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Best client for macOS / iOS?
13-02-2019, 23:41
Post: #1
Best client for macOS / iOS?
This is probably a really stupid question, and has been answered more than once already, but I'm afraid I haven't found the right threads and am a bit overwhelmed with Control Points and Renderers and whatnots.Huh

I have all my music on a Synology NAS, from where I can play it over two Sonos systems (I hope I'm allowed to mention this here). Additionally, there's Plex running on the Synology, which the young one uses to play his music.

Since I listen mostly to Classical music, Plex' ultra-simple organization is not very helpful, and there are plans to stop using it.

However, what I don't "get" is (apart from quite a lot about how MinimServer works, but that'll come later): how does one best play music that's hosted on a NAS and streamed by MinimServer on a MacOS computer and/or an iOS device?

All UPnP player software I've seen so far is either very old and/or even less visually pleasing than Sonos.

Did I miss some great players that are somewhat capable for classical music (no need to be able to filter by recording engineer or even conductor/orchestra – I'd be quite happy to have composers and multiple album artists) and are easy to use? Maybe something like Vox, but with a one-time fee, no "Premium" subscriptions stuff? Being able to visually scroll albums and maybe even artists would be a big plus.
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14-02-2019, 12:32
Post: #2
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
The great thing about UPnP is that you can mix and match your setup by choosing any server, any control point and any renderer from a large selection of alternatives from different manufacturers or developers.

The downside of UPnP is that you need to mix and match your setup by choosing a server, a control point and a renderer from a large selection of alternatives from different manufacturers or developers.

Many people use a dedicated renderer (often described as a "streamer") which typically comes with its own control point app. All you need to do is choose the server and there are a few good options for this available.

You are using MacOS and iOS for your renderer and control point, so you can't take advantage of any control-point apps from the streamer manufacturers. You want to use UPnP rather than staying within the Apple/iTunes world, so you can't take advantage of anything developed by Apple. This leaves a limited number of third-party apps that provide UPnP control point and/or renderer capabilities on MacOS or iOS.

For iOS, I suggest you start by looking at mconnect. This app includes a UPnP control point and renderer and works well with MinimServer.

For playback on the Mac, you can use mconnect on iOS as the control point and install the free OpenHome player (see this page) on the Mac to use as the UPnP renderer. I don't know of any good UPnP control points for the Mac but others might have some suggestions. VLC includes a UPnP control point but it has a bug (see this page) that prevents it working correctly with MinimServer.
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14-02-2019, 23:19
Post: #3
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
(14-02-2019 12:32)simoncn Wrote:  For playback on the Mac, you can use mconnect on iOS as the control point and install the free OpenHome player (see this page) on the Mac to use as the UPnP renderer. I don't know of any good UPnP control points for the Mac but others might have some suggestions.
Being an OpenHome control point, Linn Kazoo would be ideal to use on the Mac to control OpenHome Player.
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15-02-2019, 06:25
Post: #4
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
Being an OpenHome control point, Linn Kazoo would be ideal to use on the Mac to control OpenHome Player.
[/quote]

http://en.audionet.de/apps/rcp/ is also worth a look if Kazoo doesn't suit.
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15-02-2019, 08:02
Post: #5
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
(14-02-2019 12:32)simoncn Wrote:  The great thing about UPnP is that you can mix and match your setup by choosing any server, any control point and any renderer from a large selection of alternatives from different manufacturers or developers.

The downside of UPnP is that you need to mix and match your setup by choosing a server, a control point and a renderer from a large selection of alternatives from different manufacturers or developers.

Mixing metaphors but...
Never has a truer word be spoken, even in jest Big Grin
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15-02-2019, 09:38
Post: #6
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
Thanks all for the very helpful, if to this simple-minded and therefore Mac- and iOS-using mind partly maybe somewhat more confusing than illuminating hints.
Linn Kazoo looks indeed like the sort of polished, joy-sparking software I have in mind (while RCP's screenshots remind me more of what I think of as «only a Linux user could love», I'm afraid to say).

However to be completely honest the need, if understood correctly, to have the MinimServer server software running on the NAS, it's MinimWatch server-software-controlling-software running on yet another stack (Java) that I'd need to install on my pristine Mac, some sort of server-software-playing OpenHome software, and a server-software-playing-software-controlling software (Linn Kazoo) does not really sound like to simple, as-few-turning-wheels-as-possible kind of setup I have in mind at this point. (Insert «Linux user» bit from above here Big Grin)
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15-02-2019, 10:57
Post: #7
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
(15-02-2019 06:25)aliasname Wrote:  http://en.audionet.de/apps/rcp/ is also worth a look if Kazoo doesn't suit.

Thanks for the pointer. It is useful to have another option. I have just downloaded and tried AudioNet RCP. It failed to recognise one of my UPnP (not OpenHome) renderers but it did recognise another. The UI is functional but not very beautiful.
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15-02-2019, 10:58
Post: #8
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
(15-02-2019 09:38)philby Wrote:  However to be completely honest the need, if understood correctly, to have the MinimServer server software running on the NAS, it's MinimWatch server-software-controlling-software running on yet another stack (Java) that I'd need to install on my pristine Mac, some sort of server-software-playing OpenHome software, and a server-software-playing-software-controlling software (Linn Kazoo) does not really sound like to simple, as-few-turning-wheels-as-possible kind of setup I have in mind at this point. (Insert «Linux user» bit from above here Big Grin)

Understood. There is a great opportunity for someone here....
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15-02-2019, 11:50
Post: #9
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
Then again, the minimum requirement is for a server, a player, and a controller. I guess if you choose to have the server on another machine (NAS) then you still need a player and controller on the Mac that can talk to the server. Can't really get around that.
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15-02-2019, 11:55
Post: #10
RE: Best client for macOS / iOS?
(15-02-2019 10:58)simoncn Wrote:  
(15-02-2019 09:38)philby Wrote:  However to be completely honest the need, if understood correctly, to have the MinimServer server software running on the NAS, it's MinimWatch server-software-controlling-software running on yet another stack (Java) that I'd need to install on my pristine Mac, some sort of server-software-playing OpenHome software, and a server-software-playing-software-controlling software (Linn Kazoo) does not really sound like to simple, as-few-turning-wheels-as-possible kind of setup I have in mind at this point. (Insert «Linux user» bit from above here Big Grin)

Understood. There is a great opportunity for someone here....

Ahhh, was that an oblique reference to that other thing called, dare I say it, roon? Wink
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