[Tech] Piping music

[Ronin Storm]

So, here's a problem for you all to consider.

I'm moving house (hurrah!) and my new place is in quite a different format to my current place, partly for being a bit bigger but also because the rooms are a bit more separated.

Currently, I have a through lounge diner, then one door to the kitchen. I have a PC in the lounge part and if I turn music on then I can hear it in the other rooms.

In my new place, I have a kitchen diner and a separate lounge, but the lounge is separated from the kitchen diner by a corridor. In order to hear music playing in the lounge I'd need it turned up unacceptably high.

So, add to this that the aforementioned PC is actually dying... I need a new plan.

Here's what I want to be able to do:

• Listen to MP3s in the kitchen-diner and the lounge.
• Listen to streaming radio (e.g. DI.fm) in both rooms.
• Watch DVDs in the lounge.
• Watch codec-requiring videos (e.g. DivX with AC3 audio) in the lounge.

I've really got two constraints.

• I don't want to spend millions of pounds on solving this.
• I don't want to put a laptop or PC in the kitchen where a spillage could wipe it out.

I figure that some sort of wireless music playing solution is required. An MP3 player could provide the MP3s, but streaming music is a problem there...

Any ideas/suggestions?

 

[thatbloke]

Sounds like you might need a wireless music streaming device of some sort.

Not having ever used one or looked into it, I can't say what would be a good one to get, but I found the this article which seems to review a few different ones (though it is dated 2006.....)

 

[waterproofbob]

To plug an Apple product that Pretty much does what you are wanting it to music wise.

Works very well indeed. Obviously the neccesity to use iTunes could hinder your desire to do it.

Airtunes
Knowledgebase article on airtunes

That is at least a wireless solution to the music issue. Although as bloke has posterd there are a lot of internet radio type devices that can hit this ground without the need for a stereo/speaker system to be in place as well.

Just an extra thought.

 

[Ronin Storm]

Yeah, currently I'm lacking the stereo/speakers to go with another device so it's possible that an integrated solution is most cost effective for me.

Thanks for the thoughts so far.

They've given me the words "music streaming devices" which really helps with my Googling.

 

[Traxata]

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/wireless_music_systems/&cl=gb,en

Depends how much you're willing to spend...

The Squeezebox "Duet" will plug into your living room hifi system with the remote that will work in any room, and the "boom" will work like the 'airtunes' device, without the need for itunes, just using the logitech software (I beleive it can use a variety of media players on windows.)

 

[Ronin Storm]

Looking at it, seems there are a fair few options, though the prices of some of these solutions are far too much for me. In the "expensive but affordable" category:

• Squeezebox Boom at around £200.

Hmm... was expecting the list to be longer than that...

 

[Ronin Storm]

the "boom" will work like the 'airtunes' device, without the need for itunes, just using the logitech software (I beleive it can use a variety of media players on windows.)

Yeah, you and I have seen the same thing. £200 is about as much as I'd spend so that comes in okay and the disconnection from iTunes is attractive to me as I never use iTunes.

 

[Traxata]

Yeah, I generally stick to Logitech with things like this, thier stuff is awesome, just a little pricey

Had the DiNovo keyboard for the living room until the powercuts killed the chargers, not sure if we're going to try the mini version for more portability though.

We've looked at the Squeezebox system for our house, but can't afford to do it at the moment, have to make do with streaming via windows media player

 

[BiG D]

I've got one of these for my music streaming needs. It's got proper RCA out as well, so you can hook it to an existing receiver or whatnot. It's really quite a nice product, I can't say enough good things about it.

May not work with DI premium, if you're still subscribed.

 

[Ronin Storm]

May not work with DI premium, if you're still subscribed.

Yeah, I am still with DI.fm premium, largely for their Trance channel, so that's a factor.

Currently, looks like the Logitech beastie is best fit for price.

 

[BiG D]

I would get confirmation you can use the squeezebox with the DI premium streams as well, then. If it streams everything through the computer rather than a direct internet connection, it should be ok.

 

[Haven]

We currently have one of these in our bedroom and it rocks - we use it for streaming chill music (it connects via wireless and supports wpa/wep etc) or internet radio (poor signal where we live for normal radio). It will happily play music from usb/wireless via upnp or samba/nfs etc. It does struggle with several hundred thousand songs over wifi *cough* as it tries to index them first for speed, so if you have a huge collection you may need to pick and choose into a new share to not kill the poor thing but other than that its worked pretty flawlessly.

Its only a mono solution but I'm very impressed with the sound quality and there are plenty of stereo alternatives out there.

Other links for things we contemplated:
squeezbox
amazon internet radio device list

 

[Ronin Storm]

Ah, merci Mr Haven! That last link giving the list of all those devices was very helpful.

In answer to "does SqueezeNetwork support DI.fm premium", apparently it does.

That puts the Logitech Squeezebox series into a good position for me. Question then is whether to go for the one Haven linked, or for the Boom I linked previously. The choice appears to be whether I want integrated speakers or have speakers of my own to attach to (which I don't, currently, so that'd be extra cost).