Playing Music from a DLNA / NAS Library

This guide explains how to browse a DLNA/UPnP media server on your LAN (NAS, FRITZ!Box, minidlna, Plex, etc.) and play its tracks on a SoundTouch speaker using the speaker’s native STORED_MUSIC source.

How it works

The speaker is the DLNA control point, not AfterTouch. The flow is:

1. AfterTouch (or the CLI) discovers DLNA servers on the LAN via SSDP.
2. You register a server on the speaker with setMusicServiceAccount. This creates a STORED_MUSIC source entry on the speaker.
3. You browse the library through the speaker’s /navigate endpoint. The speaker contacts the media server’s ContentDirectory service and returns its own browse tokens (e.g. 4:cont2:150:0:0: for folders, or a track token ending in TRACK).
4. You select a track or folder using /select with a STORED_MUSIC ContentItem. The speaker fetches the audio directly from the media server. AfterTouch does not proxy the audio stream.

Why use the speaker’s browse tokens instead of raw DLNA object IDs? The speaker’s /select endpoint only accepts the tokens it produces via /navigate. Raw DLNA ContentDirectory object IDs (like "64") are not accepted for playback.

Prerequisites

• A DLNA/UPnP media server running on the same LAN as the speaker (e.g. NAS with minidlna, FRITZ!Box media server, Plex with DLNA enabled).
• The speaker and the media server must be on the same network segment so the speaker can reach the server directly for streaming.
• soundtouch-cli installed and able to reach the speaker (test with soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 info).

Step 1: Discover servers on the LAN

Run an SSDP sweep from the machine where the CLI runs:

soundtouch-cli library servers

Sample output:

Found 1 DLNA media server(s):

  Name:   My Music Library
  Vendor: minidlna / MiniDLNA 1.3.3
  UDN:    uuid:00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000
  CDS:    http://192.0.2.20:8200/ctl/ContentDir

Note the UDN (the uuid:... string). You will need it in the next steps.

Alternatively, ask a specific speaker for its own DLNA list (the speaker runs its own independent UPnP sweep):

soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 library servers --via-speaker

The speaker’s list and the app-side list may differ. The speaker reports only servers it has seen on its UPnP sweep, which can lag behind or miss servers that appear after the speaker boots.

Step 2: Register the server on the speaker

The STORED_MUSIC source account is the bare UUID from the UDN with a /0 suffix appended. If the UDN from discovery is uuid:00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000, the account string is 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/0 (drop the uuid: prefix).

soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 account add-nas \
  --user 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/0 \
  --name "My Music Library"

Verify the source is visible:

soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 source list

The output should include a STORED_MUSIC entry with your display name and status READY. If the status is UNAVAILABLE, wait 10-20 seconds and check again; the speaker needs a moment to connect to the media server.

Step 3: Browse the library

Get the top-level containers:

soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 browse stored-music \
  --source-account 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/0

Drill into a folder using a location token returned from the previous step:

soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 browse container \
  --source STORED_MUSIC \
  --source-account 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/0 \
  --location "4:cont2:150:0:0:" \
  --type dir

Repeat with --type dir for sub-folders, or --type track for track containers. The Location values shown in browse output are the tokens to pass to the next browse container or library play call.

Step 4: Play a track

Pass the location token from a browse result to library play:

soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 library play \
  --source-account 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/0 \
  --location "5:audio5:part13:3171:5 TRACK" \
  --name "Track Title"

The --name flag sets the display name shown on the speaker’s display and in the web UI. It is optional but recommended for clarity.

The CLI checks that the STORED_MUSIC source is in READY state before sending the play command. If it is not ready, it prints the account add-nas command you need to run first.

Player UI

The soundtouch-player “Library” tab provides a browser-based interface for the same workflow:

1. Open the player at http://<aftertouch-host>:8000.
2. Go to the Library tab.
3. Select the target speaker from the device list.
4. Click Find servers to run an SSDP sweep.
5. Click Add next to a server to register it on the speaker.
6. Open the server to browse folders and tracks.
7. Click a track to play it, or the star on its row to save it to a preset.

Refresh asks the speaker to re-read its own account list and reports what it has. Use it when a server you registered is no longer listed on one speaker while other speakers still see it.

A folder larger than one page lists its first page and offers Load more, with the count so far shown beside it.

DLNA behaviour varies across server implementations. Some servers expose non-standard browse trees or restrict access by IP. If a server appears in discovery but does not load in the library browser, check that the media server allows UPnP browsing from the speaker’s IP address.

Giving another speaker the same server

A media server registered on one speaker is not automatically known to the others. The device page’s Sources section lists what your other speakers have and this one does not, under “On your other speakers”, with an Add button next to each one that can be added here.

A media server can always be added that way: it is identified by its address on the network and has no password of its own, so AfterTouch just registers it on this speaker too. The same goes for TuneIn, Radio Browser and Internet Radio, whose access AfterTouch provides itself. That last case is worth knowing about: a speaker that is missing TuneIn while another has it is one of the reasons radio stations do not appear, and this is the quickest way to fix it.

A music service such as Spotify or Amazon Music is listed too, but without a button, and says “needs linking on this speaker”. That is not a missing feature: the login belongs to the speaker that was linked, and AfterTouch cannot hand it to another speaker. Link the account on that speaker instead, see Connecting Music Services.

The section is not shown at all if you have one speaker, or if there is nothing the others have that this one lacks.

Removing a server

soundtouch-cli --host 192.0.2.10 account remove-nas \
  --user 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/0

Gotchas and limitations

No password needed for STORED_MUSIC. The registration only requires the server UDN. The --user flag takes the bare UUID plus /0; no --password flag is accepted or needed.

Source becomes UNAVAILABLE after a speaker reboot. The speaker re-runs its UPnP sweep on startup. Until it rediscovers the media server (usually within 30 seconds), the STORED_MUSIC source shows as UNAVAILABLE. Wait for it to return to READY before browsing or playing.

uuid: prefix in UDN. Discovery output may show the full UDN as uuid:00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000. Drop the uuid: prefix when passing it to --user; the account string is just the UUID plus /0.

Format support. The SoundTouch firmware decodes MP3 and AAC streams. HLS (.m3u8) playlists and formats the firmware cannot decode (e.g. FLAC, ALAC, OGG) will not play. If a track starts and immediately stops, the audio format is likely unsupported.

Do not re-register a READY source. Calling account add-nas on a source that is already READY can flip it to UNAVAILABLE. Check source list first.