Use the Raumfeld Speakers without the Base or Controller

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Beitrag

Joachim_H
Neuling

#1 erstellt: 24. Apr 2011, 23:01

I like to use the Raumfeld Speakers M with XBMC and Mythtv and control volume, power on and off without the Raumfeld Base or Controller.

I have been looking for a small receiver to control from Mythtv (a linux mediacenter with live tv, video, music etc.) over IP but all I have found up till now have been to big or have no ip control at all.

Then I found the Raumfeld Speakers that uses the open UPnP protocol and I thought these might even be better then a receiver. That is if, I can control them from a UPnP control point.

In stage 1. I would use the analog input on the speaker and control the volume, on and off with the UPnP protocol (on and off might be automatic as I think thy will go into standby if not used).

In stage 2 I would like to stream music from a UPnP media server like Mythtv, XBMC or TwonkyServer (possibly to more then one room).

I understand that Raumfeld Speakers works as UPnP media renderer that plays contents it receives from a UPnP media server (in my case from XBMC Myth or TwonkyServer).

How would the Raumfeld Speaker comply with the UPnP protocol regarding the following points?

Addressing:
Do thy use a DHCP client to search for a DHCP server when they first connected to the network. If no DHCP server is available will thy assign an address to them self?

Discovery:
Will thy advertise there services to control points on the network?

Description:
Will thy let the control point retrieve the device's description (description of things the speakers a capable of)?

Can this be achieve without the use of Raumfeld Base and Controller?

Or is it necessary to have the Raumfeld Controller for the setup (to configure things that are outside the UPnP protocol)? Could the necessary configuration be done with UPnP or by other means?

For testing I would to use eezUPnP as Control point or Twonky Manager to select a song and play it and control the volume on the Raumfeld Speaker.

I would use UPnPTest to find out more information about the various UPnP devices connected.

For catching the network communication I think I would use wireshark.

Any help would be appreciated! I like to buy these speakers but I would like to know if I have a chance to make them work before I buy them.

Joachim
Sweden

Info from:

http://en.raumfeld.c...t-are-dlna-and-upnp/

UPnP media server: Provides media in the network and streams it to playback devices (e.g. Raumfeld Base)

UPnP control point: Automatically detects UPnP media servers in the network and allows you to browse its contents (e.g. Raumfeld Controller)

UPnP media renderer: Plays contents it receives from a UPnP media server (e.g. Raumfeld Speaker, Raumfeld Connector)

I apologize but my German is very limited

Henry_Raumfeld
Ist häufiger hier

#2 erstellt: 26. Apr 2011, 15:27

Hi Joachim,

Joachim_H schrieb:

In stage 1. I would use the analog input on the speaker and control the volume, on and off with the UPnP protocol (on and off might be automatic as I think thy will go into standby if not used).

Should work.

In stage 2 I would like to stream music from a UPnP media server like Mythtv, XBMC or TwonkyServer (possibly to more then one room).

Should work, too. But the media renderer needs some services running in the network. If you do not own a Raumfeld Base, you have to setup the device as "1-Raumfeld-Host". As an engineer, you can do this without a Raumfeld Controller by calling the upnp function "SetDeviceMode" on the Raumfeld SetupService with the "Mode"-parameter set to "MASTER".

Do thy use a DHCP client to search for a DHCP server when they first connected to the network. If no DHCP server is available will thy assign an address to them self?

Yes, if used wired. For WLAN setup you need the Raumfeld Controller or twiddle with the "SetConfig" function.

Will thy advertise there services to control points on the network?

Yes.

Description:
Will thy let the control point retrieve the device's description (description of things the speakers a capable of)?

Of course.

Can this be achieve without the use of Raumfeld Base and Controller?

If you do the setup as described above by manually calling upnp function on the wired device. you can.

For catching the network communication I think I would use wireshark.

I would suggest using a linux and gupnp-universal-cp for introspection of the services and offered functions.

Best, Henry

quadrophoeniX
Inventar

#3 erstellt: 28. Apr 2011, 16:01

Once set up as Host in a "1-Raumfeld" config the speakers would be seen as 2 devices from a cp: a renderer and a UPnP/DLNA server. You would be able to stream audio from an arbitrary server in your network but if you want to use the line in you will need to switch over to the Raumfeld server (Then also mass storage over USB, Napster and LastFM - if working in Sweden- will be accessible).
You would either would have to switch between Myth TV and Raumfeld servers or consolidate the Myth TV server into the Raumfeld server.

It might be worth noting here that a "1-Raumfeld" has limited capabilities handling larger libraries due to lower processing powers when compared to the base according to Henry. So keeping Myth TV and Raumfeld Host separated may be still a desireable option.

I have no idea how consolidating servers/network resoources, WLAN configuration etc. should work without the use of a controller, but maybe Henry can shed some light here. (In this matter, the announced App or a PC based config tool would be highly appreciated.)

blue.thing
Neuling

#4 erstellt: 08. Dez 2011, 12:58

Hallo,

ich hätte auch eine Frage bezüglich der Raumfeld Speaker:

Ich interessiere mich für die aktiven Raumfeld Speaker M oder gar die L, welche bald herauskommen.
Ist es möglich die Raumfeld Speaker ohne zusätzliche Hardware (Base und/oder Controller) zu benutzen? Habe gesehen es gibt nun die Beta des Android App. Ist es mit dieser möglich die Speaker einzurichten und - was mir am wichtigsten ist - Musik meines QNAP Servers abzuspielen. Auf dem Server ist ein UPnP Media Server "Twonky Server" über welchen ich z.B. Videos für einen TV Netzwerkplayer freigebe. Über den Twonky Server könnte ich auch meine ganze Musik freigeben.

Ich frage das alles weil ich schon die Squeezebox Serie (Duet, Touch & Boom) benutze, aber trotzdem die Idee mit den aktiven Boxen genial fände ohne das komplette System mit Base und Controller dazukaufen zu müssen und trotzdem auf meine gesamte Musik zugreifen zu können.

Um eine Antwort wäre ich sehr dankbar.
Gruß

quadrophoeniX
Inventar

#5 erstellt: 08. Dez 2011, 19:06

Hallo blue.thing,

es gibt einen riesen Thread für RF - da wär die Frage sicherlich besser aufgehoben, aber sei's drum:
Prinzipiell ja - nur befindet sich, wie Du ja selber feststellst, die Android App noch im Beta Status. es gibt also keine garantie, dass es in Deinem WLAN mit Deinem Android funktioniert... Ansonsten legen sich die Jungs mächtig in's Zeug und die Android Variante gefällt mir jetzt schon vile besser als die Apple Version - vermutlich, weil hier schon einige Anregungen aus diesem Forum eingeflossen sind.

Ich selber habe die Musik auch auf einem QNAP, das geht prima. Allerdings greife ich mittlerweile über SMB share drauf zu, weil das etwas zackiger geht, als über Twonky. Da RF die Sortierung von Twonky ja leider nicht übernimmt, macht das sonst auch keinen Unterschied.