[larkone]

Because thats the way it works maybe. What server software are you running?

[tennant]

Originally Posted by larkone

What server software are you running?

I've tried it with a couple of different NAS-based DLNA servers. The results in my original post were using a Buffalo Linkstation that runs PVconnect. I have now also tried a Netgear ReadyNAS running version 7.0 of Twonky server. The results are slightly different, but still not correct:

Album--can select individual albums correctly, but then tracks do not obey the #discnumber# tag correctly and so disc 2 is interspersed with disc 1. Where I have more than one album with the same tilte (eg 'Greatest Hits), all the tracks from the different artists are listed together in alphabetical order.
Artist--shows all tracks by that artist in alphabetical order
Artist/Album--allows selection and then selection of album, but then discs are again interspersed
Folder--allows selection of artist and then album (which is the folder structure I use), but the shows tracks in alphabetical order

I have also tried resetting all the ID3 tags across my entire music collection in case there was any spurious data in there (I am only using v2.3 tags), however this has not made any difference.

Yet if I use the web interface to Twonky, the tracks are correctly ordered, so it seems that the DNP is changing the order that it is being served.

[larkone]

It might be worth going on to the Twonky forums and asking the question as it would appear that others have had this problem with Twonky. As I understand it PVconnect and Twonky are basically the same product which would explain why you are having similar issues with both.

Does your NAS support logitech media server as that could be an option worth trying.

[Crocodile]

With multi-disc albums, I'd suggest simply extending the track numbers from the first disc & placing all the tracks in one folder. So instead of having Album\Disc1\1-10 & Album\Disc2\1-10 you just have Album\1-20. This is what I do with my Squeezebox library & it does away with all the problems around discnumber tags.

Some decry this as not being a faithful representation but when you consider a CD of an album that was originally released on vinyl, that's exactly what happens. The original track numbering was simply a limitation of the media & no reason the carry that forward to a different media without the limitation.

[tennant]

Originally Posted by Crocodile

With multi-disc albums, I'd suggest simply extending the track numbers from the first disc & placing all the tracks in one folder. So instead of having Album\Disc1\1-10 & Album\Disc2\1-10 you just have Album\1-20. This is what I do with my Squeezebox library & it does away with all the problems around discnumber tags.

I do have all the tracks from both disks of a 2 CD set in the same folder, but use the #discnumber# (aka TPOS) to distinguish between the albums. This works perfectly with my Squeezebox Touch.

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Some decry this as not being a faithful representation but when you consider a CD of an album that was originally released on vinyl, that's exactly what happens. The original track numbering was simply a limitation of the media & no reason the carry that forward to a different media without the limitation.

No I agree with you. If I'm playing an album I want to hear it in its entirety, not having to stop half way through to do a virtual CD change.

[Crocodile]

Maybe the Denon can't read extended tags, which I think discnumber is? Or the server software isn't making them available. Maybe try some alternative servers on a PC to see how they perform? Asset from the dBPowerAmp people is available as a free trial. It's audio only & only available for Windows, so ultimately no good for your NAS. But may give an idea of what's possible?

[tennant]

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Maybe the Denon can't read extended tags, which I think discnumber is?

The specification states:
"Music server
• This unit is compatible with MP3 ID3-Tag (Ver. 2) standard.
• This unit is compatible with WMA META tags.
• WAV format Quantization bit rate: 16 bits."

which was a deciding factor in buying this Denon player. TPOS (=Part of a Set = #discnumber#) is iirc part of the V2.3 frame specification; although might be considered extended for FLAC files?

I have one master set of FLAC files that are used for DLNA connection to Denon + on a local hard drive for Squeezebox Touch; the files are automatically converted to high bitrate MP3 for iPod and hard drive for the car. I therefore need the tagging and folder structure to be compatible with all those uses...I can't maintain separate collections for each device.

Originally Posted by Crocodile

Or the server software isn't making them available. Maybe try some alternative servers on a PC to see how they perform? Asset from the dBPowerAmp people is available as a free trial. It's audio only & only available for Windows, so ultimately no good for your NAS. But may give an idea of what's possible?

I'll give that a try when I get some time to see what results I get, although as not NAS compatible, it isn't a viable long term solution. I'm a fan of dbPowerAmp software, which is what I use for ripping all my CDs to FLAC.

[tennant]

Notwithstanding the previous issues I've raised about sort orders etc., I seem to be having additional issues with basic control of the unit...am I missing something?

Using the supplied remote, it seems only possible to scroll up and down a list or artists or albums, rather than using the numeric keypad to jump straight to a letter (like most other UIs). What's the point of ABC DEF etc being marked on the numeric keys if you can't use them? I have 100s of artists and 1000s albums, so scrolling through them is painfully slow. Even the 'search' option only allows you to scroll through the alphabet, not jump straight to a letter!

Then using the Denon Remote app...

If I select an album (eg by going to Artist/album)...and click on the first track it starts playing. However if I then leave the app to do someone else on my iPhone/iPad then only that track is played it doesn't continue to play the rest of the album. It seems the only way to get the whole album to play is to leave the app open and to do anything else with the phone!

Similarly if you have a track playing and you use the phone for something else, then go back into the app and select the 'Player view' it doesn't show you the progress of the current track, but instead stops the current track playing.

I love Denon kit (as you can see from my signature), but the user interface of this seems very very poor, even compared to a much cheaper Logitech Squeezebox Touch!

[rustymon]

Anyone having problems getting into Pandora now? All of a sudden I can't login - I've checked my info and I have network access to other internet radio... did Pandora drop support?

[LegoMan]

I have just bought a Denon DNP-720AE and am having trouble connecting it to my WiFi - I enter the wireless key but it is saying it cannot connect. I have not tried the wired connection.

I have a BT home hub - any suggestions gratefully received.

[larkone]

Originally Posted by LegoMan

I have just bought a Denon DNP-720AE and am having trouble connecting it to my WiFi - I enter the wireless key but it is saying it cannot connect. I have not tried the wired connection.

I have a BT home hub - any suggestions gratefully received.

Switch of the router, wait 30 secs, power on the router and then power up the denon. Then try re-connecting.

[RobHIFI]

Hi please can anyone confirm if the android app AVR remote works on the Denon DNP-720AE streamer to act as a wireless remote and play stored music on my NAS.

Many thanks Rob

[Techhuis]

I cannot play wav files on my media server through wi-fi i can with a usb drive but not in the denon player itself anybody else has that...? and should i update it cause i am not a fan of it broke 2 tv's through updates so rather not but if it could fix the problem.....

gr Tim d^_^b

[Dave32]

When I try to access my music on a portable 500 GB HD connected to the USB often a message of "unsupported" comes up after a period of reading "loading...." Not always but often and repeatedly. After many on/offs it will finally work but the time it takes makes it almost useless. Once loaded it works fine. A USB flash drive (stick) works fine but my music library is too large for the stick. Any ideas?

[Crocodile]

Originally Posted by Dave32

Any ideas?

Could be insufficient power for the drive. USB should provide 5V at 500mA & devices should work with that, but it's quite common for the host to be a little under-powered or the USB device to be a little more power-hungry. Early USB HDDs often came with a two-headed USB cable so power could be provided from two PC sockets to get over this problem, but that wouldn't help where you only have the one.

You could try asking Denon to recommend a drive that will work but manufacturers will often only specify flash drives as being compatible.

Other than that maybe someone here will recommend one that they use without issue.

[Dave32]

Thanks. I'd rather not but maybe I'll try a "plug in" HD.

[kwack]

This thread has been most useful as I have been searching for a media streamer for a while now and cant seem to make up mind.

Key requirements for me are

1) Ability to stream from WD Mybook live NAS drive in FLAC/Lossless WAV file
2) Networked connection
3) Some form of Android app to control it - is there one?
4) Easy Plug and Play and setup
5) A good DAC as I do not want to add a supplementary DAC to it

This device seems to hit all the points and at a reasonable price.

Any other options out there I dont want multi room streaming just a device to hook up to my Stereo

Any other user experiences?

Cheers
Kwack

[tennant]

If you can live with the sorting issues and user interface issues I've highlighted earlier in this thread then it meets all your needs. Otherwise try and track down the recently discontinued Squeezebox Touch.

Tennant

[kwack]

Cheers- I did look at the Squeezebox Touch but thiss isnt compatible with the WD MYbook live without hacking into it and loading the SB server

[Andypit]

Seems good value - will it do what I need? I am stuck with a wireless router in one room and hi-fi separates including a 25 yr old NAD amp in another, plus an iPad and a hard drive with thousands of mp3 files - almost none lossless. For £300 I want to easily play the mp3s through my amp and get a reasonable sound (approaching cd quality?)
How about I plug the Denon into the back of the amp and buy a NAS drive (1 Tb?)
But do I stand the NAS drive next to the Denon and connect to it with USB cable or does the NAS drive stand by the router in the next room and connect to it with ethernet cable?
I guess then I transfer all the mp3 files to the NAS drive, plus transfer the iTunes library from the iPad to the NAS drive as well. I then use the Denon app on the iPad to play my music through the amp. Will this work / which is the right position for the NAS drive?

[tennant]

Yes andypit, that will work. As long as the NAS is connected to the same network it can be physically located anywhere.

[kwack]

The NAS drive should be connected to your router thereby making it accessible across all your network

The Denon unit would then need to connect to the network and you should be able to see your music files on there. Not sure about controlling via Ipad as I dont use them but cant see why not via the Denon App

[Crocodile]

Originally Posted by Andypit

Seems good value - will it do what I need?

I don't think the Denon has WiFi out of the box so you'll either have to connect to your router with ethernet/homeplugs or investigate if they offer a WiFi dongle (usually ridiculously over-priced).

The playback quality will depend largely on the degree of compression in your MP3s.

[Andypit]

Many thanks all for this – and apologies for my lack of know-how – just wanted to check if my reasoning is correct (I’m not clear on options for connecting NAS drives I’m afraid)?;
- 1. was advised to get a NAS drive as my current USB hard drive would have to be connected to a PC left switched on the whole time?
- 2. Would I then have the option to connect the NAS wirelessly with the router in another room / or in the same room using Ethernet cable?
- 3. if both options at 2. are allowed - and given the Denon will be in a different room to the router - I can then either sit the NAS drive next to the router connected by Ethernet and the Denon in the next room connects wirelessly to it (I did think it was supposed to do this without a dongle?) – or I can sit the NAS drive next to the Denon [physically connected to its USB port? – is that possible / desirable?] and connected wirelessly with the router in the next room.
Am pretty sure I’m confusing myself here!

[kwack]

One of the purposes behind a NAS drive is to allow the files to be accessible across a network without having the PC on. Say for example you have a PC and laptop you could access the NAS files with having either of them on.

The NAS drive connects to your router and then becomes accessible by computers/xbox etc that are also on that network.

For the Denon I thought you can go wireless, if you go wired you would need a set of homeplugs or run Ethernet cable around your house

I dont think I would go NAS into USB as that kinda defeats the purpose of the NAS drive as it will only be accessible by the Denon and nothing else on your network

I think that helps

Kwack

[Andypit]

it does! - cheers

[kwack]

Hi,

Pulled the trigger and bought one yesterday. Initial impressions are very good. Setup was pretty easy, found my music server no problem and even playing the MP3 were great.

This morning though no connection to server, cant get anything at all. I think it is to do with the Homeplugs I am using as they have been a bit dodgy previously which is why I retired them to the box and run wirelessly throughout the house.

Going to set up wireless when I get home and hopefully that will cure it unless the unit is faulty which I doubt.

All in all a good experience. Navigating around the menus is a bit painful I must say

Kwack

[Andypit]

Would be very interested to hear how you get on connecting it wirelessly to your music files as that's the set up I'd be planning to go with rather than ethernet cable / homeplugs.

[kwack]

Will post back tonight - I hope it isnt too bad as the Xbox which lives below it connects up fine

[kwack]

So screwed in the wireless aerial and went through the set up process again for a wireless network.

Followed the instructions to the letter and it all just worked. nice and simple . It did take a while to scan for available networks but you gotta be patient.

Really impressed with this Denon. It finds a multitude of radio stations which could give you countless hours of music, Nas side just started ripping to FLAC although having said that my current MP3 sound pretty fantastic as they are.

My 10 yr old son got his Ipod Touch streaming very simply. There was a button available to play via Denon on his Ipod and selected and off it went and did its thing.

All in I am chuffed with this - next thing on the list will be what amp would be worth pairing with this. I have currently got it playing through an old 20 yrs+ JVC all in one.

These forums are so useful

Thanks
Kwack