Advice on a home (audio) network

cid_2

I'm here begging for a bit of help with the madcap options available for setting up a network for beaming music around my house.

I have a wireless network set up already, and a computer with loads of mp3s on it. What I want ideally is to be able to beam these mp3s to a receiver/speaker somewhere else in the house, using some type of remote device. I've seen this in action at a mate's house with some Sonos device and I understand the concept there, but I have an additional requirement that's knackered me as far as my research goes.

I would like this system to be on all the time. The wireless network in the house is on all the time, but the computer isn't and I'd rather it wasn't. Am I best off getting a Network Access Storage device to hold the files and leave that on all the time? Does that work with a system like Sonos? Or do I get this thing I was reading about earlier, this, er, Squeezebox?

Eventualy I've worked out I'll have upwards of 100GB of mp3s (got a lot of CDs to rip...) so I do need something large to store them on, which is what led me to thinking about a NAS.

If anyone's has a system like this in action and can share their knowledge I'd be most grateful. Though it's not entirely true let's just say cost isn't a massive issue as I need to know what's feasible before I look into buying anything anyway. Or if there's a repository of articles on this anywhere online that someone knows of that'd be good too (seem to be 2-3 years out of date in most places I've found).

Thanks.

hc25036

I use a Squeezebox with an NAS and would recommend it - but make sure the NAS is compatible first! With the Squeezebox the remote becomes a wireless mp3 player on its own too!

There are loads of options though - I've not seen when, but the Brennan machine gets good write-ups (http://www.brennan.co.uk/) although it's not a network mp3 player.... [just realised this is no good for you!]

Good luck - let us know what you decide.

Marty_J

Have you considered an Apple TV?

Fifer

+1 for the Squeezebox. I have a Transporter, 2 Squeezeboxen and a Duet all fed wirelessly from a mini-ITX Linux box I set up as my music server. I'm streaming FLAC files over wireless without issues, so MP3s from a PC should be no problem. It works really well with internet radio too.

If you want a one box soltion, the Squeezebox Boombox and the Squeezebox Radio are options worth looking at.

My Squeezebox network has been running in some form, without trouble for more than seven years or so.

cid_2

Marty_J wrote: »

Have you considered an Apple TV?

I'm one of the few remaining Apple refuseniks I'm afraid, fearful of their mad proprietary software and formats and what it means for the future of bees.

I'll check out Squeezebox today as that seems to be the way forward, kind thanks for the guidance all.