Audio player with smartphone controls?

[Budee]

I'm building a new HTPC that will be connected to a 5.1 surround sound system. It will be in a cabinet out of the way. I don't intend to use the keyboard often for it. I want to basically have it be a DVR for OTA broadcasts. I will use a roku for Netflix/Amazon streaming. But I would like to be able to use it as an audio player hooked up to the surround sound system, without having to actually have the TV on and use the keyboard. Are there any solutions that would sync a music player to an app on my phone?

 

[t53186]

haw about running unified remote on both your phone and HTPC, you can control everything on the PC from your phone, assuming you have wifi

 

[jsmithepa]

For multi-user, where you want everybody in the house to access a central music library, this is more complicated. I don't have an answer here, I haven't looked.

For single-user, or one user-at-a-time, where the user will have his/her entire music library on their own smartphones, the simplest thing to do is to BLUETOOTH smartphone ----> entertainment system. all controls are with the smart phone, no need to turn on TV.

 

[Budee]

haw about running unified remote on both your phone and HTPC, you can control everything on the PC from your phone, assuming you have wifi

I have a wife who could never navigate that.

 

[Budee]

For multi-user, where you want everybody in the house to access a central music library, this is more complicated. I don't have an answer here, I haven't looked.

For single-user, or one user-at-a-time, where the user will have his/her entire music library on their own smartphones, the simplest thing to do is to BLUETOOTH smartphone ----> entertainment system. all controls are with the smart phone, no need to turn on TV.

I suppose I could always get another device, like an old phone or tablet. But then I would have to change the input back and forth from tv to audio. First world problems perhaps.

 

[americanaudiophile]

JRiver Media Center and MediaMonkey both have apps for remote control. iTunes should too.
Would handle your video file playback as well.
There is a free version of MediaMonkey.
You could keep the receiver on the same input as when you were playing movies and just not turn the TV on.

 

[jsmithepa]

I suppose I could always get another device, like an old phone or tablet. But then I would have to change the input back and forth from tv to audio. First world problems perhaps.

Can't be avoided until Amazon partners with AV vendors to make entertainment centers fully Alexa-aware.

What am thinking is, you don't merely want remote control, you want a full-featured, EASY interface. I mean everybody now have gigabytes of music at their disposal, scrolling through all that to find a song is nearly unacceptable. Having all that right there on your smartphone screen, already organized, able to search, Siri, and whatever Android voice control is, gives you a reasonable interface to find your music quick.