Synology DS214play: Intel Evansport Almost Done Right

DSM 5.0: Miscellaneous Multimedia Aspects

We took a detailed look at the video aspects of DSM 5.0 in relation to the DS214play in the previous section. Pure audio support and organization of photo collections round up the multimedia experience. In this section, we take a look at what Synology's DSM 5.0 has to offer in these areas.

Audio

Synology supplies the Audio Station package that needs to be installed on the NAS. This creates a 'music' folder in the root of the volume. Audio station picks up that folder by default, but also enables addition of other folders on the NAS by enabling media indexing. Audio Station can be launched directly from the DSM interface in the browser. It appears as one of the 'multi-tasking' windows within the DSM desktop interface. Playlists can be created and other DLNA digital media servers as well as online radio sources such as Shoutcast can also be integrated. The package enables audio to be played back on the local computer and also allows playback to DLNA DMRs (digital media renderers) as well as USB speakers. Both WAV and MP3 transcoding are supported. Each of Audio Station's features can be enabled or disabled on a per-user basis.

The DS audio mobile app presents almost all the capabilities of the Audio Station's browser interface on a mobile device. We took the Android version out for a spin, and one of the interesting differences compared to the browser interface is the ability to cast to Chromecast. The browser interface lists only the local computer and DLNA DMRs on the network. We tested out this feature and it worked without a hitch.

Chromecast owners have to jump through various hoops to get the ability to play music from a shared folder on the network on Chromecast. For Synology NAS owners with the device, this app gets the job done without any hassles. DS audio is definitely one of the must-have mobile apps for Synology NAS owners in possession of a Chromecast in their media setup.

Photos

Synology supplies the Photo Station package that needs to be installed on the NAS. This creates a 'photo' folder in the root of the volume. The Photo Station package presents a wealth of configuration options, where user accounts can be managed and permissions set up for view, upload and management. These user accounts can be configured to be the same as those used for access to the DSM or ones specific to Photo Station only. Albums (sub-folders within the photo folder) can be set up for 'public' viewing (accessible through http://<NAS-IP_or_QuickConnectID.quickconnect.to>/photo).

We took out the DS photo+ Android app for  a spin. The app presents a very user-friendly interface to the albums, but the best feature is the ability to automatically upload photos and videos taken on the mobile device to a photo folder on the NAS.

Mobile users typically use the photo backup feature of Google, Microsoft (OneDrive) or Dropbox on their device. For those loath to rely on the public cloud for backup, DS photo+'s auto-upload feature is a 'private-cloud' alternative. Even for users who backup to the public cloud, this provides a local backup opportunity. Yet another scenario would be a family with multiple smartphones who wish to have all photos taken on any of their mobile devices made accessible from a central location.