The dinosaur is going wireless finally......

Wayner · « **on:** 5 Feb 2011, 08:18 pm »

On Thursday, I will be taking the big leap of going to wireless internet service (coming from 52k dial up) and now am thinking that a whole new bunch of options are open to me. Certainly one option is to float some music over to the main system from my computer. Options include but not limited to 1) a squeezebox or 2) SONUS or 3) something else.

Now from what I have read, there may be some problems coming my way, because most of my music is recorded vinyl, so there are no song titles, or anything like that. They are in a file that has the name of the group and the album, so which system is going to be more friendly with this kind of set-up and music? I certainly don't want to make any playlists, so any words of wisdom will be appreciated.

Wayner

Tone Depth · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Feb 2011, 08:47 pm »

Have you checked out the Discless Circle yet? Seems like there is a lot of info over there.

ratso · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Feb 2011, 08:57 pm »

there are tagging programs that try to "guess" what song you have by it's sonic (is that the right word?) profile but i don't think they're too accurate. of course, you can keep them the way they are and it won't really hurt anything - you are, after all, using the files now without song names. if you decide to add more detailed tags to your files, mp3tag is one of the best ways to start and free. it should pull up the current tags you do have (artist, album title, etc). as for hardware i have used both touch (current) and sonus (past). the sonus has a nicer interface but isn't hi-rez (if you consider 96/24 high rez). any system should play nice with the files you have. and as you go along if you want more structure/detail/organization you can add it as you go.

Wayner · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Feb 2011, 09:14 pm »

Tone Depth, thanks, I forgot about that circle.

Ratso, thanks for the heads up. I think I'm leaning towards the squeezebox, cause the bad stuff I read was actually about the Sonus. Not to sound too stupid, but what is "touch" device?

Wayner

kip_ · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Feb 2011, 10:00 pm »

The Squeezebox Touch is Logitech's latest and greatest - supposed to have excellent stock sonics

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-930-000090-Squeezebox-Touch/dp/B002LARRDA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296943184&sr=8-1

AVnerdguy · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Feb 2011, 10:58 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 5 Feb 2011, 09:14 pm

Tone Depth, thanks, I forgot about that circle.

Ratso, thanks for the heads up. I think I'm leaning towards the squeezebox, cause the bad stuff I read was actually about the Sonus. Not to sound too stupid, but what is "touch" device?

Wayner

Definitely good info in the discless circle. I'm using the Squeezbox Touch (wireless) and I think it sounds excellent. The Touch refers to the interface - touch screen technology. Of course you can control from any computer or the remote. Was feeding from my tower and laptop but have since gone to a Vortexbox appliance. Very convenient.

I haven't found any decent software for your vinyl issue though. I've resorted to picking a few discs per day and loading manually.

charmerci · « **Reply #6 on:** 6 Feb 2011, 01:06 am »

Quote from: AVnerdguy on 5 Feb 2011, 10:58 pm

Definitely good info in the discless circle. I'm using the Squeezbox Touch (wireless) and I think it sounds excellent. The Touch refers to the interface - touch screen technology. Of course you can control from any computer or the remote. Was feeding from my tower and laptop but have since gone to a Vortexbox appliance. Very convenient.

For those like me who don't know, what's a Vortexbox appliance?

pansixt · « **Reply #7 on:** 6 Feb 2011, 01:23 am »

I had the same question about a VBOX appliance.
Found out it is a Linux based app for digital music serving.
I have many other questions about discless.
So I went to that circle and started a new topic. Discless for beginners.
Anyone cares to view it, I could use the help.
Thanks,
James

trebejo · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 Feb 2011, 07:05 am »

Squeezebox has worked well for me for many years. There was a bit of the open source etc. about the device in the early days and even though it comes from Logitech now this aspect has not changed--in other words, your tracks are still your tracks.

If you are using a Mac, there is a program called Media Rage that does some excellent things using the names of directories (and their hierarchies) to automatically tag all the tracks it finds inside that directory tree. That is just one example; it is friendly to regular expressions, so you can automate many conversion and tagging tasks. At the end of the day, you find you used far fewer keystrokes and mouseclicks with a tool like that.

I'm sure Windows has a similar tool, but I don't know about it.

David C · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 Feb 2011, 01:16 pm »

Wayner
a +1 for the squeezebox set up. I started with a Squeezebox then moved to the Transporter. The software is easy to use and I have had no problems. You set the path to your files and it will load them all in the software and allow you to access them with ease. If I were doing it today I would go for the Touch. Not too expensive, does hi res and is rated well for both digital and analogue outputs. Good luck with the new set up and let us know what you land on. PS I also enjoy the digital web FM staions that come thru the squeezebox.

David

1965 · « **Reply #10 on:** 8 Feb 2011, 12:16 am »

Wayner,
Very interested in this. My ten year old was the impetus. We bought him a xbox player for Christmas, not knowing he can get online and play with his buddies! But, has to be wireless, computer too far away from living room. So like you said this opens up possibilities I have heard about but not researched. Thanks for the thread!
Louie

wilsynet · « **Reply #11 on:** 8 Feb 2011, 01:13 am »

Quote from: Wayner on 5 Feb 2011, 08:18 pm

On Thursday, I will be taking the big leap of going to wireless internet service (coming from 52k dial up) and now am thinking that a whole new bunch of options are open to me.

What is an example of wireless internet service? Do you mean, for example, you're getting a AT&T DSL line and the home gateway that is bundled with it is also a WiFi access point?

AVnerdguy · « **Reply #12 on:** 8 Feb 2011, 01:28 am »

OOOPS. Sorry, an explanation should've accompanied the Vortexbox thing. A VBOX is a dedicated Linux based small form factor computer that does everything for you. Simply load a disc and the software rips and tags and it has Squeezebox server built in as well. The fastest way to get running for a beginner (I know someone will dispute this but it is really simple). The advantage of using a sff computer is that it frees up your laptop or tower to do the things they are normally used for. It is also very efficient and runs 24/7 and draws about 25 watts. Some folks build their own and use a fanless box with solid state memory so they have the quiet factor. I bought the 1TB solution from the Green Computing site and am happy with that - quiet and sits in the office humming along. It's headless so you can put it anywhere - like a closet. You can access it via your network connection and you can see all you need to see. Most of the time I don't look into it and just pull up info on the Squeezebox Touch. Great seamless solution if you're not a computer geek but want to go this route for convenience (me). And, it sounds very very good. It really does.....and then I don't have to pick out discs and get downstairs and realize that maybe I wanted to hear something else. Info at www.vortexbox.org

strat95 · « **Reply #13 on:** 8 Feb 2011, 03:20 am »

Wayner,

If you do go squeezebox I suggest iPeng software (http://penguinlovesmusic.de/) on an iPhone or iPod Touch to act as a remote control. It is highly recommended by many and makes access to your library way better than the stock remote.

Enjoy the transition.

Ted

1965 · « **Reply #14 on:** 8 Feb 2011, 10:42 pm »

Wilsynet,
Not exactly sure what Wayner will be doing but this is what I just did; I have a dsl router. I went to Walmart and bought a wireless router. Belkin n600. It hooks up to the router I have and sends a wireless signal to my son's xbox player and my Macbook. I also just found out I can play internet fm over this xbox also. Not sure what quality, I haven't gotten that far yet.
Take care,
Louie

trebejo · « **Reply #15 on:** 9 Feb 2011, 12:14 am »

For the linux-inclined, this thread is substantial,

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0

Keep in mind that as the collection grows, file management begins to matter. For example, if your backups are not worth mentioning and you crash your N,000-album collection, it could sting.

Hence the paradox. It is unsatisfactory to require a computer just to play the stereo, but on the other hand... terabytes of data... human doing the surfing... no cpu... difficult combination!

AVnerdguy · « **Reply #16 on:** 9 Feb 2011, 12:28 am »

Quote from: trebejo on 9 Feb 2011, 12:14 am

For the linux-inclined, this thread is substantial,

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=62364.0

Keep in mind that as the collection grows, file management begins to matter. For example, if your backups are not worth mentioning and you crash your N,000-album collection, it could sting.

Hence the paradox. It is unsatisfactory to require a computer just to play the stereo, but on the other hand... terabytes of data... human doing the surfing... no cpu... difficult combination!

Indeed, they are. I have 2 backups. Both on 1Tb removables stored in different locations. Needless to say - I learned a hard lesson at one time. The good news is that the backup process with the appliance is painless and very simple - a 1 button click. I've been doing it in incremental stages as I rip new titles and it has been painless.

rez · « **Reply #17 on:** 9 Feb 2011, 01:39 am »

Time machine on the Mac works pretty well for "set and forget" data backup - I've used it for recovery a few times in the past 3 years or so - mostly for recovering inadvertently deleted files. I tried a number of solutions over the years but this one has worked best for me.

Wayner · « **Reply #18 on:** 10 Feb 2011, 10:04 pm »

Got the install today and it took 2 hours. Technology is out of control. The router would have plenty of signal, but pass no data. All of sudden, everything worked. I told the techy guy to go back to the office and write a summary page on what happened. He looked at me and laughed.

Anyway, I shouldn't have to worry about being cut off anymore from my horse shit dial-up. I think I've just crossed into the later part of the 20th century.

Wayner

rcag_ils · « **Reply #19 on:** 10 Feb 2011, 11:27 pm »

Quote

On Thursday, I will be taking the big leap of going to wireless internet service (coming from 52k dial up) and now am thinking that a whole new bunch of options are open to me.

Let me get this straight, you are saying that you go from a dial up to wireless internet, not dial up to ethernet, then to wireless.

If the first is true, then I wonder how did you bid and snipe win anything on Ebay with your dial up. I would never admit to I am a dinosaur, you probably have a few years over me, but I got my DSL in early 2008, then went wireless two months after that, and it was like switching from a VW bug to a Ferrari.

Today I set up my wireless printer on my wireless home network and I love it, it was a breeze to set it up.

While I was setting up my wireless network, I was listening to my reel to reel, I'd never trust the internet digital music. I wouldn't know an ipod from a smart phone.