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Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
11-04-2014, 18:08 (This post was last modified: 11-04-2014 18:36 by gnomus.)
Post: #1
Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
I have just downloaded and installed MinimServer on my Synology NAS. The instructions on the website were straightforward, and I thank whoever posted them.

I know very little about this streaming business, having been doing it for only a couple of weeks. I am a small way in to ripping my collection of (~3000 CDs). It is a painful process.

I am trialling MinimServer with Kinsky (and finding it much much better than Twonky - maybe I set up Twonky wrong).

My Sonos interface allows me to update the music library at the click of a few buttons or it does it at 2 am. My stupid newbie question for today is: How do I update the library (for example, when I rip in a load of new CDs) using the Kinsky/MinimServer set up. I am aware that there is a "rescan library button" within the MinimServer interface on my NAS. Is there a way of setting this to auto-rescan once a day or every x hours? Apologies if this question is the stupidest yet asked on this forum.

By the way, if you are wondering why I don't just stick with my very passable Sonos interface, well .....

I thought that I had cured myself of this curious Hi Fi sickness. I have been prone to some nonsense in the past. For example, whilst ripping my CDs, I am still coming across some discs that I have inked with green pen in the past (remember that one?), and the wife never fails to chastise me for the time I put a load of my CDs in the deep freeze.

I have been trying out the Linn Kinsky interface because (of course) I am wondering about a future purchase of something from Linn. I wanted to make sure all the streaming side would work before throwing a load of cash at the system. [Sorry for the dull semi-Bio.]

Thanks in anticipation of your question.

Unfortunately, this will probably not be my last stupid question.
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11-04-2014, 19:07 (This post was last modified: 11-04-2014 19:08 by simoncn.)
Post: #2
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(11-04-2014 18:08)gnomus Wrote:  I have just downloaded and installed MinimServer on my Synology NAS. The instructions on the website were straightforward, and I thank whoever posted them.

I know very little about this streaming business, having been doing it for only a couple of weeks. I am a small way in to ripping my collection of (~3000 CDs). It is a painful process.

I am trialling MinimServer with Kinsky (and finding it much much better than Twonky - maybe I set up Twonky wrong).

My Sonos interface allows me to update the music library at the click of a few buttons or it does it at 2 am. My stupid newbie question for today is: How do I update the library (for example, when I rip in a load of new CDs) using the Kinsky/MinimServer set up. I am aware that there is a "rescan library button" within the MinimServer interface on my NAS. Is there a way of setting this to auto-rescan once a day or every x hours? Apologies if this question is the stupidest yet asked on this forum.

Welcome to the MinimServer forum! There is no need to apologise, and your question is not stupid.

At present, you need to use the Rescan selection from the MinimWatch pop-up menu to make MinimServer find additions or changes to your library. Alternatively, there is a third-party package (for Synology only) that will do this automatically whenever you make any additions or changes to your library. See this thread for details.

I am hoping to provide an automatic rescan capability in a future release of MinimServer.

Quote:By the way, if you are wondering why I don't just stick with my very passable Sonos interface, well .....

I thought that I had cured myself of this curious Hi Fi sickness. I have been prone to some nonsense in the past. For example, whilst ripping my CDs, I am still coming across some discs that I have inked with green pen in the past (remember that one?), and the wife never fails to chastise me for the time I put a load of my CDs in the deep freeze.

I have been trying out the Linn Kinsky interface because (of course) I am wondering about a future purchase of something from Linn. I wanted to make sure all the streaming side would work before throwing a load of cash at the system. [Sorry for the dull semi-Bio.]

I would be interested to know which renderer you are using to play music using Kinsky as a control point.
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11-04-2014, 19:15
Post: #3
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(11-04-2014 19:07)simoncn Wrote:  ...
I would be interested to know which renderer you are using to play music using Kinsky as a control point.

Thanks you for your prompt reply.

I'm not sure what a "renderer" is. I can say that, using MinimServer through Kinsky, I am able to play tracks through my Sonos Connect. The connect is wired into the Network via a Homeplug. Is the Connect a renderer?
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11-04-2014, 21:03
Post: #4
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(11-04-2014 19:15)gnomus Wrote:  Thanks you for your prompt reply.

I'm not sure what a "renderer" is. I can say that, using MinimServer through Kinsky, I am able to play tracks through my Sonos Connect. The connect is wired into the Network via a Homeplug. Is the Connect a renderer?

Yes, the Sonos would be the renderer. Thanks!
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12-04-2014, 16:55 (This post was last modified: 12-04-2014 16:57 by gnomus.)
Post: #5
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(11-04-2014 21:03)simoncn Wrote:  
(11-04-2014 19:15)gnomus Wrote:  Thanks you for your prompt reply.

I'm not sure what a "renderer" is. I can say that, using MinimServer through Kinsky, I am able to play tracks through my Sonos Connect. The connect is wired into the Network via a Homeplug. Is the Connect a renderer?

Yes, the Sonos would be the renderer. Thanks!

Thanks again. I may have spoken too soon about the Kinsky//MinimServer/Sonos combination. I thought it was working during my extensive "testing". However, when I sat down to listen to some music, I found annoying gaps between tracks that should segue together (The Wall, Live albums, and some orchestral music).

I get gapless playback using the Sonos interface.

What could be causing the lack of gapless? Is that Kinsky, Minimserver or some incompatibility between Kinsky/MinimServer and my Sonos? I don't remember having a problem when I tried Twonky, but it is possible I was only "testing" and not listening then. I wouldn't want to shell out for some expensive system only to find I can't get gapless - about a third of my collection is opera!
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12-04-2014, 17:44
Post: #6
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(12-04-2014 16:55)gnomus Wrote:  Thanks again. I may have spoken too soon about the Kinsky//MinimServer/Sonos combination. I thought it was working during my extensive "testing". However, when I sat down to listen to some music, I found annoying gaps between tracks that should segue together (The Wall, Live albums, and some orchestral music).

I get gapless playback using the Sonos interface.

What could be causing the lack of gapless? Is that Kinsky, Minimserver or some incompatibility between Kinsky/MinimServer and my Sonos? I don't remember having a problem when I tried Twonky, but it is possible I was only "testing" and not listening then. I wouldn't want to shell out for some expensive system only to find I can't get gapless - about a third of my collection is opera!

Kinsky supports gapless playback for the Linn DS only.

Whether or not gapless playback is supported depends on the control point and renderer, not the server. MinimServer supports gapless playback if the control point and renderer are capable of this.
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12-04-2014, 18:21
Post: #7
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(06-06-1974 07:28)simoncn Wrote:  ,,,
Kinsky supports gapless playback for the Linn DS only.

Whether or not gapless playback is supported depends on the control point and renderer, not the server. MinimServer supports gapless playback if the control point and renderer are capable of this.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain all this to me. I have downloaded the Bubble UPNP App for my tablet. This seems to be working fine. It is giving gapless with the Sonos (even though I have only downloaded the "free" version which has "Enable Gapless Playback" greyed out).

In fact I think I like the Bubble interface more than Kinsky. The only thing I keep doing is wiping out my playlist when I tap a track in the library, rather than holding it to allow the options menu for the track to pop up.
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13-04-2014, 09:00
Post: #8
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(12-04-2014 18:21)gnomus Wrote:  Thanks again for taking the time to explain all this to me. I have downloaded the Bubble UPNP App for my tablet. This seems to be working fine. It is giving gapless with the Sonos (even though I have only downloaded the "free" version which has "Enable Gapless Playback" greyed out).

In fact I think I like the Bubble interface more than Kinsky. The only thing I keep doing is wiping out my playlist when I tap a track in the library, rather than holding it to allow the options menu for the track to pop up.

I'm interested to hear that BubbleUPnP plays gapless to the Sonos. I wasn't sure whether this would work.
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13-04-2014, 10:52
Post: #9
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(13-04-2014 09:00)simoncn Wrote:  ...
I'm interested to hear that BubbleUPnP plays gapless to the Sonos. I wasn't sure whether this would work.

I'll keep testing, but so far it seems to be working perfectly.

(12-04-2014 18:21)gnomus Wrote:  ... The only thing I keep doing is wiping out my playlist when I tap a track in the library ...

I know you already knew this, but for other folks, like me, who may be on a steep learning curve and looking at this thread, there is a setting within Bubble that allows for a "tap" to add the track to the current playlist, rather than start it playing. I am increasingly impressed with the Bubble interface.

One odd problem I have had (nothing to do with Sonos, MinimServer or Bubble) is that from time to time using the Homeplugs, playback of tracks becomes very "stuttery", and sometimes stops altogether. This has happened only twice in the couple of weeks I have had the system, both times in the early evening. It then seems to clear itself and everything work perfectly again.

I know this is nothing to do with MinimServer, but has anyone any idea what might be causing this and (more importantly) what, if anything, can be done to fix it?
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13-04-2014, 15:33 (This post was last modified: 13-04-2014 15:39 by simoncn.)
Post: #10
RE: Total Newbie - Apologies in Advance
(13-04-2014 10:52)gnomus Wrote:  One odd problem I have had (nothing to do with Sonos, MinimServer or Bubble) is that from time to time using the Homeplugs, playback of tracks becomes very "stuttery", and sometimes stops altogether. This has happened only twice in the couple of weeks I have had the system, both times in the early evening. It then seems to clear itself and everything work perfectly again.

I know this is nothing to do with MinimServer, but has anyone any idea what might be causing this and (more importantly) what, if anything, can be done to fix it?

The problem might be caused by other internet traffic on your router at the peak early evening time. If so, the solution would be to replace your router with a router that has higher bandwidth capacity. Alternatively, you could add a switch and route audio traffic via the switch so it doesn't need to go through the router.

It is also possible that the problem is related to the Homeplugs. Can you replace the Homeplugs (temporarily) with a long Ethernet cable to see whether that cures the problem?

If the problem is caused by the Homeplugs, you could replace them with a dedicated wireless bridge that uses a different channel than your main wireless LAN. I am using this setup and it works well for me.
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