Continued from musicstorage [musicstorage4, musicstorage6, musicstorage1, musicstorage2, musicstorage-solved3, musicstorage3, musicstorage-solved1, musicstorage8, musicstorage-solved2, musicstorage5, musicstorage7]
A few of the potential music-playing devices on my home network support UPnP as their communication protocol, and one device, the OmniFi DMS1, requires it. Unfortunately, the results of my UPnP Media Server testing revealed that UPnP is anything but 'Universal Plug and Play'.
As my goals for a Whole-House Music Storage system are to store and play my music in a lossless format on any conceivable platform, I decided to test some UPnP music servers with an album encoded in the widely supported format lossless WMA9 (specifically, the album Every Step of the Way ![[B00006IIXB]](http://www.mikeyp.com/css/external.gif)
by the brilliant acoustic guitarist Peppino D'Agostino). The UPnP client I used was the OmniFi DMS1 with latest firmware (2.1.012).
For fun, I also encoded the same album in MP3 using iTunes set at 256Kb min VBR. Via a blind listening test with the OmniFi, I could easily tell the difference in quality between the lossless WMA and lossy MP3, even in a somewhat noisy room.
I tested UPnP Media Servers on both Linux and Windows XP. I tried to only test software that would act as a true hands-free server (unlike the cool Windows Media Player plugin On2Share, for example). Here are the results:
| UPnP Media Server | Version | Platform | Results for WMA Lossless | Success or Failure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TwonkyVision MusicServer | 2.7 | Linux | Would not run. Requires GLIBC 2.2, and my older environment is using 2.1 | Fail |
| Intel Micro AV Media Server | Intel UPnP Authoring Tools Build 1725 | Linux | Needed hand-tweaking to compile the source. Plays first few seconds of an MP3 before stuttering badly. Would cause OmniFi to hang. Sees lossless WMA files, but OmniFi displays UNABLE TO PLAY message when trying to play them. Eventually crashes with 'Broken pipe' message. |
Fail |
| SimpleCenter | Unable to verify | Windows XP | Serves lossless WMA perfectly. Heavyweight Java client uses over 50MB RAM. Will not run as a Windows service, therefore requires a logged-in user. No folder view on client. | Success |
| TwonkyVision MediaServer | 2.7 | Windows XP | Sees lossless WMA files, but OmniFi displays UNABLE TO PLAY message when trying to play them. Interesting note: partially served a WAV file to OmniFi, even though WAV is not supported by OmniFi. Very lightweight client at ~7MB RAM. |
Fail |
| Philips Media Manager | 3.2.0.0138 | Windows XP | Software does not see or serve lossless WMA files (even though it claims to support WMA). Very heavy Java client at ~100MB RAM. Is actually a rebranded version of SimpleCenter with video support. Actually disables other installs of SimpleCenter! | Fail |
| Intel AV Media Server | Intel UPnP Tools Build 1768 | Windows XP | Sees lossless WMA files, but OmniFi displays UNABLE TO PLAY message when trying to play them. Proof-of-concept app, requires .NET runtime. |
Fail |
| Windows Media Connect | October 2004 | Windows XP | OmniFi is unable to see WMC, even though it is recognized by WMC server as authorized client device, and latest OmniFi firmware claims WMC support. Runs as a Windows service. Trio of apps totaling ~75MB RAM. Requires .NET runtime. | Fail |
| Allegro Media Server | 1.0.2 | Windows XP | Does not support WMA. Served WAV file to OmniFi flawlessly, even though WAV not supported by OmniFi. Uses only 11MB RAM. | Fail |
The results are pretty pitiful, considering the heavyweight companies backing the UPnP Forum. The only UPnP software that successfully served lossless WMA files to the OmniFi DMS1 was SimpleCenter, an easy-to-use, yet bloated Java app that runs only as a user client on Windows XP. Are the poor results due to server software, hardware, or hardware firmware? There's no way to tell in a single test case like this.
Is all lost here? Not yet. All of the software I tried appears to be in active development, so I expect to see future revisions on a regular basis. There are also several open UPnP APIs available from Intel, CyberLink, and others which will hopefully lead to a new batch of software from other authors and vendors. In addition, I may find some configuration cock-ups on my part that may allow some of the above software to perform better (GLIBC 2.2 for TwonkyVision, reinstall of Philips Media Manager, etc). I'll try again when I'm less frustrated.
The tentative conclusion: UPnP is not an appropriate solution for a Whole-House Music Storage system with lossless music encoding, at least for now.
SimpleCenter Update: My OmniFi DMS1 now inexplicably refuses to play Lossless WMA files from SimpleCenter, displaying the UNABLE TO PLAY message instead.
Windows Media Connect Update: Although the OmniFi DMS1 refuses to see the WMC that is installed on my main computer, it does see the WMC installed on my laptop. However, the OmniFi displays the UNABLE TO PLAY message when trying to play a Lossless WMA file via Windows Media Connect.
SimpleCenter Update #2: OmniFi Tech Support replied that 'The DMS1 and DMP1 do not support Lossless WMA files, and there are no plans to add support for any other file formats.' Either I've gone completely mad or what, because I'm almost positive I was able to play Lossless WMA from SimpleCenter before. I remember because there was a spelling difference in the artist's name between the MP3 and WMA test file (Peppino d'Agostino vs, Peppino D'Agostino), and both were listed on the DMS1 display. WTF?
Great info here. Similar to my results with MP3 files.
Still looking for answers. Please let me know if you have any solutions that can handle about 30,000 tracks and is compatible with the DMS1.
More info from my quest at http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3891
Thanks!
Sorry, seem to have had my formatting adjusted and it ruined the URL. Try this one
http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3891
Have you had any experience of getting a Sony Roomlink working with Linux? I ahve got it to play MP3's but now need it to do video and pictures. Twonky does the MP3's and sees the video but will not stream it (even when it is MPEG2) and pictures are just blank.
MediaTomb and ushare have similar problems (apart from ushare won't do video at all!)
I'm afraid I haven't tried a RoomLink, but thanks for the tip about MediaTomb - I'll give that a build and see if the OmniFi will talk to it. BTW, I confirmed that the Xbox 360 speaks UPnP…
