Uniti - UPnP questions.
Posted by: DIB on 07 March 2010
As a proud new owner of a Uniti and a Naim newbie, I'd like to say that I've found these forums very informative over the last few weeks.
I'm loving my Uniti, but I've got a couple of questions that someone might be able to help with.
Firstly, I've got the wireless UPnP function up and running using TwonkyMedia on my PC. The streaming has been spot on and I cant recall any breaks at all. However, if I choose another function ie CD, and then later go back to the UPnP function, after a minute or so "searching" the message comes back "No Server". The only way then to use UPnP is to switch off and immediately switch back on, it defaults straight to UPnP and TwonkyMedia appears almost immediately. It's pretty annoying having to do this every time. Any ideas why this should happen.
Secondly, I've also got my PC hooked up to the Uniti via a Toslink cable. I've noticed that the playback of the FLAC and MP3 files is superior via the wireless UPnp than by the Toslink cable. I use Media Monkey as my media player and dont use any equaliser settings.
Any thoughts why this should be the case?
.
Posted on: 07 March 2010 by Michael Chare
quote:
Originally posted by DIB:
Firstly, I've got the wireless UPnP function up and running using TwonkyMedia on my PC. The streaming has been spot on and I cant recall any breaks at all. However, if I choose another function ie CD, and then later go back to the UPnP function, after a minute or so "searching" the message comes back "No Server". The only way then to use UPnP is to switch off and immediately switch back on, it defaults straight to UPnP and TwonkyMedia appears almost immediately. It's pretty annoying having to do this every time. Any ideas why this should happen.
I suspect that the Uniti does a bit more uPnP discovery when it is powered on, compared from being switched from another mode. I have seen apparent evidence of that!
How does the network signal get from your Uniti to your PC with Twonky?
Posted on: 08 March 2010 by 0rangutan
DIB - There have been a number of threads looking at network and streaming issues with the Uniti. In most cases, the culprit was a cheap ISP provided ADSL router. How is your Uniti networked? Are you able to either swap the current router for a decent (ie. not free) branded one? Or add a dedicated wireless point/switch to handle your LAN (eg. Apple Airport Extreme) and just use the ISP router for Internet access?
Re. the Toslink vs. UPNP quality comparison - I guess this is just down to the Uniti doing a better job of converting the media file into an audio bitstream than your PC is capable of doing.
John
Posted on: 08 March 2010 by Tom_W
quote:
In most cases, the culprit was a cheap ISP provided ADSL router
I don't necessarily agree with this. Yes, the 'free' routers can be responsible for some problems, but I also have similar issues to DIB, and i've replaced my router.
If my uniti tries to stream a file that it can't play (mainly due to tag reading issues i think, which really should not be an issue in a high end piece of Hi-Fi), it appears to have lost the connection with the UPnP server and won't play any files. I then need to turn it off and on again to force it to connect with the server again. Note: this is not a loss of wireless connection.
Posted on: 08 March 2010 by 0rangutan
Thanks Tom - good point. Have your tag reading issues been fixed by firmware 2.0?
DIB - what firmware is your Uniti running?
Posted on: 08 March 2010 by DIB
At the moment I'm using a Netgear 108 Mbps WGT624 v3 Router. This was not provided by Virgin Media, their's is still in the box.
As for firmware, I'm not sure but as the Uniti is only 2 weeks old I'm pretty sure its the latest version? Dumb question probably, but how do I tell which it is?
.
Posted on: 08 March 2010 by Michael Chare
quote:
As for firmware, I'm not sure but as the Uniti is only 2 weeks old I'm pretty sure its the latest version? Dumb question probably, but how do I tell which it is?
Press the spanner button. Select 'Factory Settings', then 'System Status' and scroll to the bottom.
Posted on: 08 March 2010 by DIB
quote:
Originally posted by Michael Chare:
quote:
As for firmware, I'm not sure but as the Uniti is only 2 weeks old I'm pretty sure its the latest version? Dumb question probably, but how do I tell which it is?
Press the spanner button. Select 'Factory Settings', then 'System Status' and scroll to the bottom.
Thanks for that, should have been able to work that out myself
Anyway, my version is 2.0.00
.
Posted on: 08 March 2010 by Michael Chare
quote:
Originally posted by DIB:
Thanks for that, should have been able to work that out myself
Anyway, my version is 2.0.00
I though that I would try an answer the easy question first! :-)
With regard to your reboot/uPnP problem I can't do much better than to suggest trying some other combinations, e.g. using a different router/switch hub, having a fully wired network and using different uPnP server software.
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by 0rangutan
DIB - A few more things you could try:
1. Disable the local firewall on your PC.
2. Have a look at the UPNP settings of your router (p69 of the
manual). Decreasing the UPNP Advertisement Period and increasing the Time to Live both sound as though they might help.
3. Try connecting wired rather than wireless (if only to rule out the wireless).
John
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by Tom_W
quote:
Have your tag reading issues been fixed by firmware 2.0?
John, I haven't had a chance to get the firmware updated yet. I would like to know categorically which tags caused problems though.
DIB, as others have suggested, I think you're going to have to take a systematic approach to troubleshoot the issue, starting by connecting by ethernet to rule out wireless problems.
I have found moving my Uniti next to my computer when doing this is useful, because then you don't spend all day running backwards and forwards to the lounge to see if it has connected!
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by 0rangutan
quote:
I would like to know categorically which tags caused problems though.
AFAIK, any which are in Unicode (rather than ASCII) will present problems until you upgrade to 2.0. While this will primarily affect MP3s with tags in languages requiring unicode (eg. Chinese), English language tags could potentially have been input in Unicode and cause your problem.
Posted on: 09 March 2010 by DIB
Thanks very much everyone for your input, its given me plenty to go on when I get home tonight.
I'll try all your suggestions tonight (other than buy a new router just yet!) and let you know how I go on.
.
Posted on: 14 March 2010 by DIB
Just a quick update to say that everything appears to be working fine now, yet I don't appear to have done anything! I've not had much time the last few days to experiment. However yesterday whilst rearranging my set up, tidying up cables and fitting my new NACA5 cable I had everything unplugged and then once all put back together the UPnP function has started working flawlessly. I can switch from UPnP to CD and back to UPnP and it recognises the UPnP on my PC immediately. I've not moved the router, its still wireless etc. Very strange, but I'm not complaining.
Also regarding the difference in quality between listening to my MP3/Flac files via UPnp and via a Toslink cable, I've just switched my media player from Media Monkey to Foobar2000 (with WASAPI support) and the difference is night and day. I know there's not supposed to be any difference between media players but there definitely is between these two.
All in all, I'm a happy bunny.
.
Posted on: 14 March 2010 by 0rangutan
Ahh - no doubt fixed by the new NACA5
