Server Version#: 1.20.5.3600-47c0d9038
Player Version#: 1.20.5.3600
I am using a Macbook Pro, running OSX Mojave ver. 10.14.6
I have several DLNA renderers on my system.
An Onkyo TX-8260 Amp.
A Paradigm PW 300 Speaker.
A Samsung smart TV
And a ROKU box connected to the TV
If I fire up a server from Serviio, it sees all 4 devices.
If I fire up Media Center 27 from JRiver, I see one device, possibly two including the Paradigm speaker.
Plex Media Player, can see only the Plex IOS app on my iPhone.
From the the Plex IOS app, I can see the Onkyo and the Plex media player, but I cannot play music to the Onkyo. The Onkyo supports: DTS-Play-fi, Chromecast, and Airplay.
The Onkyo also can connect to a DLNA server and will connect and play from each of the DLNA servers I have been testing. So why if the Onkyo can see the Plex server and stream from it, why can’t the Plex media player see and stream to the Onkyo? And why can the Plex IOS app see the Onkyo but not be able to stream to it?
So this is my issue. I want to be able to surf my music library and play music, playlists to various DLNA renderers on my LAN. Is Plex a viable candidate to accomplish this, and if so how can I use it?
Can players like Kodi or JRiver use the Plex DLNA server. The whole issue is that to really use a large library of music, it has to be done on system that has good display capabilities. If I can do it from my TV which doesn’t have the user interface capabilities of a computer, how can I do it from my computer?
My Onkyo has a one line LCD screen. Try surfing a 65,000 file collection of music on a one line LCD screen.
So when I encountered Plex, I saw that it had a DLNA server, but when I went online, it was all about streaming: movies, music, etc. Are you suggesting that the Plex Dlna Server and the Plex Player are two separate products that don’t work together. Do you stream movies just to your computer and not to your smart TV?
My understanding of DLNA is that you have DLNA renders, which are speakers, TV’s and traditional amplifier stereo systems, you have DLNA servers, that are repositories of media, and you have controller apps that drive the process of moving media from the servers to the renderers. If you look at the DTP-Play-fi system, the controller is on an IOS device or an android device. In fact, the Plex IOS app looks to me to be that controller app. But there is no reason the controller app cannot be on a computer anywhere is the LAN. In fact it can be on the same device as the DLNA server.
You use a Plex player which we make many off for all sorts of deviceslike TVs , streaming devices like Roku,Apple TV, game consoles and computer to stream from the Plex Media Server. The DLNA server is part of the Plex Media Server and you use a DLNA player to stream from that. You cannot from the server or a Plex Player, initiate or control the playback on a DLNA player
Thank you so much for your replies to my enquiries.
But isn’t Plex player a DLNA player (controller)?
Clearly, Plex is not the product I need for my application. Clearly, since Plex Player has the capability to cast to a Chromecast device, the engineers are beginning to see that there is something missing in the system design. I hope they are reading these enquiries and seeing that they have an opportunity to address this need.
No. The various Plex client applications use the Plex Media Server’s native, HTTP-based API to control streaming.
The DLNA server provided with Plex Media Server is ancillary, and completely optional. In fact, in recent releases, it’s disabled by default if I remember correctly. It’s a convenience feature for folks who do not have access to a client device with a native Plex client.
Google makes an API specifically for iOS, Android and the chrome browser only to cast to those device.
No. You cannot for example run some other DLNA server software and have a Plex Player access it. Plex Players are accessing the Plex Media Server via it’s protocols, not DLNA.
