Looking for the right software/hardware  

i'm holding out for the escient fireball.. but also looking at the new rio and HP devices...

i don't want too much protection, i want to be able to copy files from my hard drive or CDs and to my RIO.

still sitting on fence until i'm sure i'm not getting stuck with a dud.

post any findings please :)

Check out http://www.nirvis.com . Their CDJ software provides basic music management capability for MP3 files.....creating, playing and storing playlists, searching music files, etc. With the addition of the Slink-e hardware, you can create playlists that seamlessly mix MP3's from your computer's hard drive with CDs stored in a Sony Mega CD jukebox. I've used CDJ with the Slink-e for about two years. I originally purchased a 200-CD Sony Mega changer, and was looking around for a better way to organize/search/play my CDs, and I stumbled on CDJ.

There is alot happening right now with the "convergence" of home automation and whole-house audio control solutions. Specifically, there are some folks who have come up with an elegant, customizeable web-based front-end for CDJ - it's called "CDJ Web Pages" ( a.k.a. "Track to File ). Thats just the "working name" for the project- don't ask me how they came up with it. The people who are building it are actually using a software-based home automation controller/scripting tool and web server called HomeSeer ( http://www.homeseer.com) to serve out web pages. Using these web pages, you can search your music collection, build , load and play playlists, etc. from any internet connected browser.

There has been a lot of 'cross-pollenation' between the Nirvis and Homeseer user forums, and some talented folks have recognized the potential of combining the scripting/web server capabilities of the HomeSeer software with the CDJ music management features. Most of the software is just now available in beta form, but I've been running it for a couple of months, and every single person who has seen the system has been impressed. A friend of mine stopped by the house a few weeks ago, and, after I gave him a brief 'tour' of the system, he began to compare it's features to the Escient system he had been lusting after - I got a chuckle out of that. In fact, CDJ uses CDDB ( now owned by Escient ) to retrieve the album title/artist/track information into it's music library.

The apps that are being developed through collaberation on these internet forums can hold their own against any whole-house automated audio control systems - even those over-priced software/hardware products like Escient's TuneBase and PowerFile .

HomeSeer Message board post regarding CDJ Web Page app:
http://homeseer.infopop.net/3/OpenTo...4&m=7352983772

Note: One drawback of the Slink-e hardware - it only talks to Sony devices that are equipped with Sony's proprietary Control A-1 interface.

The Lansonic digital audio server
can do what you want to do.

The other nice thing about it is
that the songs can be accessed
across a LAN from the Lansonic
DAS.