Tag: network media receivers

Introduction

I am reviewing the Pure Jongo A2 Wi-Fi / Bluetooth audio adaptor which connects to one’s favourite stereo system or a pair of active speakers to play content from a computer, network or mobile device. This is achieved through Wi-Fi DLNA technology or through Bluetooth A2DP technology.

It is part of the Pure Jongo ecosystem which has integral support for synchronous playback of network-hosted sources over the same network and is managed via a Pure Connect mobile-platform app for iOS and Android.

Price

The unit itself:

RRP including tax: AUD$199

Accessories

Decorative collars (lime green, mango, burnt orange, white): $29

Form Factor

Adaptor for existing audio and AV systems

Functions

 Connections

 The unit itself

The unit is slightly bigger than a 500g (“pound”) block of butter and is shaped like a triangle with curved sides. There is the ability to style it your way using optional decorative collars available from Pure, but this size also makes you want to take it with you to hook up to any sound system at any location.

This adaptor has digital (coaxial and optical) and analogue audio outputs to suit all consumer audio equipment

For connectivity, the Pure Jongo A2 covers all bases as far as consumer audio and AV equipment is concerned.  Here, you have a pair of RCA connections to provide a line-level audio connection to any vacant auxiliary or tape input on your sound system. If you are using a digital-analogue converter, a home-theatre receiver or a digital amplifier, you can connect this network audio adaptor to this digital inputs on that component using the coaxial (RCA) or optical (Toslink) connections. This lets you use the better digital-analogue signal path offered by these devices as well as obviating the risk of electrical noise in the signal that can come about with longer RCA-cord analogue connections.

When it comes to the home network, you have the ability to connect to an 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless segment. This supports WPS push-button setup or you use the “own access point and Web interface” for integrating this device in to your existing small network.

The Jongo plays properly as a DLNA MediaRenderer device where it can reliably accept a run of audio content that it is directed to play via the home network. I had this playing a run of albums through the household stereo system by “finding” the files on my WD My Book World Edition NAS using Twonky Mobile on my Samsung Android phone and using that app to have it play the tracks.

The Pure Connect app provides the multiple-speaker functionality for content held on your device as well as Internet-radio content hosted through the Pure Internet-radio directory service.

As a Bluetooth A2DP endpoint, the Jongo A2 had played its part very well with my Samsung Note 2 smartphone by running the content streamed to it very smoothly even though the phone was two metres from it.

Other comments

If you do want to make sure that this device works at its best, yielding a clean sound from your existing stereo system, make sure that the Bluetooth output volume for your Bluetooth-capable phone is at 75%. Similarly, bypassing any tone controls on your media player software and adjusting the tone on your stereo equipment’s control surface keeps the setup sounding at its best without the risk of sound that is too much like that pub jukebox.

If you are using a UPnP AV / DLNA media controller or Pure’s Connect app to manage this device, make sure that the output volume is no more than 75%-80%. Personally, I use the volume control on the stereo system to adjust the volume to how I want it to sound at a particular moment.

A teenager who lives with us was very impressed by the fact that the Pure Jongo A2 had “all bases covered” and was not being tied to an Apple-only ideal when it came to audio-equipment connectivity.

Limitations and Points Of Improvement

As we see the arrival of other services like Pandora and Spotify, the Pure Jongo system could offer app-level connectivity to these services. This can also be augmented by the use of software for Windows 8.1 and Macintosh OS X so that small notebooks, tablets and similar computers based on these regular-computer operating systems can play along with the Jongo ecosystem.

The Pure Jongo A2 could offer integral Apple AirPlay support for those of us who want all wireless-connectivity bases covered in one box. Similarly, Pure could offer a variant of this device that has the ability to stream audio content from another sound system into the Jongo speakers that are on the network, which could please those of you who work with vinyl or other legacy formats or who want to stream the output of a PA system used by a band, MC, DJ or similar user to other Jongo speakers.

As for network abilities, it could benefit from dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity and / or Ethernet connectivity to avoid the problems that are becoming associated with a crowded 2.4GHz band. The Ethernet functionality could come in to its own due to the fact that it would be used with equipment that is normally kept in one place.

Conclusion

I would see the Pure Jongo A2 as a tool to provide an “open-frame” bridge between your smartphone, tablet or laptop with Bluetooth or your DLNA Home Media Network using Wi-Fi. You also can add Internet radio to this mix using the Pure Connect app’s access to Pure’s Internet-radio directory. Even if you do have an Apple AirPort Express in place for AirPlay connectivity, you are able to effectively have “all bases covered” with this device.

The digital connectivity effectively lets you use the better digital conversion circuitry in your home theatre receiver or digital amplifier in a way that the Apple AirPort Express and a lot of other similarly-priced devices don’t..

Updated: 13 October 2013

Most of us will end up with a large collection of picture, music or video files on our computers, especially if we use our computers as a large media library. It would be nice to have access to this content without having to copy it out to thumbdrives, SD cards or iPods before we can enjoy it.

As for music, this is more so as we buy music as digital-download files rather than buy physical media and copy it to our conputer’s hard disk. It will also become a trend if we visit video sites that offer video content on a download-to-own basis.

The instructions in this article are more focused with a person who is pressing a regular desktop or laptop computer running Windows, MacOS X or Linux as a media server and may be the way to go when you start out with DLNA especially if you are using a desktop comptuer.

Why share your music, pictures and video the DLNA way?

Sony BDP-S390 Network Blu-Ray Player – a Blu-Ray player that adds DLNA to an existing TV

An increasing number of dedicated network media client devices are on the market and nearly all of these devices work according to the UPnP AV / DLNA media-client standards.  Most manufacturers who are selling premium table radios are supplying at least one which can pick up Internet radio broadcasts through a home network and these sets are also capable of picking up media made available to them from a UPnP AV media server. We are also seeing an increasing number of wireless speakers that connect to your home network and receive music via Apple’s proprietary Airplay system or the common DLNA system. These units can be controlled by mobile devices equipped with controller apps.

Similarly, DLNA is becoming an important feature for any well-bred “smart TV” or similar video peripheral like a Blu-Ray player or home-theatre system that is connected to the Internet. The ubiquitous Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 games consoles that every teenage boy dreams of having both work according to these standards and this feature is becoming a requirement for up-and-coming TV-connected games consoles.

By using a DLNA-based setup, you don’t need to install different media-server programs for each network-media client that you happen to buy. In some situations, you may only need to run whatever is supplied with the computer’s operating system.

Setting up your network for DLNA media

Basic DLNA Media Network

Most home, small-business and some branch-office networks don’t require any revision because they typically are one logical network that spans the premises with the router that exists at the network-Internet “edge” being the device that handles basic network housekeeping. This doesn’t matter whether the network has one or more media segments like WiFi wireless, Cat5 Ethernet or HomePlug powerline cabling.

You will need to know the ESSID and the WEP or WPA security key for your wireless network. This may be obtained through the router’s Web administration page or through your client PC’s wireless-network-setup parameters such as in Windows Connect Now. If you are connecting your DLNA media client to the network via wireless, you will need to make sure that the wireless access point or router is broadcasting the ESSID so you can pick it from a list using the device’s user interface and be sure you are “in reach” of the network. This practice would be important when you run a multi-access-point wireless network or simply to help with making sure that neighbouring wireless networks are set up properly. As well, you will need to be ready to enter the WEP or WPA security passphrase by “picking out” characters from a list using buttons on the device or its remote control.

Some networks such as the public-access networks provided by cafes and the like, including the headline “Wi-Fi Internet” that resort apartment developments provide won’t work well with DLNA. This is due to implementation of a Web-based login system as well as client isolation which doesn’t work with most DLNA-capable devices.

Setting up your PC jukebox or media server software for DLNA

Settings for ripping CDs in Windows Media Player

If you are running any Microsoft Windows version since Windows XP, you can use Windows Media Player 11 or newer versions as your media server. Before you start “ripping” CDs to the hard disk, make sure the program is set to rip without DRM (Copy Protect Music checkbox in the Rip Music options tab is cleared) and that it is set to rip CDs at 192kbps WMA or 320kbps MP3. The reason I would rip at these settings is to be assured of sound reproduction that is as close to the CD album as possible. You may use the MP3 codec for maximum compatibility or WMA for efficient storage if your DLNA media clients can handle WMA.

As well, you will have to set Windows Media Player 11 to automatically permit devices to benefit from its media library. This is done by going to “Library”, then selecting “Media Sharing” and clicking on “Settings”. The “Media Sharing – Default Settings” dialog box will open whereupon you make sure that the “Allow new devices and computers automatically” checkbox is selected.

If you don’t use any sort of ratings in your media as far as sharing is concerned, you may have to select “All ratings” in both the “Star Ratings” and “Parental Ratings” options. This will make sure all media is available for all of the devices.

Windows Media Player Sharing settings for DLNA

For your pictures and videos, you will have to add the folder that contains your photos to Windows Media Player’s media library. Similarly, you will have to do this for your video folders.

Linux users have access to a large plethora of media-server software such as TwonkyMedia and TVersity as well as a large collection of open-source media-server software. You will still have to use a CD jukebox program set up to rip CDs at 320kbps MP3.

Apple and Windows users who use iTunes as their CD jukebox but will need to use either TwonkyMedia, PS3 Media Server or NullRiver MediaLink. They will need to make sure that the iTunes directory is the one to be provided by the media server. Again, iTunes will need to be set up to rip at 320kbps MP3 for best compatibility and quality. The program may support transcoding to lower bandwidth settings for use whenever music is being transferred out to an iPod.

Infact, I have written up some more detailed information about setting up an Apple Macintosh computer to work as part of a DLNA-based home media network because of the increasing popularity of these computers. The article, “UPnP AV (DLNA) for the Apple Macintosh platform”, covers other media server programs that exist for that platform.

The media server would need to be set up to work with the folders that are being used as the primary folders for music, photo and video storage.  I have explained how to go about this for your music, especially if you use iTunes or Windows Media Player. For your photos and videos, you simply add the folders used by your photo management and video management software to store your images.

As well, if you, a friend or associate uses SkyDrive, Dropbox or similar cloud-based storage services to share a media collection, you may need to copy the media that you received through the sharing to your media library to share them via DLNA. Similarly, images shared through the Social Web may need to be downloaded from the service to your media folder.

The DLNA media-server programs typically index music files according to artist, album, track, genre, and some may support separate identification of composers, contributing artists (important for soundtracks and compilation albums) and other metadata for pictures and videos. Some, like TwonkyMedia, allow for alphabetical clustering and other efficient sorting arrangements. This is typically because UPnP AV / DLNA allows for the server to determine how it presents the library to the client devices.

As far as playlists are concerned, they will typically be listed in a “Playlists” collection with each playlist being its own collection in that tree. By having a playlist as a collection of tracks rather than a reference to a playlist file, it means that the media clients don’t have to be compatible with the playlist file format that the jukebox program works with.

Some of the media servers like Windows Media Player 11 or TwonkyMedia support transcoding to common file formats for situations where a DLNA media client cannot handle a particular media type. This can come in handy for file types like WMA or high-definition audio files which aren’t handled by all UPnP AV media players.

Setting up the DLNA clients

Enrolling the DLNA clients in to your network

You will need to make your DLNA media client become part of the network. This can be a simple task of plugging it in to your Ethernet network segment or into your HomePlug powerline network segment using a HomePlug-Ethernet bridge.

Integrating wireless-enabled DLNA clients to the wireless network

If you are connecting your wireless-enabled DLNA media client to the WiFi network, you will need to configure it for this network. This will require you to enter the device’s setup menu and select the option pertaining to wireless network setup. Then you get the device to search for your network’s ESSID which is commonly referred to as the SSID, Network Name or something similar. Once your device has detected your wireless network, you will be prompted to enter the WEP or WPA security passphrase. At this point, enter the passphrase in to the device. These procedures will have to be done as mentioned in the “Setting up your network for DLNA media” section.

Nearly all of the recent DLNA network media clients may use a “quick set-up” method like Windows Connect Now or WPS. This will typically involve either transferring a USB memory key between a Windows XP or Vista wireless-equipped notebook computer and the device; or registering the device with the wireless router. This procedure may be as simple as pressing a “register” or WPS button on the router and the device or copying the device’s PIN number (which would be on the device itself or in a WPS setup option in the device’s setup menu) in to the wireless router’s setup menu.

If you use MAC-address filtering on your wireless router, you will need to register the DLNA media device as an “accepted” network device. This will require you to copy the device’s wireless MAC address, which will be on a sticker attached to the device itself, in to the router’s trusted MAC-address list.

Making sure the DLNA clients detect the media server

DLNA media directory shown on TV screen as provided by PC

You will need to make sure that the media server program is running on the PC that has the media that you are sharing. Most such programs may run a media server component as a background task while the computer is fully on but some may require the jukebox program to be running all the time. Similarly, you may bave to stop your computer going to sleep or hibernate mode under automatic control for this to work properly.

Another thing to check is the desktop firewall software. This should be set to allow the media server software outbound and inbound access to the network as a server. The Windows Firewall software that is part of all Microsoft desktop operating systems since Windows XP Service Pack 2 makes this easy by allowing immediate access to Windows Media Player or asking you if you want to allow the application to have network access. Other third-party firewalls may require the server application to be allowed Internet access by you adding the software to their application “white lists”.

DLNA content collections listed as sources on a Samsung Smart TV

You may have to select “Network Music”, “PC Music” or something similar on most network-enabled music devices like Internet radios in order to gain access to the music library that you have made available.  Then you select the “hostname” of the PC, which may be commensurate to its standard computer name or its primary owner’s name. The DLNA client will then show the media type that it can work with. You then select that type and use the controls to select the media you are interested in.  Some devices like the recent crop of Samsung Smart TVs list each DLNA server on the home network they are connected to either as a source alongside the integrated TV tuner or external connections on that device.

Summary

Once you have your network and media-server computer set up properly, you can work with providing music and other media to network media receiver devices without much hassle.

Articles – From the horse’s mouth

Yamaha

Introducing a new concept in Hi Fi – Yamaha – Australia (Press release)

CD-N500 Product Page

My Comments

You may have your favourite hi-fi equipment no matter how old it is but you would like to replace that half-dead CD player, upgrade to a better CD player or simply add CD playback to the existing music system. But you would also like to gain access to audio content held on your home network and tune in to the “new short-wave” that is Internet radio through that hi-fi setup. Adding a CD player and a network media adaptor may result in two extra boxes and your may find that you don’t have enough line-level inputs on the amplifier for the exercise and this may require you to purchase a switch box.

Yamaha have released the CD-N500 which is a “full-width” component CD player that doubles as a network media receiver. This unit plugs in to any vacant digital input or analogue line-level input on an existing sound system to provide it with both the CD playback and network-audio-access functions.

It can connect to a home network only via an Ethernet connection, which would work properly with a house that is wired for Ethernet or with a HomePlug AV segment once you use the appropriate “homeplug” adaptor. These connections then allow for reliable media-streaming operation and is what I would prefer for equipment that is normally in a permanent location and plugged in to AC power.

As well, you can connect iOS devices, USB memory keys or MP3 players that present themselves as Mass-Storage Devices to the USB socket on the front panel. Here, whenever you play audio content from the iOS devices like the iPod Classic that is stuffed to the gunnels with music, the sound is passed along digitally and you can use the CD-N500’s remote control as the control surface for the iOS device.

The Yamaha CD player has access to DLNA-compliant network media servers and can be controlled from computers and other devices using AirPlay and DLNA compliant setups. But Yamaha also has a media-controller app for this CD player which allows your smartphone or tablet to be the player’s control surface while exploiting the portable device’s larger display. Of course you can control this player using controls on its front panel or supplied remote control but would have to contend with a single-line display.

It can work with the FLAC high-quality audio files as well as the regular CD-quality MP3 / WMA / AAC files. As for Internet radio, this is facilitated with the vTuner Internet-radio directory which most Internet radios and similar equipment use. Even the digital-analogue conversion circuitry and analogue signal path is optimised for best quality sound while you can connect this player to an external digital-analogue converter or a digital amplifier if these devices offer better sound quality.

At the moment, this unit doesn’t yet support Spotify, Pandora, Last.fm or other popular online music services but Yamaha could add this functionality through subsequent firmware updates.

But what I like more about this player is that, like the CD/MiniDisc decks released by Sony, Sharp, JVC and Marantz through MiniDisc’s heyday, this unit is a one-box setup that can complement existing hi-fi setups rather than unnecessarily replacing components in these setups. It underscores the fact that there are ways of heading to the online era without leaving the past behind.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

Denon

DNPF109, Optional Mini Network player for DF109, Audio Products Group

My Comments

If you are looking for an audio-focused network media player for your hi-fi system, you will typically come across devices that have an integrated broadcast radio tuner or optical disc player. This may be OK if your sound system doesn’t have these functions and may come in to its own with those network media players that have an integrated DAB+ or ISDB digital-radio tuner so you can add digital radio to your existing system.

But you may find yourself “doubling up” on functionality especially if you have an AM/FM tuner or broadcast-radio subsystem that is doing its job very well with broadcast radio.

Denon have filled in this gap with an audio-focused network media player in the form of the DNP-F109 that just provides access to network-hosted or Internet-hosted audio content as well as file-based audio content for existing audio systems. They pitched it primarily as an optional-extra component for their D-F109 bookshelf hi-fi system which consists of a CD player and a stereo receiver feeding a pair of bookshelf / mantelpiece speakers. Here, you can link this unit to the other components in a way to permit simplified “one-touch” operation or control with the system’s remote control.

But the DNP-F109 comes with its own remote control and has a coaxial digital output along with an analogue line-level output, thus allowing it to be plugged in to a vacant tape, CD, tuner or aux input on the amplifier. The digital output comes in to its own with “Dolby Digital” home-theatre receivers, digital amplifiers and digital-analogue converter components for best-case sound reproduction.

It can work with a small network that implements Ethernet or Wi-Fi connectivity and supports DLNA and Apple AirPlay setups. You also gain access to online media services like Internet radio and Spotify as well as the ability to play media held on USB-connected devices.

These kind of components can go a long way as an alternative to hooking up a laptop computer or tablet to an existing music system to play network-hosted or Internet-hosted audio content without making existing components or functions redundant.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

Onkyo

T-4070 | ONKYO Asia and Oceania Website (Catalogue material)

My Comments

Previously, I had seen in action the NAD C446 Media tuner which is effectively a “four-band” (AM/FM/DAB+/Internet) broadcast-radio tuner and file-based audio-content player that can play from USB memory sticks or the DLNA Home Media Network. This was able to do its job in a very exacting manner yielding high-quality sound from these sources to the sound system that it is providing these playback services to.

Denon fielded a network audio player with FM/AM tuner functionality in the same box but those of us who have DAB / DAB+ digital radio broadcast services in action may find that this tuner misses the mark. This is more so if the AM talk and sports stations like ABC Radio National in the metropolitan areas do simulcast on DAB and you find that you can’t hear the programme hosts on these stations due to electrical interference but you find that the DAB simulcasts “answer your prayers”.

But Onkyo have shown up with a tuner with the same functionality as the NAD C446 tuner. This means it can pick up broadcasts from FM, AM or DAB as well as Internet streams; alongside playing audio content that exists on your DLNA-enabled home network or USB memory keys, providing these services to the sound system that it is connected to. If you have a smartphone or tablet full of music, you can stream audio content that exists on the device to this tuner via your home network using Apple AirPlay or DLNA.  The same holds true with computers that are packed to the gunnels with music and use iTunes, newer versions of Windows Media Player or other DLNA-capable media management programs.It also has access to the Spotify online music service as well as another service called Aupeo.

This function set, whether with or without DAB+ broadcast reception could end up being determined for audio-based network media adaptors, especially when it comes to gaining access to broadcast and Internet radio as well as network-hosted audio content, including online services. As well, the fact that mainstream hi-fi names are cutting in to the market shows that the class of product is being given serious thought.

I would see this device and its peers becoming simply a network media adaptor for audio content or a high-quality way to add DAB and Internet radio to that hi-fi system you so love.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

NaimUniti 2 | All-in-one Player | Uniti | NaimUniti 2 | Naim Audio

My Comments

Naim Uniti network CD receiver with Naim’s distinct CD-loading tray – now has been improved to the Uniti 2

I have done some previous coverage on the Naim Uniti, which is a premium network-enabled CD receiver. This, like the Rotel RCX-1500 that I previously reviewed, is one of those CD receivers that could just be hooked up to a pair of premium-grade loudspeakers to make a high-quality three-piece music system suitable for the likes of a city apartment or unit in a retirement village. Here, I cited this model as part of premium audio accepting the DLNA-based home media network; as well as mentioning it in my write-up about the Australian Audio & AV Show 2011.

But Naim have revised this unit and released the Uniti 2. Here, this unit is equipped with a power amplifier that is more powerful, thus allowing it to work with larger speakers that need more of the power. Similarly, this could play in to the hands of those of us who have a large open-plan living area and want to have the music fill that area, while wanting a music system that doesn’t physically dominate that area.

As well, there have been a few other technical improvements on the digital-analogue conversion chain where the digital bits from the CD, DAB, Internet radio, local data storage (including Apple iOS devices) and the DLNA Home Media network become the music we hear. Similarly the CD transport which uses the swing-out CD tray has been improved for better stability and sound quality.

What I see of this is that it is a continuing example of the way the premium audio companies are seeing the standards-based home network as a capable program source for good-quality music. Similarly this player, like the Rotel RCX-1500, is showing that there are single-piece multi-function music systems out there that aren’t second-class systems.

Article

Apple May Lose To Android In Device-Based Media Management | Online Media Daily (MediaPost.com)

My comments

As you may already know, Apple has been promoting their AirPlay media-management ecosystem. This was initially known as AirTunes and worked with their AirPort Express plugin broadband router which can connect to speakers or a stereo amplifier for network music playback. Here, you had to use iTunes on your Macintosh (or PC) to play the audio files through this device. This function was gradually extended to iOS devices so you can then play this same media held on these devices in the same manner.

Apple have extended the concept to images and video through the use of Apple TV and licensed the AirPlay concept to other manufacturers that are approved by themselves. It has been recently demonstrated in the latest crop of iPhone TV commercials as a way of saying that “we know best”.

But there is another standard that is more “open-frame” than the Apple AirPlay system. This standard, called DLNA, has been adopted by a larger number of software and hardware manufacturers than AirPlay.

It is a standard that I have stood for because more of the industry is behind it with it working across equipment and software of different manufacture and has become a breeding ground for innovation. Here, I have seen the arrival of network-media playback equipment that works as part of the DLNA ecosystem appear at every market tier, including the premium-audio segment, with B&O offering a trendy stylish DLNA-capable network music system that puts the Sonos on notice for example. But my stance on this issue may be considered as being of concern to Apple or some of their fanbois who value the Apple-centric information-technology setup.

Equipment like the Sony CMT-MX750Ni music system or the Western Digital WDTV Live that I have previously reviewed can play media content that is “thrown to” it by software like TwonkyMobile on your tablet or smartphone. This is in a similar way that you would do with the AirPlay setup on an all-Apple system and is capable of being performed on an Android platform as well as the iOS platform.

An issue that is forgotten about in the Apple hype is that some third-party companies have written DLNA-compliant media-management software for the iOS devices and the Macintosh platform. Examples of this include PlugPlayer and recent iOS ports of TwonkyManager. As well, I known of a friend who is running NullRiver MediaLink on his iMac in order to use it as a media server for his Sony PS3 games console and he has had success with this setup.