[mcgsxr]

I have no illusions that this PC I bought has the h/w specs to be a true media server, it is just going to be for serving tunes for me.

I tried to install VTB tonight on this new box, and it would not.  Install kept erroring out, so I just went back to XP.  Not before busting off some plastic tabs on my 500G drive of course though    It is now going to be permanently installed in my toaster dock, since it can no longer attach to the SATA cabling inside a PC.  Nice.

[eclein]

I wonder why you kept getting errors?? You were installing Vortexbox fresh and letting it format the hard drive and everything correct??

[mcgsxr]

Yes, I was doing a fresh, auto install of the s/w, allowing it to write over my HD.  I have done this successfully in the past, but it just would not complete on this box.

No matter, short term I will stick with Windows.

At least I can listen again!   

[al2002]

If your goal is to just store files on a PC and play them back on the same machine, then VB is not required, even though it has a music player buit in; Windows (or Mac OS) will do just fine,

Remember that the VB distribution turns the PC into a NAS, so VB comes into its own as a NAS and file server if you wish to have music streamed to multiple rooms in your home or flat. THe VB package can be installed on a small low power PC- I am using a home brew system built around a mini-itx Atom board - that can be left on 24/7.  If you don't want to leave the server on all the time, the mobo can wake up the system on demand. 

FWIW, I am using the VB PC to stream to two SB appliances and a PS3, in 3 different rooms each playing a different music stream, no gltches, no dropouts and , yes, it is very stable, I have left it on for 3 weeks at a stretch with no problems. FYI, the Intel Atom and the 2TB HD are  running fanless, temps do not exceed 50 C for the CPU and 41 C for the HD even under full load.

To summarise, VB works as intended, and I can strongly recommend it if you need its features.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask questions.

Thats what is holding me back...I keep thinking I would be so close to a Home Theater PC with just a better video card and an Operating system that doing the Vortexbox would be a sideways step. I don't need to have automatic implementation of ripping and all, I just need to get this music off my laptop and have it on something other than my 1TB USB drive as it is just too slow to implement in squeeze server....
 decisions, decisions....

[Rusty Jefferson]

If your goal is to just store files on a PC and play them back on the same machine, then VB is not required, even though it has a music player buit in; Windows (or Mac OS) will do just fine,

Remember that the VB distribution turns the PC into a NAS, so VB comes into its own as a NAS and file server if you wish to have music streamed to multiple rooms in your home or flat. THe VB package can be installed on a small low power PC- I am using a home brew system built around a mini-itx Atom board - that can be left on 24/7.  If you don't want to leave the server on all the time, the mobo can wake up the system on demand. 

FWIW, I am using the VB PC to stream to two SB appliances and a PS3, in 3 different rooms each playing a different music stream, no gltches, no dropouts and , yes, it is very stable, I have left it on for 3 weeks at a stretch with no problems. FYI, the Intel Atom and the 2TB HD are  running fanless, temps do not exceed 50 C for the CPU and 41 C for the HD even under full load.

To summarise, VB works as intended, and I can strongly recommend it if you need its features.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask questions.

I have read through several threads here about this subject and appreciate the great information members are sharing.

I have been using a PC with USB external drive wired to my squeezebox. I have been wanting a dedicated PC/server that can sit next to my stereo so I can turn off my PC as I don't use it that often and don't want to have to start it just to listen to music. Clearly, I want the server to be silent, and low power as it will be on all the time. I'm thinking about the VB 3tb unit. Here are some question.

My PC station has a monitor/keyboard and dvd drive. If I run a Ethernet connection from my shared router to the VB, can I rip, see, configure the music files from that station, so as to not have to have a monitor/keyboard/dvd burner at the VB station, or will there be a problem with interfacing two operating systems?

Does it make more sense to have a monitor/keyboard/dvd drive at the stereo/ VB location?

Assuming I can control the ripping from the PC station, I would also assume I will be able to control the music via the Sqeezebox remote, or an ipod/phone/pad application for Sqeezebox. ?

Now, assuming I'm controlling from ipod/phone, can I run a USB ouput to a  DAC from the VB? This would be a better path for the music since my Sqeezebox doesn't support 24/96 files from it's outputs. The Sqeezebox would still be connected to the network via Ethernet, but I wouldn't be using the outputs. Would it control the music?

Many Thanks

[ashok]

The vortexbox is designed to run headless - without a keyboard or monitor connected.

If you purchase a pre-built Vortexbox appliance (VBA), it comes with an optical drive in it. So ripping your CDs/DVDs becomes very easy.

All you need to do then is to

• Place the VBA next to your stereo.
• Connect it to the shared router via wired ethernet.
• Copy files from your external USB drive to the internal drive of your VBA.
• Future CD rips will go into the internal drive of the VBA.
• Use the USB output to a USB DAC. Some configuration is required to get this to work just right; but it is not hard at all.

To manage the Vortexbox, a Web GUI is available. You can use any web browser to access this web GUI.

Backups are important. To make a backup, connect the USB external drive to one of the USB ports of the VBA. Use the web GUI to make a backup to this USB drive. Backups are incremental - only new files will be added to the backup. Once the backup is completed, turn off and unplug the external USB drive until the next time.

Your existing PC could be the one that you use to run the web GUI on (since it is on the same home network). You would not need to turn it on unless you want to run the web GUI.

The VBA is on all the time. Since it runs squeezebox server, an iTunes server and a DLNA server, it can serve music to other devices in your home.

Here is a graphic I made. Note that the sound card to DAC connection shown below is an S/PDIF connection. You can run a USB connection to a USB DAC also.

[launche]

Great information Ashok,

Can you plug in an external USB hard drive into the Vortexbox and have it recognize the hard drive on the network and play the music contained on that drive without copying the existing files onto the Vortexbox internal hard drive? 

[AVnerdguy]

Great information Ashok,

Can you plug in an external USB hard drive into the Vortexbox and have it recognize the hard drive on the network and play the music contained on that drive without copying the existing files onto the Vortexbox internal hard drive?

Yes, you could but you wouldn't want to. It's slow and if the Vortexbox is processing other info at the same time it might interupt the service according to some folks on one of the PC audio sites. I haven't tried it myself - I just downloaded from the thumbdrive to the Vortexbox and made a quick playlist in my Squeezbox software that resides on the Vortexbox.

[ashok]

Can you plug in an external USB hard drive into the Vortexbox and have it recognize the hard drive on the network and play the music contained on that drive without copying the existing files onto the Vortexbox internal hard drive?

Yes, you can. In fact I was running it this way initially. But I had to issue a "mount" command to mount the USB drive each time the vortexbox computer boots up.

I tried to automate the "mount" by putting it into a start-up script, but I was not very successful. The other issue I had was that my USB ports are v1.0, and that was producing some strange error messages. So, I just moved all my music to the internal drive, and use the external drive as physical backup.

I think if my USB ports were v2.0, I would have had much better success at automatically mounting the USB drive on startup.

Also, Andrew (VB developer) has made it easier for users to add customizations to the VB startup. So, it is probably not that hard now to use an external USB drive.

But if you also use the VB to connect to a USB DAC, or if you have a PCI sound card in the VB, you might not want to have an external USB drive sharing the same resources.

[Rusty Jefferson]

The vortexbox is designed to run headless - without a keyboard or monitor connected.

If you purchase a pre-built Vortexbox appliance (VBA), it comes with an optical drive in it. So ripping your CDs/DVDs becomes very easy.

All you need to do then is to

• Place the VBA next to your stereo.
• Connect it to the shared router via wired ethernet.
• Copy files from your external USB drive to the internal drive of your VBA.
• Future CD rips will go into the internal drive of the VBA.
• Use the USB output to a USB DAC. Some configuration is required to get this to work just right; but it is not hard at all.

To manage the Vortexbox, a Web GUI is available. You can use any web browser to access this web GUI.

Backups are important. To make a backup, connect the USB external drive to one of the USB ports of the VBA. Use the web GUI to make a backup to this USB drive. Backups are incremental - only new files will be added to the backup. Once the backup is completed, turn off and unplug the external USB drive until the next time.

Your existing PC could be the one that you use to run the web GUI on (since it is on the same home network). You would not need to turn it on unless you want to run the web GUI.

The VBA is on all the time. Since it runs squeezebox server, an iTunes server and a DLNA server, it can serve music to other devices in your home.

Here is a graphic I made. Note that the sound card to DAC connection shown below is an S/PDIF connection. You can run a USB connection to a USB DAC also.

Thanks for your response. I know Newbies are annoying on tech threads.

This sounds like what I'm after. I am ignorant of (even after reading about) the GUI. Is that an application like Media monkey (what I currently use as a ripping/tagging application) to see the library? Could you link me to the GUI(s) people are using? The freedb service only gets my tags right about 70% of the time. Do you make changes in the GUI?

And just to be clear, it's not a problem that the PC station is running Windows XP?

Since the VB is running Sqeezecenter, can I assume it recognizes itself (USB>DAC) as a device? So, could I move my Squeezebox to a secondary system, or will I still need the Squeezebox to interface with the VB? I guess I'm not clear why you're showing the Squeezebox connected to the stereo. The music is all on the VB running through the DAC. If I wanted internet radio, wouldn't that happen over the network, then through the DAC?

I have a wifi capable ipod touch I'm not using. Can that run the Application to interface with Squeezecenter?

I'm ripping/downloading FLAC files. Any problem downloading right onto the VB? From the PC station Via the GUI? I assume it is 24/96 capable?

Thanks again
 

[lcrim]

The diagram is not correct re: the Squeezebox Touch.  The Touch, if you are the using a Vortexbox, software or the appliance, is receiving data packets from the SqueezeBoxServer which runs on the VB.   You can view this through a browser pointed at the IP address of the VB and at port 9000 (192.168.x.x:9000)
Using a hard drive connected to the Touch's USB port is possible but certainly not recommended for best sound quality.  Check out this site for SW mods for a Touch http://soundcheck-audio.blogspot.com/2011/01/soundchecks-squeezebox-touch-toolbox-20.html
The Touch in the diagram should be connected to either analog inputs on the stereo or the coax or fber connection on the DAC and then to the stereo.
BTW: stock out of the box, the USB on the Touch is an input only.  There are SW mods to make it an output but the SPDIF quality is so good that wouldn't make sense.

[ashok]

The Touch in the diagram should be connected to either analog inputs on the stereo or the coax or fber connection on the DAC and then to the stereo.

Isn't this what the diagram shows now? Next to the arrow going from the Touch to the Stereo, I have a comment that says "Analog (or) S/PDIF through DAC". I suppose I could show an explicit S/PDIF path from the Touch to the DAC to the stereo.

The Wi-Fi symbol on the Touch is meant to show that it receives music as data packets from the Squeezebox Server on the Vortexbox (through the router).

It might be preferable to make this a wired connection.

[lcrim]

Ashok:
The data packets travel to the Touch via ethernet or WiFi.  Your diagram doesn't show this.  From the Touch, the music stream is either an analog output which can be played directly by the stereo or the SPDIF outputs need to be sent to a DAC then to the stereo.
I'm not trying to bust your chops but your diagram is adding confusion not clarity.
BTW: There is no soundcard in this example.

[ashok]

I'm not trying to bust your chops but your diagram is adding confusion not clarity.

Not a problem. Here are a couple of re-worked diagrams. Hopefully this removes any lingering confusion people might have.

Vortexbox connected to stereo using internal sound card

You could connect the analog output of the sound card directly to an analog input of the stereo, instead of going through a DAC.



==============================================================

Squeezebox Touch based setup

Note that a wired Ethernet connection is shown between the Touch and the router. VB sends the music as data packets across the Ethernet connection to the Touch. Therefore, a Wi-Fi connection may also be used instead of the wired one.

Also, the analog output of the Touch can be directly connected to the analog input of the stereo; you don't have to use a DAC.

[ashok]

Thanks for your response. I know Newbies are annoying on tech threads.

It is not a problem.

This sounds like what I'm after. I am ignorant of (even after reading about) the GUI. Is that an application like Media monkey (what I currently use as a ripping/tagging application) to see the library? Could you link me to the GUI(s) people are using? The freedb service only gets my tags right about 70% of the time. Do you make changes in the GUI?

And just to be clear, it's not a problem that the PC station is running Windows XP?

The web GUI I am referring to is a GUI that you run in a web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. It is for managing Vortexbox, and NOT for ripping, tagging, etc. Since it runs in a web browser, it does not matter what your operating system is. Simply open up a web browser on your PC station, and type http://vortexbox in the address bar and press Enter. Assuming your Vortexbox is present on the network, the web GUI should appear.

Ripping and tagging are automatically handled by Vortexbox. You just insert a CD into the VBA and it does the rest.

However, there will always be cases where the tags are not quite right, or you want to make changes to what Vortexbox did. In such cases, you can use Media Monkey running on your existing PC station with Windows XP. Point it to the Vortexbox internal folder where the FLAC files are stored, and you should be able to edit tags. I have not used Media Monkey, so I am not sure how easy it is do this. I use mp3tag for this purpose.

Since the VB is running Sqeezecenter, can I assume it recognizes itself (USB>DAC) as a device? So, could I move my Squeezebox to a secondary system, or will I still need the Squeezebox to interface with the VB? I guess I'm not clear why you're showing the Squeezebox connected to the stereo. The music is all on the VB running through the DAC. If I wanted internet radio, wouldn't that happen over the network, then through the DAC?

I showed the Squeezebox in my drawing as one way of connecting to the stereo. If going to the stereo via a sound card located inside the VBA or a USB DAC connected to the VBA, then, you do not need the squeezebox. It can be moved to a secondary system.

VB runs the squeezebox server (formerly called Squeezecenter, I think). It also comes with a dedicated player called Vortexbox Player. Now, Vortexbox Player will appear in Squeezebox Server as an available player. You can use Vortexbox player to send music out to your stereo. Vortexbox player is the software that plays the music; the hardware connection to your stereo would be via a USB DAC connected to the VBA, or a PCI sound card inside the VBA. Think of Vortexbox Player as being similar to Squeezeslave.

If you want internet radio, then simply ask Vortexbox player to play the internet radio stream, and it should go out via the associated hardware. I have not tried this yet, but do not doubt that it will work.

I have a wifi capable ipod touch I'm not using. Can that run the Application to interface with Squeezecenter?

The App is called iPeng (costs $10), downloadable from the Apple App store. I do not know if your iPod Touch can run it.

I'm ripping/downloading FLAC files. Any problem downloading right onto the VB? From the PC station Via the GUI? I assume it is 24/96 capable?

I have not downloaded directly into the Vortexbox computer yet. I first download onto my laptop, and then copy to the appropriate VB folder.

I do use VB for ripping CDs, so that the ripped FLAC files go directly into the appropriate VB folder.

Files that you download into your PC station can be copied into the appropriate folder inside the VBA by a drag-and-drop operation. See a screenshot in one of my earlier posts.

Even if you continue to use your PC station to do the ripping, you would use the same drag-and-drop operation to copy the files to your VBA.

Also see this link: Copying music files to Vortexbox

Vortexbox runs linux (Fedora). Via USB, it is capable of up to 24 bits / 192kHz (assuming the USB hardware on the computer running Vortexbox is capable of handling it).

Linux does have very good support for a large number of sound cards too. I am using an Asus Xonar DS 7.1 – its S/PDIF output feeds into an external DAC. It is capable of all standard bit depths up to 24 and sampling rates up to 192kHz.

[mcgsxr]

I have iPeng running on an iTouch, it works great.

As an update to where I stand on this, I have generated the 1.7 ISO disc, and am close to installing.  I will buy an extra used small (80G) drive and install Vortexbox on that, so I can always swap it out for my XP drive if I need to.

Just my inexperience with Linux, and the desire to be able to return to a "known" state in a matter of minutes.

[Rusty Jefferson]

Thanks for answering my questions. I know it was a little off topic, but I will post about my progress.

[mcgsxr]

I think it is great to take this thread anywhere it goes, as it relates to VTB.

Lots of areas to learn about, keep it coming folks!

[eclein]

How accurate are your rips?? I know one of the reasons I want to do a VB is to re-rip a bunch of my CD's that did not import well on my laptop. Clean the CD, throw it in the Vortexbox, and an accurate rip??
TY

[AVnerdguy]

How accurate are your rips?? I know one of the reasons I want to do a VB is to re-rip a bunch of my CD's that did not import well on my laptop. Clean the CD, throw it in the Vortexbox, and an accurate rip??
TY

I did an A/B with the Squeezbox and my CD player running identical material simultaneously. Although there are very subtle differences in the sound quality I attribute that to the CD player vs. the Squeezbox and not to the material coming from the VortexBox. I do mean very subtle. All the same info is there but the CD has a bit more "air" than the Squeezbox. The detail of the info is identical as far as I can tell while listening for buried instruments, rim shots, triangles, etc.