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Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
13-06-2019, 16:13
Post: #1
Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
Hi all,
I have several streaming playback devices in my home.
Each of these devices have different playback capabilities.
I do not want to setup a different library for each device.
Is it possible to use the same source files and transcode on the fly to the device capabilities?
Any ideas?
Chip
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13-06-2019, 16:39
Post: #2
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
Which control point(s) are you using?
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13-06-2019, 16:56
Post: #3
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
(13-06-2019 16:39)simoncn Wrote:  Which control point(s) are you using?

Control Points
BubbleUPnP
Linn Kazoo
Naim
Samsung SmartThings

Playback devices
Linn
Naim
Roberts
Samsung
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13-06-2019, 17:34
Post: #4
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
Unfortunately there is no simple solution that will work with this combination of renderers and control points. There are partial solutions that might work with a more limited subset of control point and renderer combinations. This is because of limitations in the UPnP protocol and limitations in how this protocol is implemented by different control points and renderers.
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13-06-2019, 18:38
Post: #5
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
The playback devices are things I have in my house to play music so that might be harder to change.
Would it make it easier if I limited the Control Points?
Even with limited or restricted playback options.

Control Points
BubbleUPnP can control Linn and Naim playback devices.
Linn Kazoo can control Linn and Naim playback devices.
Naim can control Naim, not sure about others.
Samsung SmartThings controls Samsung TV and Soundbar.

Playback devices - my library consist of flac, WAV, AAC, DSD
Linn plays WAV, AAC, and flac but does not play DSD
Naim plays WAV, AAC, and DSD
Roberts kitchen radio limited to flac and WAV at 16/44.1
Samsung TV and Soundbar limited to flac, WAV

Any suggestions? Ideas?
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15-06-2019, 06:59
Post: #6
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
It's a tricky one. I have Linn, Denon and a Roberts and have had similar issues. The only solution I found is to have different servers. I have Minimserver as my main one, but also Asset which has multiple-instance capability. My library is all flac with a few mp3/m4a, so I have one Asset that transcodes everything to WAV 16-bit. This doesn't help with the 44.1kHz limitation though - you would have to downsample as well (but Asset only downsamples to 48 - maybe Minim can do 44.1, I don't know).

In your case you could have say, Minim (for your Linn), and then Asset-NAIM, Asset-Roberts, Asset-Samsung (or something). I think you can have multiple Minims too but only on a NAS with Containers (or somesuch I think). You would probably need a decent spec NAS anyway if you want multiple servers running.
Just a thought.
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15-06-2019, 20:01 (This post was last modified: 15-06-2019 20:03 by simoncn.)
Post: #7
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
Multiple instances of MinimServer are supported natively on Linux and by Docker containers on QNAP. The Docker solution also works (unofficially) on Synology.

This is a common user request and I wish there were a better solution. The main issue is that the UPnP protocol requires the server to specify the audio format and resolution of the stream without knowing what renderer will be used to play the stream. The server can offer multiple alternative streams with different audio formats and resolutions and MinimServer/MinimStreamer fully supports this. The UPnP protocol allows the control point to select one of these alternative streams based on the capabilties advertised by the renderer but unfortunately most control points do not provide support for this.
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17-06-2019, 16:38
Post: #8
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
You could use an actual Raspberry Pi. The RPi 3 Model B+ can run up to four instances of MinimServer. I use such a concept for my setup. You could set up one MinimServer instance for each renderer.

Kind regards
steamfan
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17-06-2019, 18:56
Post: #9
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
Hi all,
Several good ideas worth pursuing when I get some dedicated time this weekend.
Any other ideas are also welcome. I am sure there is more than one way to overcome my challenges so all ideas are welcome.
Thanks,
Chip
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19-06-2019, 07:42
Post: #10
RE: Stream to Playback Devices with Different Capabilities
(15-06-2019 20:01)simoncn Wrote:  Multiple instances of MinimServer are supported natively on Linux and by Docker containers on QNAP. The Docker solution also works (unofficially) on Synology.

This is a common user request and I wish there were a better solution. The main issue is that the UPnP protocol requires the server to specify the audio format and resolution of the stream without knowing what renderer will be used to play the stream. The server can offer multiple alternative streams with different audio formats and resolutions and MinimServer/MinimStreamer fully supports this. The UPnP protocol allows the control point to select one of these alternative streams based on the capabilties advertised by the renderer but unfortunately most control points do not provide support for this.

Hi Simon,
I am using a QNAP TVS-463 NAS and from what I can read it should support what they call Containers.
From QNAP:
"QNAP Container Station exclusively integrates LXC (Linux Container) and Docker® lightweight virtualization technologies, allowing you to operate multiple isolated Linux® systems on a QNAP NAS as well as download thousands of apps from all over the world."

Do you have a Docker image for MinimServer?
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