I have been a Muzecast user for almost a decade and I’ve come to rely on it for all my audio needs. I do a weekly radio program, so I use Muzecast to select material from my MP3 library of over 400,000 files.
Now that it appears that Muzecast is dead, I’m looking for an alternative home library audio streamer for Android. Plexamp looks like the closest thing to Muzecast for my needs.
However, here are a few things that I can do with Muzecast that I can’t do with Plex:
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Browse hard drive folders remotely no matter how many levels they go to.
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Shuffle play any folder --no matter where it is in the folder hierarchy. So if I have a folder structure like this: MP3 Library/Various Artists/60s Garage Comps – I can shuffle play the Various Artists folder or the 60s Garage Comps folder.
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The ability to get file information remotely. In Muzecast, I can click on “info” on a song and it will allow me to see (among other things) its file path on the hard drive remotely
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The ability to control the volume on the desktop app. I find it kind of amazing that the app doesn’t have this function. Every other Windows audio app I know of has its own volume control.
There are some areas where PlexAmp is better than Muzecast. The sound quality seems better and the desktop app (aside from the lack of volume control) if nice and very helpful to me as a DJ. I can select songs over the course of a week remotely via the Android app, and then go back through my favorites list from the week to find and input my songs into my MP3 DJ software.
I don’t need the Plex Pass for anything else, so moving to Plexamp is going to cost me at least $40 a year for what I had for years with Muzecast as a one-time purchase price. Muzecast was the greatest Android app ever and I’m going to miss it dearly. Plexamp can do a good job taking its place, but I’d love to see the above feature requests implemented.
Sorry but it sounds like you need Icecast more than PlexAmp. Icecast goes hand in hand with actual radio station play, especially those that are internet radio stations using the Shoutcast network. Your usage for PlexAmp might not give you the flexibility and control you are looking for that Icecast can provide.
List of apps that will work with it are here: https://icecast.org/apps/
What Android app would you recommend to use with an icecast server. Again, what I really need is a system like Muzecast where I can set up a server to point to my MP3 library and access it via an Android app that lets me listen, browse folders, tag, etc. over the internet.
Couldn’t you just side load the Muzecast Android APK to your Android device, and download the last version of Muzecast server? What’s preventing you from using Muzecast in its previous end of life state? Besides, if they ceased operations, then why does the website have 2022 listed as a current year of operation instead of say 2020 or 2021? While the Android apps aren’t available via the site, the Windows executable is still available to download, i just downloaded it for myself.
https://m.apkpure.com/muzecast-free-hi-res-music-streamer/com.vorlan.homedj/download/110202-APK?from=versions%2Fversion
I have the Muzecast server running and I have app on my phone, but almost all of their web pages are now down, the apps have been removed from the Google Play and Amazon, and my emails to them are getting bounced back.
It has been my past experience that when the webpages go dark and the app disappears from Google play, it will start to malfunction and have trouble accessing the server. This happened back in 2020 when everyone was reporting that Muzecast was dead. I was overjoyed by the news that Vorlan was moving forward with it and everything was great ----- until about a week ago when they went dark again. I’ve tried emailing them about 10 times and all the emails come back undeliverable.
So even if things continue without support or upgrades I’ll eventually need a new phone and with the android app unavailable to download, I figured I would be out of luck. That’s why I am now investigating alternatives like Plexamp. I am not sure how to “side load” an app to an android device. Could you explain?
I literally just installed the linked APK from the site I attached and I got MUZECAST open on my Android 11 phone. I even was able to create a new account and logged in, I’m in the process of installing the Windows executable on my machine to see if it connects. I would suggest you attempt to try it also.
While I agree that PlexAmp seems like a good fit, the Plex Server does not play well with other apps. What if later you did find something else you liked better than PlexAmp, as a DJ, how are you to export your settings and tags out of Plex Server into an app that will read them?
Currently there also is a bias against Folder usage in Plex Server. There’s been examples where Plex Server has removed power over the usage of folder navigation, with both movies and with music libraries, so if you use a folder structure, it might be more of a hassle to not just navigate, but also organize the system how you want. I’m just stating the obvious things upfront. Also, Plex Server also weighs heavily on identification with MusicBrainz, which won’t effectively identify any music that isn’t found in their database. If you have tons of music not matched or catalogued (music effects, samples, bootleg remixes, etc. ), it will be up to you to fix the nuances that are with your files or folder structure, something that I’m sure MuzeCast or another app is not finicky about.
Well, like I said, Muzecast is still working for me, but I’m researching and testing alternatives in case it goes away. I need a backup system to continue my “digital crate digging” during my daily commutes, etc.
I’m glad you are trying it. You’ll see how brilliant and full-featured it is. All I ever spent on it was a one-time purchase of like $5 years ago. The whole system is a masterpiece of computer engineering and I will really be depressed if it were to just disappear.
I tried to set up a Subsonic server, but I could get only one android app to connect and it was so rudimentary as to be useless.
Muzecast has been perfect and I’m praying that it is not going away. Plexamp has its issues, but it should allow me to do most of what I did with Muzecast. But it is concerning that they don’t want to give end-users power over folder browsing, etc. The way I usually manage my collection is via folders.
Well, here’s evidence/verification that a stranger who has never heard of Muzecast got it up and running successfully.
Cool. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do and I hope that it keeps working for all of us.
As you can see, I’m dealing with a VERY large library:
As of today, it appears that Muzecast is completely dead.
My Muzecast server suddenly stopped working (as I had anticipated it would) and now even the main Muzecast webpage at Muzecast.com is gone.
This is a sad day for me. I’m glad I was able to find a reasonable replacement app in PlexAmp, though it will cost me $60 a year at this point. I do hope the Plexamp development team will read the first post and consider making some of those features available on Plexamp.
To reiterate, the two most important features I’m looking for are:
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The ability to navigate and use folders much more easily. Muzecast had a wonderful folder browser that made it very easy to locate any folder. It also had the ability to shuffle play the content of any folder at any level on the hierarchy and include content from all subfolders.
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The ability to easily see the drive path on my home computer of any individual file being played. This can be very helpful in locating mis-tagged files that come up on the player.
Sorry for your loss. It appears they took their web pages down shortly before their web domain expires, which is Feb 2023.
Yes, it does feel like a kind of “death,” given that I’ve used this app daily and relied on it for my “digital crate digging” for almost a decade. I want to believe that it will reappear at some point, maybe under a different name and a different monetization model. It’s just so damn good.
One thing I did notice was that the company behind it, Vorlan Group, Inc. is still offering another app called “Screen On Call,” which I understand was a much bigger success than Muzecast. So if they are still in business maybe they will resurrect the program or sell the code to someone else for further development.
I just wish they were more open about all this with their user base. I would have been able to live with an announcement that said “we thank all our loyal users, but we can’t continue with this pricing model and here’s what happens next with this app. . .”
