Snapcast

Help and Support Help
1

I am having a few difficulties with Snapcast, it my be my understanding of how it works.

I have followed the install guide from https://github.com/Saiyato/volumio-snapcast-plugin and have been able to play music from a server using a client. However i’m not sure i’m doing it correctly because I didn’t have to select the stream name I created ( I cant find where I would do this anyway). Instead I play on the server and then the music plays on both the server device and on the client device.

This all seems good, however I want to be able to play different streams on the clients or the same stream across them( based on the link it should be doable). Is it achievable? and if so how what do I need to change?

I only have the snapcast plugin installed at present. Music is coming from my NAS or web radio.

I thought about just toggling on and off the clients plugin, This does allow the track to play without sound, however a restart seems to reset the audio output.

This will not fly as it will make it complicated to use for the family.

2

Hi,

I’ve only briefly described this process on github here.
What are you trying to achieve with multiple streams? Maybe there’s another way.

Btw if only one stream exists, you don’t need to specify it. I think it connects to the first stream configured by default.

3

Thank you for your reply,

What i was trying to do was run two streams so, i could for example have a upstairs stream playing on 2 of 6 pi’s a second stream on 1 of 6 pi’s and a third on 3 of 6 pi’s or anything in between.

However based on what you have said i think i can conclude, i cant set up the streams to do this with my test case as i only have 2 Pi’s within it at present. is this correct?

However one thing i would like clarity on if possible. When i have something playing on the client the music on the server doesn’t play on it, which is great, However if i stop playing on the client music it then switches to the stream playing on the server. When I don’t want anything playing on the client but do on the server how do i achieve this?

4

Hi,

You can install snapcast on your Android device for testing purposes, this makes it easier to understand what is happening.
The server, on the Pi, can create two streams in its current form:

  1. MPD
  2. Spotify (NOT spop)

The MPD stream can be controlled from within Volumio, Spotify is an external device and therefore is controlled using a full-fledged player (your phone, tablet, PC etc.).

So basically you can connect any number of devices to either one stream. You can to point them to the IP of the server and you can switch streams on your Android device, or from the plugin. For the latter:

  1. Click the switch stream button, this exposes the settings
  2. Select the client from the list (these must be connected first!)
  3. Select the stream you want to link the selected client to
  4. Click save

If you want to switch off any player, just disable the plugin or just the client (in settings).