Home MP3 Audio

[jfields 0]

Hey audio geeks....

I am looking for a good way to get my MP3 collection more usable. I have lots of music, and I like being able to shuffle through more than just 5 CDs in a changer. So, what are your suggestions? Here are the relevant details:

Stereo in a separate room from computer (about 30-40 feet).
Carpeted floor (so running cat5 would be a pain).
Ethernet network, but no wireless.
Price is important, as is sound quality (must be at least decent).

Some of the things I've been looking at:

http://www.slimdevices.com/
Pricey, would require network cable or wireless ethernet. Supposedly very good sound quality.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1131642,00.asp
Much cheaper, but not as good quality due to 900mhz band broadcast.

Other contenders? I'm leaning towards cheap. Thoughts?

[lummy 4]

I play mine directly from my PC to my stereo. I went down to radio shack and bought a 25" mini (DIN? the little plug like headphone plugs) male to female and a converter that changes from the mini plug to 2 standard RCA which goes into the back of my stereo. Sounds damned good for me.
I was thinking of taking an old laptop I have lying around, install Red Hat on it and use some of Winamps's Web plug ins to edit my play list from anywhere in the house. That'll be after I get my IM server running and my domain's web site designed.. shessh.. good thing I'm unemployed, I'd never get anything done..

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[PhillyKev 0]

Acquire cheap, old machine. Install Linux, install 100GB hard drive, stick in your living room wired directly to the stereo.

[jfields 0]

A cheap answer like that sounds good, except running 35-40 feet of exposed stereo cable over the top of the carpet is a definite no-go. I also don't know how good it would sound off my el-cheapo sound card.

[lummy 4]

can you run it along the baseboards, thru a wall, under the floor, etc...??

Heck, being a geek, I'm ALWAYS patching holes where I ran network after I move...

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[jfields 0]

Kevin,

Thought of that one too. I suppose it is an answer, but here I run into the aesthetics and space of storing a complete system in the living room. Although if I did it, at least I'd have music while I slept on the sofa.

A cheapy laptop with a good sized hard drive would work, but I don't have one.

[Casch 0]

You could get a small motherboard like This One and build a computer in a small box like This. And turn it into your own home entertainment system... I think I'm going to do something like that soon, but with a different box...maybe an old vcr or something hehe

[jfields 0]

Bottom floor. Carpet over top of something, over concrete. I could possibly run it around the baseboards, but following the room contours would end up with a really, really long run (60 ft), and I still wouldn't know about the sound quality from the computer's regular audio.

[Casch 0]

How difficult would it be to just run it under the house, I've run network cables under the house a few times, not too hard...

[jfields 0]

We don't have a crawlspace, so under the house would be entirely under the concrete foundation slab. Then I'd have the issue of drilling through the brick and concrete. That would be WAY more of an expensive hassle than putting in a wireless access point or something.

There must be something out there that should do the trick fairly cheaply and easily. The 900mhz band transmitters seem the closest, follow by the ethernet devices on a wireless network as the next price bracket up.

[PhreeZone 20]

Drill, 6 inch Drill bit and about 3 minutes and the cable can run from one room to the next.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[lummy 4]

you don't necessarily need to have a big hard drive for the PC you hook up if you do wireless. My setup has my server in the basement and a pc in the living room plays them. I've also ran it off my laptop and never had an issue with streaming the MP3's on 802.11b

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[jfields 0]

Lummy....

Focus, grasshopper!
I don't have a laptop, or a wireless network. That answer would work technically, but it would be expensive for me to acquire everything. I could use a cheapy low-profile desktop and wireless to the same effect, with no monitor or keyboard once installed, but that still leaves me trying to scrounge a machine and install a wireless network.

I'm ideally looking for a solution that won't leave wires across the floor making my wife want to kill me, that won't cost more than a $2-300, that doesn't leave "unsightly" equipment in the living room, and that has decent sound.

Damn, that sounds high maintenance. Life was simpler when I was a bachelor!

[Casch 0]

Can you run it through the attic? Do you have one??

[lummy 4]

if you look on Ebay, you can get decent laptops for around $100 or so.. Take a look at the IBM 570's. They're the slim lines , have decent sound and are P2's. Wireless, you can get a gateway and card for around $75 or so now....

Would you rathe spend the $300 on a box that does nothing but feed your stereo or spend about the same and get a laptop and wireless out of the setup?

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[flyingferret 0]

Well there are several pretty decent solutions for streaming, etc. http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/mp3/379c/

But still at least on an occasional basis you will need to connect them to your network for new files. The same goes for a PC built just for this purpose, although there are some nice cases out there.

So questions:
1) How will supply it with access? going wireless is really not that expensive.
2) What else do you want it to do?

Perhaps a creative solution would be a hacked Xbox? Running *nix on a chip, with a big hard drive, you can get DVDs, MP3s, AND a game console for $300-400

--
All the flaming and trolls of wreck dot with a pretty GUI.

[dterrick 0]

Hey Justin:

I've read the posts thus far and I think that NO MATTER HOW you hook up, if you have crap for a sound card you'll just end up feeding carp out to your hifi.

I highly reccomend the Audigy MP3 card.

The plane jane one is fine, I think I own one of the first production models - none of this fancy ass inputs on the front modern version but all you need is the output right? Not gonna plug in lots of devices?

As for the wiring: you're going to be going analogue out so anything over a wireless will be subjectto the s/n ratio not only of the sound card but also the wireless network. I know NOTHING about those but I do know that a 40 foot headphone extension will lose you something as well. If you get the slimline style from Radio Snack (or wherever) you could hide the cable under the quarter round (or pull it up, then hide it).

Hey, no matter what you do you;re gonna have some work - I built a media rack in my office closet and then ran the speaker wire all over creation (I used more than a 50 foot spool including basement, living room dining room and garage)

You'll love it once you're done but then you'll want your wireless laptop so you can change the playlist wihile on our couch... it'll never end and it all costs jump tickets.

-Dave

Life is very short and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend (Lennon/McCartney)

[flyingferret 0]

True to a degree...some streaming solutions use their own DAC, thus eliminating any issues with the quality of DAC on the soundcard. Some even use USB to transfer the files to the device, thus eliminating a network connection. But still at some point you have to connect to get new files.

--
All the flaming and trolls of wreck dot with a pretty GUI.

[jfields 0]

Okay...

Lummy,

Quote

Would you rathe spend the $300 on a box that does nothing but feed your stereo or spend about the same and get a laptop and wireless out of the setup?

Given those two options, take the wireless and laptop. But what about those $80-100 gizmos that transmit wireless on 900mhz and connect a PC to the stereo? Decent, or total crap?

Flyingferret,

Quote

1) How will supply it with access? going wireless is really not that expensive.

Could do that.

Quote

2) What else do you want it to do?

Nothing. I just want to play MP3s from my PC to the stereo.

Quote

Running *nix on a chip, with a big hard drive, you can get DVDs, MP3s, AND a game console for $300-400

Interesting, but I'm not a gamer. Got a dvd player. So probably not worth the effort.

Dterrick,

Quote

I highly reccomend the Audigy MP3 card.

The plane jane one is fine, I think I own one of the first production models - none of this fancy ass inputs on the front modern version but all you need is the output right? Not gonna plug in lots of devices?

Ballpark price? Yup, just output. No other devices.

Quote

As for the wiring

Trust me on this one. You haven't seen the house. It really truly falls into the "not practical" category. Between the computer area and the stereo is about 30 feet. BUT... I can't easily run under carpet. Going around has me dealing with going around two doors, a stairwell and a crapload of paneling. The other direction has a fireplace. Ripping up enough of the ceiling to run wire isn't an option either. Whatever I do, whether ethernet or 900mhz audio, will have to be wireless.

[flyingferret 0]

I have no experience to base this on, but I am gonna call no joy on the sub $100 900Mhz transmitter. Remember the last 900Mhz cordless you had? If you are using 900mhz, I would not even bother with upgrading your DAC / soundtrack...I would worry about reception.

--
All the flaming and trolls of wreck dot with a pretty GUI.