Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

[Gosub]

I've been a registered user of the software for well over a year, but I'm drawing a complete blank on how to do this, or if it's even possible.

Can I tell dAP to play MP3 files from a network drive? Can I further setup My Music Collection to point to a MP3 collection on a network drive? I'd rather do the latter, for obvious reasons. Files are on an XP Pro box and I'd like to play from a 2K Pro laptop.

If this is easy to do and I'm just being an idiot, I'd really appreciate someone opening my eyes as this would REALLY make my day. Thanks!

-Stever

[ChristinaS]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

I've been a registered user of the software for well over a year, but I'm drawing a complete blank on how to do this, or if it's even possible.

Can I tell dAP to play MP3 files from a network drive? Can I further setup My Music Collection to point to a MP3 collection on a network drive? I'd rather do the latter, for obvious reasons. Files are on an XP Pro box and I'd like to play from a 2K Pro laptop.

If this is easy to do and I'm just being an idiot, I'd really appreciate someone opening my eyes as this would REALLY make my day. Thanks!

-Stever

Can the laptop see and access the drive on the other computer?
Can you see the folder that has the mp3 files you want to play? Have you tried to right click on any ofthose files and select Open and then select program dBpowerAMP (unless you have all mp3 files associated with dAP by default).

I think that if you can do that then you can add those files to the music collection defined on the laptop. As long as the files are not moved from their present location on the network drive or deleted or renamed, it should all be possible. ALso of course the other computer has to be on when you try to access the files.

[Gosub]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

Can the laptop see and access the drive on the other computer?
Can you see the folder that has the mp3 files you want to play? Have you tried to right click on any ofthose files and select Open and then select program dBpowerAMP (unless you have all mp3 files associated with dAP by default).

I think that if you can do that then you can add those files to the music collection defined on the laptop. As long as the files are not moved from their present location on the network drive or deleted or renamed, it should all be possible. ALso of course the other computer has to be on when you try to access the files.

I have not tried to do any of those things yet, but I will as soon as I get home. I know for sure the Win2K laptop can see the shared MP3 directory on the WinXP Pro box, so I guess I just need to try and point dAP and My Music Collection to that directory.

While I haven't tried it yet, I was hoping to get feedback from you folks that it at least MAY be possible to do. Thanks for your help!

-Stever/Gosub

[ChristinaS]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

I have not tried to do any of those things yet, but I will as soon as I get home. I know for sure the Win2K laptop can see the shared MP3 directory on the WinXP Pro box, so I guess I just need to try and point dAP and My Music Collection to that directory.

While I haven't tried it yet, I was hoping to get feedback from you folks that it at least MAY be possible to do. Thanks for your help!

-Stever/Gosub

Logic dictates that it is. I cannot otherwise confirm as I don't use any Music Collection myself and don't feel like starting now LOL! I have a cultural aversion to things happening behind my back and that's one of them :D

[Gosub]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

Logic dictates that it is. I cannot otherwise confirm as I don't use any Music Collection myself and don't feel like starting now LOL! I have a cultural aversion to things happening behind my back and that's one of them :D

LLLooogic? I don't know this word. :D

For the record, what I wanted to do, and what you suggested, worked perfectly. It took a little bit for the Win2K laptop to add all the MP3 files over the network stored on the WinXP box, but once it finished it worked perfectly.

All I had to do was navigate from within My Music Collection to the shared network location of the MP3 files and that was pretty much it (not much different than navigating to locally stored files). I'm surprised how easy it actually was. I guess I should have just tried it first before bothering you folks with this post.

Regardless, thanks for your help - Christina - and I'm once again reminded of how much I love this software! Being able to do this is HUGE for me. Thanks!!

-Stever/Gosub

[ChristinaS]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

LLLooogic? I don't know this word. :D

For the record, what I wanted to do, and what you suggested, worked perfectly. It took a little bit for the Win2K laptop to add all the MP3 files over the network stored on the WinXP box, but once it finished it worked perfectly.

All I had to do was navigate from within My Music Collection to the shared network location of the MP3 files and that was pretty much it (not much different than navigating to locally stored files). I'm surprised how easy it actually was. I guess I should have just tried it first before bothering you folks with this post.

Regardless, thanks for your help - Christina - and I'm once again reminded of how much I love this software! Being able to do this is HUGE for me. Thanks!!

-Stever/Gosub

Glad it worked and you're welcome. I tried just the access part myself so I already knew dAP can play files stored on other network drives , logic be damned

[Spoons]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

i use dap on my home wi-fi network with both machines using XP SP2. i store all my music files on a seperate PC to where my dap is on my laptop without any problems.

just keep in mind dap doesn't do live streaming yet but will soon i reckon.

[Gosub]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

i use dap on my home wi-fi network with both machines using XP SP2. i store all my music files on a seperate PC to where my dap is on my laptop without any problems.

just keep in mind dap doesn't do live streaming yet but will soon i reckon.

Live streaming? I'm not sure exactly what that means. How is 'live streaming' different from me playing an MP3 file from one computer that is located on another?

-Stever

[ChristinaS]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

Live streaming? I'm not sure exactly what that means. How is 'live streaming' different from me playing an MP3 file from one computer that is located on another?

-Stever

When you're playing a specific audio file, dAP and other players get a full copy of it into memory and then play it. In streaming small packets of audio data are sent and they have to be played as they are sent, while other packets get sent, in one continuous stream. Not all players are capable of this.

Live streaming in particular would refer to radio webcasts or on location event webcasts.

Currently it appears that dAP cannot play meta-files like .wax, commonly used to achieve (pseudo) streaming, regardless of what actual media files are referred to inside and wheer they are stored (i.e. on a pc or on the web).

[Gosub]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

When you're playing a specific audio file, dAP and other players get a full copy of it into memory and then play it. In streaming small packets of audio data are sent and they have to be played as they are sent, while other packets get sent, in one continuous stream. Not all players are capable of this.

Live streaming in particular would refer to radio webcasts or on location event webcasts.

Currently it appears that dAP cannot play meta-files like .wax, commonly used to achieve (pseudo) streaming, regardless of what actual media files are referred to inside and wheer they are stored (i.e. on a pc or on the web).

Thanks much for the explanation.

I'm trying to understand why one would want to stream versus simply playing an MP3 file over a network. I could see how maybe streaming could start playing the file sooner, but it would be more likely to lag as the packets are transmitted and loaded. Seems to me simply loading the MP3 file up front as is normally done, while it may delay the initial playing of the song, would be the best bet as once the song is over it plays without problem.

While I'm not new to computer tech and such, being an IT Manager, I'm not at all versed in audio tech and the concepts surrounding audio (or video for that matter). As such, I really appreciate you folks helping me understand stuff like this.

Thanks!

-Stever

[ChristinaS]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

Thanks much for the explanation.

I'm trying to understand why one would want to stream versus simply playing an MP3 file over a network. I could see how maybe streaming could start playing the file sooner, but it would be more likely to lag as the packets are transmitted and loaded. Seems to me simply loading the MP3 file up front as is normally done, while it may delay the initial playing of the song, would be the best bet as once the song is over it plays without problem.

While I'm not new to computer tech and such, being an IT Manager, I'm not at all versed in audio tech and the concepts surrounding audio (or video for that matter). As such, I really appreciate you folks helping me understand stuff like this.

Thanks!

-Stever

Well, media files served on the web offer a much better experience to the visitor when streamed for one thing. Also some amount of copy protection, in a manner of speaking, since the file is not obviously available for download as such. Take a longer video that may require 5 minutes or so to download, even on a high-speed connection. Streamed it will start playing within a few seconds and go on playing.

I agree, on your own pc or home network, there's no need or actual difference.

[Spoons]

Re: Pointing dAP to MP3 on Network Drive

I agree, on your own pc or home network, there's no need or actual difference

actually i think there is a need. once dbpoweramp becomes live stream capable we can enjoy perhaps future features like what hathor media stream offers. currently off line for some reason but all this and more i would like to see in MMC. it is extremly fast in loading info and very cool :D

Hathor Media Server, allows you to stream your music collection from your home computer to any where you wanted. All it requires is a web browser and a internet connection.

Features:

- MP3, OGG and WMA support
- Automatically organize your collection by artist and album
- Customizable Web templates
- User Authentication
- Unlimited User Access
- Transcoding - Allows you to convert a file from one bitrate to another. i.e 128kbit to 96kbit
- Limited number of connections to the server
- Play list queuing
- Searching