Topic: Help please: laptop, flacs ina new media room

[rhett]

I am in the process of having a new media room built in my basement.   Approx 18x15.   My thought process is to have a couple of big hard drives to play flacs through.   The room will be set up for surround sound 7.1.   The guy will run whatever kind of wiring I want wherever I want it.  My problem is I really dont know where to begin. 

Do I use a laptop and hook into a nice receiver?   
Do I use something like a squeeze box? 

Looking for some guidance or suggestions

Thanks!

[kindms]

I am in the process of having a new media room built in my basement.   Approx 18x15.   My thought process is to have a couple of big hard drives to play flacs through.   The room will be set up for surround sound 7.1.   The guy will run whatever kind of wiring I want wherever I want it.  My problem is I really dont know where to begin. 

Do I use a laptop and hook into a nice receiver?   
Do I use something like a squeeze box? 

Looking for some guidance or suggestions

Thanks!

Do you currently have flac files stored somewhere in your home ? (ie. pc laptop etc) ?

If starting from scratch I would suggest a centralized server to act as your main media storage. A simply PC or mac or whatever can take on this role nicely. Now getting it to your stereo is going to be where you make your decisions.

Option #1
Have your PC / mac media server directly connected to the stereo. This requires that the computer be relatively close to the stereo setup. It also brings the issue of PC related noise in to the mix (ie fans etc etc)

Option #2
Use a squeezebox device. This gives you a lot of flexibility as the media server does not need to be anywhere near the stereo. It can be anywhere in your home provided it can feed a signal to the squeezebox


I went with option #1 when I tied my PC into my stereo. I did this before the squeezebox was out so there really wasn't an option #2. If I was doing it again today w/o question I would use a squeezebox product. It eliminates the need to have a really highend PC soundcard. it eliminates the computer being in proximity, and it has a nice small form factor and from what everyone says sounds great.

I would have the installer run 2 or 3 ethernet runs from the back of the stereo area to a central point where you can tie it in to your computer network. You could also not do any ethernt runs and just use the wireless function of the squeezebox but if i had the opportunity to run ethernet I would do it now. It will allow you to be hardwired for the squeezebox as well as any other systems that you might want to use here (Ps3, xbox etc) also newer HDTVs are coming with ethernet as well. You really only need 1 run and could just add a hub or switch at either end to give yourself the necessary jacks so whatever makes sense to you.

Hope this makes sense.

[jbraveman]

I would run some ethernet cable.
You can store your files elsewhere on a computer/NAS with plenty of fans etc.
You can then integrate a fanless, noiseless computer into the stereo system.
Same idea with a squeezebox.

[rhett]

Thanks for the input.  Currently I have a shit load of flacs on TY cds plus a couple of hard drives in a dark cool buffet.  The installer was talking about running CAD 5 (?) wherever, but he will do whatever I want.   I saw that the squeezebox has like a high end one (1500$) that is supposed to be audiophile quality.   Is this really necessary?

[jbraveman]

The great thing about the squeezebox is that it gives you near instant access to everything in your collection.  The transporter has a great reputation.  Of course, one's need for high end components is a totally personal decision.  I'm happy with the sound out of the squeezebox (duet).  The touch (coming out in december) supports native sampling rates up to 24/96.  I run mine through the spdif input in my receiver, although many people are satisfied with the analog outputs from box itself.

There are also a number of ways to remotely control the squeezebox.  There are a variety of controllers, including one with a graphical display that comes with the duet.  Also there is software for iphone or touch to control the music.  The gui can be brought up on any computer on the same network as the squeezebox.  And then there is the remote streaming capability.....

My preference for flac storage is a NAS.  I've been happy with the one I built (freenas.org).  I don't use RAID, but use automatic backups (rsync) to make backups of the library.  I've had bad luck with external drives chained together via usb hubs.  If you go the squeezebox route you need a computer running the server software.  It makes sense to use that same computer to store the files as well (depending on how much storage you need).  You can put your drives in that and dump your flacs off the discs.  It does take some time to tag everything so it shows up properly.  It's taken me almost a year to populate my system.  I've got around 91k tracks at about 4.5 TB.  All my CDs are ripped and all my backup DVDs from downloads are gone through.

[kindms]

The great thing about the squeezebox is that it gives you near instant access to everything in your collection.  The transporter has a great reputation.  Of course, one's need for high end components is a totally personal decision.  I'm happy with the sound out of the squeezebox (duet).  The touch (coming out in december) supports native sampling rates up to 24/96.  I run mine through the spdif input in my receiver, although many people are satisfied with the analog outputs from box itself.

There are also a number of ways to remotely control the squeezebox.  There are a variety of controllers, including one with a graphical display that comes with the duet.  Also there is software for iphone or touch to control the music.  The gui can be brought up on any computer on the same network as the squeezebox.  And then there is the remote streaming capability.....

My preference for flac storage is a NAS.  I've been happy with the one I built (freenas.org).  I don't use RAID, but use automatic backups (rsync) to make backups of the library.  I've had bad luck with external drives chained together via usb hubs.  If you go the squeezebox route you need a computer running the server software.  It makes sense to use that same computer to store the files as well (depending on how much storage you need).  You can put your drives in that and dump your flacs off the discs.  It does take some time to tag everything so it shows up properly.  It's taken me almost a year to populate my system.  I've got around 91k tracks at about 4.5 TB.  All my CDs are ripped and all my backup DVDs from downloads are gone through.

Nice. It can be a daunting project. I find myself tagging the shows etc early sat and sun morning while the lady is sleeping late. I put on the headphones, have a cup of coffee and get to work.

[momule]

Squeezeboxes are Wayyy over priced. IMO squeezebox is only a good if you are tech challenged as they are much more stupid proof. 

I would suggest a central server and a netbook or lappy to act as an interface.  Run some speaker and cat 5/6 cable
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=9829

I would suggest looking for a receiver/tuner that will handle DTS-HD Master Audio & Dolby TrueHD as they are gonna be the new format for blueray.

[kindms]

Squeezeboxes are Wayyy over priced. IMO squeezebox is only a good if you are tech challenged as they are much more stupid proof. 

I would suggest a central server and a netbook or lappy to act as an interface.  Run some speaker and cat 5/6 cable
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=9829

I would suggest looking for a receiver/tuner that will handle DTS-HD Master Audio & Dolby TrueHD as they are gonna be the new format for blueray.

Not to argue with you but a decent sound card that is going to feed a primary playback system is going to run anywhere from 100 - 200 dollars at least. Of course you can always cut corners and go the cheap route but why bother. He also didnt say this was for movie payback but for audio. If he wants to do video there are some other issues to keep in mind

A squeezebox is only like 200 bucks. It eliminates the need to have the computer right there and has some other nice features like remote etc.

My setup is similar to what you describe. DVI-D> HDTV, COAX > mambo > VR-2's

Netbook alone is going to cost 300 bucks. he already has a computer all he needs is a nice way to interface with his playback

Thanks for the input.  Currently I have a shit load of flacs on TY cds plus a couple of hard drives in a dark cool buffet.  The installer was talking about running CAD 5 (?) wherever, but he will do whatever I want.   I saw that the squeezebox has like a high end one (1500$) that is supposed to be audiophile quality.   Is this really necessary?

He probably said CAT-5 which is ethernet (pretty much interchangeable terms). So the guy has a similar idea in mind.

Whether or not you want to go the very high end is up to you but the standard squeezebox will do what you want.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

I agree with using a squeezebox or some other fixed installation client.  Using a laptop that you have to connect whenever you want to listen to music is a pain and it can't be available for others when you carry the laptop away from the system.

I didn't get a squeezebox.  I bought a Mvix Ultio for thin client.  The box will host an internal HDD but I've been putting all my new recordings and transferring all my optical back-ups (audio and video) to a networked server so I'm not bothering with internal storage in the ultio.  The UI is a bit clunky but the development core is open source and there is a community building.

(to add) Instead of running cable I would get an N wireless router but if you do run cable you should install cable that will reliably handle gigE.

[sygdwm]

just another option to consider:

 i have a POS pc w/ a maudio audiophile 2496 soundcard (waaaaay less than 200 bucks- esp used), stuffed full of hd's, on my home network, and hooked to my stereo via coax. i have a monitor, mouse, and keyboard if myself or others wanna play "dj" or remote dektop in via my laptop if i dont want to get off the couch.

[Lil Kim Jong-Il]

remote dektop in via my laptop if i dont want to get off the couch.

that reminds me, some of the linux htpc apps expose a web interface.  You can probably control the thing using your iphone browser.  how cool would that be.

[audBall]

Chiming in as I might be getting a new laptop soon and am looking for ways to connect to my DAC.  I currently run desktop > ap2496 (coax out). 

My DAC does not accept USB/Firewire and I'm trying to avoid the PC > external interface method if possible.  With PCMCIA a thing of the past, are there any card options to send a digi signal?  Are there options to connect to an ExpressCard?

[Tim]

these have intrigued me for sometime and Stereophile gave both the $300 and $100 versions very good reviews in the latest issue,
http://www.musicdirect.com/product/85434
http://www.musicdirect.com/product/85279

Absolute Sound has given them great reviews too.

It's on my Christmas list

[Tim]

Michael - which network server are you using?

[audBall]

This looks like a decent option for a compact USB > Digi converter:
http://tinyurl.com/yf8ls2t

Here's some extensive discussion about it on Head-Fi:
http://tinyurl.com/yl394dl (edit - <<<why is link not blue?)

Someone states in the thread above that playback through Foobar (using Windows drivers) is not bit-perfect, but it is through KS.  What is 'KS'?   
edit- Found: Kernel Streaming