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Linux Based MP3 Stereo
An anonymous reader noted a story running at LinuxDevices about a vaporous device called Hi-Muse.
It's got its problems (not being available, ugly design) but it's got a lot of potential (a 15 gig hard drive in such a small form factor, built in FM tuner, ethernet port). Personally I'd rather see a standard stereo component sized box, a UI that operates through your television and normal remote, and 30+ gigs, but this one is looking like a great start.
<P>
- A.P.
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Forget Napster. Why not really break the law?
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
- A.P.
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Forget Napster. Why not really break the law?
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
This looks like a neat-o gadget and all, but my attention is drawn to this part of the write-up:
online shops where users can purchase concert tickets, music subscriptions, and merchandise; etc.
Come on! Is anyone ever going to use a device like this to purchase music or tickets, or better yet, Brittney Spears' tshirts on the web? Surfing on my wireless phone is horrible enough that I'll never do it, but somehow I'm going to want to purchase things with a Walkman tied to an ethernet network? Blah. Why must all gadgets include this sort of semi-useless Internet Service hoo-hah?
toot toot
You might want to look at an AudioRequest. It has ethernet, a TV- or front panel-based UI, 30 GB of disk, plus ethernet, etc. etc. The remote works just fine as well. It also does things like automatic freecddb lookups, automatic encoding and catagorizing, plays CD-Rs burned full of MP3s, and lots more.
It's a QNX-based device. But it's all about the right tool for the job, right? I could personally care less whether my AudioRequest runs Linux or not as long as it actually runs. Worth mentioning, I guess.
-B
Ash and Hickory, straight-grained and true, make excellent bludgeons, dandy for the cudgeling of vegetarians.
Here is a quote from the the last page of the article:
Am I the only one who thinks that something may be wrong if some "companies involved in the music business" can see at any time what I am currently listening to (in my living room), or what I have been listening to during the year?
I do not know how much information is stored in these "system logs", but even the simple fact of knowing that I am currently listening to some music or not (even without knowing what it is) can be a risk. More exactly, allowing strangers to know that I have not been listening to anything in the last week although I was previously using this service regularly could mean that I am not at home for a while. This could be an open invitation to some burglars... And all this without even knowing what I am listening to. But I assume that the logs store this information as well, which could be interesting for many companies... but not in a way that I am confortable with.
-Raphaël
Why have an internal hard disk at all? It requires you to distrute the music to the edge. You don't have a backup and what you end up doing is paying for a very expensive hard disk.
/audio or /my music
What you want is the Audiotron.
For the same price, you could put several of them around your house and connect them to the linux computer you already have, which could be the central music server.
Basically, you plug it into your network through it's ethernet port and turn it on. It scans all SAMBA shares for mp3 music in
and lets you select from the IR remote. The output is a SPDIF jack, RCA stereo jacks and a headphone jack. The list price is $299 (cheaper other places).
The only other thing I found was the dell digital audio reciever, but it's totally tied to windows and I think it requires real player installation. It's inexpensive though - $199.
Another interesting one is the harman kardon/zapstation. It can do the same thing, but with video as well. However, if you look deeper into the specs, it's another pile of crap: they try to control everything about the device. You can't load DVD's onto the hard disk, and it incorporates most of the other controlware tactics.
My Sony CD changer (CDCX450) has a video out that puts the song name/album name on the TV. I think it's handy so you can tell what song is playing, if you care to know when it's in random mode.
Also, with concert DVD's you can get 5.1 surround sound, plus see that footage on TV, if you like.
There's lotsa reasons to have the TV interface, you just need to think about it.
-This sig intentionally left blank
The Ucentric box goes further by allowing you to control the music and other features from a TV UI, or any browser interface. So, you don't need to overhaul the technology that is currently in your home in order to take advantage of New Things. The screen shots on info on Ucentric's homepage isn't very end-user friendly, but if you poke around enough there are some screen shots and additional informations.
There is also DHCP/firewall/router/etc functions built into the box, and the ability to interact with a video feed, plus a handful of other applications built-in.
And, of course, the Ucentric box is based on linux :)
I guess some of it comes down to a mindset of the end-user. Personally, I've got a few nice stereo's or boom boxes in my house, I'd hate to have to buy a new compoent (Hi-Muse, Kerbango, whatever) for *each* one, the Hi-Muse seems like a set-top box for your stereo. Not for me, but maybe others will go for it.
-This sig intentionally left blank
For a while, I had something similar built up under the TV, only with a K6-200, 32 megs of RAM, and no hard drive. It net-booted off the server in my coat closet. The most expensive part of the system was an Acer IR wireless keyboard/thumbpad-pointing-thingy :-) that set me back about $55. Before I got a standalone DVD player, it had a hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, and a Dxr2 so that I could play DVDs as well as MP3s on it (it was running Win95 at the time as there was no Linux support for the Dxr2).
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
You must not have heard of the Apex AD-600A and similar products. While it's primarily a DVD player (one that's easily made region-free and Macrovision-free), it also plays MP3 CDs. It looks like any other DVD player, so it blends in with the other stuff in your A/V stack.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
Set top boxes. Wait for another few months and you'll be able to buy a number of NFS or HD bootable boxes from Motorola, Nokia, and others. I develop software for these boxes for my day job, and they do what everyone wants - have enough CPU to decode mp3, nice mpeg codecs, some of them run linux, and they look really nice in your entertainment center.
Save your money, wait for some standardized platforms to come out (Keep your eyes on the Nokia STB) and start up some open source interactive content management software that looks good on a TV. That's all these things are!
Alternatively, get a PC with a TV out card and stick it by the television. That's what I did. :)
I mean, we're supposed to be technically inclined here! :)
..don't panic
1) use a USB sound adapter. Several different ones exist and they aren't all that expensive (Sony bundles them with some of their Minidisc players).
2) use an optical link to your stereo. Several of the high end Sound Blaster cards have a toslink port on the back which should give you noise free audio output to your stereo.
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I don't want free as in beer. I just want free beer.
If you still want to experiment with this, I'd suggest building your shield from copper sheeting. You can usually buy this in rolls at a hardware store. The thinner you go the easier it will be to work with. Fold it into a box around your soundcard and make sure to close all gaps at the edges with solder.
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I don't want free as in beer. I just want free beer.
Not vapourware? Great! Now where was it I can buy one of these? BTW, 10 hours of digital video storage space is pathetically low. If this thing is self-upgradable, it might have a chance as a PVR. But with a 10-hour capacity, TiVo and Microsoft have little to fear. Nokia has a good start though, I'd certainly like to have some of these features on my TiVo.
"Personally I'd rather see a standard stereo component sized box, a UI that operates through your television and normal remote, and 30+ gigs, but this one is looking like a great start."
Then get an Audio Request.
This has been around a pretty long time; I built a component stereo MP3 player almost 2 years ago now.
It runs all the mp3's off of my serve in the basement over ethernet, so there is no need for a hard drive or any other spinning, noisy moving parts.
It's pretty cool, and it cost maybe $100 to put together. And it is very non-vapor, cause I've been using it for many moons.
Running Linux?
Fully open platform?
I think you want the Nokia Media Terminal - which btw, isn't vapourware and is fully supported by one of the largest companies there is ...
it's in my head
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/3863 /uir/index.html
A IR reciever in one end, a 9 pin serial port in the other, easily buildable if you've got a soldering iron and can read circuit diagrams. Look for the winamp plugin, the Remote Selector program that ties into popular DVD software, and UIRD for UNIX, which is, I believe, mostly written in PERL.
Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
Is it just me or is a 533MHz Celeron WAY overkill for an MP3 player? I'm glad they are considering more integrated chips from TI and Cirrus.
Sony Digital Relay, you mean :-)
Why not, though? But that would be the high-end model...
/Brian
People want standard stereo-sized MP3 components. I agree. What I don't get is why none of the few that I've seen are like this: -Built-in CD-ROM (so it can replace your CD player if you feel like it) -razor-thin (like 4cm) form factor. You don't need much for this thing. -Option of front-panel and TV control. -Built-in ripping capability and a USB port to add a burner. Apart from the form factor, you could just as easily do this with a pizza-box-case PC with a TV-out card, but it would probably be more expensive than would be practical. Come to think of it, that would be a great way to build your own Ultimate Jukebox as well -- all you need is a coinbox and a touchscreen... /Brian
Given the presence of thing like the new MS system that lets business autolock you out of different files, you got to wonder if RIAA got their claws into the hardware maker.
although I do note:
Input/output interfaces -- the device provides analog and optical audio output ports, an analog input port, a video output port, three USB ports, and one Ethernet port. The USB ports cab be used to connect a modem, MP3 player, and other supported peripherals (additional storage units, keyboard, etc.). The Ethernet port connects the Hi-Muse to either a PC or a local network. The video output port provides optional connection to a TV, resulting in the display of album covers, pictures of the artist, or access to the artist's website. . . available (or planned) add-ons for the Hi-Muse include a CD writer module (secured audio format
Well, it seems like there shound be some options to mess around with it there. But the front door may be locked.
Check out the Vinny the Vampire comic strip
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
I'm not too sure about this one. Despite what fans tell me, you can still tell the difference between compressed music and a CD, and I personally consider mp3 a personal portable format - great for walkmen or background sound off a computer, but if I wanted to actively listen to some music I think I'd go with a real hifi and a CD player. For $700 (or even the projected lower price), you could buy quite a nice high capacity CD jukebox unit.
If they make it cheap enough though, it could definitely score in the same way as my minidisc seperate does. I don't listen to it, but it's really useful for recording minidiscs for the walkman or car stereo - if they can get this unit to talk to the currently available portable mp3 players _without_ the use of a PC, that would be very useful. Oh well - best of luck to them - anything that popularises mp3 above microsofts new closed format is fine by me.
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ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!
I want something like Scot Hacker described in this article (Be's BeIA-based Aura device, aka HARP, aka Home Audio Reference Platform). Aside from doing everything else that's cool, it will either hook up to it's own LCD panel, or to your TV set, to have full visual GUI for navigation.
Plus you gotta have wireless ethernet, so you and your entire family can stream all their MP3's -- AT THE SAME TIME -- to their Wi-Fi "net speakers," located throughout the house and underwater in the swimming pool. Each net speaker set can be controlled by any Wi-Fi webpad or computer system on your network, of course.
And some people think there's no market for IA's... what visionless morons!
"And like that
"Personally I'd rather see a standard stereo component sized box, a UI that operates through your television and normal remote, and 30+ gigs, but this one is looking like a great start."
www.zapmedia.com
Oh great, someone has a walkman / clockradio that more powerful than my PC at home. Geeks have the coolest shit.
Murphy's Law of Copiers
I love the smell of Karma in the morning
I just use a Mac in every room to drive the stereo and television. Playing files off other machines in the network is no problem.
I think component MP3 products are redundant. Your laptop can do the same thing, anywhere. I suppose a portable and rechargable power amp would be nice.
What we need are better consumer video capture cards and a software based TIVOlike systems.
If anyone knows of a cableTVhack for Mac please let me know, thats one thing the PC's still hold over us oppressed Macintosh Loyalists. I shouldn't hold my breath.
I kind of like things that I can buy now at a price I can afford, like this one with a hard drive for $200 or any of these anywhere from $120 to $380 if I just want a portable...
I do everything the voices in my head tell me to...
MP3 players need to be SIMPLE. What would be the most successful would be an integration of MP3 capabilities into current CD players in standard stereos (both those tiny shelf ones and component systems). Stereo manufacturers have long since perfected the design, and sound reproduction issues. There's no sense in re-inventing the wheel. And keep it simple! A TV interface? C'mon. That's ridiculous. It's music, for God's sake! Put the title of the track on the display on the CD player, and let it be.
This could be a killer device, though the referenced device sounds nice, too. Wonder what the final cost will be to consumers, provided it actually makes it to consumers in quantity...
And that's my $0.32 (adjusted for inflation).
I think many geeks, myself included, have been looking for quality MP3 players for our home audio shrin^H^H^H^H^Hsytems for quite some time. All the big audio producers have been so far unwilling to produce such a thing because of the current IP-rights clusterfuck going on between RIAA and the computer industry. While the technology is available and in demand, you can be sure as hell that Sony sure won't produce an MP3 stereo compononent.
This new development is letting the genie out of the bottle, so to speak, even if it is vapour. It lets the people who would otherwise hold off on such a product in favor of handhelds and portables realize that they're about to lose out on a new market. Who's going to be next to make a MP3 component? Diamond? The folks who brought you TIVO?
Sony may never come out with an MP3 component for your stereo system, but you can sure as hell bet that once a demand is evident, it will be met one way or the other.
The next Slashdot story will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and slashdot the links early!
But that doesn't address the copywrite issue. They talk about a possible p2p network, so how are they going to avoid a napster-style situation, where people share their music between their jukeboxes? Dont get me wrong, i love the idea of these and would love to own one right now, but I dont want the RIAA telling me i cant use it anymore...
Maybe not the optimum solution for Uncle Pete in the retirement home, but this *is* 'news for nerds' isn't it? Now if only I wasn't so *nix-impaired, I might be able to keep it from rebooting every week or so :)
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
The most important thing being, unlike a standard stereo, this may be upgrade friendly. I'd rather buy something where I can take the drive out, and add a larger one later (1TB mp3player/stereo anyone?) than buy a standard component that eventually just gets replaced.
"I want the white stuff, baby! In the middle of an Oreo!" -- "Weird" Al Yankovic