Ckorody,
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all of this. That was very thoughtful of you.
First, it would seem that the easiest way to do this might be to connect the external hard drive to an old laptop that we don't use much now, and then we wouldn't need to buy the SB or Airport Express, correct? If she's downstairs, we won't be able to connect a cable from her to the preamp upstairs. Listening between floors generally doesn't present a need to control volume, so maybe she could simply turn on the music in the morning and let it play all day.
We're in the process of starting a new business, so I don't have much time (or desire) to play around with this. I'm hoping for a quick and easy setup. I'll be ripping much of the tunes from a friend's CD, as he, my wife, and I share musical tastes, and that way we both have a backup drive in case of a meltdown.
I will look into some of the suggestions you mentioned regarding file management. We don't have iPod's (imagine that), and won't have a use for them anytime soon. Other than the older laptop, all of the other computers in the house are brand new, and our business is web-based, so we should have sufficient RAM, I would hope.
I'll read through your post again and see what else I might absorb. Thank you again for taking so much time to respond.
Regards,
Howard |
Sorry, Ckorody, I should have explained further:
We have a CD player, and I'm having a digital input installed into it in a couple of weeks. We will also have the modder (APL) make us a USB-SPDIF converter. So...the DAC will be/already is connected to the preamp.
If she has iTunes at her computer downstairs, will she be able to turn down the volume from there? I guess that's what the SB or Airport Express would be for, yes? And finally, we would only be using the laptop for running iTunes upstairs, yes. I can put a wireless adaptor on it and connect it to our network. She'd be sitting pretty if she had a Palm to control everything from downstairs, but alas, I'll have it with me as I'm out visiting customers.
Thank you again for the input. This is so helpful.
Regards,
Howard |
Thank you all for the input. Jayboard, yes, we will have an S/PDIF digital input. And I don't know if any of these applications are MAC-only specific, but we have only PC's. So it appears that the best thing for us to do is:
LISTENING ROOM UPSTAIRS:
External hard drive into USB/SPDIF converter into DAC, managed by old Dell laptop connected wirelessly to network.
So then, my wife can control the selections as necessary via iTunes from her networked PC downstairs, right? Can she also control volume from there via iTunes, or will we need the SB for that?
Sorry if I sound confused. Despite being so close to having a grasp of this process, I am often left wondering if I'm even asking the right questions.
Thank you all,
Howard |
Ckorody,
Thanks again for the response. Yes, that helpful soul (I like that!) is Alex of APL Hi Fi. We recently 'downgraded' from his modded Denon 3910 to a modded Marantz 5400, and we're quite happy with it. He will add the digital input for a modest fee, so the cost & pragmatism are not at issue for us.
What is now an issue as that I set up the older laptop in the listening room, and it apparently has no high-speed USB connections for the wireless adaptor. We had it running with DSL with an ethernet cable, but that won't work if we don't have a modem in that room. I'll have to call the cable provider and see what it would cost to hook up the line in there.
Thanks for the suggestion on the Airport Express/Remote Access. I think there is an Apple store nearby, so I'll go talk to them there geniuses. :-)
Again, I really appreciate all of the help.
Howard |
I'll have to call the cable provider and see what it would cost to hook up the line in there. Nope. They require that you pay for a second account, and I don't need that. Without having a high-speed USB port on the computer, I'll have to figure out how best to do this. I'll head to the Apple kingdom tomorrow. Thanks again! |
Tell me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the easiest thing to do here is to connect the older laptop to our upstairs router, and then use an Airport Express in the listening room, which would be connected to the external hard drive with a USB cable, and also connected to the DAC with AE audio cable. Then...won't all of the computers in the house be able to control the playlist/volume via iTunes? |
Jayboard,
Thank you for the informative response. I'll read through it again tonight and proceed from there.
Regards,
Howard |
Thank you for the info. This is for background music only. I will not be spending time in the listening room, as we are launching a business that will have me out of the house for most of the day & evening. My wife will ONLY be listening as she works downstairs. She will have the music on upstairs only, NOT downstairs at her desk.
So, I just purchased a 320MB hard drive, with the specs you noted above, Ckorody. Also was able to pick up a Buslink USB 4-port PCMCIA card so I'll be able to keep the older laptop connected directly to the external hard drive, in the room with the audio system.
So, what I still need to know is will the SB and/or AX do the same thing that the USB/SPDIF converter would, thus making it superfluous. And if I'm not going to use the DAC from the SB, I can spend less and just get the AX, correcto?
Finally, do I need to be concerned about the caliber of cable running from the SB/AX to the DAC? Please keep in mind that we are of the camp that hears big differences between one IC and another. I'm not looking for tip-top audiophile quality, but I don't want it to sound thin either.
Thank you,
Howard |
Shazaam! You've cracked through my thick skull, and now I understand. Hopefully, by the end of next week, I'll have all of the pieces and be up and running.
Thank you all again for the input. My wife also thanks you!
Howard |
Thanks again to all of you for the help. Ckorody, you've been indispensable in so generously responding to my questions both here and privately.
I put iTunes on the computer in our upstairs bedroom so I could avoid having the unwanted computer noise in the listening room. I put a 300GB hard drive on the same system, and the Squeezebox sits in the listening room. The wireless arrangement between the two works perfectly. We have about 400+ CD's loaded onto the hard drive, and even with the SB DAC the sound is decent. Tomorrow, however, we will be picking up our CDP, which is having a digital input installed, and we'll run a digital cable between the SB and our DAC, which sounds dramatically better than that of the SB...as it should, considering the price difference.
Nothing like having the convenience of the hard drive. We end up listening to CD's that might not otherwise find themselves into the rotation. This is a lot of fun, and my wife is thrilled at the ease of using this setup.
Thank you all again.
Howard
P.S.--It should be noted that if you are using the SB with a PC, you can rip to an external hard drive VIA iTunes, using the iTunes editing software, etc., but as far as I understand, you can NOT 'drive' from iTunes. In other words, you must use the SB remote OR Slim Server in order to control the playback, not iTunes. If anyone knows differently, please say so. |
Portugal11,
Thus far, it is difficult to say as to whether I prefer the SB -> DAC, or the player by itself. They definitely sound different, but both are superb. The bottom line for me is the convenience, and the enthusiasm I have for the Random Mix. The surprise of that next song makes listening a lot of fun, and we have the music running all day.
The SB reads the free download software from Slim Devices, known as Slim Server. It's their version of iTunes, if you will. So, I do use iTunes to import from hard disc into my music library--on an external hard drive--but to affect any changes in the playback, I have to 'drive' with the Slim Server, the layout of which I happen to prefer to iTunes. In addition, I can dial up songs or re-program the playback by using either the SB remote, or at the computer where the external hard drive is connected.
Let me know if I've answered (or not answered) your questions.
Howard |
Portugal11,
Actually, if forced to choose, I would say the player itself is the winner thus far. It digs a bit deeper and gets me closer to the music. However (and this is a BIG however), there are a number of factors to consider:
The SB & the digital cable are nearly new;
The external power supply on the SB needs to be replaced; and
I can only draw this conclusion by sitting in front of the system, actively listening, which I rarely do now. Most of the time, I just have music on while I'm working down the hall or somewhere else in the house.
So...with those caveats, all I can say is that the sound with the SB -> DAC is totally engaging whether I'm in the room or anywhere in the house, and having the 'cyber jukebox' is downright magical.
I will say also that while the DAC on the SB is listenable, it sounds compressed and sterile in comparison with ours. So it's great to have the option of using whatever DAC you prefer in your system.
Sorry I can't help you on the KMixer issue.
Best of luck,
Howard |
