MP3 player for livingroom

hermes

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Not sure if this is the correct area to ask this but here goes.

I'm thinking of getting something to replace my old stereo system, something that only plays MP3's, trouble is I'm not too sure what I can get.
I don't just want my Iriver H320 plugged in all the time but want something more dedicated like a small shuffle type PC based thing but again I would like a small monitor to see the tracks if you know what I mean.

Whats out there to do this and whats the smallest lcd monitor I could get just to see the tracks etc?

cheers
 
just buy a blank dual layer dvd-r which is about 9gb or a normal dvdr which is half that size and just sling a few 1000 songs on that :D
 
but thats just good to play through the TV isn't it, as well as that it doesn't have a decent display.
 
You could use MCE 2005 as a music player, but it has it's faults (as you can see below; it uses WMP and it deals with id3 tags in a strange way) - it'll play mp3's ok but you'll need to plug the pc it's installed on into your tv in order to see the screen;

mce_music.jpg


Another alternative is to use a Squeezebox device (look for Squeezebox 2 or 3). You don't really need a screen as such as the VFD display, remote control & menu system is up to the job, but you need to run slimserver on a PC somewhere on your network. Slimserver 6.2;

slimserver.jpg

player.jpg


As you can see I use both in different locations and the Squeezebox 2 that I have wins hands down, mainly because Slimserver is such a powerful tool.......

D.
 
Thanks a lot guys.

To be honest I have never heard of Squeezebox + Roku, they seem to be just the job.
I have a couple more questions if thats ok.

Whats the most popular Squeezebox or Roku?
Is the Squeezebox 2 an newer version of Squeezebox, I ask because they seem so different?
Both of them are wireless I assume, and they easy to use to browse your PC music?
I assume the screen shot of the Firefox browser is on your PC then, and if so how much space do you get on these screens, they seem very small?

cheers
 
The Squeezebox pictured above is a SB3. The SB2 looks a bit like an alarm clock to be honest, but it works exactly the same.

You can get wired or wireless versions of both.

Download SlimServer here and have a play with Softsqueeze; it's a software version of the actual unit and it'll give you a feel for how the unit itself works.

The screenshot of Slimserver is on the machine which holds all the music, this can be anywhere on the network and is mainly used for maintenance (it's what I use it for), and for setting up playlists etc. You also set up the more indepth settings of the Squeezebox from here as well. You don't really need a screen to browse your music as it's all on the bright and clear VFD display.

The Squeezebox is the more impressive of the 2 (Roku) but I do believe the Roku works with SlimServer as well.......

D.
 
Thanks for that info mate.
Originally I was thinking of some sort of small form PC holding all my music connected to a smal monitor but this has opened up a whole new world of gadgets for me.
They look good and obviously work well

cheers
 
I'd go for the Squeezebox, just means you'll have to keep your PC with your music on it powered up, but with wireless it's dead easy to add others for any room you like, you can keep them in sync or play different music on each one :)
 
Has anyone any experience of the Qnap hard drives which look like they are the prefered NAS drive for slimserver ? Having one of these as well would be good as it would mean that you wouldn't need to have a PC switched on all the time.
 

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