Bluetooth Streaming

Streaming with Bluetooth is really easy...    Go to settings on your phone. Open the Bluetooth section. Turn on Bluetooth and start a scan.

The network music player will show up there as the Bluetooth device Player. Click on Player, pair and within seconds your phone will be connected to the player. Start an app, start playing and it starts streaming Bluetooth to the Network Music Player. Below is an example of pairing and connecting: 

The Network Music Player supports Bluetooth 5.0 and that version is supported by most modern phones. With this version comes a wider range and increased transfer capacity which improves sound quality up to be like CDs. Bluetooth is backwards compatible, so you can use older devices, but they might not always be able to benefit of these latest features. 

You can only stream your apps with Bluetooth, if you would like to do some settings of the Network Music Player itself (like set the default volume) or connect a Bluetooth speaker or Bluetooth headphone you have to use the Player software user interface. How to connect a Bluetooth speaker can be found here.

Streaming Bluetooth to the Player when it is connected to a Bluetooth speaker works. The audio stream is then directly transmitted to the Bluetooth speaker and the amplifier is muted. If there is no Bluetooth speaker connected the audio will go through the amplifier instead and the connected wired speakers will deliver the music.

 

 

Even more about Bluetooth...

Connect Bluetooth speakers

 A great feature is that you can easily connect a Bluetooth speaker or a Bluetooth headphone to the Network Music Player. First open up the Start page of the Player software by entering http://player.local. Unfortunately, most versions of Android OS are not capable of resolving a local web address. Instead you have to use the IP address of the player instead. How to find the IP address is described here.

Connect a Bluetooth speaker

When the Start page is open go to the Bluetooth page and scan for speakers/headphones...

The scanning will take quite a while – about 40 s. Also be sure that the Bluetooth speaker is on and that it is ready to connect. Often it flashes its lights and makes some beep noises when it is ready.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a while and some notification a pop-up menu will show up.

In menu pick the speaker you want to connect to… [click on the name of the speaker]

...then the Player will become connected and the Bluetooth Page will also be updated with the new speaker connection.

     
     
   
     
    
  
   
 When the speaker is connected it is shown on the Bluetooth page. You can disconnect the speaker by clicking on the orange cross button. You can always disconnect the speaker by turning it off. As soon as it is turned on again it will reconnect.

There can only one Bluetooth speaker or headphone connected at the time, but there can be many Bluetooth devices paired at the same time. The pairing of the speakers/headphones makes it very fast to switch between speakers and headphones.

    

     

      

     

            
    In this last picture you can see that there is no speaker connected, but there are three speakers that are paired and that can be easily reconnected without scanning.

    The Network Music Player supports Bluetooth 5.0 for receiving and transmitting. That version is supported by most modern phones. With this version comes a wider range and increased transfer capacity which improves sound quality up to be like CDs. Bluetooth is backwards compatible, so you can use older devices, but they might not always be able to benefit of these latest features. 

    You can also stream Bluetooth to the Network Music Player, how this is done is explained on this page. Streaming Bluetooth to the Player when it is connected to a Bluetooth speaker works. The audio stream is then directly transmitted to the Bluetooth speaker and the amplifier is muted. If there is no Bluetooth speaker connected, the audio will go through the amplifier instead and the connected wired speakers will deliver the music.

    A Bluetooth speaker is not a wired speaker

    The characteristics of a Bluetooth speaker is of course a little bit different than the ordinary wired ones.

    • Make sure that the Bluetooth speaker or headphone is on and that it is ready to connect. Often it flashes and make some beep noises when it is ready. It has also to be within a decent distance, not more than 25 m away. Also you have to figure out the Bluetooth name of the device (consult the instructions).
    • As stated above, there can be only one speaker or headphone connected at the time. Some more advance Bluetooth speaker systems comes with two speaker units and have multiroom capabilities that solve multi-speaker setups.
    • An already paired Bluetooth speaker will silently reconnect itself to the Network Music Player when it is turned on, if there was no previous Bluetooth device connected.
    • Some devices like computers can be both a speaker or a sender. Be sure to get that right in the settings of the device.
    • If you cannot find the wanted speaker after a scan (in the pop-up menu), scan again. Sometimes it takes a while for a speaker to announce themselves as Bluetooth devices. Note: that an already connected speaker (connected to another device) will not show up in the scanning result.

    The Network Music Player supports Bluetooth 5.0 for receiving and transmitting. That version is supported by most modern phones. With this version comes a wider range and increased transfer capacity which improves sound quality up to be like CDs. Bluetooth is backwards compatible, so you can use older devices, but they might not always be able to benefit of these latest features. 

    Streaming Bluetooth to the Player when it is connected to a Bluetooth speaker works. The audio stream is then directly transmitted to the Bluetooth speaker and the amplifier is muted. If there is no Bluetooth speaker connected, the audio will go through the amplifier instead and the connected wired speakers will deliver the music. 

     

    You need Bluetooth and other stuff...

     

    What you need
    • Bluetooth or/and a Wi-Fi network to connect to. 
    • Use your iPhone or Android phone, PC or Mac or Linux computer, iPad or Android tablet as remote controls and access your music through the apps you like. You also need a web browser like Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge or Mozilla Firefox to manage settings, connections and as an option manage USB playback. That is done through the web page http://player.local* - no download of special apps...
    • The music sources can be Spotify, webradio stations, podcasts or any music you play or stream on your phone, tablet or on your computers. You can also play locally stored music on an attached USB flash memory stick. 
    • As usual Internet access is required for your streaming apps.
    • Bluetooth speakers or Bluetooth headphones and in addition you can use any wired passive speakers.

      

    *) If you are using an Android device your browser may understand http://player.local and open the start page as intended. Unfortunately, most versions of Android OS are not capable of resolving a local web address. Instead you have to use the IP address of the player instead. How to find the IP address is described on the Android page and it can be found here.

     

     

    Open up the Start page - http:/player.local

    Access the Player software by entering the URL http:/player.local in a web browser and the Start page will open.

    Note: If you are using an Android device your browser may understand http://player.local and open the start page as intended. Unfortunately, most versions of Android OS are not capable of resolving a local web address. Instead you have to use the IP address of the player instead. How to find the IP address is described on the Android page and it can be found here.

    Start page

    At the Start page you can:
    • Check what the Player is doing.
    • Set the volume. [Should be 100% if you are streaming - lower this only when doing USB playback.]
    • Manage Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB Playback and additional settings.
    • Check how the Player is connected.

     Bluetooth page

    On this page you can pair and connect or Bluetooth speakers or headphones. If you want you can turn off the Bluetooth service and all Bluetooth connected devices will be disconnected. You can also manage any Bluetooth connected source devices, like smart phones, that might be streaming Bluetooth to the Player. You can even disconnected on this page.

    Wi-Fi page

    Here you manage local network connections, wireless (like Wi-Fi) or wired (attached LAN cable). The Player has a special access point, a hotspot, which is a Wi-Fi network on its own. It is called Player and the IP address on that network is 10.0.0.10. It is mostly used during setup.

    Settings page

    The most important settings here are the restart streaming services and restart the Player software. 

    USB playback

    The USB playback consist of three page. The Playback page, Playlist page and the USB page. Note: the volume control on this page is the same as the one on the Start page. It can not be 100% for USB playback, that is too loud.

    Here is an example how it can look like: