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5.1 Sound Card Delivers 3 Streams of iTunes

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the that's-a-whole-lotta-streams dept.

An anonymous reader writes "How do you distribute simultaneous streams of DRM-protected iTunes from a single computer to multiple rooms of the house? Autonomic Controls demonstrated a unique solution at the recent Electronic House Expo (EHX). The company's Media Control Server EX software turns a PC with a 5.1 sound card into a three-zone music distribution server. (Add a second card for six outputs). At EHX, the solution was demonstrated with a multiroom audio system from NuVo, whose keypads could be used to browse and select songs, playlists, genres, artists, etc. The Autonomic software merges WMA and iTunes files into a single library for easy access." I have mixed feelings about this: on one hand, this is a really clever idea and a cool hack. On the other hand, the fact that DRM makes something like this necessary is truly infuriating.

4 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. iPod, anyone? by sunderland56 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    So.... whatever happened to the iPod? You listened to music, and it worked in every room in your house!! Plus, if I walked into a room where someone else was - I could still listen to my music, while they listened to theirs. Plus - extra special bonus - it actually worked outside the house.

    This sure looks like a solution in search of a problem to me.....

  2. Well.. Try woot! by Creepy+Crawler · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Today, after the woot-off, woot.com is offering a Razer Barracuda AC-1 Sound Card. As in NOT CREATIVE ;) 55$ for it's a good deal.

    Click on the picture to see how they break out that massive weird looking port.

    I dont work for them. I just go rabid over bags of crap.

    --
    1. Re:Well.. Try woot! by Moridineas · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Green for you!

      Thanks for the headsup, I've been needing a new soundcard, and after reading about all the Creative stuff last night, not too inclined to buy an Xfi.

    2. Re:Well.. Try woot! by Moridineas · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Hah, I didn't think about woot actively pushing products because of what's going on on slashdot/other sites, but it makes sense and is smart. I would have been less inclined to buy the card yesterday. This was my first woot.

      I had the corruption bug too...really messed me up while playing Baldur's Gate!

      Also, when I first replied to your post I saw your sig lines and was like "hah...bet nobody ever falls for it because of the [slashdot.org]." When I was replying to THIS post, I clicked it, and was very confused as to why I was logged out for several seconds. Clever :p