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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?"
With a streaming setup, you need a much more expensive computer device to receive anything. FM radios are a dime a dozen. You are unlikely to listen to more than one stream at once.
What you want is something like this . Plug it into the sound-out of a cabled media computer (or, heck, a Wireless Music/Media Player, if you feel the need to comply with the latest buzzwords). Put the computer wherever you have the space (closet, basement, attic) and keep your stereo clutter-free. Tune the FM transmitter to a free space low on the dial (89.3 or so), and listen to your streams on any stereo in/around/outside the house. So long as you aren't stepping on any other nearby frequencies, and the reception drops off significantly enough before you get more than a few houses away, you shouldn't have much worry about complaints.
Or you can drag your Wireless Music/Media Player out into the backyard the next time you want to host a barbecue. Of course, "wireless" doesn't usually apply to power cables and wall warts.
In a related story, the IRS has recently ruled that the cost of Windows upgrades can NOT be deducted as a gambling loss.
Would be something that not only streams music, but can also stream karaoke! Think about it, it would be so awesome if you could go to the iTunes music store from your laptop, d/l a song(normal version, plus karoake file with lyrics and timing, and even music video if appropriate, or you could do like the karaoke bars do in Japan and just put generic videos of people on the screen), then send it up on your bigscreen tv(and nice speakers) using an airport express kind of device. The sales of songs to drunk people on the iTunes music store would go through the roof! I mean, if you really want a song, what are you going to do, go to a p2p network to try to find a legit karaoke version or just go to the iTMS(since you will probably already have iTunes open) and buy the song.
Come on Steve, lead the pack!
I just bought the Hauppage MediaMVP yesterday and tested it on my 802.11b network. It works fine that way for music and pictures, but, of course, that isn't quite enough bandwidth for video, so my MPEG-2 video recorded by my TV card stutters.
I *might* be able to get it to work decently if I upgrade to 802.11g (which I'm planning to do anyway, soon), but instead I'm going to run cat5 from my computer room to living room which I thought I would never have to do since I went wireless.
I used the out-of-the-box software for the MediaMVP just long enough to get really annoyed by it (about 10 minutes), then went to their website and downloaded the latest beta. Tons of improvement, but it still has quite a ways to go. As the parent poster said, navigating mp3's is a real pain -- if you are 75% down a long list of directories, open a subdirectory, then hit back, you are at the top of the long list again. One thing they added in the beta was using the numeric buttons as percentages of the list, so the '8' key moves you 80% of the way down the list. Better, but a "remember where you were" would be so much nicer.
I suppose that what I really need to do is spend some time on my PC organizing directories and playlists so they can be easily navigated remotely.
I haven't tried the Internet radio feature in the beta, but I'm dragging cable this weekend so I can give the video streaming a good test.
For the record, I am using an ATI TV Wonder card on my PC hooked up to basic cable and the Beyond TV 3 PVR software for recording and I'm very happy with that setup.
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
Just a followup on my own post -- don't know if anyone cares or not...
I decided to not run the cat5 and instead upgraded to 802.11g and rearranged my setup. Video streaming is working great so far, even when someone is watching TV or browsing on the server computer. The MediaMVP UI still sucks, but it does what it needs to do and the picture quality on my 42" rear projection HDTV is acceptible (not archive quality, but definitely watchable quality). Any problems with quality are purely due to the source recordings and not to the MediaMVP box as the same files burned to DVD look exactly the same.
I also set-up the Internet radio functions with a random selection of stations found on Shoutcast and was quite impressed with the audio quality, but then I'm no audiofile and am easy to please. They certainly sound better through my surround sound system than they do on my PC speakers. It can't handle RealAudio streams and the station must have a single URL that directly accesses the stream (which can be hard to find for some stations, the Shoutcast ones you can just right-click on play or listen and add the station to the MMVP favorites share).
A few more gripes about the MediaMVP UI. There are no useful status indicators (connecting, buffering, etc.), so when you select a radio station, you just have to wait 5-30 seconds to see if it connects. If it doesn't, you never know, you just have to try another one. Secondly, the beta SW I'm running has hung up twice and got in a weird state once (could navigate, but couldn't play anything). Power on/off "fixed" it both times. The colors and contrast are a bit harsh, too, so I worry a bit about burn-in. It does have a screensaver, but I'm paranoid. When listening to MP3 or Internet radio, I just start it playing, then turn off the TV...
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness