no conversion in JPlay hibernate mode with AO core

[riboge]

(17-04-2015 01:03)simoncn Wrote:  

(17-04-2015 00:54)simoncn Wrote:  I tried this and it is working for me. The playlist (queue) order doesn't change but the next track is selected randomly when the current track finishes. I'm using a Linn DS as the renderer.

The shuffle icon in Lightning DS works in the same way. I think it is setting shuffle mode in the renderer so that the renderer picks a random track from the playlist as the next track to play. If this isn't working with JPlayStreamer, this might be a problem (or missing functionality) in JPlayStreamer.

That is not the shuttle track function, or random play, that many have requested. We want random selection among ALL tracks in the library. Or of a playlist of the entire library, but how would you make such a list with any of these programs? Shuffle among the tracks of a single album chosen for play is of little value, to me at least.

[DavidHB]

(17-04-2015 01:17)riboge Wrote:  We want random selection among ALL tracks in the library. Or of a playlist of the entire library, but how would you make such a list with any of these programs? Shuffle among the tracks of a single album chosen for play is of little value, to me at least.

While shuffle play of an entire large library might be a stretch, there is nothing to stop you building a .m3u playlist (for example in Playlist Creator), saving it where MinimServer can scan it, and then selecting and using it as the basis for shuffle play. I'm not sure how big such playlists can practicably be, but you could start with several dozen albums and work up from there. I know that this is not what you ideally want, but I'd guess that, from your perspective, it's a lot better than a list consisting of only a single album.

David

[simoncn]

(17-04-2015 01:17)riboge Wrote:  That is not the shuttle track function, or random play, that many have requested. We want random selection among ALL tracks in the library. Or of a playlist of the entire library, but how would you make such a list with any of these programs? Shuffle among the tracks of a single album chosen for play is of little value, to me at least.

Kazoo allows you to add any subset of the MinimServer library to the renderer playlist. For example, you can browse to an Artist, Genre, etc., then select "n items" and add this list of items to the renderer playlist. You can then play the renderer playlist randomly using shuffle mode.

I couldn't find a way to do this in Lightning DS. It seems to be limited to adding one album at a time to the renderer playlist.

[DavidHB]

(17-04-2015 10:39)simoncn Wrote:  Kazoo allows you to add any subset of the MinimServer library to the renderer playlist. For example, you can browse to an Artist, Genre, etc., then select "n items" and add this list of items to the renderer playlist. You can then play the renderer playlist randomly using shuffle mode.

Thanks, Simon, for this reminder. I now remember that Kazoo has a limit of 1000 items in a playlist, and seem to recall that the limit has been discussed on the Linn forums. I've just tested, and the limit is still there. It would presumably also apply to a .m3u playlist (my previous post refers).

David

[simoncn]

(17-04-2015 12:09)DavidHB Wrote:  Thanks, Simon, for this reminder. I now remember that Kazoo has a limit of 1000 items in a playlist, and seem to recall that the limit has been discussed on the Linn forums. I've just tested, and the limit is still there. It would presumably also apply to a .m3u playlist (my previous post refers).

David

It occurs to me that this limitation of the Linn renderers might provide a solution to the requirement. If MinimServer were to provide a "random" sort order option for the "n items" list, the user could add the randomized "n items" list to the renderer playlist and only the first 1000 tracks from this list would actually be added. These 1000 tracks could then be played randomly.

[riboge]

(17-04-2015 12:50)simoncn Wrote:  

(17-04-2015 12:09)DavidHB Wrote:  Thanks, Simon, for this reminder. I now remember that Kazoo has a limit of 1000 items in a playlist, and seem to recall that the limit has been discussed on the Linn forums. I've just tested, and the limit is still there. It would presumably also apply to a .m3u playlist (my previous post refers).

David

It occurs to me that this limitation of the Linn renderers might provide a solution to the requirement. If MinimServer were to provide a "random" sort order option for the "n items" list, the user could add the randomized "n items" list to the renderer playlist and only the first 1000 tracks from this list would actually be added. These 1000 tracks could then be played randomly.

I am not sure I follow this but it seems that Kazoo is to make an n item list which minimserver would then randomize, but Kazoo will only make up to a 1000 item list, no? If we could get a list of all library tracks as a list that minimserver could randomize and then enter the result into Kazoo we would, in a very cumbersome way, have the right result, but I am not seeing how you are saying that is possible.

[DavidHB]

(17-04-2015 15:57)riboge Wrote:  

(17-04-2015 12:50)simoncn Wrote:  It occurs to me that this limitation of the Linn renderers might provide a solution to the requirement. If MinimServer were to provide a "random" sort order option for the "n items" list, the user could add the randomized "n items" list to the renderer playlist and only the first 1000 tracks from this list would actually be added. These 1000 tracks could then be played randomly.

I am not sure I follow this but it seems that Kazoo is to make an n item list which minimserver would then randomize, but Kazoo will only make up to a 1000 item list, no? If we could get a list of all library tracks as a list that minimserver could randomize and then enter the result into Kazoo we would, in a very cumbersome way, have the right result, but I am not seeing how you are saying that is possible.

The point is that 1000 tracks is a Linn limitation (I think from memory that Simon is correct in pointing out that this is a limitation of the renderers themselves and not just of the Kazoo software). If you can get Minimserver to produce a random playlist of your complete library, only the first 1000 tracks would load into the player (and could then be played randomly), but at least those 1000 tracks would have been randomly selected. Any time you instructed MinimServer to re-create its random list, a different random playlist of 1000 tracks would be loaded.

One assumes that this would also work with other players with different limitations. Tracks would be loaded from the random list up to whatever limit was imposed by the player. MinimServer would work in the same way for every player.

Simon's suggestion seems to me to be rather neat, and would make a nice new feature.

David

[DavidHB]

A new point for interest.

Bubble DS Next has a rather interesting 'random tracks' feature, which is somewhat buried in 'Virtual Folders' at the bottom of the library list. If you press the folder icon for Random Tracks, it asks you to specify a number (the default is 10), and then generates a list of tracks for you to add to the playlist.

David