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looking to eliminate CD player - best device to use?

post #1 of 16
11/28/12 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Hi folks.

First, let me explain my existing equipment:
  • Denon AVR-589
  • DVD player
  • CD player
  • LCD TV
  • PC running Vista (used as DVR)
  • 5.1 speakers
  • wireless network (access to media)

I'd like to get rid of the CD player and the associated CDs stacked against the wall. I'll rip them all and make them available via a file server on the network.

So, my immediate need is a network device that could access the resulting MP3s and feed them to the receiver. Pretty simple, right?

I don't want to spend a bunch of money (ie. < $100). I've been looking at the Western Digital WD TV Live Streaming Media Player.

Any other suggestions? Comments?

Thanks!
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post #2 of 16
11/28/12 at 12:01pm
why not your pc?
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post #3 of 16
11/28/12 at 12:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pittsoccer33 View Post

why not your pc?

Yes, I could. However, I'd prefer to use something w/ less power consumption. It's a desktop system, so having it up & running just to listen to music seems like overkill.

I'd much prefer a low-power, fan-less device.

My tuner is an HDHomerun. Ideally, maybe the WD TV Live will integrate with it someday and I wouldn't need the PC either. smile.gif
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post #4 of 16
11/28/12 at 12:23pm
Thread Starter 
PS - network access of media isn't a requirement. It would be acceptable if I had to connect and external USB drive to the given media player.
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post #5 of 16
11/28/12 at 12:29pm
Sonos. You won't be sorry. Insanely great products.
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post #6 of 16
11/28/12 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by watchy View Post

Sonos. You won't be sorry. Insanely great products.

May be great products, but a quick perusal indicates they cost more than I am willing to spend.
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post #7 of 16
11/28/12 at 12:53pm
I just dumped Squeezebox (similar to Sonos) for AirPlay. Got a Denon AVR-1913 for my home theater, and a Philips AD7000W wireless AirPlay speaker for the family room. Both have worked out well. I use an iPad, iPhone and a Kindle Fire HD to browse and play my ripped CD's on a Synology NAS. You can also AirPlay from Pandora, TuneIn, and most other music sources.
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post #8 of 16
11/28/12 at 1:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brajesh View Post

I just dumped Squeezebox (similar to Sonos) for AirPlay. Got a Denon AVR-1913 for my home theater, and a Philips AD7000W wireless AirPlay speaker for the family room. Both have worked out well. I use an iPad, iPhone and a Kindle Fire HD to browse and play my ripped CD's on a Synology NAS. You can also AirPlay from Pandora, TuneIn, and most other music sources.

Hmmm...I assume you're talking about using another wifi device as the audio file source which then sends audio to something that is RCA'd to my receiver, like this?:

Logitech Wireless Speaker Adapter

I don't have a smart phone, but do have an android tablet that could potentially be used. However, for an extra $40, it would be nice to have something that can also stream video either from the internet or an external disc.
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post #9 of 16
11/28/12 at 3:11pm
Why not use one of the following on your current PC -

Foobar
Jriver
Squeezeslave or squeezeplay does require the Logitech Media Server to run

All 3 have remote apps you can run from an android/iphone.
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post #10 of 16
11/28/12 at 5:47pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cburbs View Post

Why not use one of the following on your current PC -
Foobar
Jriver
Squeezeslave or squeezeplay does require the Logitech Media Server to run
All 3 have remote apps you can run from an android/iphone.

Thanks. The PC has Media Center on it, so I probably wouldn't need additional software (unless I wanted to control things from an android device). But I would prefer not to use the PC for playing music.
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post #11 of 16
11/28/12 at 8:13pm
This may be anathema around here, but you may want to use an AppleTV. Maybe find an older used one on eBay/Craigslist?

The AppleTV is a fairly slick little device for streaming music, with nice album art, good remote control, lower consumption, etc. Audio quality on Apple devices tends to be higher than other media streamers (better noise floor, lower THD, etc.)

The downside is that you'd probably need to store your music in iTunes on your PC for the AppleTV to pick them up. But you could do worse than iTunes for ripping and managing your music collection.
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post #12 of 16
11/28/12 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by keylimesoda View Post

This may be anathema around here, but you may want to use an AppleTV. Maybe find an older used one on eBay/Craigslist?
The AppleTV is a fairly slick little device for streaming music, with nice album art, good remote control, lower consumption, etc. Audio quality on Apple devices tends to be higher than other media streamers (better noise floor, lower THD, etc.)
The downside is that you'd probably need to store your music in iTunes on your PC for the AppleTV to pick them up. But you could do worse than iTunes for ripping and managing your music collection.

You're right anathema is the right word. No one should ever use a proprietary format to store anything. WMP and Apple like to lock down their stuff, worst case use MP3, better case use Flac. I have the WD player and it's fine, though not as glitzy as some. It can be had for $49 as a man. refurb. from time to time.
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post #13 of 16
11/28/12 at 10:56pm
Nothing about iTunes and AppleTV keep you from using MP3. Although IIRC, Apple products may struggle a bit with high-bitrate VBR MP3 encoding (>256kbs).

For ripping, I'd use something like EAC, then you can encode using LAME for MP3 encoding.

I'll add this. On a nice home stereo, you may notice the drop off between MP3 and CD quality. Archiving in FLAC is usually a good idea, and then you can transcode into whatever system you need later.
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post #14 of 16
11/29/12 at 1:21am
get a streamer something afordable like the pionner N50
you get high resolution files up to 24/192, over usb, spdif, optical , airplay and it has a very good DAC
it support all the required formats, execpt apple lossless.

if you want cheaper go to logitech squezzetouch, sonos connect
to go ever cheaper get a dock like the arcam dr dock , pure i-20 , they all have digital out , but you need a ipad or iphone to play bit perfect with powerAMP app.

or you can use a computer with external dac like the audioquest dragonfly + jplay software.

trust me you dont want a media player to play music, these are optimized for video, with low cost digital outputs, i made the experience and doest sound good, besides you need a tv on to play music ? i dont think so

best option is a dedicated audio streamer, cost a bit about 399$ but its future proof

regards
Edited by canton160 - 11/29/12 at 1:32am
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post #15 of 16
11/29/12 at 5:53am
Thread Starter 
After doing some more research, I'm leaning toward a device that can stream internet video (netflix, hulu) and locally attached (USB) video, as well as play my audio collection.

I see there is a thread devoted to the WD TV Live. Is that the preferred/popular device?

Thanks for the comments/thoughts everybody!
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post #16 of 16
11/29/12 at 9:40pm
I have the WD and have zero issues playing audio files. I play back via HDMI to my AVR and it handles all formats I have and sounds fine. I can't justify paying $400 to listed to audio files, but to each his own.
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