How Do I Control Music From My NAS???????????

[rs6mra]

Hi Guys,

I currently have a home cinema set up with a NAD T751 (Soon to be upgraded to a DLNA certified receiver: Onkyo/Denon). My TV & NAS storage device are already DLNA certified. I am soon to start transferring my music collection to the NAS but i am unsure as to how I can select songs to playback without the use of my PC. All devices are connected with the use of Cat 6 cabling on a gigabit network.

One option is for me to use itunes to manage my library but am i right in that if i used itunes that i can use an iphone or touch to remotely control the music (from a thread i read earlier)? Assuming of course that i will now need to have a wireless setup......................

What alternatives are there to using itunes and more importantly, are there any other devices that will control an itunes library wired (preferred) or wireless?

 

[nads]

so what are you going to use to "play" your music?

some hardware or some software.

A VAS will not play it without something....

will iTunes run on the NAS? what about a media player....

 

[John Duncan]

Aha. Much as I love iTunes, it and NASes don't play nice. It's possible to create an iTunes Server on a NAS, but as far as I can tell all NASes that do that only make it a shared library available to use by other PCs on the network (which kind of defeats the object).

However, if your TV (and receiver in the fullness of time) is DLNA certified, it should be possible to browse the music on your NAS and play it directly - have you tried that?

Lastly - most people who have a NAS do it because they want to play music with their PC turned off - do you? because if not, then that opens up some other options.

 

[rs6mra]

Nads - I was under the impression that as the receiver and NAS are DLNA certified that i will be able to play my music on my set up with the 'new receiver'. At present i can stream photos to the TV from the NAS, PS3 and the PCs.

I can confirm that itunes will run on the NAS which is a Buffalo Linkstation Duo.

JohnDuncan - I can browse the music on my NAS at present but only with the use of a PC and the TV. I never turn my PC off; so what options are available to me.

I must admit that the Sonos is looking like a good option at present and i would ideally like to create an itunes server on the NAS

 

[The_Lhc]

rs6mra:Nads - I was under the impression that as the receiver and NAS are DLNA certified that i will be able to play my music on my set up with the 'new receiver'.

Yes that's how it should work, the receiver would be doing the "controlling".

I must admit that the Sonos is looking like a good option at present and i would ideally like to create an itunes server on the NAS

Well you don't need the later in order to use the former, just so you know.

 

[nads]

well the confusion is with what you are suggesting.

with the comments of using an iTouch and iTunes it seem that you dont want the amp to "play" the tunes but the NAS?

yes you can "play" the stored files directly from the amp but you will need to use the amp remote.

or you can use any separate media player....

 

[rs6mra]

Ahhhhh! I see where I am getting confused.

I want the amp to play the music that will be stored on the NAS and this you say can be done using the amp remote or a separate media player...... assuming the likes of a Sonos?

What other media players can I use to play the music from the NAS via the amp that has a screen to select the album or soundtracks. I suppose that what I am trying to achieve is some kind of screen when selections are made.

Pardon me for the confusion.

 

[The_Lhc]

Squeezebox is the other main alternative.

 

[nads]

So,

there are audio media player and multimedia players.

as the amp can play the music do you need a audio meadi player? is your NAS going to stream anything else? films to the TV?

do you want different audio in other rooms? the same music or... do you want this music from the different zones on the amp or streamed by a separate streamer?

the options are so vast it is hard to know where to start.

 

[mattjax05]

As JD mentioned above, when you get the NEW amp you may be able to play music directly from the amp and use the tv for viewing/selecting music. If not then something like WDTV Live will work well in your set up.

 

[PJPro]

You can use something like this. Of course, you can simply use your PS3 as well.

Just to clear up any confusion (in case any still exists), the NAS provides a service which media players can access and use. DNLA is the standard set of interfaces which allow the media player (eg PS3) to communicate with the server (eg the NAS).