An mp3 player for the living room?

lipidicman

webhamster wrote:

A modded xbox and a 120g hd would be great for that very thing I use one for it , plus you can use it as a divx player on the network streaming data from network shares , and 120g is a lot of mp3/divx space.Plus you can use dvdr , cdr , dependant on the internal dvd drive.

For more info on it try xbox scene org.

you mean http://xbox-scene.org/ i think

now, do you just open the xbox and put a 120gig HD in it. Do you get an optical out on the xbox? What software do you run on it? Do you have a more specific link at xbox-scene?

mattb_3

Thanks for your ideas chaps.

Just to confirm: I don't want a wireless player. I really don't want to have to power another device to serve the mp3s - I want something standalone.

I also don't want to have to turn the tv on in order to view tracks. I've never had to do that before and it seems like extra fiddle.

I also want to store my entire mp3 collection on this mythical device. I don't want to have to swap out files. I'm happy with a hard disc as 'long term storage', especially when it's all backed up to 4.7 GB DVDs.

When I looked into the Freecom Mediaplayer, it looked like what I was after, but I found out that it take about 1 minute for the device to read a directory with 200 or so other directories in it - no good.

And as for the 'build your own' solution - like I said, I don't want to have to, especially as I don't need to use it as a video playing device (I have a Yamada 6700 for that).

And I can't be doing with a Windows device in the lounge - a lounge should be a place for relaxing, not frustrations!

It looks like the iPod is the closest match to what I want, the only thing being the lack of a remote with display, and the 60GB limit. So I just have to wait.

frobbit

Here's some ideas...

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=343

http://www.advancedmp3players.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=496

mattb_3

Thanks frobbit. They look lovely, but I don't think they work standalone.
As I say, I don't want to have to leave a PC on and wirelessly connected in order to listen to music. PCs crash or run low on resources, generally use at least 200W of power, wireless interference happens, wireless routers sometimes need rebooting. I want something simple that works by itself.

Seamus

I've had a Perception Digital Jukebox for a few years now and it does pretty much what you want.

It is a standalone CD player that rips the CD you insert onto it's inbuilt hard drive at the desired MP3 bit rate. It also has an inbuilt CDDB database with half a million CD's so it recognises the majority of CD's you put in so the tracks are labelled correctly.

Mine has a 40Gb hard drive and I've got about 900 CD's on it at 128kbps. I think some of the newer ones have larger drives. You can also hook it up to a PC to transfer existing MP3's etc.

You play tracks using the two way remote that has a large multi line display.

I got mine from Richer Sounds but I'm not sure if they still do them.

People sell them on Ebay too.

http://www.perceptiondigital.com/products/audio/480/

wolfman

lipidicman wrote:

you mean http://xbox-scene.org/ i think

now, do you just open the xbox and put a 120gig HD in it. Do you get an optical out on the xbox? What software do you run on it? Do you have a more specific link at xbox-scene?

Software, Xbox Media Center. Amazing piece of software, comparable, if not better than Windows Media Center, and it's free.

You do quite literally, open the Xbox (need a torq set to do so) unplug the current hard drive and put in a bigger one. You then need to format that hard drive using raw ftp commands. There's a tutorial about how to do so on xbox scene. It's not too hard, just follow the steps. You then just ftp across the new dashboard (software).

You could build your own IR unit on the Xbox, or just buy the dongle and remote for about £15-20 (not sure what it retails at these days). Or use the controller.

I can't wait til the Xbox 360 is out, although definitely will not be getting rid of my Xbox. It becomes so much more when you mod it.

mattb_3

Thanks for your reply Seamus. I'd seen the Perception Digital Jukeboxes but never actually come across anybody that owned one or a review for one.

I'd like to get hold of an 80GB version, but there only seems to be the 40GB available in this country. The 80GB version looks a bit nicer I think. I guess if I processed all my mp3s that aren't 128kbps then 40GB would be big enough...

When you're using it, is it fast enough? Does it take much time to start up and start playing tracks? When you say it "pretty much" does what you want - is there anything it's really bad at? How is finding tracks/artists/titles for example?

mattb_3

wolfman - the xbox would need to be connected to the TV presumably, in order to work out which mp3 track to play. I want something that simply plugs into my amp. Something nice and easy like the Perception Digital sounds like it is. The xbox mod all sounds a bit too geeky/techie for me.

wolfman

Yeah, the Xbox is more of a media center than just an audio player, so does need a tv. You can always find them pre-built, so no techie knowledge required but it usually costs more then. Probably not the best solution if you just want audio.

mattb_3

Well, I've just bought a Perception Digital 40GB 2nd hand from Ebay.
Doesn't quite fit all my original criteria as it's only 40GB and I don't think I can update the hard disk.
However, if I encode to 128kbps (which, to my untrained ear is good enough) then I reckon I can fit around 800 CDs of music onto the unit. If I end up filling it up and needing more, then I'll upgrade.
Thanks for your help everyone, especially Seamus. I hope it's as good as you say!