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[MusicBringer]

I have just started to use Gizmo and listen to my music library on the bus using my S4. That's good.
After a day or two Gizmo has consumed the whole of my monthly data allowance.
[No I cannot increase the monthly data allowance]
I need to understand how this happened.
If I listen to HiRes music files, for example flacs, does that consume more data than listening to smaller lossy files such as mp3s.

It seems that Gizmo will be useless to me.
Your advice please...
thanks,

[imugli]

I have just started to use Gizmo and listen to my music library on the bus using my S4. That's good.
After a day or two Gizmo has consumed the whole of my monthly data allowance.
[No I cannot increase the monthly data allowance]
I need to understand how this happened.
If I listen to HiRes music files, for example flacs, does that consume more data than listening to smaller lossy files such as mp3s.

It seems that Gizmo will be useless to me.
Your advice please...
thanks,

Yes, FLAC files will consume WAAAAAAAAY more data than 128kbps mp3 files.

A CD ripped to FLAC will still take up approx. 200MB, while a CD ripped to 128kbps will take up about 60 - 70MB. BIG difference. Of course the FLAC measurement depends on what settings you use, but it gives you an idea.


In Gizmo, you can go into settings and set it to only stream 64kbps to your device.

If you're at home, make sure you're using wifi, not mobile network.

You can also set Gizmo to download the first 10 songs of a playlist to your phone's memory. Download the playlist at home before you go off wifi and you should get about 45 mins of play time without needing to use any more data.

[MusicBringer]

Download the playlist at home before you go off wifi and you should get about 45 mins of play time without needing to use any more data.

Brilliant idea.
thanks,

[nitephlight]

I have just started to use Gizmo and listen to my music library on the bus using my S4. That's good.
After a day or two Gizmo has consumed the whole of my monthly data allowance.
[No I cannot increase the monthly data allowance]
I need to understand how this happened.
If I listen to HiRes music files, for example flacs, does that consume more data than listening to smaller lossy files such as mp3s.

It seems that Gizmo will be useless to me.
Your advice please...
thanks,

Gizmo only supports MP3 playback even on wifi (FLAC is converted to MP3 server side) , the default bitrate is 126kbps Medium i think under Gizmo app > Options >Read ahead

the reason why Gizmo destroyed your data might be that it is set to cache ahead tracks that you may never even get to listen to, thus wasted data. as imugli suggested you can hit the play button at home on wifi and preload the playlist. alternatively, if your preloading music anyway you can sync a pre made playlist from MC to your device by USB cable and keep the FLAC without ever having to worry about data :-)

(you will need a music player compatible with FLAC format)

[JimH]

Gizmo should play FLAC if the phone supports it, and if the server is set not to convert.

[Mr ChriZ]

It would be a neat feature if Gizmo could tell the server that it is not on wifi and request a different bitrate because of this.

[MusicBringer]

It would be a neat feature if Gizmo could tell the server that it is not on wifi and request a different bitrate because of this.

I was just gonna say that !

It would be a neat feature if Gizmo could tell the server..
Altho do you mean tell as in send a message to - or tell as in recognise / understand that.

It would be a neat feature if I could toggle between Gizmo using the server [ie my mobile data allowance] - or not.

[MusicBringer]

the reason why Gizmo destroyed your data might be that it is set to cache ahead tracks that you may never even get to listen to, thus wasted data.

nitephlight, you hit the nail on the head here.
Coz I was using Gizmo for the first time I was playing with it. Trying out downloading and so cache ahead some very big files [For example: Free Bird, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed, Nantucket Sleighride]

I shall preload the playlist at home thanks to imugli.

nitephlight please tell me more about this idea:
alternatively, if your preloading music anyway you can sync a pre made playlist from MC to your device by USB cable and keep the FLAC without ever having to worry about data.

When you say sync do you really mean copy the files across from my PC to the phone...

[connersw]

Gizmo should play FLAC if the phone supports it, and if the server is set not to convert.

Yes, it should, but it doesn't.  Perhaps you might know some one in charge over at JRiver that could implement that?  Haha.

It would be a neat feature if Gizmo could tell the server that it is not on wifi and request a different bitrate because of this.

Agreed.  Plenty of apps have features like "only Sync on WiFi options."  A do not convert on WiFi option would be nice.

When you say sync do you really mean copy the files across from my PC to the phone...

Yes.  In MC: Tools -> Options -> Handheld

A note on preloading the playlist: this trick will only work if you plan on playing a playlist from beginning to end.  If you start skipping around, reshuffling, etc you will start pulling a whole new cache.  If you already have a playlist you want to listen to before you go out, I would recommend syncing the files instead as nitephlight suggested.  Otherwise, just turn the cache down to 1 song ahead. 

[nitephlight]

Yes, it should, but it doesn't.  Perhaps you might know some one in charge over at JRiver that could implement that?  Haha.

lol, this- Gizmo is not considered a client device in the same way WebGizmo from a browser is not a "client", they have no zones to target, etc.  just in case someone reads this down the road, the options for audio / video conversion in MC server options do not apply to Gizmo- rather gizmo itself can define what bit rate it wants from its own menu. this bit rate is unfortunately capped at 320kbps MP3.

now correct if I'm wrong but i think theres is a large barrier with Gizmo achieving this as it stands today because the entire application is simply a user interface for accessing the library server and calling the same MCWS requests as webgizmo would in a browser.

of course thats over simplifying it, androidz transport layer is of course a challenge this dev team has been tackling with video playback fragmentation after Flash disappeared, device syncing after USB storage disappeared..Gizmo is neither a DLNA/UPnP renderer nor is it a local storage media player- frankly it doesn't need to be to accomplish the goal of delivering a seamless JRiver experience across platforms. It already does that and more the moment you're not on the LAN any more :-)  

that's why i for one would like to see development bring to us more of the awesome functionality of database manipulation and remote management of server application using MCWS. as always thanks for everything your team does.

[MusicBringer]

Yes.  In MC: Tools -> Options -> Handheld

A note on preloading the playlist: this trick will only work if you plan on playing a playlist from beginning to end.  If you start skipping around, reshuffling, etc you will start pulling a whole new cache.  If you already have a playlist you want to listen to before you go out, I would recommend syncing the files instead as nitephlight suggested.  Otherwise, just turn the cache down to 1 song ahead. 

I need to understand this preloading the playlist and syncing the files.
I thought the idea of Gizmo is to stream? tracks from my PC to my device/phone - but it very quickly consumes all my data allowance.

I find preloading the playlist fails - what is the process to achieve preloading the playlist.
If I am syncing the files surely I am copying the files onto my phone sdcard - that's not streaming.

It seems that Gizmo is useless to me.
Your advice please...
thanks,

[Hendrik]

Gizmo is indeed designed for streaming, and thats all it can do. It supports caching of music, but the cache is not "smart" to prefer WiFi connections at this time.
If you set the audio quality to "Low" in Gizmo, a 5 minute track will use 2.4 MB, so listening for an hour will use 28 MB of data.

At Medium Quality, it'll already use 4.8 MB for 5 minutes, or 56 MB in an hour, and at High Quality its 115MB for an hour.
If you have very low data allowance, its probably not for you at this time.

[connersw]

Syncing to handheld:  Loading the actual files on your phone.  Not using Gizmo. Not streaming.  Your best option if you have zero data allowance.

Preloading the playlist: using the cache to buffer your playlist before you get off WiFi.  It is streaming and can work, but not recommended if you are going to be skipping tracks or don't know what you are doing.  You could easily start rebuilding the cache and end up using more data than if you just disabled the cache to begin with.

The cache was implemented if you have a poor 3G/4G signal to buffer playing.  If you have a strong signal, and you are worried about data usage, I recommend turning it off.  In Gizmo go to Settings - Options - Cache download ahead - Disabled.

The numbers Hendrik provided are based on having cache disabled.

[MusicBringer]

...its probably not for you at this time.

Very clear answers Hendrik and connersw.
Thank you both.

[connersw]

Gizmo is neither a DLNA/UPnP renderer nor is it a local storage media player- frankly it doesn't need to be to accomplish the goal of delivering a seamless JRiver experience across platforms.

Gizmo does provide a fairly seamless experience across platforms; however, making it a DMR is actually one of the improvements I would like to see.  It would allow you to view what is playing on Gizmo through the Overview screen; something that has been requested a few times:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=84884.0
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=84880.0
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=78510.0

Plus, it would allow you to play to an external player if you would like something other than Gizmo.  For example, an audio player that supported FLAC or MX Player for video on the variety of Samsung devices that currently do not work with Gizmo video.  Of course, I would like Gizmo to support FLAC and video on Samsung devices too, but then you could have the best of all worlds. 

[nitephlight]

I believe *Gizmo the android app allows both those things, real time monitor of playback and targeting of zones), though perhaps not *webgizmo?

I I think what you mean is for gizmo to act as a content provider in addition to a stream player- this is conversely is possible by modifying the webgizmo source files to prevent Webplayer conversion of files (ie the url that would normally allow the browser to playback can point to the raw data type mp3 or flac, which on android would generate an open intent to any application capable of handling the file)

While this would be awesome for the gizmo app, id be perfectly content gizmo handling it's own lossless goodies.

FYI as of android 3.0, FLAC is handled natively