[William Noble]

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo - for
example internet radio stations and whatnot - of course quality will not be
up to snuff for a high end system, but if I want to listen to something that
I can't receive on FM, or something I don't have an original source for
(such as streaming music or a podcast or something) then such a device would
be pretty handy - and it's not hard to run an ethernet cable to my stereo
(no, I won't use wireless because I don't trust the wireless security)

So, anyone have experience with any of these?

I also have an elderly friend who likes to put a few dozen CDs in a player
on shuffle - his last player actually wore out (the brushes on one of the
motors wore right through) because it shuffles one song at a time for hours
per day - I'm trying to get him to use some thing else - something really
simple that doesn't require an interenet connection (because he doen't
have/want such a thing).

Any suggestions?

--
Bill
www.wbnoble.com

[bob]

On Oct 5, 7:57*pm, "William Noble" wrote:

I also have an elderly friend who likes to put a few dozen CDs in a player
on shuffle - his last player actually wore out (the brushes on one of the
motors wore right through) because it shuffles one song at a time for hours
per day - I'm trying to get him to use some thing else - something really
simple that doesn't require an interenet connection (because he doen't
have/want such a thing).

Does he have a computer? In that case, it's pretty simple: Rip CDs to
iTunes, then connect computer to receiver/amp. Set iTunes to shuffle.
Done.

Otherwise, maybe one of the Olive products: www.olive.us.

bob

[Sonnova]

On Sun, 5 Oct 2008 16:57:21 -0700, William Noble wrote
(in article ):

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo - for
example internet radio stations and whatnot - of course quality will not be
up to snuff for a high end system, but if I want to listen to something that
I can't receive on FM, or something I don't have an original source for
(such as streaming music or a podcast or something) then such a device would
be pretty handy - and it's not hard to run an ethernet cable to my stereo
(no, I won't use wireless because I don't trust the wireless security)

So, anyone have experience with any of these?

I also have an elderly friend who likes to put a few dozen CDs in a player
on shuffle - his last player actually wore out (the brushes on one of the
motors wore right through) because it shuffles one song at a time for hours
per day - I'm trying to get him to use some thing else - something really
simple that doesn't require an interenet connection (because he doen't
have/want such a thing).

Any suggestions?



I do that using iTunes and an Apple TV. It works great. Of course, not all
radio stations are available through iTunes, but other than that, it works
great. I have my Apple TV box connected to my outboard D/A converter in my
stereo system by TOSLINK. Very satisfactory for my needs.

[Harry Lavo]

"bob" wrote in message
...
On Oct 5, 7:57 pm, "William Noble" wrote:

I also have an elderly friend who likes to put a few dozen CDs in a
player
on shuffle - his last player actually wore out (the brushes on one of the
motors wore right through) because it shuffles one song at a time for
hours
per day - I'm trying to get him to use some thing else - something really
simple that doesn't require an interenet connection (because he doen't
have/want such a thing).

Does he have a computer? In that case, it's pretty simple: Rip CDs to
iTunes, then connect computer to receiver/amp. Set iTunes to shuffle.
Done.

Otherwise, maybe one of the Olive products: www.olive.us
...

Then you can wear out your hard drive instead of the CD player?

[Rob Tweed]

On 5 Oct 2008 23:57:21 GMT, "William Noble"
wrote:

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo - for
example internet radio stations and whatnot - of course quality will not be
up to snuff for a high end system

If you use the computer's built-in sound card, you're probably
correct.

However, if you add the relatively cheap USB-based Emu 0404
(http://www.emu.com/products/product.asp?product=15185) to your PC and
rip CDs to something like iTunes you'll have a computer-based
solution that is actually more than adequate for a high-end system.

The Emu is an awesome DAC/ADC for the money. If you want to pay about
8 times as much for just a DAC, get the Benchmark instead
(http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/), but personally I'm not sure
it's worth it. Spend the difference on music!

The quality of Internet radio stations will, of course, vary depending
on the compression they use.

---

Rob Tweed
Company: M/Gateway Developments Ltd
Registered in England: No 3220901
Registered Office: 58 Francis Road,Ashford, Kent TN23 7UR

Web-site: http://www.mgateway.com

[Steven Sullivan]

Rob Tweed wrote:
On 5 Oct 2008 23:57:21 GMT, "William Noble"
wrote:

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo - for
example internet radio stations and whatnot - of course quality will not be
up to snuff for a high end system

If you use the computer's built-in sound card, you're probably
correct.

That really depends very much on the sound card (or integrated sound).
I predict the audible limitation will be more in the source material, since
he mentioned 'Internet radio'.






--
-S
A wise man, therefore, proportions his belief to the evidence. -- David Hume, "On Miracles"
(1748)

[Peter Wieck]

On Oct 5, 7:57*pm, "William Noble" wrote:

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo

Any suggestions?

I keep two OTA transmitters for this purpose. They are fed from a
Revox A720 tuner/pre-amp. I can feed any source into the pre-amp -
including direct-feed from the computer, or run FM to my vintage AM
radios or CDs, tape or whatever into my FM-only stereo systems & the
vintage radios. Using the pre-amp allows me some filtration as well as
some equalization to help overcome typically wretched computer-
sources. Mostly I use a 200 disc Sony CD changer programmed to play
whatever "blocks" of music I want at the moment. It certainly resolves
a lot of the clutter associated with multiple-component stereo systems
as all that is in a closet with just the basics at the point-of-use.
Long patch-cords to the closet out of the computer (maybe 12 feet or
so) is all that was needed in my case.

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi...ion&key=FM100B

http://www.sstran.com/

http://www.reeltoreel.de/worldwide/A720.htm

Both transmitters cover the entire house (and down the street
considerably), both are fully Part-15 compliant and both came as
reasonably simple kits. Look around, you should be able to find the
Ramsey for about $200+/- as a kit from some outlets. The AMT3000 will
run you about $100 or so. There are cheaper FM transmitters - my
advice on them is "Don't". There are other AM transmitters - "Don't"
on those as well if range, stability and fidelity are issues.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

[Sonnova]

On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:35:27 -0700, Peter Wieck wrote
(in article ):

On Oct 5, 7:57*pm, "William Noble" wrote:

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo

Any suggestions?

I keep two OTA transmitters for this purpose. They are fed from a
Revox A720 tuner/pre-amp. I can feed any source into the pre-amp -
including direct-feed from the computer, or run FM to my vintage AM
radios or CDs, tape or whatever into my FM-only stereo systems & the
vintage radios. Using the pre-amp allows me some filtration as well as
some equalization to help overcome typically wretched computer-
sources. Mostly I use a 200 disc Sony CD changer programmed to play
whatever "blocks" of music I want at the moment. It certainly resolves
a lot of the clutter associated with multiple-component stereo systems
as all that is in a closet with just the basics at the point-of-use.
Long patch-cords to the closet out of the computer (maybe 12 feet or
so) is all that was needed in my case.


http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-
bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM100B

http://www.sstran.com/

http://www.reeltoreel.de/worldwide/A720.htm

Both transmitters cover the entire house (and down the street
considerably), both are fully Part-15 compliant and both came as
reasonably simple kits. Look around, you should be able to find the
Ramsey for about $200+/- as a kit from some outlets. The AMT3000 will
run you about $100 or so. There are cheaper FM transmitters - my
advice on them is "Don't". There are other AM transmitters - "Don't"
on those as well if range, stability and fidelity are issues.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

I still find the Apple TV appliance in conjunction with iTunes over 802.11N
to be the best way to do this. All of your music is transferred (sync'd as
iTunes calls it) from iTunes to the Apple TV's hard drive and can be
connected to a good quality outboard D/A (connected to your stereo system)
via TOSLINK optical. TOSLINK isolates your video system (which can also take
advantage of the Apple TV box) from your stereo system and avoids ground
loops and other noise and if you use Apple's lossless compression in iTunes
to rip your music library, the results are stunning.

[Codifus]

On Oct 6, 11:44*pm, Sonnova wrote:
On Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:35:27 -0700, Peter Wieck wrote
(in article ):



On Oct 5, 7:57*pm, "William Noble" wrote:

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo

Any suggestions?

I keep two OTA transmitters for this purpose. They are fed from a
Revox A720 tuner/pre-amp. I can feed any source into the pre-amp -
including direct-feed from the computer, or run FM to my vintage AM
radios or CDs, tape or whatever into my FM-only stereo systems & the
vintage radios. Using the pre-amp allows me some filtration as well as
some equalization to help overcome typically wretched computer-
sources. Mostly I use a 200 disc Sony CD changer programmed to play
whatever "blocks" of music I want at the moment. It certainly resolves
a lot of the clutter associated with multiple-component stereo systems
as all that is in a closet with just the basics at the point-of-use.
Long patch-cords to the closet out of the computer (maybe 12 feet or
so) is all that was needed in my case.

http://www.ramseyelectronics.com/cgi-
bin/commerce.exe?preadd=action&key=FM100B



http://www.sstran.com/

http://www.reeltoreel.de/worldwide/A720.htm

Both transmitters cover the entire house (and down the street
considerably), both are fully Part-15 compliant and both came as
reasonably simple kits. Look around, you should be able to find the
Ramsey for about $200+/- as a kit from some outlets. The AMT3000 will
run you about $100 or so. There are cheaper FM transmitters - my
advice on them is "Don't". There are other AM transmitters - "Don't"
on those as well if range, stability and fidelity are issues.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

I still find the Apple TV appliance in conjunction with iTunes over 802.11N
to be the best way to do this. All of your music is transferred (sync'd as
iTunes calls it) from iTunes to the Apple TV's hard drive and can be
connected to a good quality outboard D/A (connected to your stereo system)
via TOSLINK optical. TOSLINK isolates your video system (which can also take
advantage of the Apple TV box) from your stereo system and avoids ground
loops and other noise and if you use Apple's lossless compression in iTunes
to rip your music library, the results are stunning.

If you don't want a any TV functionality, then subsititute the Apple
Airport Express. It will do everything your Apple TV is doing with
iTunes, including the optical output to feed a higher quality DAC.

My airport is optically feeding an EMU-0404.


CD

[John Stone]

On 10/6/08 10:44 PM, in article , "Sonnova"
wrote:


I still find the Apple TV appliance in conjunction with iTunes over 802.11N
to be the best way to do this. All of your music is transferred (sync'd as
iTunes calls it) from iTunes to the Apple TV's hard drive and can be
connected to a good quality outboard D/A (connected to your stereo system)
via TOSLINK optical. TOSLINK isolates your video system (which can also take
advantage of the Apple TV box) from your stereo system and avoids ground
loops and other noise and if you use Apple's lossless compression in iTunes
to rip your music library, the results are stunning.


But don't you have to access everything either from your computer or from a
TV menu? I would consider that a big disadvantage.
I have used this solution for the last 2 years and have put all my CD's into
storage:

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html

It operates flawlessly within a wifi network. It has a fantastic internet
radio interface with all kinds of search options. The remote is simple and
easy to use. It imports your iTunes playlist and lets you search through it
in any number of ways. It has a very decent D/A converter built in, but it
also has both Toslink and Coaxial digital out if you want to connect to an
outboard DAC.

They now have a very nifty new system that puts all the data right on the
remote, again via wifi interface.

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_duet.html

They even have an all-in-one solution you can add in another room:

http://slimdevices.com/

[bob]

On Oct 7, 12:13*pm, codifus wrote:

If you don't want a any TV functionality, then subsititute the Apple
Airport Express. It will do everything your Apple TV is doing with
iTunes, including the optical output to feed a higher quality DAC.

With the AE, you still have the problem of controlling iTunes
remotely, unless your computer is in the same room (e.g., a laptop).
But there are a couple of solutions to that problem. One is this
Keyspan device:
http://www.keyspan.com/products/tvu200c/

Another is the Remote application for the iPhone or Ipod Touch.

bob

[Sonnova]

On Tue, 7 Oct 2008 15:42:18 -0700, John Stone wrote
(in article ):

On 10/6/08 10:44 PM, in article , "Sonnova"
wrote:


I still find the Apple TV appliance in conjunction with iTunes over 802.11N
to be the best way to do this. All of your music is transferred (sync'd as
iTunes calls it) from iTunes to the Apple TV's hard drive and can be
connected to a good quality outboard D/A (connected to your stereo system)
via TOSLINK optical. TOSLINK isolates your video system (which can also take
advantage of the Apple TV box) from your stereo system and avoids ground
loops and other noise and if you use Apple's lossless compression in iTunes
to rip your music library, the results are stunning.


But don't you have to access everything either from your computer or from a
TV menu? I would consider that a big disadvantage.

Of course you do. You can delete or add anything to your Apple TV from iTunes
on your computer. and since iTunes has all of your music on it, you can play
the music directly from either location.

I have used this solution for the last 2 years and have put all my CD's into
storage:

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html

It operates flawlessly within a wifi network. It has a fantastic internet
radio interface with all kinds of search options. The remote is simple and
easy to use. It imports your iTunes playlist and lets you search through it
in any number of ways. It has a very decent D/A converter built in, but it
also has both Toslink and Coaxial digital out if you want to connect to an
outboard DAC.

They now have a very nifty new system that puts all the data right on the
remote, again via wifi interface.

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_duet.html

They even have an all-in-one solution you can add in another room:

http://slimdevices.com/

Looks good. But in magazine shoot-outs between the two, for some reason, the
Apple TV unit always beats it.

[John Stone]

On 10/7/08 9:05 PM, in article , "Sonnova"
wrote:

I have used this solution for the last 2 years and have put all my CD's into
storage:

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_squeezebox.html

It operates flawlessly within a wifi network. It has a fantastic internet
radio interface with all kinds of search options. The remote is simple and
easy to use. It imports your iTunes playlist and lets you search through it
in any number of ways. It has a very decent D/A converter built in, but it
also has both Toslink and Coaxial digital out if you want to connect to an
outboard DAC.

They now have a very nifty new system that puts all the data right on the
remote, again via wifi interface.

http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_duet.html

They even have an all-in-one solution you can add in another room:

http://slimdevices.com/

Looks good. But in magazine shoot-outs between the two, for some reason, the
Apple TV unit always beats it.

The Apple TV looks to be functionally geared primarily towards video, as a
means of transferring downloads from a computer to a tv. The squeezebox is
strictly a standalone music server that can be configured for multi-room
use. Very different devices, and any "shootout" strikes me as apples vs
oranges (no pun intended). I have no use for playing video downloads and my
main audio system is separate from my TV. So clearly for me the Squeezebox
is the better choice. Performance wise, from the digital output anyway, it's
hard to see how one would be better than the other.

[[email protected]]

I haven't been following this thread. Apple has a router which can also
provide wireless feed to audio gear. They have itunes which can feed the
router and a remote to control the software. With a $600 investment or so
for a minimac with the footprint of a cd storage case about 3 inches high
one can have a complete music storage and play system; and one gets a
fully operational computer as a side benefit.

It accepts analog or digital inputs or internet downloads for the music
files. The internal drive and dvd/cd drive/recorder provide digital
sources. External drives with the same footprint as the computer as large
as one would want are also available.

[Dave Smith[_2_]]

On 2008-10-05 16:57:21 -0700, "William Noble" said:

I'd like to be able to play stuff from my computer to my stereo - for
example internet radio stations and whatnot - of course quality will not be
up to snuff for a high end system, but if I want to listen to something that
I can't receive on FM, or something I don't have an original source for
(such as streaming music or a podcast or something) then such a device would
be pretty handy - and it's not hard to run an ethernet cable to my stereo
(no, I won't use wireless because I don't trust the wireless security)

So, anyone have experience with any of these?

I also have an elderly friend who likes to put a few dozen CDs in a player
on shuffle - his last player actually wore out (the brushes on one of the
motors wore right through) because it shuffles one song at a time for hours
per day - I'm trying to get him to use some thing else - something really
simple that doesn't require an interenet connection (because he doen't
have/want such a thing).

Any suggestions?

I use an appletv for music and I love it. It displays all of my
playlists and I can set it to random and even repeat play. While it is
playing my music it displays my iphoto collection on the screen with
some very nice transitions.

Dave

[Sonnova]

On Wed, 8 Oct 2008 10:02:13 -0700, wrote
(in article ):

I haven't been following this thread. Apple has a router which can also
provide wireless feed to audio gear. They have itunes which can feed the
router and a remote to control the software. With a $600 investment or so
for a minimac with the footprint of a cd storage case about 3 inches high
one can have a complete music storage and play system; and one gets a
fully operational computer as a side benefit.

It accepts analog or digital inputs or internet downloads for the music
files. The internal drive and dvd/cd drive/recorder provide digital
sources. External drives with the same footprint as the computer as large
as one would want are also available.


But you don't need a Mac for this. A Windows PC should work just as well. I
think that a Mac is a better computer than a Windows box, but then, that's
just personal taste.

[Signal[_2_]]

wrote:

I haven't been following this thread. Apple has a router which can also
provide wireless feed to audio gear. They have itunes which can feed the
router and a remote to control the software. With a $600 investment or so
for a minimac with the footprint of a cd storage case about 3 inches high
one can have a complete music storage and play system; and one gets a
fully operational computer as a side benefit.

It accepts analog or digital inputs or internet downloads for the music
files. The internal drive and dvd/cd drive/recorder provide digital
sources. External drives with the same footprint as the computer as large
as one would want are also available.

Or pick up an XBOX for $30, install XBMC and have greater flexibility.

--
S i g n a l @ l i n e o n e . n e t