Remote and Online Sources

Remote and online sources extend ECHO. They are not a replacement for your local library. Keep a clear difference between browsing files on your own servers, metadata completion, and user-provided services. The official product does not include third-party streaming-platform search, login, parsing, playback, or downloads.

DMCA And Copyright

ECHO strictly follows the DMCA and applicable copyright laws. ECHO officially provides no music download service and no functionality for obtaining music content. It does not host, distribute, sell, or mirror copyrighted audio content, and it does not provide tools to bypass copyright protection, paid access, or access controls.

Any WebDAV, NAS, Jellyfin, Emby, Subsonic, cloud drive, proxy, plugin, or third-party source you connect must be used only for content you are allowed to access and use. Users are responsible for the legality of their sources, accounts, and network access.

If a third-party source, plugin, script, or user-provided URL involves infringing content, it is not official ECHO behavior and is outside ECHO support. Legal responsibility for third-party sources belongs to the integrator, user, plugin author, or service provider. The ECHO project and maintainers do not accept legal responsibility for those sources.

Capability Boundaries

Different sources provide different capabilities:

Type	Purpose	Boundary
WebDAV / NAS	Browse and play files from your own server	Speed depends on server, network, and authentication setup
Jellyfin / Emby	Browse media libraries, read metadata, and play authorized content	Folder hierarchy and transcoding are controlled by the server
Subsonic / Navidrome	Access your personal music service	Requires your own service and account
Online metadata	Complete title, artist, album, artwork, and lyrics candidates	Candidate or weak completion only; should not overwrite high-confidence local data
Plugins	Extend connections or automation	Plugin behavior is limited by permissions and source trust

The official ECHO docs will not instruct users to obtain infringing content and will not promise support for third-party services that cannot be publicly verified.

Read Download And Plugin Source Boundaries for the complete statement.

If Kugou, NetEase, or QQ Music appears in docs or settings, it usually refers to lyrics, metadata candidates, or compatibility boundaries. It does not mean ECHO provides playback, download, or platform-content integration for those services.

DLNA / UPnP casting and AirPlay 1 casting: DLNA / Network Streamer guide and AirPlay support boundaries. Output routing overview: Connect frontend playback devices. Remote libraries read files only; they do not cast audio output.

Pick the source type first

A remote library is your own server, not a public search box.

What you already have	Choose in ECHO	Typical use
NAS or cloud WebDAV	WebDAV	Ordinary folders
Jellyfin	Jellyfin	A media server you already run
Emby	Emby	Similar to Jellyfin
Navidrome / Subsonic	Subsonic	A dedicated personal music server
LAN share	SMB / NAS	A folder Windows can already open

If you still need to set up Navidrome or WebDAV, read the Cloud Drive / Subsonic Guide. Some cloud-drive entries may require ECHO Pro.

Add a remote library

Do not start with a pile of advanced options. Follow the shortest path:

Open Remote Library in the left navigation.
Choose the source type from the table above. If unsure, check the table again — do not guess.
Give it a name you will recognize, such as Home NAS.
Paste the full URL. Watch http vs https, the port, and stray slashes.
Enter the account, password, or token that already works in a browser.
Start with browse-only or a small index.
Test the connection.
Save only after the test succeeds.
Open one small folder and play a normal MP3 or FLAC.
Index artwork and the full tree only after that track plays.

If the test fails, do not start indexing. Indexing a source that cannot connect just produces a pile of failed tasks.

How to fill the fields

Field	Safer value	Common mistake
URL	`https://music.example.com`	Pasting a login page, or dropping the port
WebDAV path	`https://dav.example.com/music/`	Pointing at the site root instead of the music folder
Account	The music-service user	The router admin account
Password	App password or token	Extra spaces or a missing last character from copy-paste
Certificate	An `https` URL the browser opens cleanly	An unhandled self-signed certificate that fails the test

Open the same URL in a browser on this computer first, then fill it into ECHO. If the browser cannot open it, ECHO will not magically connect either.

Choosing a sync mode

Mode	Meaning	When to use
Browse only	Look at folders without writing a full index	First connection, still getting familiar
Build index	Write remote tracks into the library index; files are fetched at play time	The URL is confirmed working and you plan to use it long-term
Full large-scale sync	Complete population of a very large remote tree	Last step — not on day one

A slow remote library is often not ECHO being slow. Home bandwidth, NAS sleep, server transcoding, certificate checks, and shaky Wi-Fi all slow it down. Prove that 10 tracks play before discussing the whole library.

After it connects

Open the source you just added on the remote library page.
Open a small album or folder first.
Double-click a common-format track.
Confirm the bottom player moves and produces sound.
Once it plays, check local Songs to see whether tracks appear according to your sync mode.

The local library and remote libraries are separate sources. Adding a remote library does not make your local songs disappear — you just gained another entry.

Remote Source Workflow

For a new remote source:

Test the account, URL, port, and certificate.
Browse the root or one small folder first.
Play one normal audio file.
Enable indexing, artwork, lyrics, or background sync afterward.
Expand to the full directory only after the small check works.

Do not start with a full index of an entire NAS or media server. Slow sync, slow artwork loading, and waiting on some files are normal for large remote folders.

Online Metadata

Online metadata is useful for filling gaps such as artwork, lyrics candidates, artist names, album titles, or years. It should not replace local tag truth:

Manual edits take priority over online results.
Embedded tags take priority over online results.
Same-folder artwork takes priority over online artwork.
Online results should be previewable, reversible, and applied in small batches.

Before applying online metadata in bulk, test it on a small set of tracks.

Network And Proxy

Remote-source problems often come from the network environment:

Home NAS setups can be affected by LAN routing, DDNS, port forwarding, and certificates.
Campus and corporate networks may restrict WebDAV, media servers, or proxies.
Proxies can affect online metadata, artwork, and lyrics access.
Server transcoding, rate limits, or sleep state can affect playback stability.

When reporting a remote-source issue, include screenshots of the connection state, folder page, error text, and sync progress. Also include the service type, server version, network environment, and whether a proxy is enabled.

Unsupported Scope

ECHO official support does not cover:

Infringing, pirated, paid-access-bypass, or access-control-bypass sources.
Third-party download sites, resource indexes, scripts, crawlers, or gray-market plugins.
User-modified servers, private APIs, expired APIs, or sources that require packet-capture reverse engineering.
Requests for ECHO to help find, obtain, or download copyrighted content.
Requests that treat ECHO plugin interfaces as official endorsement, official sources, or a way to transfer legal responsibility.
Search, login, parsing, playback, or download requests for third-party streaming platforms such as NetEase Cloud Music, QQ Music, Spotify, YouTube, Bilibili, or Kugou.

ECHO can help you manage and play content you are allowed to use. It does not provide download services and will not help bypass copyright or platform rules.