Digital Music Server advice

[John Rennie]

There are lots of ways you could do this. If you like using an iPod the
easiest solution would be to get a iPad Mini, or even a full iPad. The
latter would be expensive, but IIRC you can still buy the older
model(s) of iPad quite cheaply.

I'm not a Macophile, so I have no personal experience of how well this
would work, but I've used an Android tablet for this (a Nexus 7) and it
works very well. On my Android tablet I use XBMC as my media player -
I'm fairly certain this is available for iOS as well, or of course you
could use the media stuff built into iOS.

But my much preferred solution is to use a media PC, and even though
I'm a non-Macer I use a 2010 Mac Mini (running Windows 7 via
Bootcamp). This is absolutely brilliant. The HDMI output hooks up to
the TV and I use the headphone socket to run audio through my hi-fi.
The Mac audio circuitry seems pretty good and I can't reliably tell the
difference between the Mac Mini playing FLACs and my (expensive!) CD
player. If you really care about audio quality hook up a decent DAC like
the HRT Streamer (http://highresolutiontechnologies.com/music-streamer-ii).

The disk in the 2010 Mac Mini is 320GB so there's lots of room for
audio. You can also put iTunes on it and have it manage the iPod. I
keep music (and videos) on a server that lives in the cupboard under
the stairs, and the Mac connects through the wireless network. But then
I have loads of films that wouldn't fit on the internal disk.

I use XBMC as my media player (same as on the Android tablet). This is
available for OSX as well as Windows, or again you could use the player
built into OSX. The only drawback is that you won't get a 2010 Mac Mini
for under $400, not even on ebay. In the UK they go for around £350,
which is around $525. However if you can stretch that far it's by far
the best solution.

If the cost is a problem there are various cheaper media PCs around,
and there are a lot of Android based systems appearing. A friend has
been using the Ouya (http://www.ouya.tv/) as a media player and it's
only $99! It's not a patch on a Mac Mini though - buy the Mac and if
necessary sell your grandma.

JR

-----Original Message-----
From: BOC/Hawkwind Discussion List [mailto:BOC-L at LISTSERV.ISPNETINC.NET] On Behalf Of Keith Henderson
Sent: 04 July 2013 20:56
To: BOC-L at LISTSERV.ISPNETINC.NET
Subject: OFF: Digital Music Server advice

Hi Folks...

Um...if I might interrupt normal programming for a second, and ask the techies here a simple (?) question.

We're moving house here in a month, and the new place has a nice, but fairly compact living room.  We would like to avoid cluttering up the place with racks of old CDs and such, and switch to all digital music listening (I have all my music in AAC already, so I generally listen tethered to the computer or on the fly with an old 8GB iPod, sometimes plugged into the car console through a male-male 3.5" headphone cable.)  So I'm talking about my Mom's music collection, which while only a tiny fraction of the size of my own, is still fairly extensive.

I don't follow tech. developments AT ALL except for very basic trends, so I don't even know where to start searching.

All I really want is a simple "Home stereo component version of a large-ish iPod."  I don't want it to be wireless, I don't want (need) it to have video- or game- functionality at all.  I don't want (need) it to have a drawer to load a CD (either for playing or ripping).  I just want it to be a hard storage unit with an ISB outlet that will allow for quick transfer of new files via memory stick, or semi-permanent read access from an additional larger portable external drive.  The storage doesn't need to be giant, maybe 100-200 GB.  What I want is just a really nice, simple, easy, interface for reading/searching through a vast library of music, with all the sorts of normal iPod features (playlists, shuffle play, organizing music by title/artist/style/etc), and a really nice display panel of some size that will face front and display current title/artist/album art/time-progress during play.  Presumably, the output would be a simple RCA pair going to
 the AUX port of a normal stereo receiver.  Maybe an optional 3.5mm jack in addition.  Maybe a simple remote to pause, change output volume, forward/backward, not necessary to have all the search functions on the remote (as would be on the module itself).  That is, I don't need a screen interface on the remote, but if it has that and is not ridiculously expensive, fine.

I'm afraid that many of these kinds of devices will be loaded up with EVERY POSSIBLE interface known to man and therefore be unnecessarily expensive.  King of All Media/Connects to everything in the whole neighborhood type nonsense.  I will do all my music library work on this desktop computer - I don't need this to link to anything that I haven't already prepared for quick playback.  I don't need it to stream anything ever.  I just want the interface to have a really nice display and be easy to use.  Otherwise, I want it to be stupid.  :)

Any hints?  Who makes this device?  Does it cost less than $400?

Thanks!   Keith H. (State College PA)

P.S.  Back on topic (HW):  Planning to hit Philly and DC, and then maybe Toronto and Cleveland, or perhaps one of the other NE instead (depending on timing/work).