Digital music option for elderly parent

cloud_dog

Hi

So was hoping to pick peoples brains on what options there may be for an elderly parent.

Some background info:

1. I've lost count the number of times I have explained how to use the DVD player (hopefully puts my conundrum in to some perspective).
2. Her old music system, with multiple CD player has died.
3. She enjoys putting a number of CDs in and randomly playing those CDs.
4. She doesn't have a PC
5. She doesn't have broadband
6. No mobile phone
7. Time moves on for us all and bending down to get CDs (for example) is not ideal for her (blood pressure considerations etc)

My home set up is with Squeezecentre on a NAS, so very comfortable with digital music etc.

I suppose my question is in two parts:

1. How could I configure the digitised music to be available, i.e. burn them to a flash drive / Ipod (of some variety)?
2. How could my mother control / select the music she wants to play

The provision of the music is probably of lesser a concern, or rather is only something to be considered in relation to how the music is controlled.

Or, falling that we try any buy a replacement centre with a multi-CD unit.

Any thoughts anyone?

Robin9

cloud_dog wrote: »

Or, falling that we try any buy a replacement centre with a multi-CD unit.

It suits your parent - buy a replacement unit

googler

There'll be hundreds of CD changers on eBay, gumtree, schpock, or in your local cash converter/charity shop etc.

If this suits her, then get another. And put it on a shelf or unit so that she doesn't have to bend.

Or get the current one repaired. What's actually wrong with it? If it has died altogether, that usually indicates an issue with the power supply board, and can sometimes be rectified quite easily and cheaply.

Debbie_Savard

>She doesn't have broadband<

Can this be installed? Then you'd have Amazon Echo to stream music, all under voice control.

Looking to the future with an elderly parent, broadband given you the option of services to check she's not fallen etc.

elsien

Debbie_Savard wrote: »

>She doesn't have broadband<

Can this be installed? Then you'd have Amazon Echo to stream music, all under voice control.

Looking to the future with an elderly parent, broadband given you the option of services to check she's not fallen etc.

If OPs mum is anything like my grandparent, the answer would be a firm no. (We never eve managed to upgrade from cassettes to CDs)
If mum is perfectly happy with her CD player, I'd just replace it. Some people really just don't want to get to grips with new technology, so if they can manage without and don't want to be persuaded, their choice should be respected.

rmg1

googler wrote: »

There'll be hundreds of CD changers on eBay, gumtree, schpock, or in your local cash converter/charity shop etc.

SNIP

Couldn't agree with this more. I got myself a new unit for the princely sum of £20 from shpock when mine died. It's actually better than the one I had (this plays mp3 discs so I spent a nice few hours ripping a load of CDs and putting them onto new discs).

This one gives me around 600 tracks across 3 discs and I can set it up to play sequentially, random on one disc or random across all 3 discs.

another_casualty

If buying a replacement ( which seems like the best thing to do), try and get something as close to her current system as possible . Same make etc .

psychic_teabag

I do understand the view that some people don't like change. However, if she has already groked a multi-cd system, where she can choose tracks from across multiple CDs, is it a big step to go to an infinite-cd system, where all her CDs have (effectively) installed at once ? I think the real difficulty would be in finding a digital device with an interface she can understand.

esuhl

cloud_dog wrote: »

I've lost count the number of times I have explained how to use the DVD player (hopefully puts my conundrum in to some perspective).
...
How could I configure the digitised music to be available, i.e. burn them to a flash drive / Ipod (of some variety)?

If your mum can't cope with a DVD player, then... I think it's pretty optimistic to think that she'll be able to cope with a media streaming device.

I'd stick with playing her digitised music on a CD player. As above, you can get second-hand ones quite cheaply.

mac.d

Probably not that helpful, but my gran in her late-80s absolutely loved the MP3 player we bought her. She couldn't work it to play individual albums, but we just set it to random and she absolutely loved listing to it shuffle all her music :-)

Maybe buy her a hi-fi with a cd player, and usb slot. So if she wants to play any of her old CD's she can, but you can digitise them all and put them on a USB drive for random play. Something like this:

Panasonic SC-PM250BEBS DAB Micro Hi-Fi System - £71.99 @ Amazon
(although I don't know if it does random play from the USB)

were

thought about something like this that is for sale for the partially sighted?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sonic-Memory-Player-Bluetooth-Speaker-Black-Yellow/dp/B01LF6G8IK/ref=pd_sbs_23_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RFEZ7XEAN9RFDS1EGWN9#customerReviews