Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

[RussellRay]

Hello all

After a good few years using the dBpoweramp package (thanks here to its creator and helpers) I've more or less got my whole music collection transferred from old reel-to-reels, cassettes, LPs, and CDs, onto my hard disk - all in digitized form, all neatly organized and properly tagged.
My collection (ranging from Muddy Waters to Mahler - and most shades and flavours in between) comprises about 150 GB of good-quality MP3 and lossless APE.

All I want to do now is to play it.

So far I've just played digitized music through the tinny-sounding speakers integrated in my screen.
Now comes the next step - playing via the amp and real speakers.

How do others manage this ?

My finance is limited (old-age pension); so I can't afford stacks of sophisticated electronics and hi-fi equipment.

Our main computer is a long way from the living-room where the hi-fi system is set up;
so I'd prefer not to run things directly from here.
I thought, for example, of buying a cheap or second-hand laptop with an external HD containing the music collection and attaching this to the amp. However, I'd prefer not to leave the laptop switched on 24/7 (energy-saving); so I'd have to boot each session; and the background hum from the fan might be a problem.

What are the alternatives ? I'd be grateful for your suggestions.

Best regards from Ray

[NPendrigh]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

Have you considered a Squeezebox from SlimDevices?

Connect the Squeezebox to your hi-fi and control the songs that you want to play from your 150Gb of music on the hard disc
When the computer is off you can listen the Squeezebox can stream Internet Radio to your hi-fi. Cost is $299

https://www.slimdevices.com

Best wishes
Nigel

[RussellRay]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

Hello Nigel et al

>>> Have you considered a Squeezebox from SlimDevices?

I've had a look at their site and I think this is what I need.

SlimDevices suggests using their own proprietary SqueezeCenter to run the system.
Is it not possible to run a Squeezebox from dBpoweramp's Music Collection ?

Best regards from Ray

[NPendrigh]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

No

I have been running their software for several years comfortably

[RussellRay]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

Thanks for the information !

I've had a look at the SlimDevices site.

The Squeezebox Boom is the one with integrated speakers
but what is the difference between a Squeezebox Classic and Squeezebox Duet ?

Best regards from Ray

[NPendrigh]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

Boom has in-built speakers and cannot be connected to an external amplifier (with audiophile quality)

Classic - the display is on the device and is text only - less money. Remote uses infrared to communicate with Classic
Duet - display is on the remote control - more money. Remote uses wi-fi to communicate

I recommend that you read the Slim Devices fora to get more user feedback about the Classic versus the Duet

Best wishes
Nigel

[RussellRay]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

Hello all

Thanks very much for all the information so far.

I've been browsing round the various fora referring to Squeezebox, Bard, etc. and think this is the sort of hardware I would like to install (as opposed to just using a laptop).

However, I much prefer dBpoweramp's own Music Collection interface to the proprietary software that most of these systems require, e.g. SqueezeCenter.

Is there any system of this nature that would allow me to use dBpoweramp's Music Collection interface directly ?

Best regards from Ray

[NPendrigh]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

You do not have to use SqueezeCenter to control the playback of music - I just use the Squeezebox remote control with the Squeezebox directly

[RussellRay]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

Hello again Nigel et al

>>>You do not have to use SqueezeCenter to control the playback of music - I just use the Squeezebox remote control with the Squeezebox direct
----------

Thanks for the information, Nigel.
What you are doing is, I think, the solution I've been looking for.
Would you please explain in a little more detail ?

Which Squeezebox model do you use and how have you got it set up ?
How, if you don't use SqueezeCenter, do you communicate with it from your PC ?
Which software do you use to organize your music collection and how do you keep the Squeezebox updated with the latest additions ?

Best regards from Ray

[NPendrigh]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

SqueezeCenter is on my PC to send the music to my SqueezeBox3

I do not use SqueezeCenter for playback control - I use the remote control

The Squeezebox 3 is connected to my HiFi Amplifier

I use dbPA to organize the files when are ripped into a seperate sub-folder for each album which is contained in a folder for each artist, which is stored on a seperate disk drive or partition to my programs and OS

Squeezecenter automatically checks for updates to itself and also firmware for the Squeezebox3

[sjmac]

Re: Got my collection - Now how to play it ?

I recommend *any* UPnP media player or renderer. Maybe the Squeezebox is one of them?

I have a couple of UPnP players. One is a combined DVD player/UPNP player, so doesn't look out of place under my TV, next to my amp. It has a network port (wired) and a little aerial for WiFi (it's a Kiss 1600, now superceeded by the Linksys something-or-other)

The other looks like a normal table radio and has a wifi aerial (Roberts WM201).

For the techno types, if your player is a UPnP "Renderer" (not just a media player) then you can use very fancy remote controls (UPnP Control Points) to browse the server and make playlists. For example my mobile phone has a UPnP control point built in, so I can use its big screen to browse tracks and queue them up. I guess this will get to be more common.

These players need a UPnP server somewhere on your network. Windows Media Player 11 does this, but I use one called Twonky which runs on a little tiny networked storage box on my network. It is the servers job to keep an index of all your music and serve that index up to your players how you like it (ie sliced by album artist, artist, album, genre, year, ...)

Basically, just look for anything with UPnP written on the box!

Hope that's helpful.