Streaming advice

[HackneyRF]

Hi folks

A novice question regarding streaming.

Essentially to play my digital music files I do it by plugging my laptop directly into my Adam Audio Active speakers via a USB connection. Lately however I have been thinking I might like to control said digital files from a tablet device. What might be the best way to do this? What device could I put my digital files onto so that a tablet or smartphone will be able to see them and be able control them via a good interface. I have used Winamp on my laptop for years and feel very settled with it with regard to digital files. Of course I would also like to be able to listen music sometimes from the internet.

I'm very new to streaming and know very little about it.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Cheers

Loz

[Stratmangler]

If you like Winamp then the first thing to do is look around for Winamp remote control apps for your tablet.
A quick Google brings up a few possibilities.
You should also look at WASAPI or ASIO drivers for the device you're plugging the USB from the computer into (depends on how old the device is, and whether or not WASAPI drivers have been written).

[WAD62]

You should also look at WASAPI or ASIO drivers for the device you're plugging the USB from the computer into (depends on how old the device is, and whether or not WASAPI drivers have been written).

As Chris says the key to playback is either ASIO or WASAPI, depending on your O/S...

This may be of help;

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?20686-Software-media-players-tricks-and-tips

[Rothchild]

If remote control is what you're after then you already have some answers. If you want a streaming solution then I really like: http://www.subsonic.org/pages/index.jsp and / or http://www.madsonic.org/ (madsonic is a fork of subsonic, they're the same underlying tech)

Basically you can remote control it from pretty much any device and you can also have the machine your music is stored on stream it out to any of those devices (so you can keep your music on your laptop but listen to it on your phone when you're out, as you walk in through the door just press the jukebox button and it will start coming out of your speakers!)

You can also use it to stream podcasts (so they download to one machine but you stream them to yourself when you're out and about + it does video too (just as a nice bonus) also works as a dnla server so the chances are you can still use winamp (but I've not checked this out).

[HackneyRF]

Thanks Chris, Will and Marc

Umm....now I'm even more confused!

However I thought about this a little and I think came to the conclusion that I may actually want to move away from the laptop scenario and have a dedicated server (NAS?), preferably with its own internal storage where I can put all have the FLAC files but also have the benefit of playing music directly from the internet i.e. Spotify/Deezer/podcasts/radio what have you, and from the control of a iphone/ipad/android device. I can live without Winamp but it would be nice to keep it! My partner is from a design background so aesthetics are important to her and the laptop set up just doesn't do it for her. BTW the Adam Audio speakers have an on board DAC.

So what do you think?

Cheers

Loz

[struth]

Jriver can do it via an app and think to an extent foobar can too...you could get a pi and use the volumio interface as well

[WAD62]

Thanks Chris, Will and Marc

Umm....now I'm even more confused!

However I thought about this a little and I think came to the conclusion that I may actually want to move away from the laptop scenario and have a dedicated server (NAS?), preferably with its own internal storage where I can put all have the FLAC files but also have the benefit of playing music directly from the internet i.e. Spotify/Deezer/podcasts/radio what have you, and from the control of a iphone/ipad/android device. I can live without Winamp but it would be nice to keep it! My partner is from a design background so aesthetics are important to her and the laptop set up just doesn't do it for her. BTW the Adam Audio speakers have an on board DAC.

So what do you think?

Cheers

Loz

Hi Loz, in this instance you can have your cake and eat it too...;)

I run 4 Squeezebox(and squeezelite/pi2) clients with my FLAC library and LMS (logitech media server) on a QNAP NAS, all controlled from a phone/tablet app

In addition the FLAC library is available via the network so you can use it as your winamp library too...:)

[Rothchild]

I've got mine on the budget end of a solution - Raspberry Pi plugged in to my modem / router with a large USB hard drive attached - I just bought a super budget dac to go with it: http://www.thanksbuyer.com/raspberry-pi-b-version-i2s-hifi-dac-es9023-expansion-board-33658

[mongeddavid]

If your streaming then i think you would need to install VNC server on both your tablet and Laptop. Its pretty easy and free . You will then get the Laptops desktop appear on your tablet. Its a tad tricky to navigate at first and a total nightmare if youve had a few beers but sober and with a little practice it becomes easy. You can then stream from say tidal over your laptop or indeed use any such music player to play stored files.

[kirstysdad]

Jriver can do it via an app and think to an extent foobar can too...you could get a pi and use the volumio interface as well

I have a fubar, with it work?:scratch:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31v05xlOf5L.jpg

[HackneyRF]

OK folks.
Thanks for the advice

I'm intrigued and trying to get my head around this Raspberry PI malarkey. I have done a little reading around the net and came across a couple of good step by step guides for setting up. So the way I understand it is that I can:

1. Plug my USB drive containing my FLAC files into a correctly set up Raspberry PI with something like Volumio as suggested by Grant and a improved soundcard?

2. Connect the PI to the network by either cable or wireless means?

3. Connect the PI directly to the Adam Audio speakers (with onboard DAC) via USB?

4. Control the whole lot including steaming services via an Ipad?

I'm not particularly clever around computers and Raspberry PI might well have been a new brand of ice cream up until a couple of days ago. However it could be fun having a go a setting it up myself.

Thanks again for sharing the knowledge.

Cheers

Loz

[JPNut]

Steaming services, is that irony? :eyebrows:
Yes, you've basically got the idea there. If you've already got a Dac in the speakers you should be able to connect directly from the Pi without the need to add another Dac and you would have the option to play around with something like the IQ Audio or Hifiberry Dac later if the mood so took you.
I knew nothing about the Raspberry Pi until a couple of months ago, I also know little about computers but even I have managed to get the Pi working, with help from this forum and elsewhere on t'internet. My system is Pi, running Volumio, IQ Audio Dac and case, powered USB port and 1 terabyte portable HGST storage device. Also streaming spotify and Internet radio and all controlled from the iPad. And for the cost of less than a hundred quid, storage excepted, I now have something that compares with my Resolution Audio Opus 21 CD player. So definitely the way to go, in my opinion. Mine is connected to my amps from the PI, you would simply need to connect to your powered speakers and the job should be a good one. There's not much to lose at this sort of price is there?

[HackneyRF]

Steaming services, is that irony? :eyebrows:
Yes, you've basically got the idea there. If you've already got a Dac in the speakers you should be able to connect directly from the Pi without the need to add another Dac and you would have the option to play around with something like the IQ Audio or Hifiberry Dac later if the mood so took you.
I knew nothing about the Raspberry Pi until a couple of months ago, I also know little about computers but even I have managed to get the Pi working, with help from this forum and elsewhere on t'internet. My system is Pi, running Volumio, IQ Audio Dac and case, powered USB port and 1 terabyte portable HGST storage device. Also streaming spotify and Internet radio and all controlled from the iPad. And for the cost of less than a hundred quid, storage excepted, I now have something that compares with my Resolution Audio Opus 21 CD player. So definitely the way to go, in my opinion. Mine is connected to my amps from the PI, you would simply need to connect to your powered speakers and the job should be a good one. There's not much to lose at this sort of price is there?

I had some pressing matters to deal with at the time Paul, so neglected my spelling a bit!

Thanks for that, it's looking much more straight forward than I first thought. Definitely seems the way to go.

Cheers

Loz

[HackneyRF]

OK then, I think I'm ready to have a go at this now.
Do you guys think that this set up is what I need to get me going on road to a basic PI set up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181661763185?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

With these points being my basic plan.

1. Plug my USB drive containing my FLAC files into a correctly set up Raspberry PI with something like Volumio as suggested by Grant and a improved soundcard (at some point)?

2. Connect the PI to the network by either cable or wireless means?

3. Connect the PI directly to the Adam Audio speakers (with their own onboard DAC) via USB?

4. Control the whole lot including steaming services i.e. spotify via an Ipad?

As always, advice/words are very welcome.

Cheers

Loz

[mikmas]

OK then, I think I'm ready to have a go at this now.
Do you guys think that this set up is what I need to get me going on road to a basic PI set up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181661763185?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

With these points being my basic plan.

1. Plug my USB drive containing my FLAC files into a correctly set up Raspberry PI with something like Volumio as suggested by Grant and a improved soundcard (at some point)?

2. Connect the PI to the network by either cable or wireless means?

3. Connect the PI directly to the Adam Audio speakers (with their own onboard DAC) via USB?

4. Control the whole lot including steaming services i.e. spotify via an Ipad?

As always, advice/words are very welcome.

Cheers

Loz

That kit will get you up and running via a wired connection and the price is about right. If you want to use Wifi you will need a Pi Wifi dongle (cheap as chips). If you later decide to add an onboard DAC to the Pi, the case might prove to be a bit of a tight fit but suitable replacements are not hard to come by. An 8GB microcard is more than fine for the Volumio image but I found it a bit small and had problems trying to install other OS players (such as Moode) - 16GB is pretty foolproof.