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5.1 Sound Card Delivers 3 Streams of iTunes
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.
Whatever happened to the right tool for the right job? Screw iTunes and buy DRM-free music from Amazon.
I'm still waiting for a good solution to provide audio throughout my house.
I've always loved the fact that through Yahoo Music (or Rhapsody) you can access any music you'd like via subscription. Greatest Party Toy ever!
I've purchased many toys to try to accomplish bringing this to my livingroom, and my results have been varied. I purchased the D-Link DSM320 Media Lounge. This wireless player hooked up to a UPNP server on my computer and played music (and video) in my livingroom, with TV-Remote browsing. The problem: It only integrated with my personal library. No full 2-million track searching. This of course was a problem, because at parties, I want people to take full advantage of the 2 million tracks available (and I don't want to add justin timberlake to my personal library, just because people at a party want to hear him).
I've tried a sansa connect (mp3 player). This was the best solution yet, although it was a small mp3 player, it connects via wireless network and allows the full catalog search. Yahoo Music has just announced they're closing and the Sansa Connect no longer will offer this functionality.
I've tried Napster's Media Center Plugin- but it crashes regularly.
I know that Tivo now offers functionality with Rhapsody- but I don't have cable, and I don't want to pay Tivo's subscription (not to mention high price for hardware I won't use).
And of course there's Sonos- which has EXACTLY what I want, for about 4 times a reasonable price.
I've chronicaled my adventures for anybody looking to learn from my mistakes: Digital Wireless Audio Age , and my review of the DSM-320 and 520.
Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
The sound chips for those rear 5.1 outputs are often lower quality than the front on many 5.1 sound cards. Something to think about.
Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
How do you distribute simultaneous streams of DRM-protected iTunes from a single computer to multiple rooms of the house?
Easy, download the MP3s from Kazaa or rip them from CD. The hard question is, why in Turing's name would anybody download something with DRM? That's just insane!
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
As much as I hate DRM, it's presence in this case does not "necessitate" this application in any way.
Fairplay allows up to 5 computers to share the same account key. As for larger households, well you asked for headaches anyway if you as parents have more than 4 kids who are the age most really get into music. I doubt you'll even notice one more.
So it's not about DRM created necessity, it's about enabling an alternative to duplicating a library up to 5 times and paying for up to 5 times the storage and 5 times the power to keep that storage active. I personally am happy this choice is open to consumers.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
It's all about combining your various music file collections into one virtual collection. This device is cool because it can merge all your disparate collections into one big playlist, regardless of format (and regardless of whether some of the content is DRM'd).
BTW, it is *not* helpful to keep blaming DRM for everything and anything. It only dilutes the argument against DRM when your claims are false, giving ammunition to its defenders.
The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
Now I can be just like Lieutenant Commander Data and listen to six different classical compositions at once loud enough to rattle a star ships windows! Now I just need to make a pun about rattling a star ships windows while running Linux.
We are the Borg...
Add a third card for nine outputs
Add a fourth card for twelve outputs !
Installing the analog wiring in all my rooms would cost me thousands of dollars. This seems like a very expensive solution to a problem that doesn't impact most people. It might make sense if you run a museum or something, with independent audio pumped into each room - but that's it. And it seems quite fragile to run - too many parts.
Um, yeah. I guess since iPods came out that no one wants to listen to music on speakers anymore, or listen to the same stuff as other poeple any more. Speakers are obsolete! Of course it's kind of a pain, when my husband and I want turn on some dinner music, that we each need separate iPods. We really don't might eating with headphones on and having a hard time hearing each other. And I'm sure that headphones providing bass that I can feel are right around the corner.
i think the .1 part is the subwoofer, but that is not required to only have the low tones. You can send a full spectrum through that line.
Not to let my inner fanboi take over, but I've been using multiple AirPort Express to do wireless whole-house audio for some time with great success. You don't even have to use iTunes to deliver the audio. I use Airfoil from Rogue Amoeba software. It is an elegant solution and one that can be done at a reasonable cost.
You can also burn the DRM music to CD in iTunes and then rip it into any format you want. It's a pain, but well worth doing. Not that I condone such behavior...
I'm quite sure it isn't a novel idea but I haven't seen much info about it on the internets. A few of my friends and I got together last year to set up a similar system where we live. We use a plain old Soundblaster Live! Value card hooked up to four different zones (bathrooms). It's connected through a network drive to our music server and has a simple web interface to control the music in each zone. The web interface just controls four different instances of mplayer with the appropriate flags for rerouting the audio to the single channels. I'm sure the sound quality isn't great, but it's perfect if you like to air guitar with Dragonforce in the shower.
We'll probably write up a guide on how to do it if we ever get slightly less lazy. It's really simple if you don't get hung up by Linux's sound support. But yeah, lazy.
You gotta find first gear in your giant robot car
Stop bitching about it and put the blame where it belongs, on the people violating the rights of the copyright holders. (see, the word "right" is built into the name")
Everyone bitches about DRM and how much they hate it and how it violates their rights when most of those same people are violating the legally granted rights of the copyright holders. I am so fucking tired of hearing it.
Pay close attention people:
YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO INDISCRIMINATELY MAKE AND DISTRIBUTE COPIES. THAT RIGHT IS RESERVED, BY LAW, TO THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS. YOU HAVE A VERY LIMITED RIGHT TO MAKE COPIES OF COPYRIGHTED WORKS. IT IS ALL SPELLED OUT IN THE LAW. TRY READING IT SOMETIME.
Now, some dumbshit is going to say "It's not really a right." Well, it is just as much a right as is equal access laws for the disabled and the right to vote of black Americans and women. All of those are rights granted by law.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
On the other hand, the fact that DRM makes something like this necessary is truly infuriating.
It's convenient because you can buy one computer and one sound card and have music in three rooms, instead of buying multiple computers or really expensive Sonos appliances.
-mkb
So, if the copyright holders undermine the 'limited' part of that, what's wrong with violating the 'exclusive' part?
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
I'm amazed no one has mentioned this, but when Intel defined the HD Audio specification in 2004 (used in most new computers sold today) it included an ability called Jack Retasking. This allows any jack to function as anything, including a second or third stereo output, or even additional microphones. The problem is hardware manufacturers still don't implement the entire specification, even though the specification is part of Vista's new audio architecture called UAA (also to be included in XP SP3).
IMHO, fully implementing HD Audio would be the greatest audio enhancement for multimedia and home theater PCs since their conception.