Streaming music from Windows Home Server to the Denon AVR3808CI/4808CI
If you are in the market for a new receiver you might want to consider a new Denon. Besides being a fantastic multi-zone, multi-source receiver it also has an Ethernet port which enables you to stream music and playlists to it. Click More for the entire review.
Lets go over the receiver a little bit. From Denon:
“The AVR-3808CI is the latest update to Denon’s acclaimed three thousand series A/V receiver line. Technology advances and careful engineering has yielded a receiver with the features and functions to take it well into the future of home theater. The AVR-3808CI has joined the CI ranking with the addition of expanded connectivity including networking and Internet radio. Updated Audyssey audio processing has refined the calibration process producing better sound and room balance, even with difficult acoustical conditions. Digital video connections in the AVR-3808CI now have HDMI v1.3a which brings with it the new surround formats for HD decoding. Portable device hookup has also been improved for ease of use.”
- 130 watts x 7 channels
- Fully assignable channels for bi-amping
- Rear Panel RS-232C and Ethernet ports
- Ethernet network port
- XM ready tuning
- Dolby® TrueHD and dts-HD™ Master Audio
- Second zone tone, mono mix and level control
- DNLA certified
- Expanded HDMI v1.3a ports with Deep Color, xvYCC and SACD support
- DENON LINK III, enabling high-speed, high-grade digital signal transmission
- Audyssey MultEQ XT & MultEQ Pro calibration installer ready
- Audyssey Dynamic EQ calibration installer ready
- Digital to Analog conversion for multi-zone connection flexibility
- New GUI menu support
- Comes with dual remotes – EL backlit learning and standard pre-programmed types
- 2-way remote capability with optional RC-7000CI and RC-7001RCI system
Let’s get started and get the 3808 on the network. The back panel of this receiver can be a bit overwhelming at first but hookups are very simple. In no specific order you should begin by hooking up all your equipment to the receiver.
- Video output
- Speakers
- All of your individual components, CD, DVD, DVR, etc.
- Network connection
- Power
First things first. This receiver does not play well with UPNP. If you are using UPNP with your Windows Home Server or have it enabled on your router you will need to disable it. If you are using Windows Home Server’s UPNP function you will need to statically map the following ports to your server in order to use it’s Remote Access functionality.
- 443 TCP
- 80 TCP
- 4125 TCP
More information on port forwarding can be found here. If you don’t disable UPNP you stand a chance of your router being overwhelmed and stopping service. I tested this with my Netgear wireless router and lost all network connectivity. A hard reboot had to be performed on the router to get it back. After disabling UPNP and mapping the ports to my WHS the 3808 was able to pull an IP address and the network was fully functional.
You will then need to verify your setup but I’m going to skip over all of that. This also includes checking your firmware update. The 3808 can update it’s firmware over the network and is very simple to do so.
After you have verified everything enter the GUI setup screen. The GUI is so much better than using a front panel configuration method but it does take some getting used to. Navigate through the GUI to the network settings and verify that the receiver pulled an IP address from your DHCP server. You can change network settings to your liking in these screens.
A side note, the receiver’s Ethernet port is only 10/100 and not Gigabit but since it only streams audio it is more than enough.
At this point all you have to do is navigate to the Net/USB source to start streaming music. You can do this via the GUI or directly from the remote. I tested with both the PVConnect Add-In and the Media Sharing function that is built into Windows Home Server. Both worked perfectly. It will also accept music shared from a PC running Windows Media Player with media sharing enabled.
The audio formats that the Denon AVR-3808CI can stream are in the following table.
Final thoughts
The 3808 also has two USB ports. One on the back and another inside the front panel. Music on a USB stick can also be played. It is also capable of playing Internet radio.
An optional iPod dock is available from Denon which will allow you to play music, video, and photos, directly to the receiver.
You can find the 3808 at Amazon.com for $1699.00 via the link below.
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Category: Review, Windows Home Server
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