mldonkey, video store, cable for media acquisition
LIRC, which works with the ZapWay receiver, can be used with xmms and mplayer to ffwd, rew, stop and play media. irexec also ties into LIRC and can be used to control ALSA mixer volume, cue and play http/file urls in xmms/mplayer. TV out is done by the vid card. An X session (with lircmd to control the mouse via the remote control), with customized blackbox menus, etc allows for couch based media navigation. TV recording and video/VCD/DVD playback is done by mplayer and media management done in nautilus (for now). SPDIF output of the SBLive goes from the computer to the DAC, for highest quality sound (if you've never heard a FLAC thru a good DAC on a good quality setup, you've not lived). The computer itself sits in a closet, with good quality monitor/kbd/mouse extenders to isolate the jet engine-ness of the dual mp 2k+s.
I hope to eventually suspend a THX acoustically transparant screen across the magnaplanars and use a LCD projector for a 6' x 5' HD image.
Overall the experience has been quite good, tho having it all setup on a workstation requires much maintenance to keep all the apps communicating... a dedicated shuttle box to feed the projector/DAC would be a little nicer, tho I'd still want a central media server. Wireless is not needed here, as the few cables (spdif/video/etc) pose only a problem to the vacuum cleaner. Of course, the setup costs as much as a nice used car (which I don't own) and I find myself dreaming of 6'x5' trees rendered in imax style 3d (cow's can fly in caves, but require awkward polarized glass or expensive eye surgery for 3d flight experience).
Slashdot Mirror
- 2x Athlon MP 2k+ (on Tyan Tiger MB)
- GeForce 2 with tv out (and 2 other vid cards)
- ATI TV Wonder
- ZapWay IR Receiver
- Sony el-cheapo multi function universal remote control
- Herman Miller Aeron
- Datahand chair mounted split keyboard
- SBLive 5.1
- MSB-Tech Link II DAC
- Good home stereo powering a set of Magnepan MGIIa's (quasi-planar speaker)
- and soon: a SXGA LCD Projector (NEC MT1030+)
and on the software front:- gentoo GNU/Linux
- ALSA audio drivers
- lirc
- mplayer
- xmms
- mldonkey, video store, cable for media acquisition
LIRC, which works with the ZapWay receiver, can be used with xmms and mplayer to ffwd, rew, stop and play media. irexec also ties into LIRC and can be used to control ALSA mixer volume, cue and play http/file urls in xmms/mplayer. TV out is done by the vid card. An X session (with lircmd to control the mouse via the remote control), with customized blackbox menus, etc allows for couch based media navigation. TV recording and video/VCD/DVD playback is done by mplayer and media management done in nautilus (for now). SPDIF output of the SBLive goes from the computer to the DAC, for highest quality sound (if you've never heard a FLAC thru a good DAC on a good quality setup, you've not lived). The computer itself sits in a closet, with good quality monitor/kbd/mouse extenders to isolate the jet engine-ness of the dual mp 2k+s.I hope to eventually suspend a THX acoustically transparant screen across the magnaplanars and use a LCD projector for a 6' x 5' HD image.
Overall the experience has been quite good, tho having it all setup on a workstation requires much maintenance to keep all the apps communicating... a dedicated shuttle box to feed the projector/DAC would be a little nicer, tho I'd still want a central media server. Wireless is not needed here, as the few cables (spdif/video/etc) pose only a problem to the vacuum cleaner. Of course, the setup costs as much as a nice used car (which I don't own) and I find myself dreaming of 6'x5' trees rendered in imax style 3d (cow's can fly in caves, but require awkward polarized glass or expensive eye surgery for 3d flight experience).
Andy
http://benow.ca