The easiest way to bring the entire music collection always with you is to use the Cloud and, therefore, upload your music files and all CDs in a service like Google Play Music. Even better is to use streaming music sites like Spotify and Grooveshark by creating playlists and selections of all kinds.
But if you don't want to use a Cloud service and you prefer to keep music on your computer, then you can use other types of programs and turn your PC into a streaming music server accessible from anywhere .
This type of solution is certainly less simple than the use of already set cloud services, but it can still be useful both at home and outside, to hear your music.
What we want to find are applications that allow you to receive streaming music and listen to PC songs on your mobile phone directly, without going through an intermediate server and, therefore, without uploading anything to the internet.
Initial note : With the following applications you can easily create a streaming music server on your computer.
Listening can take place directly on other computers on the network and on smartphones or tablets connected to the same home WiFi network.
In some cases you can also hear the music of the PC via internet connection, but you need to know your external IP address and set port-forwarding on the router.
On the PortForward.com site there are guides for this operation on the various types of routers.
1) Plex is the ideal software solution to turn your computer into a media server.
You can use Plex both to watch videos and movies streamed from your computer and to listen to the music contained in it.
Plex Media Center can be installed on Windows or MAC OS X completely free of charge and after configuring it you can listen to computer music from Windows Phone, Android and iOS smartphones, using the relative mobile applications of Plex.
Plex also allows access to multimedia files via a web browser, which means that it is possible to stream from any computer.
Through the myPlex service you can access multimedia files for free from anywhere in the world and share multimedia files with friends.
2) AudioStreamer (Windows)
AudioStreamer is a program that you can download to your PC to turn it into a streaming server.
Once you run the program, you can access the shared files by connecting via web browser from any computer or from an Android mobile phone to the computer's IP address on the 9090 mail.
The interface of AudioStreamer is certainly very essential and ugly, but it only serves to provide access to the music collection for listening to mp3s from other computers or mobile phones.
3) Muzecast (Windows)
To use it, you must first download the Muzecast server application that runs on a PC and then install the Android app that creates the necessary connection to the PC for streaming music.
Muzecast also has the possibility to hear the songs previously listened to by Android even without internet connection by creating a local cache.
There are also dynamic playlists to play similar songs and it is able, in case of need, to reduce bandwidth requirements when the connection is weak or limited.
Muzecast can be used in a free version supported by advertising or in a PRO version for a few Euros.
4) Soundwire (Windows, Mac)
AirStream is a program for Mac as well as for Windows that allows you to listen to streaming computer music on the network.
AirStream can also be used to access, copy and transfer files from the main computer to the streaming device.
Airstream connections are secure and a music player and file browser built into the AirStream Android app is included.
AirStream only works within a network and not on the internet so it does not require any port forwarding.
5) SoundWire (Windows, Linux) is a bit different from the other applications in this list because it does not act as much as a music receiver but as a receiver for all the sounds of the computer.
in practice it is an app that works to hear the audio of the computer on the Android phone.
If you open an mp3 on your PC, it will also be heard on the Soundwire app.
The great thing about SoundWire is that it receives high quality and low latency audio (i.e. low delay).
If network bandwidth is an issue, SoundWire has a compression option that greatly reduces stress on the network.
SoundWire can act as a remote music device, or even as an additional speaker or remote communication device (if paired with a microphone).
6) Subsonic (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Subsonic is the application with the cleanest and most elegant interface, an integrated music player that receives the streaming stream with a quality based on the quality of the connection.
It is also possible to use the Android application as a remote control to control the music player on the PC.
Conclusion
READ ALSO: Watch streaming video on Android on the network from your PC or via the internet
