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[dpaine]

Before I spend the money on this SW I want to confirm that it will indeed play music in other "zones" in my house. I am looking to be able to control the music player and tell it to play in the upstairs bedroom, or play in the living rooms downstairs. I have heard this is one of the main features but have not seen any documentation on the main website.

Also, if this is possible, what hardware is needed. I have a main server PC but what is needed link my upstairs speakers to the server so it can play in that zone.

Thank you,

Dan

[rpalmer68]

Yes this is possible, I used to have an m-audio Delta 1010LT card in my PC and with this I was running my main zone (Via the SPDIF) and 3 other zones (Via the analogue outputs on the card).

All zones were controlled via MC on the PC, in my case using software called Netremote, but now there is a web interface to MC so you could control it from your iPhone or Win Mobile phone if you wanted!

You could also have uPnP or DLNA devices in different rooms all loading their music from the MC Library Server, and each devices can have their own views/menu structure defined on the server the way you want.. which is what I have now in the kids rooms.  Their audio menu only shows their music so they can find it easily.

Depending on your house layout and existing wiring, DLNA boxes may work out better than running audio feeds from the PC to each room as these boxes only need a network connection, which could be wireless if needed.

If you want to run all the zones from the PC, then in  terms of hardware required to run multiple zones, an audio card with multiple outputs is ideal, but you can also use the onboard audio plus an audio card or two if you prefer.

No doubt others will give you their experiences during the course of the day, but I hope this helps,

Richard

[dpaine]

Thank you for your reply!!

I was looking and I think for my situation, the uPNP device might be best. This is what I am thinking I would do since I have a computer running downstairs with speakers attached.

1. Get a uPNP server - something like this... http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-Network-UPnP-PRINT-SCANNER-HDD-Media-Server-NEW-/320527379724?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa0ebad0c

2. The connect the uPNP server through my router and them plug in some USB speakers to the uPNP server.

3. Then I should be able to play J River media center and then I can switch between the USB speakers and the sound card on my PC and have two different zones.

Does this sound like it will work?

[JimH]

I don't think so.  It looks like a server.  MC might be able to play files _from_ it, but probably not to it.

[dpaine]

What hardware do you suggest I use to do this? My pc does have a sound card but no room for an additional card that does multiple zones. Or can I get a USB audio card that does multiple zones?

[jmone]

Jim - wouldn't your new "ID" but the go http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=55888.50.

OP would have one PC,
- Zone 1 = Sound Card
- Zone 2 = ID + Speakers (with amplification of course)
- etc

Would just need a wireless nw....

[JimH]

Take a look here:  http://wiki.jrmediacenter.com/index.php/DLNA

[rpalmer68]

Thank you for your reply!!

I was looking and I think for my situation, the uPNP device might be best. This is what I am thinking I would do since I have a computer running downstairs with speakers attached.

1. Get a uPNP server - something like this... http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-2-0-Network-UPnP-PRINT-SCANNER-HDD-Media-Server-NEW-/320527379724?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa0ebad0c

2. The connect the uPNP server through my router and them plug in some USB speakers to the uPNP server.

3. Then I should be able to play J River media center and then I can switch between the USB speakers and the sound card on my PC and have two different zones.

Does this sound like it will work?

As mentioned you don't need a DLNA Server, just a DLNA player or renderer.  I'd try to get  a renderer because then MC can control it and push the music to it.

The "ID" box suggested looks ike a nice little unit that would do what you want assuming you haeva  wireless network in the house.

What you need to think about is how you are going to access your music library.  When you're in the bedroom how are you going to browse the library to decide on what to play?

 I use a DMLA player that has a small 4 line LCD display on it, I can browse the library and select what I want from the unit without having to worry about remotes.  It;s only for the kids so it's a small mono unit and I can't connect it to external speakers.  But there are other DLNA units with displays that can feed external speakers/amps etc.

Or you can use the webremote and push it to a DLNA renderer (like the JR "ID" box) or you could use a WD Live type box and have a small LCD screen connected to it so you can browse your library and not only play music but also video etc as well....

At the end of the day the options are "alomost" limitless as MC gives you several ways to achieve what you want to... and more...

Richard

[dpaine]

Thank you everyone.

Richard,

It sounds like I could just use the DLNA Renderer since I will control the music with my iphone. I just want to be able to play the music in different zones. I am not familiar with this hardware and didnt find much at all when I did a google search. Where can I buy the DLNA Renderer and any other hardware needed?

Thanks

[rpalmer68]

Thank you everyone.

Richard,

It sounds like I could just use the DLNA Renderer since I will control the music with my iphone. I just want to be able to play the music in different zones. I am not familiar with this hardware and didnt find much at all when I did a google search. Where can I buy the DLNA Renderer and any other hardware needed?

Thanks

At the moment it seems quite hard to work out what is a player and what is a renderer as most specs just say DLNA (or sometimes only uPnP which may mean DLNA or may not!) and give no more details.

Any box that doesn't have a screen or a video output would have to be a render I'd say as there is no other way of controlling it, but to be safe I'd probably go with the  JRiver ID box as this is a renderer and you'd just connect that to a set of powered speakers or a small amp and your wireless network. 

Or the WD HD Live box I believe is a renderer as well, there is a whole thread on this unit in the Other Hardware board.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=735

This unit is wired and would also give you the option of playing video and a theater view like interface in the future should your needs change.

It's a minefield out there at the moment as DLNA is still pretty new really and until they start added "DLNA Player" or "DLNA Renderer" to the specs I'm not sure there i any sure waht of knowing what the unit it.

Richard
 

[dpaine]

Ok thanks. I think the ID box would be best and easiest but I don't think you can buy them yet.