Music player ? !!

ERICS_MUM

Sorry to be so generic. I know what I want to do but no idea what equipment I need !

At the mo I've got an 8g Archos MP3 player on which I have downloaded music that I've ripped from CDs via Windows Media Player. I listen with earphones at the gym, on flights, by the pool etc.

Now I want to listen indoors with a good sound quality at a decent volume. I don't want a CD player as such, don't want to keep changing CD. I realise that the 8g on my 6 year-old is inadequate (I'll still use it as I do now).

Is a budget of £300 going to get me something decent ?

So, what do you recommend and why ?

Thank you

EM xx

esuhl

I'm not sure if it would work for you, but I ripped my whole CD collection in FLAC (which is lossless -- better sound quality than MP3) and have it on my desktop PC.

The PC is plugged into a hi-fi amp and speakers. I can also stream music over my wi-fi network and play it through my laptop, netbook, and on my smartphone.

For organising and indexing the music files, I use MusicBee:
http://getmusicbee.com/

Spending £300 on an amp and speakers would probably get you something a heck of a lot better than £300 spent on some fancy all-in-one portable device with limited storage space...

(Oh, and I don't do this myself, but my router has a USB port I could plug a hard drive into -- or I could use a folder on my main PC -- to make my CD collection available via the Internet. That way, if you had your phone somewhere like the gym where you have wi-fi access, you could connect to your CD collection on your PC and access it remotely... In theory...)

steviebabes

I use Twonky server and listen to my music on a smart TV via the allshare app. I also have a Pure Sensia radio that plays via the media player. Twonky can be installed on up to 3 PC's and I think the cost was $10 for life if I remember correctly. I have it installed on a windows 8.1 laptop a windows 7 laptop and a windows XP desktop and they are work very well together.

googler

What equipment do you have already indoors? Do you have a HiFi system of any sort, with an amplifier and speakers, and an existing CD player?

Basically, is the £300 budget to get the complete system, or just the source component to replace an existing CD player?

Would you be happy with using your PC as the source component, playing back from the PC into your amp and speakers? Is the PC in the room you want to listen in?

ERICS_MUM

Y PC is upstairs and has a wireless thingy to link to the router downstairs. I have no equipment, starting from scratch. I think I would prefer a stand-alone to be honest, being a technically challenged middle-aged woman !

The only thing I understand is loading all the music onto an I-pod and playing it through a docking station. Would this give me decent quality, could I transfer my music from the PC (it's on WMP at the mo).

Would this be satisfactory and if so, what brands would you suggest ?

nick-nick

What about if you were to connect your MP3 player to something? Would that work?

You already have the music ripped and moved to that, you could just get a decent speaker and connect it via the Aux cable and away you go?

googler

You can get Network Players which will connect wirelessly and play your mp3s through a playback system in your other room, but once you put the mp3s through a decent replay system, it becomes debatable whether or not they are 'decent' quality. Depends on what settings you used when you ripped them with WMP.

mp3 quality is not CD quality. If you want to listen to them in CD quality, you need to rip them to FLAC or WAV, using something like EAC

Do you have a Richer Sounds close by? They're probably the best place to go for starter systems

Mr_Toad

One of my friends has a Sonos system.

http://www.sonos.com/en-gb/sonos-your-home?gclid=CjwKEAiA28ilBRCy5cXrgtfTxTISJABgX7E2KvyIGiXVK47wqsjz_Oz6s4EfkljwJrGdDliOk42RkBoCL9_w_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

It is linked to her PC which holds her entire music collection and is controlled via both her smart phone and tablet. She started out with one unit in the sitting room but has since expanded to another in the kitchen and one in the bedroom. Sound quality is good and it's easy to set up and use. It can also access internet radio, there are thousands of stations.

ERICS_MUM

googler wrote: »

You can get Network Players which will connect wirelessly and play your mp3s through a playback system in your other room, but once you put the mp3s through a decent replay system, it becomes debatable whether or not they are 'decent' quality. Depends on what settings you used when you ripped them with WMP.

mp3 quality is not CD quality. If you want to listen to them in CD quality, you need to rip them to FLAC or WAV, using something like EAC

Do you have a Richer Sounds close by? They're probably the best place to go for starter systems

Someone else has recommended Richer Sounds, I can get to one. Never heard of them but they seem to be well-known. Hopefully they won't blind me with science !

ERICS_MUM

I've got an old net book which works fine but I prefer my I Pad for browsing in the armchair while watching telly !

Could I transfer my CDs to that and play through one of those speakers mentioned above wirelessly ? Would the quality be as a CD or more like an mp3 ?

Sorry to be so thick, your replies are helpful.

EM xx

googler

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

I've got an old net book which works fine but I prefer my I Pad for browsing in the armchair while watching telly !

Could I transfer my CDs to that and play through one of those speakers mentioned above wirelessly ? Would the quality be as a CD or more like an mp3 ?

You could, but depending on how much storage the iPad has, you could well use it all up in no time.

You can get 'headless' streamers that will stream from your PC, along with downloadable control apps for the iPad, such that you control the streamer from the iPad app. I'm a bit vague on the details of those, though.

How many CDs are in question here? How many do you tend to accumulate on a monthly or annual basis?