Comments on: D-Link DSM-320 Wireless Multimedia Player Reviewed

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 16 Jul 2004 23:06:54 +0000

What about Internet Radio? Hopefully it supports more than just Rhapsody - I really don’t understand why anyone would release a product (like the Netgear MP101 for example) that only supports Rhapsody radio. Surely it is in a manufacturers interests to also support the free stations that are out there? If they are banking on getting part of the subscription fee from Rhapsody to increase profitability of the devices, I personally suspect they will lose more revenue from people not buying the device because it only supports Rhapsody than they will gain from the probably small share of the subscription revenue. End of rant, but the question stands - does this device support non-Rhapsody internet radio? That is the KEY thing I want a device like this for…

By: Matthew

Matthew — Sat, 17 Jul 2004 01:12:06 +0000

We were in it strictly for the video capabilities, however, the DSM-320 is compatible with Radio@AOL - though we are not really sure if it’s any good.

By: trptscott

trptscott — Sun, 18 Jul 2004 19:58:50 +0000

How well does the DSM-320 handle re-authored DVDs currently stored on my hard drive? Using DVDDecoder, I have ripped the DVDs from the physical media, and then I have used DVD Shrink to create “main movie only” DVD files and stored them in a directory on my Hard Drive. I’ve heard mixed comments about the DSM handling video in a strange manner. I have an HDTV and don’t want to lose the cinematic aspect when streaming my DVDs.

Your thoughts?

By: Matthew

Matthew — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 03:01:11 +0000

We have not specifically tired using DVD Shrink. We have ripped a DVD to ~4GB worth of .VOB files and over the 10/100 connection we were able to play them flawlessly. Both widescreen DVDs as well as full screen DVDs maintained their usual aspect ratios. When using the Wifi connection however, unless your DSM-320 is really close to the access point, the bit rate of the .VOB files is too much for the 54mbps connection. We have not seen anything strange, other than the ocasional .avi file which will always fill the screen. For example if you for whatever reason had a 160 x 120 .avi movie, the DSM-320 does not allow you to play the in a little box in the middle of the screen, it will stratch to fit the screen. Aspect ratios would be a great firware/software upgrade.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 03:35:24 +0000

How well does this work with macs? Also, is there any future plans to support more audio formats? AAC, OGG, anything?

By: Matthew

Matthew — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 12:11:37 +0000

Hi Dave, unfortunately this does not work at all with Macs. There is a piece of software that resides on the PC which tells the DSM-320 what folders are ’shared.’ This application is not made for OS X. As far as future plans to support more audio formats, we are not affiliated with D-Link and can only hope.

By: trptscott

trptscott — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 23:18:02 +0000

I currently use iTunes to play my volumes and volumes of mp3s. How does the DSM-320 mp3 interface compare? I’m also looking into the Roku HD1000. However, my primary interests are playing my mp3s and my dvds ripped to my hard drive. Which is a better product for those functions? Both will be hardwired to a server in my home entertainment center.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 00:32:55 +0000

What are the resolution outputs of the DSM-320 via the componant cables (i.e. 480i,480p,720p and 1080i) and can it play shoutcast?

By: vodguy

vodguy — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:11:47 +0000

Does this device support WMV9 video? If so, can it play DRM protected WMV9 files?

By: lucas

lucas — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:35:48 +0000

Now that DLink has jumped into the wireless multimedia ring, who will follow? I’ve been interested in this sort of device for a while and I’m delighted to hear that a mainstream company also thought it would be quite useful.

If I have an AVI file, using, for example, the xvid codec, and it’s from an HDTV source (widescreen), I understand that the device will not preserve the aspect ratio and the image will stretch vertically to fill the screen?

Has anybody tried this?

By: Davo

Davo — Fri, 23 Jul 2004 07:49:13 +0000

I purchased a DSM320 for the video features and found that it won’t play DIVX, movies - well not the ones I’ve made anyway. It will play XVID, but I’d love to put multi channel audio into my xvid files. I have found that if an xvid file is encoded with anything other than sereo audio the device says invalid file format! It would be nice to find some specs that say exactly what it is capable of in the video fiel. IE: what bitrates, resolutions etc.

By: ebob9

ebob9 — Fri, 23 Jul 2004 17:16:28 +0000

It seems from my experiance the DSM320 does preserve aspect ratios for MPEG/MPEG2 files, but not Xvid/avi files.

By: Vali

Vali — Sat, 24 Jul 2004 03:48:29 +0000

My experience: Pros: Great and simple setup. Great price. built in 11g is great. Component output is great as well.
Cons: SW shows it is v1. Slide show cannot recurse into directories. Some MP3 play with lot of static static. Does not play AVI.

By: Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor — Sat, 14 Aug 2004 05:36:20 +0000

I am having trouble using my mp3 loaded files with the DSM-320. It won’t let me skip tracks, rewind, fast forward, etc. I was on the phone with tech support for over an hour and the only solution they could give is to try a different format other than mp3! I guess I’ll be taking my unit back for a refund, unless I can find a different format, then convert all 300+ cds to a different format… sounds like too much fun…

By: Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor — Sat, 14 Aug 2004 05:46:31 +0000

I have a brand new Sony VAIO laptop and it won’t even detect the MG audio files that my software creates! I am forced to use Windows Media Player, and this forces me to have mp3 files, which don’t allow me to change the track, and I must tell the machine to start another song approx. every 3 minutes because it will only play one at a time! Not very slick, time for a REFUND!!!

By: Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 04:01:06 +0000

I recently discovered that you must set up playlists in order to play more than one song. Now I have a new problem. The D-Link Server only accepts .m3u or .pls formats, and my Windows Media Player software creates the playlists as .wpl ! I still can’t get the playlist function to work, which means I still can’t listen to my music! Very frustrated, but I’m willing to try and work this out… I will post another update soon, hopefully with good results!

By: Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 05:59:39 +0000

just got off the phone with tech support, if you want to call it that. I’m sure there is an easy solution for my problem, but I’m not familiar enough with computers and it seems tech support with D-Link isn’t familiar with their product. There is a guy at Fry’s Electronics who owns one of these servers, so I will ask him for desperate help. If it wasn’t for him, I would be taking the damn thing back tonight. One week has gone by and I haven’t heard more than 10 minutes of music from this thing… Not happy right now…

By: Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor — Fri, 20 Aug 2004 04:41:30 +0000

First of all, sorry I am taking up so much room on this comment page. Second, I would like to apologize for my frustration and anger. Anyone else who is having the same trouble I have had, listen up! You need to ditch Windows Media Player and download a free version of WinAmp. It works great! I have some basic steps to follow for those who may find it useful:

1) download WinAmp (Free version)
2) create a playlist in WinAmp
3) Inside the playlist, click “Manage Playlist”
4) Click “Export Playlist”
5) Save where desired
6) go to D-Link server and add playlist
*** playlist must be in a folder
7) add multiple playlists to same folder
8) click Refresh on D-Link server, it will update quickly to the DSM-320
9) Also, create a playlist in WinAmp called “All Music”. Export it and download to server - now you can randomly play all your music!

This may seem confusing, but be patient and try it. After awhile, you’ll be adding cds and getting used to the process. I haven’t started compiling my music yet, but I’ve gotten this far. I plan to copy all 200+ cds to my server. We’ll see how she handles em!

By: Richard Linx

Richard Linx — Sat, 21 Aug 2004 07:35:50 +0000

You can stream free shoutcast streams just use winamp and save shoutcast stream as paylist. Then access the playlist with DSM-320.
works best with streams 128k or above.

By: Trevor Thompson

Trevor Thompson — Tue, 24 Aug 2004 20:36:55 +0000

Just got my DSM-320 unit yesterday, and have initial mixed reviews. It booted cleanly, and I was able to connect it to my 128bit encrypted WiFi network rather easily. I had already installed the server software, and set up my folders with media files. The 320 picked those up instantly. So far, so good.
What I have since found is that the player doesn’t appear to like long playlists. I have meticulously organized and tagged my 10,000+ track music collection (cd’s!, not Napster, et al.), and have created many playlists for a variety of purposes. The individual album playlists play fine (most of them, at least), but the big lists (over 100 tracks) just spin their wheels, pretending to play some invisible track, but no audio is output! Once the 320 gets into that “dry run” mode, I have to reset it to get anything to play again. I’ve tried this both in WiFi and wired mode, with the same results. Hopefully, there will be a firmware update to increase the playlist buffering, or whatever is causing this problem. (I want my 4,700 track “jukebox playlist to work!)
For the playlists that worked, the display on the screen with the track info disappeared after a few minutes, and the player reverted to the “home” screen. There was no way to get back to the “now playing” screen, and playback controls no longer worked! (pause, stop, skip, etc.) Again, this is something that should be fixed in a firmware update soon.
The video & audio output quality is nice. I’m using S-Video & coax S/Pdif as well as the analog outputs, and both audio signals will play simultaneously. (Important for multi-room setups) The display for images is very clear and bright. Haven’t tried playing videos yet, as I am waiting to permanently wire the player for a more robust network layer.
The DSM-320 is well short of perfect, but the physical hardware is in place, so firmware updates for the built-in software (or revisions to the server app) should make this an excellent component eventually.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 05 Sep 2004 18:39:56 +0000

Can it play rmvb format from real.com?

By: Kelly

Kelly — Fri, 01 Oct 2004 12:09:35 +0000

I installed the DSM0320’s software on my P2-300 Win2000Pro machine and it slowed to a snail’s pace (so slow that the DSM-320 could not pull the MP-3’s). I also installed the software on my AthlonXP 2000+ WinXPPro machine (where I kept my DVD’s copied by 123 Copy DVD). I noticed a less than significant, but noticable performance drop in the computer. The DSM-320 is unable to play the .VOB files (I guess because they are still “protected.” I’m still in the process of upgrading the old computer so I can listen to my MP-3’s, but I bought this mainly to watch my DVD’s without having to switch discs all the time. I imagine the only way to play the protected DVD files over the network is with a firmware hack, but I haven’t found one yet. Any suggestions?

By: Editor

Editor — Sat, 16 Oct 2004 02:09:20 +0000

Kelly - you need to rip the DVDs to your hard drive with an application such as DVD Decryptor. We are able to play .vob files without a problem from a P4 2.0GHz.

By: AB

AB — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 23:47:17 +0000

I am thinking of buying the DSM-320 but wondering if it will work with my existing 802.11b Linksys WEP encrypted network? Has anyone tried out a similar setup and got it to work?..hopefully wont have to dish out more bucks for upgrading to a D-Link 802.11g !!

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 16:52:43 +0000

When I 1st bought this like 3-4 months ago when it 1st came out, the hardware was really cool. but the software was SO BUGGY..only 1 out of 10 AVI movies rips I had worked.. froze a good amount, and now I think a couple software versions nerwer, and a new firmware, 9 out of 10 AVIs play thanx to more codecs, tons new options added.. Im just REALLY glad to see D-link is actually fixing the problems with this and working hard to make it better.. I Cant wait till the auto update comes up again on the player with a new version.. also if u have it check dlinks web site for updates.. I really think it was worth the money, I use it alot more then I thought I would.. Kevin

By: Paul

Paul — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 21:29:25 +0000

I have one of the first of these shipped in the UK. It works well on my 802.11g linksys with a speed of about 22mbs with 128bit encryption. The problem Kelly has may be the same as mine.. D-link say there is a bug in the software which means it doesnt yet support VOB files >1GB (so no 5.1 surround sound and continuous movies in mpeg2). I hope this fix comes soon because then the product will be awesome for video!

PS: Anybody got 5.1 working with any other format - tried xvid/divx etc using Gordian Knot and the D-Link says it is non compatible.

By: Rahul

Rahul — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 01:55:48 +0000

got a dsm-320 for a few months now. had shoutcast streaming/mp3s working as well as videos. but i noticed that the streams as well as mp3s would get choppy. replaced by wireless-b with a wireless-g router but still no luck. the potential for this thing is amazing, essentially digital radio with hundreds of stations right into your home stereo, but these “technical difficulties” are becoming annoying. anyone know how i can improve the connection to the dsm so that mp3s and shoutcast streams do not skip??? btw, new firmware makes it so that music still plays while searching for other music. other tip, refresh can be speeded up by just selecting playlist files versus having it refresh all your mp3s (if you’re using playlists then you know what i mean…)

By: Albert

Albert — Wed, 24 Nov 2004 10:25:38 +0000

I got the DSM320, Tried some VOB files that I ripped. Good news is that it played without any problems, and I can get 5.1 out from my receiver. However, it only takes the first audio stream, therefore I am not able to change to a different stream. (I am getting other languages).

Also, if the movie was split into several vob files, it wouldn’t play the second or thrid or the rest of the vob files.

If I ripped the DVD into just 1 file, then it wouldn’t play because the server software complains the file has negative file size.

Anyone has solved these problems ?

By: Richard Edwards

Richard Edwards — Sun, 03 Apr 2005 17:26:13 +0000

Mac users can now stream content from their Mac’s via Elgato System’s EyeConnect software - UPnP AV software that does the same job as Windows Media Connect and Nero’s MediaHome.

By: Rich Gardner

Rich Gardner — Fri, 08 Apr 2005 02:57:30 +0000

Someone, anyone please post a link to the hack for the “File Not Supported” screen that appears on top of certain videos…the videos play just fine in the background!

By: VJG

VJG — Sun, 24 Apr 2005 14:52:54 +0000

I too have trouble playing back divx and avi videos. At first, it will play the video, then it will pop-up “File Not Supported”- but it plays the video behind that pop-up fine, so it must be cabable of it…..

Yes a hack to get rid of that pop-up would be great!

By: Madjenks

Madjenks — Tue, 10 May 2005 16:16:22 +0000

I bought the dsm-320 and to ask a question…has anyone figured out a good, quick program to convert divx to xvid? IF so, what is it, and what settings to use. Now as far as the mp3’s are concerned…if you want to play multiple mp3’s without a playlist….view your mp3’s by folder….instead of all music. Then when the folder is highlighted…just press play on the remote…it will then play everyting in that folder. Now as far as playlist are concerned…in windows media player 10 I just saved my playlist as a m3u and it plays just fine. So you might just need to change how it saves your playlist….hope it helps someone. Oh one quick thing…it says it plays quicktime….has anyone had any success with that? Would this be a .mov file for quicktime?

By: wazza

wazza — Tue, 24 May 2005 12:51:48 +0000

i recently purchased dsm329 and cant play vob, avi comes through all choppy cant upgrade th firm ware due to dlink removing 1.05 from its site
i am very unhappy with its performance after spending a week trying to get it working and no help from their tech support thinking about refund Anyone have an answer to why I can’t play VOBs properly. It comes through in full DTS, but all jittery pic and sound. Please help.

soundmoveent@optusnet.com.au

By: wazza

wazza — Tue, 24 May 2005 16:33:21 +0000

For the Q about VOB TO XVID use Virtual Dub and Read this link:
http://www.ozcableguy.com/dsm320.html
scroll down to the video section
wazza

By: Lee

Lee — Mon, 06 Jun 2005 12:52:19 +0000

Does the DSM320 play all/any subtitle formats?

By: Vin

Vin — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 21:35:19 +0000

Hello, has anyone found a solution to the “file not supported” gitch?

This happens to me on the same files 5 out of every 12 plays. Occurs on xvid, divx, and raw vob files without descrimination.

Thanks

By: ben

ben — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 20:35:36 +0000

Can it play rmvb format from real.com?

By: Raymond

Raymond — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 01:14:15 +0000

Is the d link capable with aol????

By: Petri

Petri — Mon, 25 Jul 2005 07:41:23 +0000

Well, I bought the DSM-320 and my impression was “What a waste of money”. What is the point of making it wireless when that part of it isn’t working? I bought it to get rid of the cable from my computer to my TV but I ended up having to use cables anyway! My home office is even in line of sight to my living room, distance from my computer to my TV is only 18 feet but it still pauses and chopps the streaming. 54Mbps my butt. I’m sticking with my Bluetooth for wireless connectivity because it never fails me, Ieven stream MPG 4 and Audio with it and it works perfectly from my computer to the livingroom. So I have now returned the unit and got a full refund (thank god) and I have reconnected my cable I used before with a much better result. Wi-Fi is only good for Internet but not for streeaming.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 17:31:37 +0000

I had a question about the unsupported file window, too. I will have played an hour or so of a video file, and all of a sudden it decides it doesn’t like it. The video will still play in the background, so obviously it’s able to read it as it has been for the past hour. Sometimes I am able to hit okay and close the window and it continues playing the file, but most of the time it just goes back to my video menu.

By: Johan

Johan — Sat, 10 Sep 2005 22:38:18 +0000

I have problems with playing some vob files. The media player is stopping at various points in the movie. However i can fast forward over the scene wher it hangs but when I press play again it returns to the part before the scene that hangs. Can it be extreme variations in the bit rate ?

By: Robert Milton

Robert Milton — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 07:42:17 +0000

Hello!

I am wondering if it is possible to update this machine with other codecs, like a codec for DivX or if this is a option that might be available in a later version of the firmware? Another option I think would be really nice is the possibilty to manage playlists from the 320RD, adding albums, rearrange the songs in the list etc. Is this something we can hope for? Otherwise a great piece of hardware, and also good looking :-)

/ Robert

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:41:09 +0000

Can it play rmvb format from real.com?

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 09 May 2006 15:25:31 +0000

No real player format natively!

The DSM-320 can’t be undated by anyone other than D-Link to support other formats. However, you can server your files to the DSM-320 with software that automatically transcodes files into supported formats. Check out Tversity Media Server and Twonkyvision. On the fly re-encoding of your normally unsupported video is very handy.

As of May 2006 aspect ratios are still a problem with AVI files. But other than that I am very impressed with a ability of this cheap little unit to stream video fairly well over 54mbps wireless in my place. Quite cool. I was only expecting it to be able to handle audio well, but it seems like with a little bit of tweeking video will be a reality.

By: Daniel Daly

Daniel Daly — Wed, 31 May 2006 02:32:14 +0000

Can this thing also be used as a DVR perhaps? Can I stream the video from my Cable/Sattelite wirelessly to my computer? I know you can send it from computer to the DSM-320 which outputs to TV… So why not input from TV to DSM-320 and output back to computer? That would be cool… any info on this being possible?

By: CJ

CJ — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 20:43:44 +0000

Have a D-Link DSM-320 and have been able to stream shoutcast playlists through Winamp on it for over two years. Did a firmware upgrade and now d-link lists the playlists and streams but will not play them. It just skips through the links and stops. Am able to play links fine on my computer but not through the d-link. Have refreshed lists. Have resaved targets. Have called d-link support. “Hummmm…. that’s interesting” said tech support… right… Any ideas on how to fix?

Have upgraded firmware for D-link as well as WinAmp. Have read through every forum that I can find. Am stumped as to why the links on my computer work, but the d-link can’t seem to play them, even though it can see them.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

By: cc

cc — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 23:59:33 +0000

I am using the DSM-320 wired directly to a DSM-G600, no PC involved. I use it strictly for audio, with MP3s ripped at 192 kbps. I get a skip / pause / hiccup / hesitation probably about once or twice per every 3 or 4 songs. This is very random, because if you replay the same song, you may not get the skip again. Why does it do this, can I fix it?

By: ping » Blog Archive » D-Link DSM-320 Media Player

ping » Blog Archive » D-Link DSM-320 Media Player — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 01:22:01 +0000

[…] NoDRM.com review […]

By: Durham Ross

Durham Ross — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:19:57 +0000

WILL DSM320 PLAY A LIVE VIDEO FEED FROM COMPUTER

By: site admin

site admin — Sat, 19 May 2007 13:17:35 +0000

WILL DSM320 PLAY A LIVE VIDEO FEED FROM COMPUTER

No.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:24:59 +0000

I have had a DSM-320 for two years and have been very pleased with it, the only problem I’ve had and continue to have is that some AVI files that play perfectly well on my PCdo not have any audio when streamed to the DSM-320. I’ve experimented with all kinds of codecs but to no avail.

Any ideas?

By: shun chu

shun chu — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:39:16 +0000

I don’t suppose it does apple’s new .h246 codec, does it? The reason I am even looking into devices like this is to rip DVDs into .h246 format so that I can just put a bunch of DVDs we already own on a HD and stream it to the TV via this device. Our 2-year-old has a handful of favorites, and so far we’ve had to swap out DVD discs from the DVD player, which is a pain… hence the this idea… All we have to do is pick up the remote, pick a title and play… no more disc swapping!! And .h246 seems most efficient… or is it?