[Lyndon]

Guys,
I am so in the dark on what I am trying to do.  I would like to incorporate the Touch and a WD Media Player with a HTPC probably running Windows 7 Media Player.  The HTPC will hold two 1 TB hd's, one for music, the other for video, as well as a much smaller HD for the OS and program files.
Do I really need a high end sound card in the HTPC, since I will either be decoding the FLAC files to PCM and then sending that to the Touch, or the A/V receiver (which could be PCM lossless)?
Hope I am making sense here.
Thanks,

[whanafi]

No need for an HTPC at all if going with the Touch and WD. 

The PC only needs to be able to run Squeezebox Server.  In that role, any low power PC is going to work.  The Touch handles the user interface and DAC (unless you add an outboard DAC).

The WD UI allows selecting material directly, so just needs to be able to "see" the files.

[Lyndon]

So I've built up a HTPC for naught?
Can I make it just the server for this and thus, separate it from my main desktop PC?
It seems to be the consensus that it is best to not go wireless for the music quality, but
I would like to use the Netflix Live downstream capabilities of my blu-ray player.  That I would like to use the router, and downstream that.
Lyndon

[whanafi]

So I've built up a HTPC for naught?
Can I make it just the server for this and thus, separate it from my main desktop PC?
It seems to be the consensus that it is best to not go wireless for the music quality, but
I would like to use the Netflix Live downstream capabilities of my blu-ray player.  That I would like to use the router, and downstream that.
Lyndon

Unless I am misunderstanding your setup, your description does not need an HTPC.  You are not using a soundcard for audio (the Touch instead) or the video card for video (WD instead).  So yes, you can separate it from your main PC and just use it to run Squeezebox Server and hold the media files.

I use a number of Squeezebox devices wirelessly, and have yet to hear or see a problem compared to the hard-wired units.  The beauty of the Squeezebox approach is that the music remains a data file until the point of conversion, so like any Ethernet, the data gets to the Touch correctly, at which point the wireless is over.  The actual conversion of the data to analog signals is taking place locally in the unit. 

There is one other use case - the Touch is connected to an external DAC, but again, wireless has no role in this.

[HAITIMAN]

Guys,
I am so in the dark on what I am trying to do.  I would like to incorporate the Touch and a WD Media Player with a HTPC probably running Windows 7 Media Player.  The HTPC will hold two 1 TB hd's, one for music, the other for video, as well as a much smaller HD for the OS and program files.
Do I really need a high end sound card in the HTPC, since I will either be decoding the FLAC files to PCM and then sending that to the Touch, or the A/V receiver (which could be PCM lossless)?
Hope I am making sense here.
Thanks,

"Do I really need a high end sound card in the HTPC...?"

The answer is no.

Everything else you are doing is perfect.

(sometimes when you ask a question on these boards, all you get is a big runaround. This happened to me yesterday on the forum for the Logitech Squeezebox. My initial question never got answered, but I got a lot of "advice"). You are not in the dark and I think your setup is well thought out.

[lcrim]

The sound quality from both analog and digital out in a SqueezeBox Touch is noticeably improved by getting the wlan card shut down (use wired ethernet.)  The quality of playback is also improved by doing the conversion from flac to PCM at the server.
Please see:
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?forum=pcaudio&n=77177&highlight=John+Swenson&r=

http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/p/squeezebox-touch-great-base-for-network.html

For the record, for the functionality that Lyndon desires I suggested a remote computer connected via wired ethernet, no sound card is needed.  Probably would just create more confusion as well.

[Lyndon]

Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll look at picking up some ethernet cable.
On my main desktop and laptop, I am using XP Pro, but would like to use the media properties inherent in Windows7.
They offered a discount "7" to educators last year, and I bit, not realizing that it was not a full deal. Only will bring up the 7 if you are starting with Vista. Such BS.
Now I had Vista in my HP laptop, but hated it so much, I removed that hard drive, put in a new, larger one, and transferred my XP Pro to the laptop, with absolutely no help from HP (you want drivers? Go fish!).  So...I think I'll jury rig the little Vista laptop hard drive to the 'htpc', and see if the '7' sees it, and loads up.  As 'Crimewave' would say,
"Call Me A Sport'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8qHe2qD3MY

[lcrim]

Lyndon:
As I mentioned to you, the computer that I use as a SBS and has storage drives connected to it for a number of different media is not at all high end.  Its just a place where the data is stored.  Sorry, but the only thing that comes to mind is appropriate technology.  Its appaling to me to see people spend time, energy and money for what doesn't make a difference in quality.

[Lyndon]

lcrim said:

It's appalling to me to see people spend time, energy and money for what doesn't make a difference in quality.

Agreed.
But to some extent we all search for the Holy Grail.
I would be embarrassed to tell the AC members how much time and effort I spent last night past midnight researching all the varieties of The Band's "The Last Waltz"

[srb]

Lyndon,
 
I have an HTPC set up similar to yours with an OS drive, a music drive and a video drive.  It is a more robust computer than is needed for a music server, but I multitask on it.  I can record two simultaneous HD TV shows or movies, while performing several tasks on the computer, while the music continues to smoothly flow without a pause or glitch.
 
Steve

[lcrim]

Steve/srb:
There are a number of web sites that have as their basis the removal of any process in windoze that interferes with music playback processes yet its possible that your viewpoint of using your HTPC for multitasking has merit. 
I personally, decided to dedicate a low level, older PC (running a linux OS) that can be cheaply sourced or replaced for that matter.  The desire to remove all extraneous noise, both physical and electrical, from the listening environment was my starting point.  As a consequence, I must also have a work station (for lack of a better term) where I am typing this now.  I  expect, down the line, to have some flavor of NAS device but retaining the overall architecture as it has functioned well and makes troubleshooting issues more straight forward.

[Phil A]

lcrim said:Agreed.
But to some extent we all search for the Holy Grail.
I would be embarrassed to tell the AC members how much time and effort I spent last night past midnight researching all the varieties of The Band's "The Last Waltz"

That's a good record.  Years back Tower records had a DVD-A sale and mismarked it at $15.99 like the regular DVD-As from the same label.  Needless to say I grabbed it.

[Lyndon]

In the best Homer Simpson voice.
Du-OHHHH!
I am so jealous.  From my investigation, it is considered the best presentation of the live music event.  Wish me luck on the auction!
Or sell me yours!
The best tidbit I found was this one:
Neil Diamond was next, introducing his "Dry Your Eyes" by saying, "I'm only gonna do one song, but I'm gonna do it good." Diamond had been invited to perform by Robertson, who wanted the songwriters of Tin Pan Alley to be represented.  Robertson had also produced Diamond's album Beautiful Noise the same year and co-wrote "Dry Your Eyes," which during the concert he hailed as a "great song." In his autobiography, Levon Helm was critical of the inclusion of Diamond, not discerning any musical connection to The Band. Reportedly, when Diamond came off stage he remarked to Dylan, "Follow that", to which Dylan responded, "What do I have to do, go on stage and fall asleep?"

[Phil A]

Didn't realize they were that rare! 

http://www.amazon.com/Band-Last-Waltz/dp/B0000645ID


Out-of-print or scarce DVD-A or SACDs or even CDs are getting big $.  A friend of mine had an extra ticket for a concert last night at a small club.  This one was a record co. that went under and I bought one from the Artist for $40 and had it signed too -  http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Side-Moon-Mary-Fahl/dp/B001CE8FBO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1281313505&sr=1-1

[Lyndon]

Sweet!
Maybe bump the dead DvD-A and SACD threads and do a review of that album.
I bet it sounds very good.
I still think that one of the main reasons of the high resolution cd's demise, was not just price, but the proprietary nature of Sony on the SACD format.  But it has moved on to high resolution downloads.
Neil Young and other artists continue to put out their music in higher resolution, like DvD-Video.  I just watched/listened to Donald Fagen's box set that contained hybrid discs that were referred to as MVI discs.  Very good surround sound.
The Nightfly Trilogy (3-MVI DVD + 4-CD Box Set)


Well, I better stop, before I thread crap my original question.
Lyndon