Music Bleg
I have many computers, a wireless network, and a fine stereo. What’s the best way to play MP3s in my house? I’d like the stereo to just pull the tunes from the computer. Any help would be appreciated.
If you say Ipod, go ahead and smack yourself.
Update: Thinking about this Logitech Wireless Music System for PC . Anyone know anything?
January 6th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I burn them onto CDs and run them in the wife’s stereo or the TV DVD reader which both support them. The Disc has the added benefit of being used on the stereo in the car which supports them also. I can get over a hundred MP3s onto a normal CD, much less a burnable DVD…but the car and stereo will only recognize CDs – only the TV will recognize DVDs.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
i do the CD thing. But I like using my PC’s media player and having access to my collection of thousands of songs.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
I have long patch cords running from the line out jack of the computer’s audio to the aux in of the stereo. I’m sure there’s some kind of wireless system that would do the same thing, but patch cords are a lot cheaper.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
is it sad that in this day and age, the thought of cables hadn’t entered my mind?
January 6th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I use my Xbox360 for that.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
I use my Xbox360 for that.
Second that.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
i don’t have an xbox
January 6th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Well, I say you’ve identified what goes in the empty spot in your instrument… uh… entertainment stack.
I really do consider it worthwhile, it’s a great music/video player, does DVDs just fine, and of course every so often I’ll pop a game in. Secondary and minor is that the controller is RF, so I don’t have to worry about pointing it anywhere in particular; there are also “entertainment system” style remotes available.
What cinched it for me way back when was that my DVD player was messing up, and I was hunting for a network music client for my living room stereo. I spotted the Xbox 360 for about the combined price of the two, it was a no-brainer at that point. Bundles are less than $400 now.
Oh, and if you get one, don’t park the darned thing on it’s side, lay it flat. Standing it up “looks cool” but it makes it hard to insert discs and screws around with the airflow.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I use my TiVos. They also sell network appliance type jobs that do it, like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Squeezebox-Wireless-Network-Music-Player/dp/B000BYCU9O
January 6th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
I use iTunes to do the actual management of my collection; tracks are ripped in lossless format from CDs or converted to digital from my rather large collection of LPs.
The entire library resides on one computer, which I grandly call the “music server.” It is connected to the stereo via a cable (in this case, using a good USB D-A converter unit for best sound quality.) It is also tied into our wireless network.
Since each of our laptops also has iTunes installed, we’re able to access the music server’s entire collection seamlessly over our wireless network.
Works like a charm!
-=[ Grant ]=-
January 6th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I don’t watch much TV (only BSG on my PC) but if you are up for it, you could get a spare PC with a TV out card and try out Knoppmyth http://knoppmythwiki.org/ You would install the PC near your teevee/stereo, and use that to stream mp3s from across your network.
It also does some stuff that the Tivo does too, but to tell you the truth, I haven’t fooled with it.
Kevin Rose and Dan Huard build a MythTV box on the web TV show Systm http://revision3.com/systm episode #002. Knoppmyth is based on MythTV.
I’m surprised the Tivo doesn’t already do something like this.
January 6th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
Go to cnet.com. There are appliances that use wireless to communicate between your computer and your stereo. Less than $200.00 you can set the play list on the computer and the sound comes out the stereo.
January 6th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
If you are talking about streaming MP3s from various computers, Series 2 and later TiVos do exactly this.
January 6th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
You may want to look at using iTunes and Airport Express. PC or Mac doesn’t matter, all that is required is iTunes application, Airport Express and a wireless card for the computer.
http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/
January 6th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Dont forget about the upcoming ITV from Apple
January 7th, 2007 at 12:44 am
Our Bubba just did something similar.
January 7th, 2007 at 1:26 am
Whatever you do, people, make sure that the program doesn’t open communication between the internet and your equipment, and I think you have to do that with 802.x wireless networks. Doing so opens ports you may not even know about, and which might bypass your computer security, leaving it vulnerable for someone to seize control of, or bypass your security and plant Trojans. There have been several recent vulnerabilities discovered right along these lines with the music players, all of them.
The other problem with Itunes and any music player after WMA v.09 is that they all snitch you off. If you have just ONE unlicensed song in your hard drive, you are vulnerable to a lawsuit by RIAA, curse their poxy soul.
Of all the suggestions above, I recommend the CD-ROM one, since it bypasses any possibility of being on the ‘net getting snitched off or bugged by viruses and trojans.
January 7th, 2007 at 2:25 am
here is how to do it with windows.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/athome/default.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/wmconnect/
You need a DMR digital media reciver, is you want a real cool home system.
January 7th, 2007 at 10:34 am
I’ve a friend that uses a RCA Lyra Wireless Transmitter. Works prety good as far as I can tell. And it’s not a bank-breaker either.
January 7th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Low tech, but I burn CD’s in MP3 data format.
Plenty of room for top 100 collections. I started with the Top 100 of 1967 and have – so far – collected all up to about 1976. (Max is about 160-175 tracks).
Advantage – put an MP3 player in the car & tunes go portable. CD’s travel lots farther than cable or wireless, too!
January 7th, 2007 at 12:58 pm
Review of Logitech Wireless Music System for PC:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Logitech_Wireless_Music_System_for_PC/4505-3179_7-31631888.html
January 7th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
This one is better:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Logitech_Wireless_DJ_Music_System/4505-6739_7-32004279.html
January 7th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I use radiotracker.com to get all the mp3’s I want, then I use windows media player to sort, then I use a wireless headphone setup to get the music to my reciever. The whole set up cost less than 50 bucks and 30 of that is the radiotracker.com fee.
January 7th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
I prefer the warmth of vinyl
January 8th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
See link Les posted above.
I am using the Roku Soundbridge, because it supports a variety of servers and seems to be compatible with most formats (I chose WMA lossless to effectively replace my CDs), and you can get it at Best Buy. It’s great.
If you only care about MP3, there are more options. Some will display menus, now playing, etc. on your TV for a few extra bucks. The Roku doesn’t do that, but is excellent in every other respect including ease of setup, ease of use, sound quality (although I am sending digital directly to my receiver which has its own decoders) and compatibility.
January 8th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
R., i checked it out. most helpful. Gonna swing by best buy today and have a look.
January 8th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Uncle, if you go with the Soundbridge, check out this handy utility:
http://www.tl-it.de/media/pages/visualmr.php?lang=e
Lets you control it from any PC on the network.
For some reason, Windows Media Player does not have this capability built in.
January 9th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
I purchased a Squeezebox 3 from SlimDevices and I highly recommend it. It supports many different audio formats including mp3 and works with both wired and wireless home networks. At the moment, I have it hooked into my audio system using standard RCA cables and it sounds great. If you use optical interconnects it’ll probably sound even better.
One issue, it does not have onboard, permanent storage. So, you’ll have to have a computer turned on and running the supplied software in order to use the Squeezebox.