Wireless Music/Media Player Roundup?

robmueller asks: "Like most of you here on Slashdot, I've got my entire music collection on my PC, and would like to share it around the house to at least my lounge room stereo. While the AirPort Express is still a month away (mid July), and the lack of a remote control seems like a problem for a stereo away from the computer, there's a number of other devices out there already; D-Link DSM-320, Squeeze Box, Actiontec, Virtuoso MC-500 (uh... looks like the Actiontec), and a standard 'we hooked it up for 5 minutes' review of several more devices here. However, I want to hear from people who have actually used one, and what they liked, didn't like, ease of use, audio only, is audio & video useful? etc. So who's using one of these things?"

Comments

HP DMR EW-5000

[prostoalex]

Bought an HP Digital Media Receiver from Buy.com on their special sale for $100. Wireless connectivity, composite audio, S-Video, what more can one want?

Well, turns out, a lot. For one, the data was not exactly streamed through the unit, which I properly connected to my stereo system and TV. The local MP3 files and local JPEG pictures was the only thing that HP Receiver played, so if you wanted to broadcast a Shoutcast stream or Real Video stream, you were out of luck.

None of the DRMed files worked either, so two WMAs that I have purchased from Napster would have to be ripped to CDs, re-ripped into MP3s and then loaded onto a local PC with wireless connection for that HP Media Receiver to pick up.

I returned the item for a refund after a few days. Waste of money. Until full-blown audio streaming and any kind of video playback is supported together with multiple formats (OGG including), there's little incentive in getting a Media Receiver when a WiFi-enabled laptop plugged into stereo and TV will do the job even better.

Hauppage MediaMVP or wait a while

[tieke]

I looked at all those options as well, and decided that with the way the market is going, there will be a more kick-arse version of anything I buy within 6 months. (I'm not just talking standard technology advances better, I'm talking everyone getting into the field better)

I know that you specified wireless, (which I considered, as I already have an 802.11g AP plugged into my network) but for now I have ended up getting a Hauppage MediaMVP and putting in a run of cat5 to it.

The MediaMVP is basically just a small remote-control driven, network-connected set-top box which plays content from a server on a win2000/xp machine. Linux drivers have been made though, and the built in mpeg decoder makes it a good combo for the standard Hauppage PVR cards.

On the positive side, the sound quality is good, and the price is hard to beat ($99 retail, can be found for less).

Unfortunately the interface is shit. Very basic mp3 browsing - can move through the directories and playlists on your shared computer and select songs/playlists/directories. Unfortunately, there is no real skipping while playing several songs - the default setup if you choose a song is to play that one song and then stop. You can choose to play all songs in a directory, (shuffled if you wish), but it deosn't let you skip songs - if you choose another song, it just plays that one. The "skip" button just moves to the next page on the directory listing - an even worse interface on this first generation device than on my other first generation devices from preceding years.

The gui should however get better with firmware releases - already the latest firmware lets you add streaming radio stations (although not realaudio) and play divx files (although these have to be transcoded by your server). The MVP internals run on linux as well, so there are good possibility of future improvements.

As I said - there's quite a few similar devices coming out at the moment (eg this buffalo one ), and in six or seven months there will undoubtedly be something much better - but if I really want one of those I can buy it then, and I consider $99 a good price for 6-7 months of music.

OSS homebrew...

[emphatic]

i'm in the same boat. i have a huge collection of digital music (ripped all my CD's) that i want to play in different rooms. bonus points for my backyard patio for BBQ's.

here is what i'm going to use:

1) cheap laptops
2) cheap wifi cards
3) XMMS
4) netjuke (for the main 'streaming' app)
5) LIRC (linux infrared remote control)
6) XMMS-LIRC plugin

this way, i'll have a remote to control xmms from, i have access to all my tunes in one place (not in a separate database for each remote device) AND the laptops can act as photo frames when i'm not listening to tunes (screensaver w/ photos, etc).

i've looked into every single one of those devices that we keep seeing and they all have either limiting features, or a high cost. also, many required a custom streaming app to be used on the main server application.

i like netjuke, but if i don't like it, i can use some other web-based tool. i like xmms, but if i don't like it, i could use something else. control man... control :)

Slimdevices' Squeezebox

[FreeForm Response]

As I've mentioned before, I purchased one of these recently and I can't recommend it more highly. It plays every music format I can think of, using the server computer to resample obscure ones into a format it understands, on the fly. It can read and save Winamp playlist files, for convenience, and it can play streamed content off of the Internet. There are even plugins written that allow you to browse the Shoutcast.com streams and Internet Music Archive, and play those streams, all from the player's interface. And yes, the server software can interface with iTunes, and I imagine can play iTunes-purchased songs.

My only gripe is that the software seems less stable than it could be under all circumstances, but I run the nightly builds, so I can't really complain. =)

I think the thing that sets the Squeezebox apart from many of the other devices out there is its interface. Although a computer is required for the backend, you need never actually deal with the SlimServer program if you don't want to; almost every bit of configuration and management can be done from the player, with the remote. This is a big selling point for me, as it completely eliminates the need for me to have any electronics around aside from the Squeezebox itself and the stereo.

I should also mention that the software supports synchronization between different players, and that there's a GUI Java player (SoftSqueeze) that can run on any computer so that you can synchronize that computer with any number of hardware players. I know this is functional because I did it myself, just this week while I was doing chores around the house.

Anyway, that's my reasoning. I love the thing, and would gladly buy it again in a heartbeat. There are going to be many networked media players, but for me, the interface and the server software definitely tip the scales in favor of the Squeezebox.

Squeezebox

[real gumby]

I have several of the predecessor device to the squeezebox, the SliMP3. It's great. Even has a high WAF -- my wife asked me to put one in her office too.

Oh yea, it can read your iTunes DB so it knows your songlists and shoutcast radio stations and the like. The server software is all GPLed so you can tweak it (the guys at slimdevices integrate lots of user-contributed changes). It can't play your iTMS songs though unless you know how to use google. For that, your only alternative is the Apple device.

They're easy to use, quite reliable, and plug straight into the stereo. What more is there to say about it?

All in all, a real winner.

Prismiq

[stinkwinkerton]

I use the prismiq and like it a lot. Unfortunately, you have to have a television hooked up to it, and the media interface isn't the best in the world. However, they run linux on it, it is wired or wireless (your wireless card), they publish the source, it can play internet radio, rhapsody, mp3, slideshows, divx, vobs, and other .avi, you can program your own plugins for decoding, and is, in general, pretty cool. And surf the web. From what I understand, the PC does most of the transcoding then sends it to the media player. Bunch of good reviews from various magazine sources. Check out www.prismiq.com and www. prismiq.org. And, no, I don't work for the company.