Hard Drive Stereos?

[randyhersom]

Stereo equipment is getting hard to find these days. When I play music through my computer, I'm often utilizing my computer in other ways and the sound breaks up when the computer can't keep up. So has anybody built a stereo you can attach a hard drive to and play mp3/flac/wav/whatever else from the hard drive?

[RDK]

Stereo equipment is getting hard to find these days. When I play music through my computer, I'm often utilizing my computer in other ways and the sound breaks up when the computer can't keep up. So has anybody built a stereo you can attach a hard drive to and play mp3/flac/wav/whatever else from the hard drive?

Check out the Squeezebox...

http://www.slimdevices.com/

[randyhersom]

I forgot to google first. Denon and Sony seem to have newish products that are not substantially cheaper than a dedicated computer. Nobody seems to be touting USB port for connecting external hard drive, which would be a key feature for me. The 400 disk Sony DVD/CD may still be the best immediate soultion for hosting music files in bulk, but that's a lot of transferring. Love to hear about any products I'm missing.

[randyhersom]

Thanks RDK, that zooms to the head of the list, but I still don't see where I can attach an external USB drive with my music files on it. The specs talk mainly about sources like Rhapsody and internet radio.

Edited March 19, 2009 by randyhersom

[rockefeller center]

Pobably slightly off topic:

I recently set up a web based music server (Ampache) that is connected to my stereo. A web browser acts as front-end though Ampache does also support Amarok and probably other music software. Music can be streamed to a client or sent to the amp/stereo (with the latter you basically remote control your stereo) and it can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

The software runs on an old HP desktop that I will soon replace with a used "netbox" (MSI Wind, Asus EeeBox or something like that < $200) because of its low power consumption and low noise. Ampache is platform independent; I'm using Debian and basic installation was not difficult though it is probably good to be aware about the technologies/services that are at work here (Apache web server, etc.).

For anyone who's interested:

http://ampache.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ampache

Edit: so far I've played/streamed FLAC, Ogg, MP3 and haven't experienced problems.

Edited March 19, 2009 by rockefeller center

[randyhersom]

A google on Boombox USB port revealed the interesting looking UNIREX RX-1000 DVD. Playing DVD's full of MP3s is a nice feature, and if there is a reasonable way to select music on devices attached to the USB port, this could be a very nice unit. Terabytes of tunes for the low rent district!

[randyhersom]

Thanks Rockefeller, I'm interested in hearing about high and low end solutions and hope some others may find the discussion useful as well.

[jazzbo]

Randy, I have a Peachtree Audio Decco integrated amplifier that has a built in DAC (designed by Scott Nixon to be similar to his Benchmark DAC) and USB, Toslink and Coaxial digital inputs. Sound is very good. . . Tube preamp and solid state ampllfiier section. I use the DAC in the pramp for an iPod (using the Wadia i-Transport) and a digital TV and occasionally a laptop iTunes. This is the heart of my bedroom stereo system, driving the matching speakers (very nice sounding, rich and warm sounding, well designed for this amp).

Decco page:

http://signalpathint.com/index.php/decco/the-decco.html

iTransport page:

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/82178?g...CFQxKGgodXjKdJg

Peachtree Audio also makes a more powerful amplifier, the Nova, with a supposedly even better DAC and I think the same input formats.

Edited March 19, 2009 by jazzbo

[John L]

I also do not like using my computer as an MP3 player. What would really be nice would be larger and more luxurious iPod-like machines that hold huge amounts of music, offer user-friendly options for accessing it, show large images of cover art and other information, etc. They could also have automatic back-up features for insuring collections.

Of course, iPods are large enough to hold the vast majority of peoples' collections.

[Tom Storer]

Thanks RDK, that zooms to the head of the list, but I still don't see where I can attach an external USB drive with my music files on it. The specs talk mainly about sources like Rhapsody and internet radio.

I have a Squeezebox but haven't managed to make it work. I had high hopes but it doesn't see my wireless connection. I think, and hope, that when I can find the time to devote to troubleshooting and workarounds, I'll be able to make it work. But I'm so annoyed that it doesn't "just work" that I am in a sort of long-term fit of spite about it and haven't really exerted myself to try to fix the problem.

But anyway, Randy, the Squeezebox is supposed to allow you to play music either from Internet sources or from audio files stored on a hard disk and accessed through a wireless connection. On paper it looks marvelous, and I know that for many people it works fine, so take my own situation as an exception.

[.:.impossible]

I have been using a squeezebox for about three years now. No connectivity problems. Tom, the forums at slimdevices.com are very helpful.

[randyhersom]

Looks like you aready need to be running a wireless network to hit your hard drive. Does it support reasonable wireless security options, or do you have to leave your home network wide open to use it?

I'm waffling between a few Unirex options and the squeezebox.

In a related question, can you hook up both a DVD recorder and a DVD Home Theater System combo to the same TV?

[.:.impossible]

I am using 128-bit WEP. If you plan to use it for internet radio, or any of the streaming services that have been popping out over the past two years, you can specify which port(s) you want to allow in/out traffic.

Ideally, I'd like to have a dedicated "server" for the squeezebox. Low consumption, quiet, "headless"... a mac mini or something similar. I haven't explored options in a while.

I've never heard of Unirex. I think Squeezebox is a safe bet, having recently been bought by Logitech. Open-source, large developer community, ability to control through various devices, most recently including iPod touch and iPhone, which is killer.

SLIM DEVICES FORUMS. Go here for more information than you can shake a stick at.

[.:.impossible]

In a related question, can you hook up both a DVD recorder and a DVD Home Theater System combo to the same TV?

Why not?

[randyhersom]

I ordered a Squeezebox Boom. It'll be more hassle to set up initially, but thay had a site that answered a couple of my questions and having the hard drive attached to both my computer and the Squeezebox means I don't have to copy new stuff over every time I want to play it.

QUOTE (randyhersom @ Mar 21 2009, 08:21 AM)

In a related question, can you hook up both a DVD recorder and a DVD Home Theater System combo to the same TV?

QUOTE (..impossible)

Why not?

umm, ... because I don't know how? ... because it's a hardware problem and I'm a software guy? ... ???

I don't want it to be inconvenient to listen to music and have the TV running because I actually do it fairly often. DVD recorders don't tend to have the same feature sets that some of the attractive oddball players such as the Sony 300/400 disc or the Unirex 3DVD changer with USB and SD memory ports, so knowing whether you just daisy chain, or use some sort of splitter is useful an pondering the options. Since I already have a Squeezebox on the way, I will probably just go with a DVD recorder.

Edited March 23, 2009 by randyhersom

[.:.impossible]

If your TV has more than one input (and most do), you should be just fine.

Keep me posted re: the squeezeboom. Prices have been fluctuating in recent months and I've considered getting one for the kitchen that I could also take out into the yard when we are having folks over...

[Bluesnik]

i have the computer attached to the stereo via an external soundcard which i think is linked to the computer through USB. so i can play the stuff which is on an internal 250 Gb disc, my archive. and it is linked to the stereo through the Aux entry. but computer crashes sometimes get in the way of hearing music that way. i still have to work out the cause but it may be a processor or motherboard overload. i have to update the processor/motherboard.

[Chalupa]

Not to discourage anyone but something to think about if you are planning on storing all of your music, photos, etc. on a hard drive.....

March 26, 2009

From the Desk of David Pogue

Should You Worry About Data Rot?

By DAVID POGUE

Last week, I shared with you an interview transcript from one of my CBS Sunday Morning stories. It reminded me of another great interview I've been meaning to share.

This one was for my "Sunday Morning" story about data rot, which aired a few weeks ago (http://bit.ly/oFrX). Meet Dag Spicer, curator of the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. It's an amazing place, as you'll see in this edited transcript of our tour and chat.

Computer History Museum

David Pogue: What is data rot?

Dag Spicer: Data rot refers mainly to problems with the medium on which information is stored. Over time, things like temperature, humidity, exposure to light, being stored not-very-good locations like moldy basements, make this information very difficult to read.

The second aspect of data rot is actually finding the machines to read them. And that is a real problem. If you think of the 8-track tape player, for example, basically the only way you can find 8-track cartridges is in a flea market or a garage sale.

The problem, strangely enough, is not so bad on the older stuff, but quite bad on the more recent stuff. So we can read tapes here at the museum that are 50 years old. You know, we bake the tapes first, and we extract—

DP: You bake the tapes?

DS: Yeah, we put them in an oven and we dry them out, because after time, the tape just sticks. It becomes one giant reel of goo, and you can't just peel it apart, because then you start peeling data off the tape. So there's a little wizardry involved in reading this stuff.

Even VHS tapes are holding out better; at least they keep playing if there's a problem with the tape. The real problem lies in newer formats. With a CD or a DVD, if there's an error, often it's non-recoverable, and you've just lost all your information.

DP: Most people would be shocked to hear that. A lot of people these days are paying to have their old audio and video recordings transferred to CD and DVD, and thinking, "now I'm done."

DS: Right. Thinking you're done because you've moved your photos onto a DVD is not a good policy to take; it's a mistake. And the reason is that the lifespan of DVDs varies from 5 to 100 years, according to testing. And if you leave it on your hard disk, well, hard disks only last five years, generally.

So every five or ten years, you should move it onto a different format, like from VHS tape to DVD. And that's fine, but then DVD is already obsolete, there's Blu-ray, and so what's going to happen in another 10 years?

Making lots of backups is good advice, and on different formats, different places; consider paper as an archival medium. Some paper we have has lasted thousands of years. If Moses had gotten the Ten Commandments on a floppy disk, it would never have made it to today.

read the rest here...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/technolo...r&emc=cira1

[rockefeller center]

I have my stuff on a Raid 5 plus two hd backups on a different place. Should I ever have some money left I'll probably get me a tape drive. And if I'm going to lose all that stuff I probably won't care that much anyway.

[randyhersom]

The Squeezebox boom arrived, and I looked in the room where the DSL comes in to find that my router wasn't wireless. Running a cable between rooms was a huge hassle that I don't want to endure again, so I bought a Wireless G router and had my stepson replace the wired one. When I got the WPA password from him, I fired up the Squeezebox. The software asked for the name of THE music files directory. I have dozens spread over multiple drives. I picked the largest and it took a couple hours to digest the huge directory and was playing tunes fairly quickly after that. Then I got creative and changed to my second largest directory, selecting "scan for new and changed files" thinking it would keep my old files and add to them. Abdullah Ibrahim promptly stopped playing and my first directory's music could not be selected after that. So it makes sense to combine your directories before installing Squeezebox, since you'll end up doing it anyway. Also, you may want to reboot after a very large rescan, as things got very slow when I combined and rescanned. After a reboot, the slows were gone.

I like it, but it may not be better than Windows Media Player just yet. Fewer lags, but not yet as flexible.

At work, we've had over 50% failure rate within two years on the new 500GB-1TB external drives. So the data rot discussion above needs considering. I'm planning to copy my master directory to another external hard drive and take it to work.

[randyhersom]

The search function when you run Squeeze Center from your computer is nice. I also noticed that pieces of MySQL are loaded with it, and found a 150mb database file. Wonder how I might be able to query it?

[rockefeller center]

The search function when you run Squeeze Center from your computer is nice. I also noticed that pieces of MySQL are loaded with it, and found a 150mb database file. Wonder how I might be able to query it?

I don't have a Squeezebox an therefore can't tell if this device employs the SlimServer but this might give you a lead:

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/Slim..._MySql_instance

[Use3D]

Stereo equipment is getting hard to find these days. When I play music through my computer, I'm often utilizing my computer in other ways and the sound breaks up when the computer can't keep up. So has anybody built a stereo you can attach a hard drive to and play mp3/flac/wav/whatever else from the hard drive?

A little late for this but if your computer is lagging while performing other tasks and playing music you could consider another media player. If you're using Windows Media Player it is rather bloated and inefficient. There's some good ones out there, even winamp holds up on my 5+ year old machines without any performance issues while multitasking. I don't use Windows Media Player for anything.

[.:.impossible]

Randy, the slimdevices.com forums are very busy on a daily basis. You ought to do a search there, or open a thread. You will have multiple answers almost immediately.

[riverrat]

Apologies in advance if any of this is repetitive or already known. Just wanted to share my experience so far in moving to a PC-based sytem.

I'm kind of old school, so I stuck to hard wired connections between my computer and stereo equipment. I'm also a cheapskate so I went low budget too. Steps:

1. CDs burned via Exact Audio Copy (EAC) freeware to FLAC files, arranged in folders by artists, then subfolders for each recording. I'll reiterate that proper backup is essential- I'm currently using several WD Mybook external drives up to 1TB in size but should probably upgrade to even more secure means. And I still have, and buy CDs. I'm not into downloads, especially those in any kind of proprietary or lossy format. FLAC downloads show promise.

2. Album art for each recording added with Muvunder Cover software ($15). Helps find art, or you can find/scan your own and drop it in. Automatically tags the art to each album file so music players can see it. There may be ways to automate this process and include it during burning; probably beyond my means to figure out.

3. Playback using Foobar2000- free download music player, highly configurable and a small footprint on computer RAM resources. (If you are tired of being manipulated and controlled by Itunes, and Winamp's heavy footprint on system resources, try Foobar.)

4. Output from Foobar to a USB DAC (USB cable) then into vintage or modern amplification of your choice via standard RCA cables. On older gear just use a tape input. I paid $175 for a used DIY Eden USB DAC.

Thoughts and further steps:

I think the most bang for the buck is the quality of DAC you choose. So many choices- oversampling or non, tube or SS...

I'd like to find a way to make my album art visible in my music files when viewed in the Windows "My Computer" interface, as well as on the music player.