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[joetiii]

So I am a newbie looking to expand my ability to play digital music thru my HiFi system. Currently, all my music files are on a PC in my home office PC upstairs. I use itunes and share out my playlists on my downstairs PC through wifi. Unfortunately, I can only play music in my living room. My kitchen is a separate system completely and I am considering getting a Sonus Connect that will allow me to play music on both systems. I will be putting my music files on my WD Hard drive which has an ethernet connection to my Network and will share out thru wifi. A Sonus app will allow me to control music through my tablet.

I just discovered JRiver MC and am in awe at how much it offers. I am on trial right now and am just learning so please bear with me.

My first question is can I load my full MC version on my tablet while storing music on my remote HD?

If so, then I assume I can bring my tablet anywhere in the house and play music through Sonus Connect, no?

If not, and I have to use webgizmo, how can I accomplish this without having to keep my PC always on upstairs?

Second question, if I want to take tunes on the road to my camp and hook up to my HiFi there, do I have to load my JR playlists on the tablet and play through the music player on the tablet. (currently using Twist) or does JRiver have a better app mobile app for that?

Any chance I can access my HD music files from a remote location or is that just asking too much?

thanks

joe

[eddyshere]

A lot of questions. The short answer is yes this will work but you'll have to hang in there as your questions go far beyond MC and what you try to achieve will be difficult if you are a newbie but it's feasible.
So here goes for a start : full version on your tablet :yes actually you'll be able to browse and play through your MC library and play whatever. Depending on the tablet you'll be able to stream to the tablet as well or if your tablet is windows based you could run mc competely on the tablet.
Tablet anywhere in the house. Yes and you'll be able to control you mc to stream to your sonos zones
No you cannot stream or play if your mc holding pc is off
Taking to camp. Your audio files need to be on your device and the device will be obviously your player
Accessing from remote : yes this works but will definitly go beyond this forum. You will need to be able to access your hd (and ultimatively your mc server/pc) at home through internet. This is absolutely feasible but not 1 hour trial and it works if you have little knowledge on networking or remote access to routers. You'll be able to find all information on google but it will require you to (as said) hang in there and be persistant to get it to work

As and end remark. You cannot hook up a sonos connect to your wifi. You need one sonos bridge at least WIRED to your network and this device will connect wireless with the sonos you plan to use in your kitchen.

[joetiii]

Thanks Eddy,

I think I understand most all of what you explained.

Is iPad better or Windows based tablet better for running MC? 
(The tablet will be an upcoming birthday present, my choice)

I realize I will have to sync the music files to the tablet to bring to camp until the time I get my music HD up in the cloud.

I am actually hooking up 2 Hifi systems in the house to wireless so now that I know I can run a tablet, I have to wire my systems with either bridge/connect, or conect/connect, or connect amp/connect.

[JimH]

Is iPad better or Windows based tablet better for running MC? 
(The tablet will be an upcoming birthday present, my choice)

Any Android would be a good choice for a remote.  The Samsung Galaxy series, for example.  This includes Android phones.

[eddyshere]

I am actually hooking up 2 Hifi systems in the house to wireless so now that I know I can run a tablet, I have to wire my systems with either bridge/connect, or conect/connect, or connect amp/connect.

exactly !

For the tablet take Jim's advice and go with Android. Your setup will be to have a computer where you run your MC installation (library) and your files. You connect your pc to your router (I guess wifi enabled router) and you connect a sonos element (I would just take a bridge) WIRED to your router. Your tablet will communicate through wireless with the router and for your second hifi you'll buy a connect or connect amp.
On your tablet you'll be able to use it :
1. as a remote (browse your library and "send" files to play on the sonos or any other DLNA device in your network),
2. as a player by itself and browse and play files to the tablet

[mschneid]

eddyshere

I just stopped into my favorite very very high end stereo shop in Manhattan and my salesman of many years was raving about Sonus.  He also has NO clue ... not to mention interest in a PC solution like MC.  His clients want simplicity, high quality, snoot factor, and good sound.
He viewed MC as a gearhead solution that would not work for 99% of his clients ..  Surprising to me was his affinity for streaming music from Mog....  He had no real idea what resolution they streamed at... just that it was supposed to be high quality.   He loved using his phone to control the Mog server and he pulled up my latest test favorite of Clapton and Marsallis playing Layla jazz blues style..  His pitch... it was fabulous for running background music in the home.... When he wanted to "listen"... he used his turntable or CD Player.

From what I can tell... Sonus sells you wireless players (wifi, amp and speaker of various sizes) that you can sprinkle around the house.   Some of their boxes give you analog or digital output for your AV center.  What is the advantage of setting up a Sonus Zone within MC17...     Is it just that you can access their wireless player hardware.. with cute names...    they did not seem to have much in the way of software sophistication... just an itunes look kind of player interface.

What is the advantage of Sonus...  idiot proof network with  big Wife Acceptance Factor on the hardware (no wires... small speaker units) and interface  ( ipod like) ...?
I assume that market for a Sonus Zone fed by music content from a PC running JRiver is just the simplicity of hooking all the gear up.

Seems to me that JRiver should find some hardware partners that sell you the wireless player accessed by your droid gadget through JRiver.

[struct]

i thought the op asked if he could load jriver to tablet and play network files.  for this he must have a windows tablet.  android and ipad will only act as remotes and play music from a pc with jr iver turned on.

[eddyshere]

eddyshere

I just stopped into my favorite very very high end stereo shop in Manhattan and my salesman of many years was raving about Sonus.  He also has NO clue ... not to mention interest in a PC solution like MC.  His clients want simplicity, high quality, snoot factor, and good sound.
He viewed MC as a gearhead solution that would not work for 99% of his clients ..  Surprising to me was his affinity for streaming music from Mog....  He had no real idea what resolution they streamed at... just that it was supposed to be high quality.   He loved using his phone to control the Mog server and he pulled up my latest test favorite of Clapton and Marsallis playing Layla jazz blues style..  His pitch... it was fabulous for running background music in the home.... When he wanted to "listen"... he used his turntable or CD Player.

From what I can tell... Sonus sells you wireless players (wifi, amp and speaker of various sizes) that you can sprinkle around the house.   Some of their boxes give you analog or digital output for your AV center.  What is the advantage of setting up a Sonus Zone within MC17...     Is it just that you can access their wireless player hardware.. with cute names...    they did not seem to have much in the way of software sophistication... just an itunes look kind of player interface.

What is the advantage of Sonus...  idiot proof network with  big Wife Acceptance Factor on the hardware (no wires... small speaker units) and interface  ( ipod like) ...?
I assume that market for a Sonus Zone fed by music content from a PC running JRiver is just the simplicity of hooking all the gear up.

Seems to me that JRiver should find some hardware partners that sell you the wireless player accessed by your droid gadget through JRiver.

I just talked about SONOS as the first question of this thread concerned SONOS.

I know SONOS as I use a Sonos System at home (as secondary solution) to listen to my CD collection from a MC Server, as background music having S5 and S1's in the sleeping room, guest room or in the kitchen. In the living room where I have my htpc and hifi system I definitely don't use SONOS at all as it is limited to 44.1/16 bit flac.. I use a LINN akurate for 2ch FLAC/Wav streaming and a DIY HTPC with MC for DVD/BD/SACD and 5.1flacs. I agree that sonos is a good solution with "decent" sound quality to bring music to all rooms without big fuss and cables. it's a good product but I wouldn't rate it as the pinnacle of audio streaming. If you distribute your music through a server (running MC) the MC app has the nice ability to also play to the SONOS zones.

PS: Actually I don't know MOG. Are you referring to mog.com ? If yes then I would not say that streaming MP3 in 320 resolution is considered a high quality source for the majority of high-end audiophiles...
PS 2 : I don't know if JRiver shall team up with hardware manufacturers as you have a lot of these out there which offer DLNA capable players...I would more like to see JRiver offer (team-up with) decent multi-channel up to DSD resolution/bitsream compliant DAC manufacturers which products would be 100% bulletproof (on driver level) with MC

[joetiii]

i thought the op asked if he could load jriver to tablet and play network files.  for this he must have a windows tablet.  android and ipad will only act as remotes and play music from a pc with jr iver turned on.

Struct,

I was hoping to not have the PC fired up all the time when running music through MC, but that sounds like its the only way to go.

I think this question may have already been answered, but does an option exist where I can have all my music files on a HD that is hardwired to my network. Then have playlists that have been created in MC which can then be read and played by Sonos which is controlled by my tablet?

oh and BTW, what is DLNA?

thanx much

[eddyshere]

In a nutshell DLNA Digital Living Network Alliance, which tries to standardize how media content is streamed on a network. Every player which is deemed DLNA-compliant should be able to communicate and exchange media content over a network (differences still exists and it is not 100% guaranteed to work between every device (client) and server).
Yep if you want to browse through one library it needs to be always on. Yes your idea is correct (hardwired HD + playlist). You will be able to play on your sonos when MC is controlled by your tablet. You will also want to install the SONOS application on the tablet to administer the sonos hardware (name, alarm or other usefull things).
You could also install MC as standalone on a windows tablet but this misses the point, I guess you want one library and the files on a network attached storage. You can take a simple network HD or even invest into a little NAS (synology/qnap/etc...). Unfortunately MC is not running on linux which would allow to install it on a little always on NAS. If you are adventurous you could also buy a small windows based NAS or use an old PC which would be always on on which you would be able to install MC. When distributing audio or video through several spots in a house you will find out that an always on solution is the most convenient way.
If you use a NAS an advantage will be that you keep your audio files there and when your pc with MC is on you have the full nine yards (browse/control) through your tablet. AND if the pc is off your sonos is still able to play your files (but now through the sonos app_which is less customizable as the MC library would be....as an examble the sonos music library can still not browse your albums according to year).

[struct]

I was hoping to not have the PC fired up all the time when running music through MC, but that sounds like its the only way to go.

It seems to me that a low power usage W7 PC is best for MC, but this doesn't help if you already have the NAS.  Maybe with v18 and this talk of osx and linux there will come a little MC lite version that can be installed on a linux NAS and do nothing but serve files (that don't need re-encoding) to gizmo/webgizmo?

I think this question may have already been answered, but does an option exist where I can have all my music files on a HD that is hardwired to my network. Then have playlists that have been created in MC which can then be read and played by Sonos which is controlled by my tablet?

seems that should work   http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Export_Playlists  and https://sonos.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/154/~/importing-playlists-into-sonos?  There is also a 3rd party itunes syncronizer http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=51734.0 if sonos plays nicer with itunes.

[JimH]

http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/DLNA

[joetiii]

OK  Let me dig into all these links and figure out which direction is best. Be back at ya to throw out more questions when my feeble mind goes numb. 

[joetiii]

OK, So I have played around with JR MC and will reconfigure my system as a wired system rather than w Sonos. I will continue to leave my downstairs PC on and now access that MC through webgizmo on my Galaxy III. Neat little program.

I now am wondering the best way to extract the signal from the XP based PC. I currently use a USB input to an Xitel DAC with twin outputs. The RCA out goes to the Kitchen and the Toslink optical goes to my Home theatre w 2 zones (this replaces Sonos). I plan on getting a Dac Magic Plus to improve the output signal.

Is it possible to wire my computer with a separate output so my daughter can play web games and hear through computer speakers while we listen to MC through a separate sound card or output (SDIF input to Dac?)  I am not sure how  or how this would work.

[eddyshere]

This sounds like some ambitious plan. Eventhough a zone setup in MC will come close you might have remote or controlling issues+using the various dac outputs for different streams or using several audio outs is sometimes messy. (see: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=68980.0). From your first post I got more or less what you try to achieve but now that your daughter (other pc or would she use the office one whilst you would play from it through MC and a separate audio output ?? ) come into play it's getting complicated  ? ? ?. Maybe it would help if you could tell what location in your house has which equipment  + what you would like to be able to do from there and how should one be able to do/listen to what from where) ......does my question even sound understandeable ?

[joetiii]

I really only use gizmo to change playlist and control volume. Don't mind walking to the other room to change sources.  I am hoping I can keep output separate from what else may be running through the computer and now understand I can keep the PC sounds out of my HiFi signal by setting output mode to ASio (XP computer)

I was reading in wiki that my intended DAC, the Cambridge Audio Dac magic plus, can use the USB input. However, in order to get 96KHz/24 bit files to read at the intended source rate, then I need a Toslink/Spdif output.

If I go to that extent, is it possible that my daughter can play and listen to her PC programs while we are listening to  Hifi through MC in the other room? ( DAC controls where zones are played, not MC)

[struct]

I am not doing exactly the same thing but my understanding is that it is not too ambitious.  I am pretty sure that each zone can be directed to a specific audio device with DSP etc, settings to suit.  I will double check later tonight.

Failling that you could choose WASAPI Exclusive and all other program sounds are blocked.  Parental precedence!

Craig

[mschneid]

was reading in wiki that my intended DAC, the Cambridge Audio Dac magic plus, can use the USB input. However, in order to get 96KHz/24 bit files to read at the intended source rate, then I need a Toslink/Spdif output.

I think you have this reversed... Hires files will pass through the USB channel to your Dac.   The Toslink connection won't pass those bit rates.


I will be surprised if you can get your XP PC to play music to your DAC through an Asio driver and simultaneously allow your daughter to play her games....  Heck... I have to reconfigure the control panel driver from asio to direct to get the xp box to route the sound to its speakers.