Streaming digitial music(/media) & NO PC ON !!!

Hi folks,

I've got a reasonable MP3 collection and have tested my foot in the water with a very cheap MVP hooked up with linksys wifi gaming adaptor to my wifi network and onto my PC, which in turn is connected to my external USB harddrive that contains said MP3 collection.... (and mpeg4s etc).

What devices are currently on the market (or coming in the next 6 months or so) that would allow me to plug in my USB harddrive and stream MP3's (or other digital formats) without my PC being switched on. Streaming video and pics would be added bonus....

Anyone using anything that they would recommend?

many thanks
SP.

[slim333]

The xbox 360 will play media stored on an external hard drive via usb or network. You then get to view selection screens on tv. Of course you also get an excellent games console too. Only problem I've had so far using this method is it won't play divx.

[andrew1810]

The new terratec Noxon 2 has a USB port to play mp3's on an external hard drive:
http://www.my-noxon.com/noxon.html
I still don't have a release date or final price yet though

Andrew

lol x360... (I'm still waiting for the PS3! but nice try).

though, I guess in seriousness, it's not a bad idea - although I'm sure my missus would go ape.

RE: Noxon - nice. I've been looking at some of the possibilities - hadn't seen this. Supports 802.11g (which most seem to support b to drop your WLAN down!) and also works with own speaker as a portable radio/boombox. Nice. Also has digital out and works with Twonkyvision ! Superb.

and found this for u:
http://www.secure-server-centre.com/...p?partno=E3350

priced at £180.


Was also looking at NAS options to connect media to my WLAN such as:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...=38VJJ7LYV3591

which has good reviews at tom's hardware as well as possibilities of hacking it into more (not bad for £56!!!)

This would then need something like the Roku or Streamium ideas - but this Noxon looks like a neat way to go. Could still go with the NAS solution so that boombox could be REALLY portable - ie in the garden and no wires, no attached storage....

thanks. Any other recommendations or Wifi streaming devices you guys are using?

cheers guys
SP

[andrew1810]

I'll try and find a release date and price for the noxon for you.

I personally use a Squeezebox, but that doesn't work with twonky so there are only a few NAS boxes it will work with.

The only downside of the Noxon is that it can't do lossless, but other than that it seems excellent, I had the Noxon 1 and was very impressed with it.

Andrew

Edit: If you have any questions on any of them, just ask, I have owned them all except the Sonos.

[sjdigital]

If you have any old PC lying around, then you can turn it into a NAS box using free software from www.serverelements.com

And to play your music anywhere in your house (or garden) have a look at http://www.acoustic-energy.co.uk/Cus...%20Support.asp

But this doesn't stream - it simply plays any mp3 files it finds on the network.

[g0pkh]

I am using a 160Gb Buffalo Linkstation, installed with Twonkymusic 3.0

This is streaming 256Kb MP3's to my Roku M1001 Soundbridge wirelessly via a Netgear DG834GT.

The whole setup works very well indeed.

You do need to do a little work on the Linkstation to acheive this though, simply a matter of flashing "Openlink" firmware to get "root" access, and then installing Twonkmusic 3 on it (Linux Version costs just a tenner).

All the details you need for the Linkstation firmware can be got from here
www.linkstationwiki.com

[andrew1810]

Originally Posted by StonePimp

and found this for u:
http://www.secure-server-centre.com/...p?partno=E3350

priced at £180.

Thanks for the link, I have phoned my account manager at Eurotech and they still aren't in stock and no release date has been set for this country yet. I wondered what the rrp would be, thats quite expensive considering it doesn't do lossless, as soon as I get one to test I'll post a review.

Andrew

[sjdigital]

Since the title of this thread is 'Streaming digital music..' could someone explain to me what exactly is the benefit of streaming as opposed to simply playing the music files from a remote device? For example, why go to the bother of installing Twonkymusic on a server to play the mp3 files there and then stream the audio to a remote device (whether wirelessly or not), when they can simply be played directly by a remote device such as the A-E WiFi radio I mention above.

[andrew1810]

From what I have read about the Acoustic Energy device, it works in the same way as the others, only without needing Twonkyvision.

It doesn't have a hard disk so to play mp3's rather than the radio, it still streams the mp3's from a computer somewhere, at a guess, it probably just uses normal network filesharing instead of Upnp as it is basically running a stripped out version of linux.

It still works in pretty much the same way

The key thing for me is to NOT have my PC on (these damn gpu's require so much power these days, it's like using a hairdryer My Bloke's Hairdryer).... anyway.

I'm looking now towards the following:

LinkSys NAS Device retailing at £56 so can't complain.

Acoustic Energy Wifi Radio about around £170

The first would allow me to get media (whether digital music or videos or pics) onto my Wifi network whilst the second is a Wifi radio (with great reviews and other forum threads with good feedback) as well as the ability to play digital music that is on your network.

The only gripe would be nothing to play media files but I'm sure Sky+ / DVD recorder can keep me occupied until an all-singing all-dancing setup comes out with every feature I'm after. :-)

thanks guys. Any other recommendations other than the AE?

[sjdigital]

All I can say is that the A-E WiFi radio and media player is brilliant! I currently use it to play mp3s that are onan ASUS network storage box but it will play from any shared file on a network. It also works just fine on a NAS box built from a 10 year old PC running NASLite (see www.serverelements.com)

But I still can't see what media streaming does any better than file sharing which is what the A-E device does. Why the need to install additional software on the NAS server?

[andrew1810]

I haven't used the AE myself, but twonkyvision allows playlists, browse by artist/genre etc. which I imagine the AE can't do (I could be wrong though)

Also, the AE is the only player that works in this way, to use any of the other players (Roku & Squeezebox if you want lossless support and Netgear MP101 for the cheap option) you would need twonkyvision/itunes/slimserver, there isn't any alternative.

The advantage of something like slimserver is it does give the user control of the player via web interface/pda, album art, settings, playback etc.

It all depends on individual needs, for a plug and go solution, the AE seems an excellent choice, for something to fit into the hifi, the Roku/Squeezebox/Sonos are more suitable.

[sjdigital]

Yeah, I think that's what makes the AE such a good buy - it just plugs into a mains power socket and connects wirelessly to the network and plays the music. It has a limited browsing capability - album and artist - but you can add albums and tracks to a current playlist. And of course it is also an internet radio which I find very useful as I spend a lot of time abroad so it's nice to be able to listen to Radio Ulster sitting in my apartment in Warsaw!

[AMc]

While you're still looking around....
Philips do uPnP clients which will do music but also do movies and images.
http://www.streamium.com for products
http://www.streamiumcafe.com for user forums (and some bile)

http://www.twonkymedia.com will run on a variety of NAS devices and an advantage of a uPnP standards based solution is you can mix and match components.

I'm currently using Twonky and Netgear MP101 for music. When I get around to looking at movies and my digital photos I'll buy something uPnP and video capable for the front room and move one of the MP101s to the bedroom.