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[Jhexp]

Hi, first post

PC audio noob here.

I recently got a pair of KEF X300A Wireless speakers. I managed to get wireless streaming up and running using MC through DNLA. My question is, my speakers are powered and can play up to 24/96. They have a gain selector but when I stream music the gain selector is rendered useless, it's being bypassed. Is there a setting in MC that I'm missing? Also, the DPS studio won't work when I play music wirelessly. "Not using jriver audio engine" I had settings I liked when I had the speakers connected to the pc via the USB connection, now that it's wireless I can't use the DPS studio.

Thanks.

[JimH]

Welcome to the forum.  MC has several volume types.  You can right click on the speaker icon in the upper left corner to see them. 

With DLNA, you would normally control volume on the device you're playing to.  I think this is what you're hoping to do.  If it isn't working, it's possible the problem is with the device.

[Jhexp]

Thanks for the reply. There must be a setting in MC I'm missing as the device I'm using, the KEF speakers,  are working fine. When wired straight into the PC the volume control on the speakers work, when its wireless they don't.

[Vincent Kars]

USB or wireless are completely different.

In case of USB, the Kef manifest itself as a audio device just like the onboard audio of your PC. It is just another sound card. Hence all DSP like volume control will work.

If you go wireless, the KEF acts as a DLNA device.
It is a renderer in DLNA speak. That means it can play the audio but it also response to a controller (selecting tracks, volume control, etc).
Obvious JRiver acts as a server (the audio resides there) but if you use JRiver to send audio to the KEF, JRiver is also control point. As a control point it should be able to control the volume.
Does it help if you set JRiver volume to internal?

Can you get it to work using the app as supplied by KEF?

[Jhexp]

USB or wireless are completely different.

In case of USB, the Kef manifest itself as a audio device just like the onboard audio of your PC. It is just another sound card. Hence all DSP like volume control will work.

If you go wireless, the KEF acts as a DLNA device.
It is a renderer in DLNA speak. That means it can play the audio but it also response to a controller (selecting tracks, volume control, etc).
Obvious JRiver acts as a server (the audio resides there) but if you use JRiver to send audio to the KEF, JRiver is also control point. As a control point it should be able to control the volume.
Does it help if you set JRiver volume to internal?

Can you get it to work using the app as supplied by KEF?

Thanks for the reply. Your post made sense, I think I know why it's doing this. JRiver being the control point makes sense. I tried to set volume to internal but can't find the option. I went Options>Audio and I get: Zone to configure: KEF X300
! Configure audio using Options>Media Network>Add or configure DNLA servers...   Not sure what this means or does.

[glynor]

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

[Jhexp]

I only have 4 options in Volume, Mute, volume up/down, Enable volume when bitstreaming. Another problem now is when a track changes the display will still show the previous track. I have no idea why this happened.

A bit annoying aswell that I can't use the equaliser when streaming... I may have to look at another player.  

[blgentry]

As far as controlling the volume from MC, you should be able to do that just by setting Volume to Internal:

Go to: Tools -> Options... -> Audio
Find the Volume section. You may have to scroll down a bit, as there are a LOT of options here.
Set Volume Mode to Internal.
Click OK to save.

Now volume changes in Media Center should happen on your remote speakers.

I don't know anything about your display issues, but I'd recommend restarting MC to see if the problem persists.

Good luck to you!

Brian.

[glynor]

when bitstreaming

This is the first time you've clearly mentioned bitstreaming.

Volume control is, and always has been, disabled when bitstreaming.  That's inherent in the nature of bitstreaming, the very idea of which is that MC does not decode the audio at all (it isn't "music" to MC) and sends it unmodified to the downstream DAC.

MC cannot alter the volume because it cannot alter the audio data when bitstreaming. If you enable bitstreaming, you're essentially making MC into a "dumb audio pipe" that does no audio processing at all, and moving all post-processing requirements (including DSP and Volume) to your DAC or receiver.

It is generally not recommended.

[mwillems]

A bit annoying aswell that I can't use the equaliser when streaming...

You can use the equalizer over DLNA, but you need to do some configuration steps differently.  Check out this thread: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=92801.0

I may have to look at another player. 

I am not aware of another player that supports DSP processing over DLNA.

[Jhexp]

Thanks for all the replies. I really want to keep using this but I'm struggling with it after having had it running OK. I've messed something up :/

One problem is when streaming it will play the first song, but the timing will be out, the song ends but it shows the first song having 15 or so seconds left. When the second song starts the display still shows the first song as playing....

Also, I've ripped a few cd's and it will have multiple copies of the songs, one in FLAC the other in m4a, I have no idea why this has happened

Maybe I should do a complete uninstall and start again? I have uninstalled but it's keeps doing this

Sorry for the dumb questions but I really am trying my best to get this to work.

[JimH]

On the duplicate problem, maybe you're importing iTunes files as well as the ones you ripped.  Try ripping with MC if you haven't.

When you say that you're streaming, I don't know what you mean.  Please describe in more detail.

[Jhexp]

On the duplicate problem, maybe you're importing iTunes files as well as the ones you ripped.  Try ripping with MC if you haven't.

When you say that you're streaming, I don't know what you mean.  Please describe in more detail.

I think you're right about iTunes.  I'm playing music in mc and wirelessly streaming it to a set of powered speakers in another part of the house.

[JimH]

Are you using DLNA or UPnP to do that?

[Jhexp]

Are you using DLNA or UPnP to do that?

DLNA.

I've managed to get the trial extended. Now my main issue here is playback. For example I'm playing the Massive Attack album Blue Lines. The first track is "Safe From Harm" It will play the track then the second track One Love will start, but,  the display on MC will show Safe from Harm playing even though One Love is playing and the track counter has restarted. One Love will then play again after it's finished. I have no idea what I've done As I said in my initial post this is my first attempt at playing music like this and I really like it, I just need to figure out what I've done.

Maybe a complete uninstall and start from scratch? I've tried to uninstall but the settings are still there when I reinstall.

Edit: This is only happening when playing through DNLA into the wireless powered speakers in another part of the house. When playing through Player there's no issue.

[Jhexp]

Can someone tell me how to completely wipe this off my PC and start again from scratch please? Thanks.

[JimH]

You can uninstall and reinstall, removing MC's library when you do.