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[JohnT]

We've done some interesting work in the DLNA and WebPlay area in the last couple of builds.  We think tonight's build should be pretty clean so please try it out.  

Here are three new capabilities:

1.  DSP capability has been added to the conversion chain so that replay gain will be active if you have run audio analysis on your library.  This greatly reduces the problem of having some tracks play very soft and others playing very loud.  

2.  All tracks are seekable now, whether they are being converted or not - previously only unconverted content would allow seeking.  Now you can play all your ape, flac, and wma tracks with full control to any device.

3.  Re-sampling during conversion is now possible, providing better device support.  For example, some devices sound bad playing 44.1khz audio, but work well with 48khz.  

See the Network options dialog under "DLNA Server" for settings.

[jmone]

I Did some more WebPlay testing on my WinMo 6.5 HTC HD2 device...Slight changes from last post:

Generic DLNA set to "Convert Unsupported File Types to MP3"
1) ASX Playlists & WMP: These playlists are not opening in Windows Media Player with the usual "Cannot play any items in the playlist".  Error detail is "Cannot play the file.  The file is either corrupted or the Player does not support the format you are trying to play". 
2) M3U/ASX Playlists & Coreplayer: These playlists are opening fine in CorePlayer.  Playlists of MP3 Files play fine with Coverart and are in the same bit rate as is on the sever.  Playlists with WMA Lossless files are now much faster to start each track....no real lag at all.  There is "Blip" between tracks however.  There is no coverart or meta data for anything that has been transcoded. 

Generic DLNA set to "Never Convert"
1) ASX Playlists & WMP: These playlists are not opening in Windows Media Player with a new error! "Cannot play the file because the playlist is not valid".   
2) M3U/ASX Playlists & Coreplayer: These playlists are NOT opening in CorePlayer.  It just does nothing (no error, just nothing). 


Other comments:
1) I assume it uses the "Generic DLNA Profile", but at some point you may like a WebPlay.
2) Why convert files that are supported?  My WinMo likes WMA (incl WMA Lossless) just fine
3) eg answering Point 2 with Point 1 - Like with HH I may way the option to "convert unsupported formats & high bit rates"

Thanks
Nathan

[Alex B]

Currently I use DLNA mostly for "pushing" audio to another PC & MC instance.

The only conversion format that seems to work is MP3. Even MP3 has a problem because when one of the built-in conversion settings is set (I have tried CBR 320 kbps and VBR High) the converted stream is reported to be 256 kbps on the receiving MC instance (or is this only a display issue?).

Ideally I would like to convert everything to uncompressed wav or some lossless format in order to be able to use Replay Gain and avoid lossy to lossy transcoding (my media library contains new lossless files and old lossy files in various formats). Bandwidth is not an issue on my wired LAN.

EDIT

Actually I don't think Replay Gain is available. The DLNA server options show only the resample to 44.1 and 48 kHz settings and also the regular DSP window is ineffective when I try to change any of the settings in the remote Playing Now view. (I.e. when the active PN view shows the list for the remote MC instance that reveives and outputs the stream.)

[JohnT]

The only conversion format that seems to work is MP3. Even MP3 has a problem because when one of the built-in conversion settings is set (I have tried CBR 320 kbps and VBR High) the converted stream is reported to be 256 kbps on the receiving MC instance (or is this only a display issue?).

To support seeking, we need to enforce CBR mode.  The user interface for setting up the encoding options needs some work.

Ideally I would like to convert everything to uncompressed wav or some lossless format in order to be able to use Replay Gain and avoid lossy to lossy transcoding (my media library contains new lossless files and old lossy files in various formats). Bandwidth is not an issue on my wired LAN.

Did you try using "Uncompressed Wave" for the transcoding?

Actually I don't think Replay Gain is available. The DLNA server options show only the resample to 44.1 and 48 kHz settings and also the regular DSP window is ineffective when I try to change any of the settings in the remote Playing Now view. (I.e. when the active PN view shows the list for the remote MC instance that reveives and outputs the stream.)

We've selected replay gain to always be in effect for files undergoing conversion or re-sampling.  The user interface may need some tweaking in the area of DSP.

[Alex B]

To support seeking, we need to enforce CBR mode.  The user interface for setting up the encoding options needs some work.

Oh, I see. I think you should provide an option to adjust the CBR bitrate. If lossy to lossy transcoding is unavoidable because of HW or other limitations then 320 kbps would be the least bad option.

Did you try using "Uncompressed Wave" for the transcoding?

As I said, it does not work. I attached a screenshot and logs. During the logging I tried to play some files on a remote MC instance. The conversion was set to "Always convert & Uncompressed Wave" The screenshot is from the remote MC (= renderer).

Also the Musepack and Ogg Vorbis settings do not work. Only "Never convert" and MP3 conversion can be used.

We've selected replay gain to always be in effect for files undergoing conversion or re-sampling.  The user interface may need some tweaking in the area of DSP.

It should be optional and adjustable.

[bob]

Oh, I see. I think you should provide an option to adjust the CBR bitrate. If lossy to lossy transcoding is unavoidable because of HW or other limitations then 320 kbps would be the least bad option.

Agreed. Ideally it should be LPCM wave but there are some supposedly DLNA compatible devices that don't support it.

As I said, it does not work. I attached a screenshot and logs. During the logging I tried to play some files on a remote MC instance. The conversion was set to "Always convert & Uncompressed Wave" The screenshot is from the remote MC (= renderer).

I've been testing it by using renderers like the WDTV, PS3 and Xbox 360. I'll check MC to MC.

Also the Musepack and Ogg Vorbis settings do not work. Only "Never convert" and MP3 conversion can be used.

The Musepack and Ogg Vorbis settings really should be removed. It's a very rare device that even supports Ogg.
Right now, I believe you need to use "always convert" to get the DSP involved. It really doesn't make a lot of sense to only use the DSP on files one is converting in "convert when necessary" since it then moots the point of replay gain.

It should be optional and adjustable.

Another vote against my KISS approach