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[adaminsf]

Hi folks,

OK firstly apologies for what is a somewhat scattered post (and mods do please move this somewhere more appropriate if needed), but I'm not too familiar with modern media serving and the like, and am not very sure what all is possible.

I just got a Synology DS415+ NAS and am wanting to dip my toes into the wide world of home media sharing.  Perhaps its best if I first describe my hardware/network environment:

- Synology DS415+ NAS connected via GBE to:
- Asus RT-N56U WiFi router connected to Comcast cable router
- Fast'ish Homebuilt PC running JRiver on Windows 8.1, connected via GBE to the router
- audio-gd NFB-15 amp/dac connected to PC via USB
- HiFiMan HE-500 headphones & semi-crappy Klipsch powered 2.1 speakers/sub connected to audio-gd amp/dac
- Wife's MacBook Pro connected via WiFi
- Roku 3 attached to TV, also on WiFi
- (Yamaha DLNA 5.1 receiver - don't think it matters here, as although it does appear as a renderer in JRemote, many things don't seem to work (like video), and I'd much rather use the Roku for this anyways)
- Amped Wireless 600mW WiFi repeater/extender, using a different SSID than the Asus above
- Analog stereo in the kitchen (fairly far from the networking gear, with several lathe & plaster walls in between)

What I ideally want to do is:
- listen to music/watch videos on my headphones/speakers at the PC, dabbling with FLAC/lossless (this part's easy and working now)
- create playlists in JRiver that my wife & I can both edit on our respective computers
- download those playlists & media to our iPhone 4S'es (uh oh - iTunes alert - I know this won't be that straightforward!)
- watch movies/stream music to our Roku, controlling it via JRemote (the streaming is currently working via one of the media client channels, but it doesn't appear as a renderer in JRemote, and I have to use Roku's awful interface)
- stream music to our analog stereo in the kitchen, also controlling via JRemote.  This is far enough away from the router that streaming fails.  It has good signal from our repeater, but when connected to its SSID, I cannot see the JRiver MC anymore.  Plugging my phone into the stereo's aux in is fine (it's what we do now w/Spotify), so this is probably mostly a networking/signal issue?  I'm willing to consider getting a more powerful router if need be.

Extra bonus points for:
- being able to access all of this from anywhere in the world (but I think I'm double-NAT'ed w/the Comcast box & my router, and haven't delved into how to resolve that yet)

So - what is possible?  Using the JRiver trial for the past few days has made me wonder how the heck I have tolerated either Spotify's or iTunes' interfaces for so long, as JRiver is SO much more usable.

Thanks!
     Adam

[AndrewFG]

^

You may want to start here http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Network

[astromo]

Adam, great to see you're on the bus.

There's a lot you're trying to cover. Along the lines of AndrewFG's suggestion, I reckon you should Wiki up:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Category:Frequently_Asked_Questions
plus search the forum for guidance.

Come back when you can't work something out.

[adaminsf]

So, reading up some more I have the following now working:

- MC server running on PC w/NAS media storage
- control & streaming w/JRemote on iPhone/iPad, working on my WiFi extender's network, as well as via IP address from anywhere
- Roku DLNA client channel streams to my receiver/TV/5.1 setup

The questions I have are:
- is there any way to control the DLNA client channel in Roku via JRemote?

- I have a fair few (ie. thousands of) "protected AAC" files purchased from iTunes prior to iTunes Plus.  These play fine in MC locally, but will not stream to JRemote.  What, if any, are my options here?  I'm in the middle of doing the "delete local files and re-download from iTunes, which will get you non-DRM'ed iTunes Plus" song and dance, but ~75% of them are being re-downloaded w/DRM (presumably because they don't exist in iTunes+).

- I'd like a headless tiny/silent PC in my kitchen for dedicated music streaming (rather than via plugging my iPhone into the stereo & streaming w/JRemote) and eventually a "headed" one in our living room for audio/video.  Are there any licensing issues here if I use MC as a server in Windows 8.1, and install the Linux version to run as clients on the HTPCs?  Any best practices here?  I didn't see much discussion about using a MC client on Linux headless.

That's it for now - JRiver is seeming even more impressive after having to use iTunes to re-download purchases, for the first time in ages.

[BartMan01]

Search around, there are (legally questionable) ways to remove the iTunes DRM.

Can't speak to Linux, but my master library lives in Windows and I can access it just fine from my Mac install.  Each OS for MC requires a separately purchased license.