Automated Home CD System?
George Brooks
technically possible to have a system do this:
I want a jukebox system that has a 200+ capacity that can be daisy-chained
to other jukeboxes for added capacity. I would like to also be able to
connect the jukeboxes to my computer system through either USB or serial so
that when I put a CD in the jukebox, it would catalog it. The PC would then
go to the internet and get the name and track information. Now I would know
what songs I have and where the CD is located. As I get more CD's I could
get more equipment.
The next feature is a nice to have, but not a show stopper. I would like
the ability to transfer songs to the hard drive of my machine in *.wav or
*.mp3 format so that I can make custom CD's. I am not interested in doing a
complete copy, I can use the PC for that.
I am also interested if possible of daisy-chaining the jukebox to one of
those new audio recorders that can burn CD's. (If I can get selected
tracks).
Is this just a crazy dream of mine?
Korey Sherwin
Hopefully you have Sony CD changers...
It will do everything you want & more.....
--
Korey Sherwin
Sound Art, Canada
http://soundart.com
"George Brooks" <newsg...@mail.gabtel.com> wrote in message
news:39ac5...@vienna7.his.com...
Intelligent Interiors
http://www.escient.com
http://www.elanhomesystems.com -> See Via Music
Elan integrates the Escient system with their Via touch screen.
Allan
Intelligent Interiors
http://www.i2automation.com
Sales, installation, service, and parts for:
Lighting, Home Automation, Security, Audio/Video, Home Theatre
In article <39ac5...@vienna7.his.com>,
--
Intelligent Interiors
http://www.i2automation.com
Sales, installation, service, and parts for:
Lighting, Home Automation, Security, Audio/Video, Home Theatre
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Korey Sherwin
Bend over..
--
--
Korey Sherwin
Sound Art, Canada
http://soundart.com
"Intelligent Interiors" <sa...@i2automation.com> wrote in message
news:8ohu7s$1a7$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
Ziggy
With a CD changer you have to manually enter the Album/Artist/Track info
whereas with a Digital Jukebox of mp3s it can use CDDB to automatically
lookup the album info when you rip. You can then display/play by genre,
artist, etc...
It is also very easy to create unlimited custom playlists via drag-n-drop of
songs.
You can then select any songs you want to dump to either a portable mp3
device or to a CD burner.
I haven't pulled out an actual CD except to check the cover art or lyrics in
over a year :)
--
Zig
"George Brooks" <newsg...@mail.gabtel.com> wrote in message
news:39ac5...@vienna7.his.com...
Valued Customer
> Why not just use your computer and rip your CDs to a couple 30Gig drives?
This is the easiest way to do it. The CD music standard has a lot of
unnecessary "padding" that can be compressed into a MP3. The software to
rip and manage your CDs on a computer is free and easy to use. Riping a CD
is processor intensive - 1000 CDs is going to be a significant task. But
worthwhile. I use my Bose home theater now as my "stereo". All of my music
is available in seconds by mouse clicking.
I would add the biggest hard drive you can.
Korey Sherwin
automatically search all your CDs in the changer and go out to CDDB and
download all the info for you, no manual entering at all..
Create custom playlists, control it via IR, or X10, convert IR to x10 or
vice versa, and plays Mp3s as well, not to mention has a 8 zone mappable IR
distribution system...
Check it out http://www.nirvis.com/cdj.htm
--
--
Korey Sherwin
Sound Art, Canada
http://soundart.com
"Ziggy" <m...@here.com> wrote in message
news:b%9r5.33458$e11.2...@news1.rdc1.nj.home.com...
> Why not just use your computer and rip your CDs to a couple 30Gig drives?
>
Jay Levitt
says...
> Why not just use your computer and rip your CDs to a couple 30Gig drives?
Oh! Oh! I know! Because I don't actually want my music
psychoacoustically, lossily compressed?
--
Jay Levitt | This is not the start of World War III
Fairfax, VA | No political ploys
j...@jay.fm | I think both your constitutions are
http://jay.fm | terrific, so now you know - be good boys.
David Rogoff
the average CD has 500MB of data, and you use something like LPAC
lossless compression, you'll get 4 to 6 CDs/GB (2x-3x compression).
Call it 5 and you're talking 300 CDs of storage. Maxtor has 80GB drives
now. I'm waiting for one more round of storage increase/$perGB decrease
before going with this method.
Back to the question: right now I've got about 750 CDs in three Pioneer
301-disk changers. These are controlled by Wintrax (www.cdcontrol.com).
I've been using it for hours a day for about three years - works great.
David
Jay Levitt
da...@pivotaltech.com says...
> Back to the question: right now I've got about 750 CDs in three Pioneer
> 301-disk changers. These are controlled by Wintrax (www.cdcontrol.com).
> I've been using it for hours a day for about three years - works great.
Neat. I want something like this myself, maybe running the audio
uncompressed over CobraNet (spensive but probably worth it for the high-
end converters). I'm looking at Escient controllers, maybe the Denon
double-player DCM-5000 jukebox so I can have different music in different
rooms. It looks like the technology is finally getting around to its
potential.
Jeffrey Karp
Ziggy wrote:
> Why not just use your computer and rip your CDs to a couple 30Gig drives?
>
J. Clarke
news:39B0F381...@erols.com...
> Maxtor just came out with an 80 gig EIDE hard drive. It is only about
$330.
FWIW, their UDMA/66 5400 RPM 60s are going for about $220--best $/gig figure
I could find, and can be firmware upgraded to UDMA/100 (free download).
I've got a couple of those in a Novell server that lets me play from any
machine in the house (playback quality depends on the sound board obviously)
or all of them simultaneously. The server shows about 1% utilization and
peak throughput on the network interface about 210 kB/sec (plenty of
headroom on a 100 MB/sec network.
Right now I'm storing as .wav files--so far this is something that's in the
screwing around stage. The server will compress them (lossless) for me, but
I don't know yet how much compression it will achieve--NT doesn't manage any
at all.
Downside is that if something loads the server heavily then there can be a
breakup in the sound transmission--that only happens though when the
throughput gets up around 8.5MB/sec, which is pretty rare.
--
---
---John
reply to jclarke at eye bee em dot net
Bill Kearney
news:MPG.14192af1f...@news-server.cox.rr.com...
> In article <b%9r5.33458$e11.2...@news1.rdc1.nj.home.com>, m...@here.com
> says...
> > Why not just use your computer and rip your CDs to a couple 30Gig
drives?
>
> Oh! Oh! I know! Because I don't actually want my music
> psychoacoustically, lossily compressed?
Oh get over yourself. "psychoacoustically", puh-leeze!
The question is, as usual, answered by the "evil triangle":
Good, fast, cheap: pick two.
1 It's good and fast but tremendously expensive
2 It's good and cheap but damned slow
3 It's cheap and fast but not very good.
1 would be to use a LOT of hard discs to load very high quality sound files
onto it.
2 would be to use external CD changers. Yes they do work but the
inter-track time switching from one track to the next is just too long for
my tastes.
3 is to use MP3 compression and 80gb drives. This is what I'm using. I've
converted (ripped) over 400 CDs into a collection of MP3 files; encoded at
192k. This provides what can be equated to "good quality" FM radio. Sure
it's not going to reveal all the subtle nuances of my Dire Straits "Brothers
in Arms" albut. But it's a helluva lot better than NOTHING.
Yes, one call tell the difference in a side-by-side comparison between an
"original" CD and an encoded MP3 file. But when you balance the convenience
of rapid, random-access to the MP3 files verus multiple CD changers and the
concommittent hassles, the choice is EASY. Most folks are going to pick
convenient MP3 files.
Here's a very handy solution:
266mHz or greater Pentium II
64mb or more RAM
Windows 95/98/NT4 or 2000
soundcard (better ones do sound somewhat better)
WinAmp
AudioCatalyst
6gb system drive
80gb data drive
X10 MouseRemote (RF remote control interface to your serial port)
maX10 software for above (max10.sourceforge.net)
connection to the internet for CDDB lookups
Rip the CDs with AudioCatalyst into MP3 files. Use at least 192k samples.
Find your "most picky" album track and compare the difference between
sampling rates. I've found less than 192k to be unsatisfactory. I can tell
that 256k is better sounding. I can also tell that 256k takes nearly twice
the size of 192k. I'm willing to "sacrifice" the perceived quality in trade
for twice as much quantity.
Use the MouseRemote & maX10 software to control WinAmp. Configure the
machine to automatically login and start the WinAmp program. Then feed the
sound to your amplifier. I use an X10 video sender. This 2.4gHz
transmitter lets me put multiple receivers around the house, each plugged
into some powered speakers.
I can now wander around the house using the RF remote to totally control my
audio listening.
Sure, this is an 'involved' setup but nowhere near as complicated as using
CD changers. I'd have to add a control unit for the changers, put up with
the crappy software and the slow track-to-track seeking. I'd get "better"
sound but at what price? Technically, a PC is still involved so the costs
are the same until you start adding the CD changers. I've got more than a
thousand CDs; how many changers would I need? Too many at too high a price.
I do have a changer and I use it when I insist on hearing the really
detailed section of some classical stuff. But really, most of my most
interesting stuff is on old 78rpm records! I've only just started ripping
them into MP3 files. There's nothing like an original recording of Arturo
Toscannini!
Anyway, the question of quality is relative. As the saying goes "de
gustibus non desputandum est"
-Bill
cb
reliable
"Valued Customer" <cle...@court-room.com> wrote in message
news:P_ar5.1635$Mv3....@newsfeed.slurp.net...
>
> > Why not just use your computer and rip your CDs to a couple 30Gig
drives?
>
David Pearce
(200CDs) for over a year. Getting ready to daisychain at least one more
changer; I believe the TuneBase can handle some 4500 CD's configured this
way.
The coolest thing for me was to load my entire CD collection, let the
tunebase run overnight cataloging the collection, then just working like I
expected. Oh, and then dialing up their toll free number to download any
CD's they didn't recognize.
Cheers,
David
From http://www.escient.com:
F E A T U R E S
Instant access to entire music collection through a standard TV or display
Organizes music by style
Ability to create, save, and play song lists
Control of multiple changers for up to 4500-disc capacity (dependent upon
changer model used)
Two RS-232 ports for simultaneous bi-directional external control capability
Multi-room support
Escient’s unique disc-recognition technology
Access to Escient’s CDDB database for title, track, and artist info
Complete serviceability and software upgrades via a normal phone line
Includes IR wireless keyboard
Optional scanner and touch panels available
C O M P A T I B L E C H A N G E R S
Sony 200-disc CDP series changers
Sony 300-disc CDP series changers
Denon DN and DCM series changers
cb
"David Pearce" <da...@pearce.net> wrote in message
news:BUUy5.16908$ks.6...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net...