Subsonic Forum

Hello @all

I'm new to the subsonic forum. I look for the best player with the best functions. First of all, i like subsonic! The fast Webgui and search function, creating playlists and play on different instances of Subsonic. I would like to spent money for this project but i tried 20 different media libraries, player. I miss one "BIG" feature. In my network i have 2x Sony SA-NS510 wireless speaker, 1x XBMC with Raspberry and 1x XBMC on my new very nice Intel NUC device. On the Raspberry i've connected my Stereo HiHi Receiver. My Girlfriend has a Google Nexus Tablet, i got a iPad 4 and we got iPhones. Now we have a party, 4 different Airplay devices and the possibilty to stream Music from DLNA Server to ONE of this 4 devices. But i like a webinterface like subsonic on my HP Proliant N54L NAS Server with the idea of a jukebox and the abilty to stream music from this Server to all Airplay devices at the same time OVER my iPad. My iPad has just opened the webgui from subsonic and subsonic streams the local music from NAS to all 4 Airplay / uPNP devices?

This is a great thing, cause, when your device like android phone, tablet or iPad shut down because of low battery, the subsonic still streams your cool playlist music to ALL of this 4 airplay / upnp devices AT THE SAME TIME.

I never found a media library or player with this function! Why is this not possible? Or is it possible somehow? i dont find the function!

It's helpful to think of this process in its segments:
Server/database
Control Point/GUI
Renderer/Player

Then it's helpful to understand the differing capabilities of each, and the different protocols each segment can handle, and the role they play in the process. Given this and your situation above Airplay will be your only option if you wish synced wireless playback. I've encouraged and tested 'Soundseeder' for Android, but it is still clumsy to sync 2, let alone more wireless speakers using it. Airplay, however, *CAN* play back synced audio, but I've found in my own testing that not all Airplay devices are created equal: 3 Pioneer wireless Airplay speakers sync perfectly; add a few non-Pioneer Airplay compliant devices, and they're off by 500 millisesonds or more-right back to fiddling like Soundseeder. Therefore, if you desire TRULY synced playback, your options narrow, in my experience, to sticking with one brand of device for renderer/player (like I did with Pioneer, or others with Sonos). Presently, I'm testing the following:
Server/db: Subsonic, Plex, minidlna,Twonky
Control Point/Gui (I'm all in on Android) Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Samsung GS3, and have settled with 2 different GUI's: BubbleUPnP (DLNA) runs on server machine (transcoding and WAN server like Subsonic) along with Sub,Plex,Mini, and BubbleUPnP client runs on Android, and accesses all the servers above, and sends to my renderers usng DLNA. Since all Android devices are rooted, I also run AirStream (paid Airplay compatible broadcast app) to play back synced throughout my flat. My Pioneer speakers support both DLNA and Airplay protocols and sound impressive after a bit of equalisation to mellow down the bass.

Now...the handoff of sending duties is another matter (concern about battery life of control point,etc.) and will also vary, considering who is actually doing the work. For example, I can use either protocol and begin streaming KEXP, but if I want Airplay sync, it relies on the Android phone/tablet (I'll never own anything Apple) for sending duties. Same with DLNA..Bubble remains running in background to stream, but of course unlike Apple Airplay, I can simultaneously use the device for many other tasks*. However, the Pioneer also comes with it's own poor Control App, and I can start the same KEXP stream from my Androids, but then turn them off, and the stream continues. Further testing has competed with other projects, so I can't say what happens with on-the-fly playlisting behaviour in both protocols (but I might imagine similar to above), so I would think prepared playlists would be your best bet, until other solutions evolve. In the interim, I use my TYLT wireless charging dock to rest my Nexus 5 and it remains charging(ed) at home at all times.

*as an early Chromecast adopter, I also use apps (Plex, BeyondPod,etc.) with Chromecast-ability, and CC takes on the workload, unless 'Tab' streaming, and I've been told Apple Airplay dedicates the device to Airplay only (like mirroring/Miracast) when in use, but since I don't own any Apple stuff myself, I just go by what I'm told on that..ymmv.

I'm also searching a solution to do this. DLNA/UPnP is a clunky batch of outdated libraries and I never acheived the reliability I need for Hi-Def audio. Subsonic is the only solution I trust now. But no subsonic player can receive the stream without you physically operating that player.

I see further than shitty outdated opaque clunky DLNA for this. Although it could immediatly answer the need in the actual ecosystem. The solution using DLNA/Airplay would just be redirecting the server audio output interface to any DLNA/Airplay renderer. The server would just think it is in jukebox mode. This solution could be completely out of the architectural scope of Subsonic... except we want to be able to perform the audio output switching from a pocket device: selecting a renderer (or better: a known subsonic client player on the LAN). It would not make sense on WAN (like remote djeing sessions from a German techno guy? ha!)

We all have and old iPhone (or similar) and old dockspeakers we once loved. We just need to stream TO it like we turn on the TV... WITHOUT touching it.

Don't mention "bluetooth" please.

Since using BubbleUPnP on Android (and server in Windows), I've found old clunky DLNA/UPnP to be quite capable and spunky...the way I think it was supposed to be all along. Problem is it's not synced playback capable, at least in any set up I've ever had. I was once able to get several Roku Soundbridges to play close, but not perfectly synced, but I understood old Squeezboxen used to be able to do it. Sonos and Airplay are presently the most friendly way to get whole house audio right now. Adding those spare speakers and phones means adding a lot more complexity to the equation: power, networking, amplification, synchronisation..it makes more sense to use newer devices built for the purpose, imho.

Yeah BubbleUPNP is quite impressive I must admit. But a look in its advanced settings/tweaks/twerks/workarounds gives you an idea how much effort went into making it work correctly among the so called Alliance of manufacturers. And it's still not working with HiDef open formats (FLAC) and probably won't ever.

The solution was Airfoil for me. No DLNA in the loop. Airfoil taking the jukebox audio on the server, streaming to clients I selected. Airfoil Speaker app (iPhone or Android) has an adjustable latency, so you can tweak to match your slower devices and have a somewhat in-sync play among renderers.