Help needed for setup of a DLNA client/server/renderer system

[LTig]

Hi,

as the title says I want to setup a DLNA system consisting of these devices:

• a DLNA server - currently a Linux PC with minidlna already running and working so far. Later I'd like to use Raspberry PI or - if this is possible at all - a NAS.
• a DLNA renderer - my AVP, a Classé Sigma SSP mk2, which has no TV but a beamer connected.
• a DLNA client - my Android smartphone (currently running Android 6.0)

The plan is to use the smartphone to tell the server what it should send to the renderer. The smartphone client must not require the display of the PC or the AVP to work - don't want to pull down the screen and switch on the beamer for music selection. In the future I also would like to install Kodi on a Raspberry PI (or an old notebook) and connect it via HDMI to the AVP to play videos.

I haven't found a suitable client yet; this is what I have tried so far:

• running Kodi on the PC and using Kore (Kodi remote) on the smartphone: Kodi plays the music to the PCs soundcard, and I need switch on the display of the PC to select what I want to play. Kore really is just a remote control.
• running Kodi on the smartphone connecting to the DLNA server on the PC (minidlna). This works but the music is sent the speakers of the smartphone instead of to the AVP.

Either my setup is bad or I'm using the wrong client and/or software. Any help is appreciated.

 

[somebodyelse]

When you say 'DLNA client' do you mean a pure control point, or one that can also be a server and/or a renderer? Both exist for Android and other platforms. Auralic have a long list you can try. Last time I was looking Linn Kinsky was quite a good pure control point, but I think it's been dropped or superseded now. BubbleUPnP is a combined server/renderer/control point and gets a lot of mentions around here. I mostly use LMS instead, so can't give much current direct experience of the apps.

Kodi is the wrong tool for the job, at least on the phone - it can be both a DLNA server and renderer, but not a general DLNA control point. Kore is just a kodi remote, not a DLNA control point, as you've found.

Using a pi as a server or renderer should be fine - the biggest problem will be picking the most suitable of the many options. For Kodi LibreELEC should be a good starting point.

 

[RogerM]

I have been using an android application called Hi Fi Cast as a dlna client for the last six months.
It is the first android app I have actually paid for !
It is working well on my system which is using a minidlna server and upmpdcli renderer (on RPi4).

 

[LTig]

When you say 'DLNA client' do you mean a pure control point, or one that can also be a server and/or a renderer? Both exist for Android and other platforms. Auralic have a long list you can try. Last time I was looking Linn Kinsky was quite a good pure control point, but I think it's been dropped or superseded now. BubbleUPnP is a combined server/renderer/control point and gets a lot of mentions around here. I mostly use LMS instead, so can't give much current direct experience of the apps.

I think I mean a control point. I want to use the smartphone to select the music on the PC (DLNA server) to be played on the AVP (DLNA renderer), not on the smartphone.

Kodi is the wrong tool for the job, at least on the phone - it can be both a DLNA server and renderer, but not a general DLNA control point. Kore is just a kodi remote, not a DLNA control point, as you've found.

Using a pi as a server or renderer should be fine - the biggest problem will be picking the most suitable of the many options. For Kodi LibreELEC should be a good starting point.

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

 

[LTig]

I have been using an android application called Hi Fi Cast as a dlna client for the last six months.
It is the first android app I have actually paid for !
It is working well on my system which is using a minidlna server and upmpdcli renderer (on RPi4).

I just installed it (not the premium version yet) and it works - cool. Thanks a lot!

 

[ahofer]

Pure DLNA? Run Minimserver on the server. It is very compact, and many NAS come with it pre-packaged. Use BubbleUpnP on android as the control point. I did this happily for many years. Bubble also works with Chromecast, if you add one in your network.

 

[hpp8140]

+1 BubbleUpnp + minidlna

 

[Bamyasi]

+1 BubbleUPnP + Plex Media Server as DLNA server

PMS may not be the best DLNA server but GUI looks nice and the paid version even provides remote playback everywhere on the go. Despite rich GUI, it actually rather lightweight and runs on ton of hardware, including cheap Synology and QNap NAS models. I run it here on a RPi 3B with 1GB of memory, alongside with tons of other stuff and it works without a glitch.

 

[Chrispy]

I use Bubbleupnp on my android phone, use Foobar2000 on the pc.

 

[DChenery]

I just installed it (not the premium version yet) and it works - cool. Thanks a lot!

I have been using HiIFi Cast and Neutron in combination with a NAS (WdMyCloud) and Chromecast audio to an aging (>20 years) Nakamitchi IA-1 integrated amplifer. HiFi Cast is ultra quick in indexing, simple to set up and operate, and plays bit perfect. Neutron is slow to index, difficult to configure and use, but can be set for anything you are likely to encounter. Neutron also incorporates a parametric equalizer, which I have used to great effect to tame some of the more V shaped IEMs in my collection.

In either case, due to the low cost, and the need for the developers to recover at least a little of their development time and effort, it is strongly recommended that you purchase whatever app you decide upon.

 

[somebodyelse]

The bits I found frustrating with DLNA when I tried a few years back were gapless and multi-room sync - they were optional bits of the spec, and many implementations didn't support them, but it wasn't often mentioned in the documentation. Has this improved?

 

[RogerM]

Hi Fi Cast + upmpdcli render do gapless replay fine.

 

[somebodyelse]

Thanks. HiFi Cast mentions gapless but not multiroom, which sort of illustrates the problem. If anything the free software implementations were more likely to implement the features or admit the limitations. The upmpdcli docs have some detail about why gapless needs support in more than just the renderer, and its use of Songcast for multiroom including certain interoperability problems.

 

[Bamyasi]

Gapless yes, multiroom no (for BubbleUPnP, Hi-Fi Cast, etc.)

 

[LTig]

I realized that not only the Classé can stream music but also my Sony X800M2 UHD player. Still Hifi Cast was unable to play gapless despite enabling it in the settings, and also when streaming directly from the smart phone instead from the DLNA server.

I also found out that Hifi Cast only plays audio when I select a video to be streamed to the UHD player. I installed BubbleUPnP and this plays the video - very nice. I prefer the UI of Hifi Cast though so if there is no other app which is so good that it could replace both I'm tempted to buy them both.

I've ordered a NAS and according to the manual it can stream music and video so I think there's no need to get a Raspberry PI any more.

 

[LTig]

Just want to report the current state. Got a Synology 4 Bay NAS with 3 x 8 TB in RAID 5 configuration (16 TB storage). I installed the media server which streams audio, video and photos.

• For audio I use Hifi cast (payed version now) on my smart phone to stream to the Classé AVP.
• For video I use the Sony X800M2 to select what I want to view - no need to use the smart phone, can use the remote of the Sony to select videos on the NAS walking through the folder view.

What does not work is gap less playback of audio (as expected). For this I might get me an RPI4 which mounts the NAS audio folder to circumvent the DLNA server. Not sure yet which kind of software I could install on the RPI4 which can be controlled by my smartphone. Ideas welcome

 

[Ralph_Cramden]

LMS

 

[muslhead]

Just want to report the current state. Got a Synology 4 Bay NAS with 3 x 8 TB in RAID 5 configuration (16 TB storage). I installed the media server which streams audio, video and photos.

• For audio I use Hifi cast (payed version now) on my smart phone to stream to the Classé AVP.
• For video I use the Sony X800M2 to select what I want to view - no need to use the smart phone, can use the remote of the Sony to select videos on the NAS walking through the folder view.

What does not work is gap less playback of audio (as expected). For this I might get me an RPI4 which mounts the NAS audio folder to circumvent the DLNA server. Not sure yet which kind of software I could install on the RPI4 which can be controlled by my smartphone. Ideas welcome

i use jriver. it works with every dlna device i have from my streamers to my tvs to cdplayers etc.. I access it via my pc or its android app.
I could not be happier

 

[SKBubba]

Jriver and Jremote.

 

[simbloke]

I use upmpdcli which gives you an OpenHome compatible dlna renderer with gapless playback. Control with BubbleDS on my phone. Media can be on any dlna server, in my case it's on the same machine as the renderer.