playing music over the network to a Chord 2go streamer. The music I am playing are on SD cards that are housed in micro usb slots on the 2Go.

I'm not sure where to start...

The Chord 2Go is both a DLNA Server and a DLNA Renderer, according to their site. All the advice above was assuming that the Chord 2Go was acting as a DLNA Renderer, and that MC was acting as a DLNA Server and Controller. However, we missed the highlighted part of your first post above. The music is on the Chord 2Go, so unless those SD cards in the Chord 2Go are visible to Windows (are you using MC on Windows?), then MC won't have been able to import then files as normal, and if that is the case, MC probably isn't acting as a DLNA Renderer, but is probably only acting as a DLNA Controller.

You need to read up on DLNA a bit. Start here: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/DLNA  That is a bit out of date, but isn't bad. Google will help a whole lot more.

Are you using the Chord 2Go to play wirelessly to a Hugo 2 DAC/Headphone Amplifier or similar?
I thought you had a Cambridge Audio CXV v2 network streamer, that you streamed to from MC?

Given the location of the music you are playing, I'm just not sure how you have your environment set up. You could be running these components as:

{Chord 2Go acting as a DLNA Server, serving files from SD cards} > {MC importing from the Chord 2Go DLNA Server, then acting as a DLNA Server and Controller} > {Chord 2Go acting as a DLNA Renderer} > {Hugo 2 DAC/Headphone Amplifier} > {Headphones}

Or:

{SD cards on Chord 2Go acting as mapped drives visible to Windows} > {MC imports file from SD card and acts as a DLNA Server and Controller} > {Chord 2Go acting as a DLNA Renderer} > {Hugo 2 DAC/Headphone Amplifier} > {Headphones}

In which case, the DLNA Server settings in MC matter, and will make a difference.


But if you are running your environment as:

{Chord 2Go acting as a DLNA Server, serving files from SD cards} > {Chord 2Go acting as a DLNA Renderer} > {Hugo 2 DAC/Headphone Amplifier} > {Headphones}
                                       ^
             {MC acting as a DLNA Controller}

Then the DLNA Server settings in MC don't matter at all and will make no difference to playback.



So I guess you need to explain how you have set up your environment.

[AndrewFG]

{Chord 2Go acting as a DLNA Server, serving files from SD cards} > {Chord 2Go acting as a DLNA Renderer} > {Hugo 2 DAC/Headphone Amplifier} > {Headphones}
                                       ^
             {MC acting as a DLNA Controller}

^ looks to me like the OP has the above setup; the Chord is serving the tracks to itself and MC is only acting as a Control Point; so the tracks will play at full 24 bit resolution, but will appear in MC as 16 bit tracks because the Chord is probably exposing its library to MC in L16 (pcm 16 bit) format. So, if anything, the “solution” will be to tweak some setting in the Chord, and tweaking MC DLNA server settings will definitely not be the solution.

[gryffe]

Thanks AndrewFG and RoderickGI.

So looks like MC is playing 24 bit tracks after all, that's good enough for me as I'm not sure if I would know how to tweak the Chord, or if that is a possibility anyway!

One thing I've noticed is that MC is not showing albums that are stored inside a folder on the SD card in the Chord Go2. eg I have a folder for Electronic music on the SD card but they are not visible to MC, I can only see albums that are not grouped in a folder, they are just on the root of the card(if that is the right terminology?). Is there a setting I can tweak in MC to allow the albums in the Electronic folder
 to be visible?

Thanks

[AndrewFG]

So looks like MC is playing 24 bit tracks after all, that's good enough for me as I'm not sure if I would know how to tweak the Chord, or if that is a possibility anyway!

Perhaps I need to make it clearer: We don’t think that MC is playing anything. We suspect that your Chord is exposing a view of its music library to MC. You are browsing the library in MC and choosing tracks which MC then instructs the Chord to play. i.e. the Chord is playing to itself. The test of this hypothesis would be to tell the Chord to play a long track, and then disconnect your PC from the Internet, and see what happens.

[theriverlethe]

I didn’t even realize that was possible. I can’t think of a practical application, but interesting nonetheless.

[AndrewFG]

... I can’t think of a practical application, but interesting nonetheless.

Err. I guess the practical application is what the OP is doing. Or??

[theriverlethe]

Why store files on one device and feed them through the network back to the same device without alteration? Even if you have a music server using JRiver, Roon, LMS, etc., it makes more sense to directly interface with the server and send them to the player.

[gryffe]

Perhaps I need to make it clearer: We don’t think that MC is playing anything. We suspect that your Chord is exposing a view of its music library to MC. You are browsing the library in MC and choosing tracks which MC then instructs the Chord to play. i.e. the Chord is playing to itself. The test of this hypothesis would be to tell the Chord to play a long track, and then disconnect your PC from the Internet, and see what happens.

Aah ok, every day is a school day.

TBH, I am more than happy with the job that MC is doing with the 2Go. The Go2 comes with a rudimentary app with no ability to view what is on the SD cards, and I was just looking for a complimentary app to be able to view the contents of the SD cards. Chord themselves point users towards BubbleUpnp or 8 player. But I realised I could also use MC on the laptop, as would rather use laptop than android phone to view the music.

So it's all good.

Thanks to everybody for helping, I've learned quite a bit along the way!

[AndrewFG]

Why store files on one device and feed them through the network back to the same device without alteration?

That is precisely NOT what he is doing! The files are on the device, and the device is playing them, so they remain on the device. And nothing is being transferred over the network (other than the UPNP Browse() calls, and the Renderer Control commands).

[theriverlethe]

So the DLNA server is addressing the renderer on loopback?

[RoderickGI]

So the DLNA server is addressing the renderer on loopback?

Which DLNA Server are you referring to?

If you are referring to the third configuration I documented, which Andrew has been referring to, the MC DLNA Server isn't involved. MC is acting only as a DLNA Controller. Files are not sent to a DLNA Controller as part of the playback process. The MC DLNA Controller just tells the Chord 2Go DLNA Renderer which files to play, and the Chord 2Go DLNA Renderer then requests those files directly from the Chord 2Go DLNA Server and then plays them.

This is why I said "Then the DLNA Server settings in MC don't matter at all and will make no difference to playback", which Andrew has reinforced, "tweaking MC DLNA server settings will definitely not be the solution".


The Chord 2Go DLNA Server and Chord 2Go DLNA Renderer are just two processes running on the one device. I wouldn't call communication between them a loopback.


But honestly, we don't know which configuration gryffe is running, because any of them are possible. We would have to see how the MC Library, Media Network, Auto Import, and probably a few other things are set up before we could say.

[theriverlethe]

I was referring to the third scenario where MC only acts as controller. Server and renderer are both on the Chord, but would the TCP packets be routed on the device itself or have to go through WIFI/ethernet? It doesn't matter for the final result, I guess.

[RoderickGI]

That's probably a question for a Network Engineer.

However, I suspect the device would know when packets were being sent to itself, and just use the internal IP Address. That's what most network devices do, I think. The device can operate as a Wi-Fi Hotspot, allowing the Hugo 2 and configuration software on a mobile phone to connect to it even when there is no LAN available, so it must be quite network capable. I guess using the internal IP Address might be considered a loopback.

[AndrewFG]

I was referring to the third scenario where MC only acts as controller. Server and renderer are both on the Chord, but would the TCP packets be routed on the device itself or have to go through WIFI/ethernet? It doesn't matter for the final result, I guess.

As you say, it doesn’t matter. (But personally if I designed a device to play music from an SD card, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t use TCP to do it).

[AndrewFG]

PS please read this document..

https://openconnectivity.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/UPnP-av-AVArchitecture-v1-20020622.pdf