Digital music player for home audio- best choice?

[glenn1000]

We have hundreds of CDs and they are cumbersome and difficult to deal with. I was thinking of loading all CDs onto a digital device that can play back on our home audio system. We use iTunes on our computers and have iPods but it doesn't seem like this would be the best choice for a home audio system, though I don't really know. Any recommendations? I imagine that this has been done by many people already.

 

[DaveNV]

You could spend a lot of money on something else, but why not just use the iPods you already know? A simple line out cable would connect it to the Aux jack on your home stereo. The rest is just using the iPod as you do now. All you'd need is the one cable. Easy, breezy...

Dave

 

[maddaug]

Glenn, BMW is right. This is what I do also. Just when to Radio Shack and told them how I wanted to hook up the laptop to our surround system and they fixed me right up. Don't forget you might need an extension line if you can't put the laptop right by your audio system.
On another note, this is nice to for listening to online radio.
Good luck!!

 

[caribbeansun]

I bought a sound card with multiple outputs - one goes to the home audio system and I create playlists, etc. using J River Media Center.

 

[glenn1000]

Is the iPod sound quality as good as a CD player on a home sound system? If it is then that would certainly be the easiest solution. Our computer is far away from our sound system so we can't play directly off the computer. Thanks for the replies!

 

[Makai Guy]

Compressed music files as are played in MP3 players are a compromise between file size and data content. SOME content is lost in the compression used, when compared to a full file from a CD -- the more compression applied, the more data loss and the worse the file sounds. But it can be awfully hard to tell the difference between a mp3 file and the original CD recording if it is done right.

 

[DaveNV]

Is the iPod sound quality as good as a CD player on a home sound system? If it is then that would certainly be the easiest solution. Our computer is far away from our sound system so we can't play directly off the computer. Thanks for the replies!

Glenn, go invest the few dollars to buy the cable (you may already have one that works) and test it out. If you don't like the sound quality, then explore other options. But I'd start with the iPod route. This could be a done-deal without you having to do much at all.

Dave

 

[Icarus]

Just to expand on what Doug said ...

When you rip the CDs, just use a good quality setting. If you do it with 256kbps, unless you have golden ears, you won't be able to tell the difference. If you have enough space, you can even use a lossless compression format. itunes supports one. If you do it using a lossless format, you can always make smaller files from the lossless files later. This is pretty much what I did, only I used a different format (flac), but that was before itunes supported an AAC lossless format. Any of them will work, but for ease of use in itunes, it makes sense to use their lossless format.

lossless just means that the data will be identical to the original. Most compression formats are able to make the files smaller because they are lossy formats. lossy means that the uncompressed file will not be identical to the original, but it's really ok, because if you use a high enough bit rate, most people can't tell the difference and/or don't have the type of audio equipment where it would matter.

In itunes, the settings are in preferences, general, import settings.

To downconvert files in your itunes libraray, select them and right click on the file, and select "create AAC version". You can also set up itunes to automatically downconvert files for certain devices.

-David

 

[glenn1000]

Doug, Dave and David- Thanks so much!

I will get started on this soon. I appreciate the knowledgeable advice.

 

[caribbeansun]

Did you bother to convert from FLAC to AAC?

I also ripped my entire CD collection in FLAC which is why I ask.

This is pretty much what I did, only I used a different format (flac), but that was before itunes supported an AAC lossless format. Any of them will work, but for ease of use in itunes, it makes sense to use their lossless format.

 

[Icarus]

Did you bother to convert from FLAC to AAC?

I also ripped my entire CD collection in FLAC which is why I ask.

It depends on what I was doing with it. Mostly I went to mp3 for the ipod. But I kept the original lossless files so I can convert them to anything, anytime.

-David

 

[stuvan]

Has anyone used the Logitech Squeezebox to stream flac files to a home stereo? Amazon has had the price down to $237 last week, though it is up a bit now. I've wanted to try one of these for a while but never could justify the $299 list price that was always quoted. Logitech also appears to have a newer version, but the reviews seem to indicate too many connectivity problems with this model.

Stu

 

[caribbeansun]

I was tempted prior to Slimdevices being acquired by Logitech - seems to me the pricing was less at that point (2 years ago). In the end I just bought a stripped down pc and placed it in my media cabinet with network connectivity so that I can rip from my office and send over as well as convert back to mp3 for ipod hooked into the office computer.

 

[davidvel]

I have d-link's DSM-520 media player. I have all my CDs on my main server (along with all our photos, ripped DVDs [for personal archiving purposes only], home movies, etc.)

The Media player is downstairs in our family room and we can listen to any of our music over our receiver, or watch any movie, or view any photos on our TV. You can set up playlists, etc for a party or holiday music.

This box also streams HD content if you have it on your computer. It is more windows based (and I rip CDs to Windows Media Player) , but I expect it will play any compatible content over the network.

It is wireless, but you need a wired ethernet for HD video streaming in most cases. Its running under $200.

 

[glenn1000]

I've been busy ripping all my CDs in the 256 format to my iTunes library. I bought a new iPod classic (120GB- supposed to arrive on Monday) that has the capacity to hold all my music and have 75% left for photos and video.

Question: Is there any reason to buy the Apple dock, separate charger and cable to hook this up to the stereo or is there a less expensive way to do it without having to take the iPod out to recharge? I have the simple cable that was cheap and maybe I can just leave the charger plugged in with an AC adapter? Also, if my music is going to the stereo system and my photos to the TV, is there a way to separate or split these?

I appreciate the help!

 

[Icarus]

If you have an A/V receiver, you can run your video through the receiver.

If not, you can cable the l+r audio cables to the receiver and the yellow video cable to the tv if you really want to.

A powered dock will make things more convenient for you. Up to you if you get one.

-David