Hey Jeff,
I actually have the Tunebase 2000i which I think was one level up from the TuneBase 100. I got it just before they D/C'ed it (so better price http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif ). I absolutely love this thing. I actually use it in conjunction with the Arrakis DC-4 hard disc recorder, distribute the video from the Escient to all the TV's in my house, and use the IR in my Elan system to communicate/control the Escient. Escient has a wireless IR handheld mouse that they sell separately which I use to control it; it comes with a wireless keyboard. The system as a whole works beautifully.
So why do I love the Escient:
1) The graphical interface is a joy to use - from the main menu you can either select a single disc, choose a random mode, choose a 5 disc mode (so it acts like a 5-disc changer), or choose the jukebox mode.
2) In any of the first 3 modes, you can specify which musical style(s) you would like to use at that moment. It comes with like 8 preset modes. Which brings me to what I really like,
3) It offers incredible control over how you interface with your music. To wit (I've never written or said that phrase before, by the way! http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif ), it offers an Excel style spreadsheet which contains artist, title, and 2 categories in which you define where you think that music belongs, ie. Rock and Blues. All of this information is editable.
Below that is another spreadsheet with the actual disc information; track name, time, etc. In this spreadsheet it gives you the option to specify which tracks you would like to exclude from playback, random or otherwise. For example, you bought that Beck CD with Loser on it, but you don't like any of the other songs. You simply exclude the other ones from playback, and every time you choose that album or include it in a random playback, whatever, it will only play Loser. Amazing!
You can define as many musical styles as you want, and assign an album cover or piece of art specifically to it.
4) The interface is very intuitive and fun (my wife likes it for God's sake!!)
5) In the jukebox mode, you can create playlists for specific occassions, ie. dinner jazz, brazilian party, bedtime classical, children's songs, whatever.
6) Setting it up is very straight forward.
7) Excellent technical support.
I can't think of what else, but I will say that it has made interacting with my music collection magnitudes more fun. I've enjoyed it so much that I am seriously considering getting their PowerPlay for DVD's.
So are there any negatives? Some minor ones:
1) cover art accuracy is really only about 60%. I have a scanner hooked up to it and it has a great cover art management process.
2) have to have a video display to interact with it (TV, touchscreen, Crestron/Phast, etc.)
3) in the whole-house setting, it can only be used in one zone at a time.
4) with classical music need to edit song titles/artist info a little more often that I would like, but I'm also pretty anal about this stuff ("no, if it's Bach, J.S. on one disc, it can't be J.S. Bach on another...")
I know this is a long post, but I really am happy with it, and nobodies asked before!! If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help.
Brian
I actually have the Tunebase 2000i which I think was one level up from the TuneBase 100. I got it just before they D/C'ed it (so better price http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif ). I absolutely love this thing. I actually use it in conjunction with the Arrakis DC-4 hard disc recorder, distribute the video from the Escient to all the TV's in my house, and use the IR in my Elan system to communicate/control the Escient. Escient has a wireless IR handheld mouse that they sell separately which I use to control it; it comes with a wireless keyboard. The system as a whole works beautifully.
So why do I love the Escient:
1) The graphical interface is a joy to use - from the main menu you can either select a single disc, choose a random mode, choose a 5 disc mode (so it acts like a 5-disc changer), or choose the jukebox mode.
2) In any of the first 3 modes, you can specify which musical style(s) you would like to use at that moment. It comes with like 8 preset modes. Which brings me to what I really like,
3) It offers incredible control over how you interface with your music. To wit (I've never written or said that phrase before, by the way! http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif ), it offers an Excel style spreadsheet which contains artist, title, and 2 categories in which you define where you think that music belongs, ie. Rock and Blues. All of this information is editable.
Below that is another spreadsheet with the actual disc information; track name, time, etc. In this spreadsheet it gives you the option to specify which tracks you would like to exclude from playback, random or otherwise. For example, you bought that Beck CD with Loser on it, but you don't like any of the other songs. You simply exclude the other ones from playback, and every time you choose that album or include it in a random playback, whatever, it will only play Loser. Amazing!
You can define as many musical styles as you want, and assign an album cover or piece of art specifically to it.
4) The interface is very intuitive and fun (my wife likes it for God's sake!!)
5) In the jukebox mode, you can create playlists for specific occassions, ie. dinner jazz, brazilian party, bedtime classical, children's songs, whatever.
6) Setting it up is very straight forward.
7) Excellent technical support.
I can't think of what else, but I will say that it has made interacting with my music collection magnitudes more fun. I've enjoyed it so much that I am seriously considering getting their PowerPlay for DVD's.
So are there any negatives? Some minor ones:
1) cover art accuracy is really only about 60%. I have a scanner hooked up to it and it has a great cover art management process.
2) have to have a video display to interact with it (TV, touchscreen, Crestron/Phast, etc.)
3) in the whole-house setting, it can only be used in one zone at a time.
4) with classical music need to edit song titles/artist info a little more often that I would like, but I'm also pretty anal about this stuff ("no, if it's Bach, J.S. on one disc, it can't be J.S. Bach on another...")
I know this is a long post, but I really am happy with it, and nobodies asked before!! If you have any other questions, I'd be happy to help.
Brian
