Intro
Contents
Anyone searching for what streaming systems (protocols) are all about, will have a splitting headache within ten minutes. There is, in fact, a great deal of systems and protocols…. or so it seems. But know that many “custom” systems are a derivative of another, existing technology. We list all the major, relevant streaming protocols for you. This way you will also know immediately which system suits you. And what you might want to focus on
UPnP, DLNA, ROON, OpenHome, Diretta, LMS…Cromecast, Airplay…. what chaos! And then you have special “super-software” that is supposed to sound better. Think Audirvana, JPlay (both server and player), Foobar with special plugins or of course Jriver. We can well imagine that you are completely lost.
The basics
The basics of streaming can be brought back to these things:
- Discovering players, servers and controllers (remote controls)
- Stably connect players and servers
- Monitor controllers for commands
- Getting data from server to player in a controlled and stable manner
- Keeping track of player progress
Now this is pretty brief and there is a lot more going on in the background. Think about crc-checks on data streams, data correction protocols, buffering, etc. But that is not very interesting, now is it? In the end, what matters is that you can play music, right?
I am old school and still use Cds at home and in the car. The advantage is I can play exactly the music I want to hear, I don’t have to pay be direct debit for any streaming service, I own my Cds and Cds still produce an acceptable audio sound. Naturally people who use streaming services will benefit from the advantages of such a service but I am so glad that I don’t have to worry about ‘streaming chaos’ and the problems which arise psychologically of having ‘too much choice’…
Cd’s can sound excellent! And yes… No streaming chaos! 🙂
I am old school and still use Cds at home and in the car. The advantage is I can play exactly the music I want to hear, I don’t have to pay be direct debit for any streaming service, I own my Cds and Cds still produce an acceptable audio sound. Naturally people who use streaming services will benefit from the advantages of such a service but I am so glad that I don’t have to worry about ‘streaming chaos’ and the problems which arise psychologically of having ‘too much choice’…
Cd’s can sound excellent! And yes… No streaming chaos! 🙂