How to stream music from pc/wireless network to android?

[BKSinAZ]

There has got to be a way...

 

[Italo]

Have you looked at Plex?

 

[RazzMaTazz]

I haven't tried such streaming, but if you use the MediaMonkey player app on your desktop (which is a very nice media player, organizer, tagger, synchronizer) it has a DLNA server and there are plug-ins for streaming to Android (or any device with a web browser).

There are also apps that let you remotely control MediaMonkey on your PC.

By the way... If you're nearby your PC, I think you can stream via Bluetooth with no additional software required. Or is it the other direction? I can't remember.

 

[Italo]

I've been using MediaMonkey since they announced Winamp was shutting down. I didn't realize you could use it as a media server.

I don't know. I don't have a Bluetooth dongle for my desktop.

 

[RazzMaTazz]

I've been using MediaMonkey since they announced Winamp was shutting down. I didn't realize you could use it as a media server.

The reports of Winamp's death were premature, but MediaMonkey seems to be at least as good, and perhaps has a better chance of surviving long-term.
Winamp escapes death sentence thanks to Radionomy | PCWorld

I didn't realize you could use it as a media server.

MediaMonkey Addons

I don't know. I don't have a Bluetooth dongle for my desktop.

Of course, Bluetooth isn't needed for the WiFi distribution that the OP wants. But, FYI, Bluetooth dongles are only about $1 shipped on eBay.

$6 shipped if you want the good Broadcom-based ones that let you download Broadcom's WIDCOMM Bluetooth software stack so that you can stream audio to Bluetooth headphones or a Bluetooth stereo receiver dongle-- which is the only thing I use mine for. (It lets me listen to my desktop PC's TV-tuner (without bothering the family) while I run around the house doing stuff. My brother streams from his PC to his living room stereo via Bluetooth using a cheap

Bluetooth stereo receiver ($16 on ebay, shipped).

 

[Slug]

OP dosn't state which OS is being used, but Windows Media Player comes with Windows 7/8 and can act as a DLNA-compliant server. Install something like the free version of MediaHouse on the Android device(s) and you're good to go.

 

[Deleted User]

You can stream movies and music to your android device over your home's wifi network using ES File Explorer.

 

[RazzMaTazz]

I was just playing with my MediaMonkey for Android app last night (in my house on the same WiFi router as my PCs) and noticed that when I clicked on the "UPnP" feature, the Windows Media Player (WMP) servers for all of my family's PCs appeared as available media servers-- even though the WMP apps weren't running. (That explains why I see the "WMPlayer.exe" process always running when I look at the active processes under the Windows Task Manager.) MediaMonkey for Windows (MMW) also appears as a media server, but only when MMW is actually running on my PC. I was able to stream media from any of them (though my crappy old phone couldn't display high-bitrate videos). Selecting media from MMW is a LOT easier and faster.

If you just want to use the built-in (WMP) media server in Windows XP/7/8, I'm pretty sure that you have to turn on the media sharing. I don't remember exactly how you do that, but I always do it when I initially set up my PCs. I think you can access it from the Network Settings under "Advance Sharing Properties". There are probably 3 other ways to turn it on. You almost certainly have to point your media server (WMP, MediaMonkey, et al) to your media folders (and, if desired, create playlists).