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Community Newsletter: Q&A: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo
- 10/2/06 4:31 PM
Hacking existing WiFi - sounds great
by raddster - 9/22/06 9:03 AM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
The “solution” posted by Joshua W. was in fact nothing more than a list of commercially available products.
I do however have to scratch my head by the statement Joshua made “This page is about hacking a do-it-yourself wireless networked music player for less than half the cost of a retail model and potentially creating one with more features”. I continued reading his response as I was interested in the potential ability of hacking my existing WiFi capabilities.
Where in the heck was the “Hack” part of the response???
Ditto
by greg.bakker - 9/22/06 10:54 AM In reply to: Hacking existing WiFi - sounds great by raddsterDitto, I thought the same thing.
How about for a wired (ethernet) network?
by jcsmith - 9/22/06 9:16 AM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Very helpful information, thank you. What similar equipment exists for sending music over a wired network?
Linksys WMB54G Wireless-G Music Bridge
by jsorhaug - 9/22/06 9:30 AM In reply to: How about for a wired (ethernet) network? by jcsmithSee my discussions above. The Linksys WMB54G Wireless-G Music Bridge can use both wireless and well as wired Ethernet connection back to your PC. I'm using it in wired mode since I have an Ethernet connection by my stereo.
Caveats on the Linksys Wireless-G Music Bridge
by computerup - 9/22/06 10:45 AM In reply to: Linksys WMB54G Wireless-G Music Bridge by jsorhaugI scanned the comments on Amazon.com about this product. Currently selling there for under $90!!! However, numerous complaints about it (along with some solid kudos). Seems like it is very difficult for some to set up (but easy for others). Complaints about audio drop-outs and ultra-heavy CPU utilization (which are what are probably causing the drop-outs). I'd surmise that one should get this product only if TCP/IP savvy and have a heavy and fast CPU and hard drive!
One good product overlooked
by columbia999 - 9/22/06 9:50 AM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Joshua did not mention the Linksys wireless G sound bridge which meets every requirement that was mentioned in the original question. I use this device and it works great. The best part is that it handles all files going through the sound card so you can use any player software on your system. It's amall, nicely designed and easy to set up. Why look further?
Sounds like the answer! iTunes compatible???
by computerup - 9/22/06 10:39 AM In reply to: One good product overlooked by columbia999This sounds like the answer! Has anyone tested it with iTunes????
XBOX360 - mp3's thru wireless
by LASERJ24 - 9/22/06 10:29 AM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Short and quick answer .. before i spent that kind of money on all those solutions yall have posted i would buy a XBOX360 and the wirless adapter .. with it you can send pics,mp3's etc straight to your home entertainmeant system along with the abilty to play xbox games and dvd's..you can also get a hard drive and store mp3's on it along with pics etc... i always like getting more bang for my buck if you know what i mean ..but goodluck with whatever you decide...
Regarding the Sonos and Audiotron
by 67cougar - 9/22/06 11:07 AM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Joshua's remarks regarding the Sonos system are either incomplete or outdated. They do offer (and to my knowledge always have offered) a non-amplified version, it's called the ZP80 instead of the ZP100. It runs about $200 cheaper than the amplified version. You get a set of two and the remote for $1199 for the ZP100 (amplified) or $999 for the ZP80 (non amplified). The ZP80 also has both optical and coax digital audio outputs while the ZP100 has a line out for a powered sub as well. This is a true wireless mesh solution to help with large coverage areas. Out of the price range discussed, but the only think I'd be looking at as it sounds fantastic and you can set up as many as 32 locations. About the only formats it won't play (currently) are wma protected and aac protected, but I'd be suprised if they didn't have a firmware upgrade out in the near future for wma protected. Considering I have nearly 30,000 songs, none of which are protected, and having four existing stereo systems this would be what I'd be looking at for wireless.... especially when you add in it's all controlled by one killer remote.
On the otherhand, I currently have two Audiotrons running on my networks and they just rock. Initially they didn't support wma protected files either but they came out with a firmware upgrade to allow it. Never had a problem with either of them and they sound fantastic. They also will run analog or digital outputs.
$15 solution!!!
by flahwho - 9/22/06 2:00 PM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
My PC is in my basement, my stereo upstairs. I bought one of those nifty 15 dollar FM transmitters at wal-mart for my Ipod & car, but it works great in the house too! I just hook up the FM transmitter to my 2nd audio output on the PC, run my player on random, go upstairs and tune the stereo system radio to the transmitter frequency (usually 88.1 to 88.7 - more expensive models can use more) and crank the tunes in my living room.
Apple Airport Express
by malbeau - 9/22/06 3:14 PM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you use iTunes, then the Airport Express is the perfect way to wirelessly transmit your music to your stereo (or to another computer that is not wireless capable). In many cases, it's cheaper than the wire necessary to connect the PC to a stereo system, and it's about as easy to use too. All other solutions posted here seem finicky, expensive, or both.
simpler wireless music
by VAT69 - 9/22/06 4:59 PM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I looked into all of the products George suggested and I'm sure they all work fine. However I didn't want to spend $200 for something that might not work. I have an old pair of wireless speakers by Advent that I use outside that were hooked to my home stereo. They worked well. After some home remodeling I never set up my stereo because I have over 6500 wav files on my 300GB external Maxtor hardrive playing through WM 11. I simply plugged the wireless receiver/transmitter into my sound card and voila I play music throughout the house on adequate sounding speakers. While they aren't the quality of my home hard wired speakers they do the job just fine, especiall while entertaining. My son did the same with his system only he runs through Acoustic Research wireless at a cost of $110. This seems to be an excellent alternative and the hookup is a simple plug into the sound card or head phone jack. Try it you'll like it!
Rich V. of NY
Xitel - cheapest & best solution for $49
by roadrunner2525 - 9/22/06 5:46 PM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I too thought and shopped long & hard for wireless solutions to get the music off my PC thru my amp & play them thru-out the house on my existing speakers. In the end, regardless on the cost (and for me cost was not a limitation), any wireless option offered lower quality & more reception problems than a hard wired answer.
Basically going wireless presented the same quality limitations as wireless speakers. And if you've repeatedly spent $1200 for Bose speakers in every major area of your house instead of settling for cheaper wireless speakers, why settle for sending less than perfect sound to your amp. Remember --> the quality of the output is only as good as the quality of the input.
Ultimately, I asked myself why get hung up on wireless. My house is already full of speaker wires with Bose speakers in every room. I just wanted to get the highest quality sound from my desktop to my main amp that controlled all these speakers.
Best solution: http://www.xitel.com. The Hi-Fi link is only $49 and that includes cabling that alone would cost you $30 at any Radio Shack. You can also opt for the more expension Hi-Fi Pro but unless you feeding dolby digital surround sound you don't need it. Strongly suggest you also get the Ground Loop Isolater ($39?) which will prevent a humming sound coming off your house electrical system (the website explains that).
In the end, for under $100, it was worth the effort of running one more cable from my PC to my amp to be able to play my full iTunes library over my full house system. And after having done so, I then dumped my CD juke boxes & CD players and my home stereo system consists of a single amp and speaker selector switchbox. That's it.
Connection is directly hardwired from a USB port, so no interference and tho it may not have a remote like Soundbridge, I prefer to select playlists off my large PC screen than the other brand's small LCD read-out. Biggest problem was believing that something costing only $49 could actually deliver the best quality sound!
Xitel gets you the purest signal to your amp and when you consider the cheap cost compared to other options, it's well worth figuring out how to run that one last cable to your amp.
From my experience, any wireless option can't compare in terms of ease & quality. Face it, until they come out with top quality wireless speakers, wires are a necessity for any home stereo system. So what's one more cable to your PC?
mp3
by tavora - 9/22/06 8:46 PM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
conect your lapto or buy a fm transmiter to your stereo
Just let me play my pc music on my stereo without a wire!
by spinella - 9/22/06 10:55 PM In reply to: 9/22/06 Solution for sending MP3s through wireless network to stereo by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
What I heard was that the user wants (and I think it makes perfect sense from a user perspective) to play any sound file on the PC and get it to any sound system over a wireless connection.
This means that the sound output needs to be captured and streamed over a wifi connection (or any TCP/IP) in real time.
On the other end, the wifi-enabled receiver gets the streamed media feed, turns it (back) into an analog (e.g. music) signal such as any sound system expects (e.g. line level or perhaps optionally digital) and connects to a sound system using a standard jack.
As many people have mentioned, it gets around the awkwardness of non-transferable music files as well as the awkwardness on not having a hard drive (or a built in PC) next to a sound system.
It would also be great for getting line-level sound from one side of an auditorium to another, or from a PC into a hotel or conference room sound system, etc.
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