RobK Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Anyone have a recommendation for one of these? I'm in the process of ripping all my CDs to lossless FLAC format and I want to be able to play them through the hi-fi. Do the devices that play video files cost much more? I currently use a small PC hooked up to the TV but it's quite noisy, hence why I don't want to use it for the music playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burble Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 A friend of mine has a Squeezebox Duet and he's very impressed with it. He has his connected using ethernet because he has a gigabit switch in his HiFi rack anyway but I don't believe he had any issues when he was using the 802.11g wireless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crasher Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 I use the Sonos music system. I have 3 units (zones) and 1 controller. They stream music from networked storage (mine is a Buffalo 2TB NAs), or from the internet (Napster or radio etc). 2 of my units are amp-less and hook into external amps (one into my AV amp and another into a Yamaha sound bar). The 3rd unit i have has a built in amp so hooks direct to speakers. They operate on their own MESH network, or can be hard-wired (mine are hardwired). The controller is able to control the music in all zones, so you can have different music in all 3 zones etc. The system is expandable (adding more zones and controllers). The kit is expensive, but the starter kits work out good value for money. Mines been in use for several months now, and apart for some teething troubles i had with the wireless (hence reverting to ethernet cables) at the start these have behaved without fault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teacake Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Squeezebox all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bullett Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 I use my PS3 as a media hub for Music/Video/Photos (oh and games) the media is hosted off a server in the office (Mirrored RAID array) and I use Twonky as the serving application. All access is over wireless G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riz Posted June 26, 2008 Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 I use my PlayStation3 too.... have a 1TB usb hdd linked to it.... link the PlayStation3 upto a decent amp and speakers.... does the job and plays movies well too. Riz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mb Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 I use a Roku Soundbridge now Pinnacle I think It used to be streamed wirelessly from a PC but I now have it hardwired into a Buffalo NAS box which it streams from. With the wireless PC connection it did drop the connection a couple of times & the user interface is a bit "1st Generation" but for the price it is great as I didn't have to buy anything else infact will proabably buy a 2nd for the dining room to connect wirelessly rather than route the cable there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobK Posted June 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 Thanks for all the suggestions I think the Sonos is a bit pricey for me but I'll definitely look into the Squeezebox and maybe a PS3. BTW how loud is the PS3? I used to use an XBOX with XBMC on as a media player but the fans were really loud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Posted June 30, 2008 Report Share Posted June 30, 2008 It's actually not bad. I'm a fussy little fecker about stuff like that and the PS3 doesn't bother me. No way at all could I watch a DVD on the XBOX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 I wouldn't want to be without my Squeezeboxes. The sound is indistinguishable from playing the CD on my Arcam 9, but a heck of a lot more convenient. The question is what server to use. At first I used a QNAP NAS but, as the facilities of the server software were enhanced, the poor little NAS ran out of steam. I now use a neat little Shuttle box, running Ubuntu. As a matter of fact, I'm using the Shuttle to access TSN too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chav Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 laptops are £250. dont understand benefits of sonos etc. (i do - but i dont see them as benefits) just buy a laptop, setup a synchronised wireless folder to your music. copy it all across to laptop automatically and then laptop out to hifi. if you're anal about quality a 24bit usb sound card will sound ace. you can then use good software like winamp or dj stuff to queue your tracks etc and a nice big display so you can see whats playing. remotes for laptop no problemo either if you want to hold something in your hand. but browsing the web often comes in tandem with listening to music - so a laptop does it all. modern ones much cooler/quieter than old ones. or silence your existing pc.... buy a cheapo silent graphics card, add a big heatpipe cpu cooler and turn all the case fans off! it wont overheat unless its overclocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobK Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Not a bad idea, Chav. Any idea what sort of laptop I'd need for playing back high def video files (1080p)? I couldn't really silence my existing media PC as it is an Asus Terminator case and has a non standard PSU with a really loud whiney fan. Could just unplug the fan and see if it blows up I guess! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now