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how to use tablet pc to controll multiple pcs with jrmc
JimH:
Move the control interface to Gizmo on an Android.
Then use DLNA devices for playback. The JRiver ID would work. So would an Xbox or PS3 or many other DLNA Renderers.
I play music now with the TV off. I just turn on the receiver and start playback from a Samsung Galaxy Tab. I was using my Google Nexus One before that.
melkiades:
Melloware does a remote control app for the iPad/iPhone that is able to control MC. It can play playlists directly. If you set it to control each of your PC's you could have an easy multi room control, but I still think that it's way too geeky and that solutions like Cambridge Audio (which requires Ethernet wiring) or Sonos (which is wireless) are far more user-friendly. Having PC's with power supplies (too much wiring) lying around the house makes no sense to me. Would you put a PC in your bathroom? That's a big no-no! As for the other poster who suggested a Galaxy tab, it's not an option for me to have a device of such value dedicated to one function like music. What if you need it when music's playing?
Here's what I've done so far:
- wired 4 rooms in the house with Ethernet Cat. 5 cables
- in the computer room, I'm using Cambridge Audio's AH10 hub, connected to an ampli which is connected to my main PC
- the rooms that are not wired won't be, it's too late now. For those rooms I could use a wi-fi PC linked to MC's library server or a Sonos without any PC.
- for the wired rooms I can use Cambridge's KP10 in-wall device that has a 15 w ampli you can connect to speakers or a bypass connection that you can connect to your ampli. The KP10 allows you to switch between 6 different sources on the main hub.
- I can add more soundcards in the main PC if I want different music to play in each room.
All this is far more complicated than buying a Sonos system. Too bad Sonos won't connect to MC's playlists (you would have to export each and every one of them I guess since it reads m3u playlists)...hell, it can connect to crappy software from the competition, what the heck is JRiver waiting for to push its product to them?
cheers
alain
--- Quote from: MrHaugen on December 08, 2010, 03:14:04 am ---Yes, it would probably be better. It all depends. I love to have full client functionality on my HTPC. Could not do with simply DLNA client. But again, that is my living room. It does not matter much if I have a quiet PC there. But you do have plenty of alternatives. One of them is Squeezbox as a DLNA device, fast boot and playback. Other alternative is to equip the server with several sound cards or Sound Blaster surround cards with multiple stereo channels, and pull the audio cables directly to some speakers at each room.
In the long run, I plan on using small PC's in the bathroom, kitchen and other bedrooms. As long as I can get small enough PC's with good enough GPU's to handle the Theater View though. If not, I think I would try Zones, soundcards on the server as well as some remote pads or phones. It's also dependent of how long I can place the cables for audio and video. The apartment I'm living in now is not suited for good cable management, so I think I have to figure out a way to have small PC's on most locations.
I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to multi zones though. Just barely tried it yet. I've not used the server functions much before. It all ended up less than ideal at every attempt. But J River have made some great changes to the server lately, so I can finally start realizing my big plans. So I hope I can test them out soon :)
--- End quote ---
JimH:
Did you tell Sonos what you want?
For rooms without Ethernet wiring, consider using powerline Ethernet. Homeplug is the standard. It works fine for me. You just plug one adaptor into one power outlet and another into another outlet and usually you just have a network connection.
I just bought this Netgear Powerline AV+ pair but I've used others from Belkin and Linksys successfully.
melkiades:
Hi Jim,
Yes, the powerline Ethernet is an excellent idea, we just installed it at one of our clients recently and it works very well.
As for Sonos, we could ask them to look into MC. Maybe I should start a thread asking users here to pressure them.
I would think that it's J River's job to do so...
alain
--- Quote from: JimH on December 08, 2010, 09:35:29 am ---Did you tell Sonos what you want?
For rooms without Ethernet wiring, consider using powerline Ethernet. Homeplug is the standard. It works fine for me. You just plug one adaptor into one power outlet and another into another outlet and usually you just have a network connection.
I just bought this Netgear Powerline AV+ pair but I've used others from Belkin and Linksys successfully.
--- End quote ---
JimH:
--- Quote from: melkiades on December 08, 2010, 12:21:36 pm ---As for Sonos, we could ask them to look into MC. Maybe I should start a thread asking users here to pressure them.
I would think that it's J River's job to do so...
--- End quote ---
I think it's always more effective if their own customers are asking for a feature.
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