Re: MP3 Anywhere

[Nigel Orr <nigel.orr@xxxxxxx>]

At 12:09 24/08/99 +0100, you wrote:
>Rather than run cables to each hifi, and worry about balanced signals
>etc, how feasible is the following idea:

Nothing to worry about, and cables will always be better ;-)  Actually,
they sum it up quite well on the web pages as:

>What's more, because it's used much less than the old 900 MHz
frequency,=
the=20
>2.4 GHz range is virtually uncluttered

Perhaps they should add "at present"...

As for UK use, I don't think it's released yet, but IIRC definitely in the
pipeline, in less than 10 years!

>Basically a radio transmitter that plugs into the back of your PC, and
a
>receiver that plugs into the back of your HiFi. There is also
suggestion
>of some feedback control to pause, change volume etc.

As I read it, the transmitter sends MP3 data (so it only needs send
128kbit/s rather than 1.5Mbit/s), it doesn't encode it itself, so you would
need something doing real time MP3-coding of your non-mp3 sources (radio
etc) to distribute them in the same way.  It _looks_ like the receivers
produce analog though, so I guess they have some of the little MP3 decoder
ICs in them...

>your computer to any stereo, up to 100 feet away.=20

Up to 100ft, in radio salespeak, can often mean 30ft on a good day with a
following wind- though I would expect it to be in a typical house.

>Given that it is advertised for US$88 (~=A360?) this seems a very
>attractive alternative to running (more) cables around the place and
>possibly works out cheaper than any kit I might need for balanced
>audio...

It's definitely a reasonable price, and if all your sources are on MP3
already, it's quite an attractive offer.  How it will cope when your
neighbours get one too, I don't know ;-)

If you already have a PC fast enough to do real time MP3 encoding, and
which you can dedicate to that task, then the additional cost is small, but
if you have to get the PC as well, cabling starts to look attractive.  If
you ask some local security installers, they might be prepared to put some
cable of your choice in for you- and if they're good, it will be pretty
much invisible...

Studio quality audio balancing transformers don't come especially cheap
(=A350 or more is easily spent...), but even about =A310 spent at RS will
ge=
t
you a reasonable audio transformer (eg 210-6431), so =A320 per remote
amplifier should do the job nicely.  If you just want 'cheap', the 2.4GHz
thing might win the day.

Disclaimer- I like signals safely routed on their own cables, I don't like
RF floating around on its own (or on power lines, come to that).  There are
good reasons for these feelings... but I wouldn't expect anyone to be
interested in hearing them...  ;-)

Nigel

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