streaming music & WMP queries?

[Neville Street]

Hi, long time no post! I have searched around and am not sure which category this should go into, so I am ready to be corrected!

I have a large collection of CD's and downloaded (some DRM protected) music. I use it with an iriver H10 20Gb for out of house use (car, train, plane, etc), and have started to use it at home using a lead or an FM transmitter. This has got my wife interested in a solution for when I am out of the house.

I want to get a device to link my wireless network to my main stereo (or possibly 2 devices to link to 2 stereo's). My main query is:

- can my wife (who is getting into this!) make up playlists at the main PC using Windows Media Player and then select them and play them from these devices? I looked at the Netgear 101 but it seemed to want to use its own software or people were recommending other software to go with it (quite cheap). Will its own software "see" the playlists and make them available?
- do they all play DRM protected files?

Any recommendations on solutions would be very welcome.

Thanks, NS

[shahedz]

Originally Posted by Neville Street

Hi, long time no post! I have searched around and am not sure which category this should go into, so I am ready to be corrected!

I have a large collection of CD's and downloaded (some DRM protected) music. I use it with an iriver H10 20Gb for out of house use (car, train, plane, etc), and have started to use it at home using a lead or an FM transmitter. This has got my wife interested in a solution for when I am out of the house.

I want to get a device to link my wireless network to my main stereo (or possibly 2 devices to link to 2 stereo's). My main query is:

- can my wife (who is getting into this!) make up playlists at the main PC using Windows Media Player and then select them and play them from these devices? I looked at the Netgear 101 but it seemed to want to use its own software or people were recommending other software to go with it (quite cheap). Will its own software "see" the playlists and make them available?
- do they all play DRM protected files?

Any recommendations on solutions would be very welcome.

Thanks, NS

i got a Roku soundbridge, i use itunes to store all my music, and create playlists in itunes which you can see from the Roku and play them, you can have up to 5 (or might be 7) soundbridges hooked up to the one library playing music independently of each other. brilliant machines, you dont need to use itunes, but i have no experience in using another music server programme

[Uridium]

Originally Posted by Neville Street

Hi, long time no post! I have searched around and am not sure which category this should go into, so I am ready to be corrected!

I have a large collection of CD's and downloaded (some DRM protected) music. I use it with an iriver H10 20Gb for out of house use (car, train, plane, etc), and have started to use it at home using a lead or an FM transmitter. This has got my wife interested in a solution for when I am out of the house.

I want to get a device to link my wireless network to my main stereo (or possibly 2 devices to link to 2 stereo's). My main query is:

- can my wife (who is getting into this!) make up playlists at the main PC using Windows Media Player and then select them and play them from these devices? I looked at the Netgear 101 but it seemed to want to use its own software or people were recommending other software to go with it (quite cheap). Will its own software "see" the playlists and make them available?
- do they all play DRM protected files?

Any recommendations on solutions would be very welcome.

Thanks, NS

The Netgear MP101 will support playlists when using Twonky vision Media seever software. Take a look at www.twonkyvision.de for more info.

[AMc]

I use iTunes (for ripping, organisation and playlists), Twonky as the server and 2 x MP101 as clients.
Works OK.

The MP101 lock now and again and stop playing for several seconds before they skip to the next track which can be a bit frustrating but cheap access to all my music (>10,000 tracks) makes me happy to keep using them.

All my music is ripped from CD as MP3 or downloaded as MP3. The MP101 won't play MP3's with embedded album art which is annoying but I just delete it.

I don't believe that many solutions will cope with DRM protection. I think the squeezebox is moving that way and Apple Airport Extreme's can play music from the iTunes store.

[Neville Street]

Thanks for quick answers. Would be interested in WMP users comments, but I am going to get the Netgear and try it out anyway. Sound slike DRM is going to be a problem but that is less than 5% of my music so I will have to live with that. NS

[g0pkh]

Another vote here for the Soundbridge.

Love my M1001, am thinking of getting another. IMO Support from the company is second to none.

Pete