SoundTouch control with DLNA control app

[Kim Teo]

For those who would like to use the SoundTouch speakers with a DLNA control app, I would like to report that the app Hi Fi Cast, available on Android only, works well the my SoundTouch 20, and probably with the 30 as well.

Current problem is that the SoundTouch portable, 10, 20 and 30 are not really DLNA compliant. Apps such as BubbleUPNP can start the speakers playing, but I think the speakers do not send back a track completion signal for the app to initiate playing of the next track. So the speakers play one track and stops.

The app Hi Fi Cast can be set up so that if a renderer does not signal an end-of-track, the app will initiate the next track based on the track time-length. Volume control work well too. Overall, a much better control app than Bose's, if playing from a DLNA source.

[Comedy79]

Thanks Kim,

But I would be grateful if you can tell me how to make the Bose visible to the HiFi Cast app as the playback device?

I have tried running a number of different servers to try and get my QNAP NAS stored music to play, but to no avail.  I currently have Plex running and it works great for streaming my movies via the PS3.  I have recently been trying to get Minimserver working for my music, in the hope what I have read around the forum can happen and I can stream my music. 

My phone and other devices can see my music collection and play it, but none of the app's I have tried can see my Soundtouch to broadcast to it?

Any help would be gratefully received

Cheers

[Marty K.]

I've had some success with mConnect Lite which I've used in iOS and is also available for Android.  It can see my music in Plex (via DLNA) and also on the Twonky DLNA server I run on my PC, and it can initiate playback to the speakers.  I think it continues to play the next song as well.  

FooBar2000 from Windows I've also had some luck with - I also tried it in iOS but that version doesn't seem to support DLNA.

[Comedy79]

I've tried mConnect Lite and it can't see the speaker either.

I've tried FooBar2000 as a server too, same results as Plex and Minim.  I can access my music collection, but not play it on the Soundtouch.  Starting to think I must be doing something wrong?

But given that I can play things on other devices, there must be something I am missing to get the app to see the speaker?

[Marty K.]

From my own experience and lurking here a lot, it seems to me that the whole way the speaker detection works is unreliable, really sensitive to network setup, router parculiarities, a strong wifi signal, etc.  I don't have any specific advice other than to try assigning static IP addresses to them which some people say helps.  I've certainly had issues with the Bose app detecting the speakers in the past, but at the moment its working for me, and also not seeing issues with FooBar or mConnect detecting them.

I did play around a bit more with FooBar2000 and mConnect.  I'd say for FooBar, it works but not very well.  The interface is really strange, sort of buried to even be able to get to the place where you can control the Soundtouch speakers (go to View->uPNP Controller, then select the speaker from the drop down there).  It does initiate playback of one song but then fails to move to the next when the first finishes.  It has a progress bar but it does not show the progress of the song.  You can use it to seek within the track but it doesn't seem to do it accurately - I can seek to near the end of the song but the part that plays is somewhere in the middle.  It also has a volume control but it doesn't work - if you try adjusting the volume it just sets it to zero.  On the bright side, you don't need a separate DLNA server, you can just browse to a song on your hard drive and play it to the speakers.

mConnect is a lot better - much more intuitive interface.  Can initiate playback, its progress bar both seems to track song progress accurately, and can be used to seek accurately within the song.  Volume control works too.  And can initiate playback from both your iTunes library on the device, plus DLNA servers etc.

[Comedy79]

Thanks Marty,

I still can't get mconnect or Hi-Fi Cast to see the Soundtouch.... Close to giving up and hoping that Airplay2, if ever rolled out, may solve my issue of accessing the QNAP stored music....

Given that all my other devices can see and use my Plex Server and minim server, I find it hard to believe that the coding Bose would need to incorporate DLNA would be that complex?

I shall continue to toil away until such time as I either solve my issue, or lose the will to live. I may even drop a message on the minim forum, the founder seems to be pretty good at problem solving or adapting his code to help get you access to your music. In a world of subscriptions, I don't see why I should have to pay again for music that I already have?

It seems a shame that such a great product should be hampered by something so silly as this lack of DLNA...

[Kim Teo]

Hi Comedy79

Bose never claim DLNA compatibility. However, it does claim that the speakers are compatible with WD My Cloud, which is what I have. So it not surprising that they don't work with QNAP servers.

At one time, it I had mconnect working well, meaning it plays all tracks. Since discovering that Hi Fi Cast has the ability to send a command to play the next track, I am using that quite successfully.

I found that in Canada, the SoundTouch speakers have been lowered in price substantially, which probably indicate that they are at the end of the product cycle. So time to move on to another speaker if the SoundTouch doesn't work for you.

Regards

Kim

Edit : I have a correction to make. I have mconnect, BubbleUPNP and Hi Fi Cast on my Android tablet. All these apps can see, and I can select my SoundTouch 20 as the renderer. This is not dependent on the NAS Server, so you should be able to see it if I can. I have not done anything special, except to use the Bose app to add the speaker. So I am not sure what the problem is.

[Comedy79]

I finally managed to get the Soundtouch visible to the Hi-Fi Cast App and have music!  Nothing a factory re-set can't handle....

I am now streaming to the Soundtouch off Hi-Fi Cast, via the Plex Server on my phone and the wife is using the Bose App and the Minim Server on hers.

Nothing a lot of time and fiddling can't fix.

Would be great if Bose would allow for DLNA via the next firware update though!

Time to set up the 300's on the network too!

Cheers

[Hector_B]

Hi Comedy79, 

Thanks for posting and updating us on this! I am very happy to hear that your issue has been resolved. 

I will also pass your suggestion onto our development team for review. 

Kind Regards, 

Hector B