Re: WHA, controlling MP3's

["Paul Gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

>
>WHA, controlling MP3'sI'm pondering WHA at the moment - though
controlled
>entirely by a PC. My HA PC (when I eventually get all the pieces
together
>in one box) will have a graphics card with TV out so I was planning on
>plugging that into a TV, then either using a radio mouse/keyboard (not
>ideal) or preferably using an IR keyboard and just learning a few
crucial
>buttons onto a Pronto (BTW has anyone done this?


I have exactly this arrangement, and tried to do just what you have
described. Basically, I had no success getting the pronto to learn the IR
from the keyboard :-(  However, I have subsequently changed to a different
IR keyboard (A "digital Edge" one), and I haven't tried to learn
anything
from that into the Pronto yet... so fingers crossed...



can it be done?). I was planning on a more ambitious system giving actual
whole house control via a web interface, but if you just want music then I
don't see why you just couldn't use WinAmp/whatever normally.
>
>If you don't have a dedicated PC already it might be pricey but it
would
>still be cheaper than dedicated touch screens in each room, I should
think.
>Especially if you have a lot of televisions around the place (I'm only
>really interested in one control point)


Dedicated touchcreens, whilst undoubtedly one of the most attractive
options, is also far and away the most expensive! - Even the dreaded...
(wait for it...) EPODS at the bargain knock-down price of £230-ish is more
expensive than a DDAR. - Plus of course, there aren't any left at that
price, so you can pretty much forget about getting any touchscreen solution
for any less money than that. (Even the bog-standard monochrome X10
Touchlinc screens are £287.88, and that's without any kind of stand or
wall-mount kit...)

As far as a PC-based system is concerned, 'cos I have lots of PC's, I have
up till now just put a PC wherever I need an audio zone - I figured that
sending ethernet from place to place is easier (and better) than sending
audio over long cable runs... This gives zone-able output, but still
doesn't
address the problem of selection/control. I still haven't really got a
solution to this... - For example, in the master bedroom, because SWMBO
wouldn't let me put a PC in there, I drilled a holw stright through the
wall
to my study which is adjacent, and fed an audio cable from the amplifier in
the bedroom through to a PC in the study. So to select tracks or control
the
player, I have to wander into the next room, and use the PC.. (not ideal!)
Next step will probably be to put a radio-based cordless keyboard on that
PC, and feed another cable through the wall to connect the TV-out on the PC
to the TV in the bedroom. Alternatively, I have just resurrected my old
laptop (Thanks Vince!) and I might see if I can get away with sneaking that
into the bedroom...

Longer term, I'm thinking of a single PC in node 0, with multiple
soundcards
(ideally about 4 of them!) giving 4-zone independent control. Ideally, I'd
then be able to use it in either of 2 main configurations:
a) individual zones, for listening to a seprate audio feed in any zone,
when
I'm in one room and SWMBO is in another...
b) Whole-house audio, - IE sending the same single audio feed to all zones
simultaneously, for parties and so on.
I still don't know what combination of hardware/software will currently
allow that level of control - IE with 4 soundcards, how do I
"bind" a
particular instance of a player (Winamp for example), to a particular
soundcard? If I manage that OK, I then have 4 instances of Winamp on a
single PC, so how do I seperately control each instance from a remote
location? In the other scenario, how would I then "kill" the
other 3 Winamp
instances, and then "bind" a sinlge Winamp instance to all 4
soundcards to
get te whole-house audio that I want?

Questions Questions!!

Paul G.


>
>
>   Hi list,
>
>   I'm a new member so forgive me if this subject has come up before.
>Basically I'm very interested in a whole house audio solution, however
I
>see one significant drawback limiting how I would personally like to
>implement it.
>
>   I have an Empeg (www.empeg.com) Car MP3 car stereo.  In order to
listen
>to MP3's on the device I have ripped my entire CD collection and keep a
>local copy on a PC and sync this up with my empeg every time I buy a
new
>CD.  Obviously, if I were to install WHA I would like to use my MP3's
as
>one of the music sources.  I know I can buy a DDAR but that requires a
>receiver in every room I wish to listen to MP3's in, hardly an ideal
>solution, which would result in a crippled WHA system as I don't really
>like the idea of buying 5-10 DDAR's!!!
>
>   The other way of doing this would be to wire the MP3 player into a
more
>traditional central source/amplifiers WHA solution.  This obviously
leaves
>you wondering how you choose which MP3 you want to listen to, etc.  I
don't
>want to be tied to a PC monitor or TV to show MP3 status/info displays.
>
>   Basically, the ideal solution would be a customisable wallmount LCD
>touchscreen in every room, so you could control the rest of the WHA and
>possible HVAC, etc from this LCD.  The screen would have to be
inexpensive
>in order to be affordable for every room.  Does anyone have any idea
>whether there are suitable solutions available, or will I have to work
on a
>homebrew device?
>
>   Cheers,
>
>   M
>

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.




Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/