The '<n> albums' sort order (again)

[simoncn]

(11-09-2013 21:30)DavidHB Wrote:  

(10-09-2013 12:45)stampie Wrote:  It's worth bearing in mind the role that the 'control point' has in the overall chain. Some (most?) of them implement their own sort rules.

I fully agree with your main point, and you will have seen my ideas developing in this thread, as I have come to realise its importance

I'm not knowledgeable enough to know whether 'some' or 'most' is more correct.

In my experience, it's some but not most.

Quote:In the few weeks that I have been looking in detail at network-based audio systems, I have come to realise that, with a device- and format-independent standard like UPnP AV, there is a strong incentive on providers of Servers, Control Points and renderers to try to control the user experience by modifying in some way the inputs their products receive. This will be particularly true in the case of Control Points, because they provide the user interface, and all the more true when the Control Point software is branded by a high-end streamer manufacturer.

In these circumstances, it is quite surprising that Linn seem to have taken something of an 'open systems' approach in the development of Kinsky. I am looking forward to learning Kinsky properly (see my next post, which will follow in a bit), but experience with it so far suggests that it needs a server like MinimServer to enable it to do what I want it to do. That's actually a good thing; when a component provider respects both the established standards and the integrity of the system as a whole, users are (in my view) more likely to get what they really want, even if they have to work a bit for it.

David

I think Linn's approach to this has been exemplary. They have implemented a number of (very useful) extensions to the standards in their products, and they have also been careful to ensure their products support the "plain vanilla" version of the standards as well. Also, they have published the specifications for their extensions so that other manufacturers can interoperate with these extensions or implement them.

I personally find the combination of Kinsky and MinimServer to be very satisfactory. Another good control point (for Android only) is BubbleUPnP/BubbleDS.