Connecting to a UPnP server: Windows as a client not a server.

There are masses and masses of posts, forums, search results addressing various configurations of Windows OS as a media server and related software, players etc. but almost nothing relevant I can find as regards to how Windows 11 can be optimised as what is essentially an "audio renderer" to use terminology that I've been picking up since running my own home music server over the network.

To be specific then:

I have a UPnP music server running on my home network. It's for audio only. I have not used DLNA which is more widely supported but, somewhat bizarrely IMO, is more restrictive despite being essentially a subset of UPnP protocols.

The service works fine. For example I have a control point app running on my phone (and which works flawlessly), and I can cast to various devices.

My Windows 11 box can see this UPnP share natively in file explorer. But this is kinda where the problems start rather than end.

The thing I find most confusing (and please, nobody suggest VLC or Foobar unless they're able to also provide explicit instructions) is that while file explorer can open and browse this share, (and no, it's not Samba), absolutely NONE of the various music player programs I've tried can even allow me to browse or select this same network share. To be clearer, anything I've tried thus far might say "add collection" or "add location" yet its browser pane does not display the served library as per file explorer. All I get are entries like "This PC" or "Network" but which remains blank.

I'd imagine this might be due to some policy or configuration or other admin option on my system - this being Win 11 Pro I thought I was paying for additional networking capability?

I don't mind paying for software but again - everything I can find is all about Windows as a server, not a client. I want my Windows box to be able to effectively act as an audio renderer for a server on a separate computer. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on this?

not sure if this would be of help but i will post it any way.
have you looked at Plex media server for Windows.
it is available from the Microsoft store

maybe i am not fully understanding your requirements.
best of luck Steve ..

Thank you for that. To explain: there are two sides to this kind of media streaming - the server, and the client.

My server is already up and running on a Linux box. So unfortunately, none of the software out there that appears under searches seems suitable, because I do not want my Windows machine to "serve" anything. I want it as the client - the receiving end.

If I could even just get something in Windows to natively play the server's music would be a start... but thus far I've not found a way of connecting anything to a UPnP server. Note, this is not a Samba share. This is a music specific server designed to one job only, thus the use of UPnP.

well i am part way there.
plex media server installed on the Windows system
can then connect to the Linux server

plex media will then just stream the contents from the Linux server to the Windows system.
thats about as far as i can go as i am not that up with servers.

best of luck Steve ..