Can not seem to get much hard-core info on this... But then I live in China where so many websites are blocked.
Could some-one do like a block-diagram, with parts suggestions or conditions/parameters/requirements.
Could an video [over IP] system be adapted to handle audio? Yes I know the frequencies, bandwidth are very different.
Could some-one do like a block-diagram, with parts suggestions or conditions/parameters/requirements.
Could an video [over IP] system be adapted to handle audio? Yes I know the frequencies, bandwidth are very different.
Many, many ways of accessing audio held digitally and moving it around for playing.
- Internet radio streams accessed from any computer/phone.
- UPNP server + control point + renderer
- Chromecast Audio with audio "cast" from Android apps.
- NAS audio library with files served to players.
I have recently had some success using gstreamer, although the learning curve is challenging because documentation and tips on real world implementation is somewhat lacking.
Gstreamer allows you to stream over your LAN. Gstreamer commands are implemented either using a command string (gst-launch-1.0) or is available as a library (c/c++, python, other ??) if you want to write your own application (good luck!). I have been using the gst-launch approach, which I finally got working. You assemble what they call a "pipeline", which is is a series of commands telling gstreamer where to get the source for the pipeline, what to do with it, and where to send it on to.
I use gstreamer between two "computers", neither of which are very "powerful". The "source" or what I call my "audio server" is an Intel Baytrail PC and the "sink" or "client" is a Raspberry Pi 2. Gstreamer on the server gets audio from ALSA (a player on the server sends its output there). My server pipeline packs the PCM audio into RTP packets and sends them out over my LAN. The client pipeline receives the RTP stream and sends it to its ALSA, (e.g. for local processing or to an ALSA device like a DAC). I stream over 2.4G WiFi in 16/48 format, however, I have briefly tested 24/96 and that works as well. I am not using any special or high end WiFi hardware and the system can handle multiple simultaneous streams to multiple clients.
I tried streaming using VLC and it was not as good a gstreamer, which has much better control of timing, etc. VLC is simpler, so if you want to experiment with streaming using RTP I suggest you look into that. Examples can be found here and there for VLC which you can actually understand and follow.
Hi KMossman,
I have been using Microsoft Expression Encoder for years. It's free and very good for audio ( you can turn off the video). Mine is set for a 24bit 192khz stream. It does Internet streams and LAN. Is a direct connection to your computer (no filtering or signal loss thru third party sites) and can be accessed through Foobar, VLC, Win Media Player, JRiver, etc.
Hope this helps,
Ren
Since most of my client devices are Apple products, I used AirPlay/AirTunes with either Airport Express or an OpenWRT router with a USB DAC running shairport-sync as the output endpoint. It supports clock-syncronization so I can play back through multiple endpoints at once. Unfortunately iTunes on a Mac or PC is the only way to play to multiple endpoints. It can't be done from an iOS device.
Beyond that, and chromecast, I'm not aware of any off-the-shelf HiFi audio over IP for consumers. Their may be some for pro-audio products based on AES67, AVB, or various proprietary protocols.
One things to keep in mind is that IP networks are rather under-specified for quality of service guarantees. A few uncompressed audio streams should run on a simple, switched gigabit ethernet LAN using a consumer grade switch without to much fuss provided there isn't a lot of other traffic. Beyond that though, things can get messy quick. AirPlay maintains a 1s buffer, but even with that, I can suffer dropouts when sending data from a WiFi connected client to a wired Airport Extreme if there is much else happening on the wireless network -- WiFi protocols and implementations are pretty dismal at low, predictable latency, particularly with multiple clients connected to one AP, and multiple streams of data.
Beyond that, and chromecast, I'm not aware of any off-the-shelf HiFi audio over IP for consumers. Their may be some for pro-audio products based on AES67, AVB, or various proprietary protocols.
One things to keep in mind is that IP networks are rather under-specified for quality of service guarantees. A few uncompressed audio streams should run on a simple, switched gigabit ethernet LAN using a consumer grade switch without to much fuss provided there isn't a lot of other traffic. Beyond that though, things can get messy quick. AirPlay maintains a 1s buffer, but even with that, I can suffer dropouts when sending data from a WiFi connected client to a wired Airport Extreme if there is much else happening on the wireless network -- WiFi protocols and implementations are pretty dismal at low, predictable latency, particularly with multiple clients connected to one AP, and multiple streams of data.
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