External music

[Franklin-Sam]

I am looking to connect my Control4 unit to my Windows PC. The PC has a ton of music which I ripped off of CDs that I own and I would like to create a playlist that can be used on my Control4. Both the PC and the Control4 are on the same network and if necessary I could do an Ethernet connection if needed.

Can this be done? If yes what would I need in order to make it happen?

Thanks

PS this is my first post on the forum. I'm new to Control4 but have a background in managing computers.

[Cyknight]

C4 is able to pull music off of a network share, but there are limitations:

-Samba is needed, may still be v1, maybe v2

-This is based 'old style' in that it is CD library based - it won't import playlists as such (though it allows playlists to be created in it's own setup)

 

Doing this off of a windows PC can be ... troublesome ... at best - this is truly more intended for a small NAS.

Alternatively, and often easier, you can put a USB stick (or externally powered drive) into the back of any controller. Easiest is likely to put an empty one in, ensure it is FAT 32 formatted, and a simple as it gets (no encryption options, auto back up etc). It'll actually auto load the driver after a few seconds for a USB stick, and you can manage music from there one, using ComposerHE to load the music onto the driver.

 

Again, the interface is a bit archaic in that it truly revolves around 'CDs' - not 'single songs' for it's indexing, but it does work reliably.

 

You could also look at DLNA option.

[Matt Lowe]

DLNA would be a great way to do this. Control4 DLNA driver has some suggested servers that work well and are pretty easy to setup.

[Zbee]

related questions (sorry for the thread creep): I have a Salk Soundstream music server (basically a small Unix computer with multiple outputs including ethernet, optical, etc). What would be the best way to integrate that into a C4 system?

[Matt Lowe]

Not aware of any control4 drivers for that system. If it support DLNA you can do the same as discussed here. If you want to use its built in inputs. You can just make it a generic source within control4 and use audio detection if you have it or manually select then use its native app for control.