Home audio & video forum: Easiest way to play mp3s on home stereo

" have all of our music files on an external hard drive."

Over in the storage forum folk are asking for help all the time when they put it all on an external hard drive and "something" happens.

Are you sure you want to take such a risk?
Bob

Well, we have 2 externals, and we back one HD up on the other and vice versa. I've already had something happen on a external HD in the past, so I learned my lesson.

I don't know that I would need a whole netbook if I can just get an mp3 player with a large capacity to hold all of the songs, right? The idea is that we would have something permanently set up with the music on it, so that we can just go to it and play some tunes in the easiest way, instead of having to break out the external and the computer.

I guess I see what you are saying - we would still have the external HD hooked up to the computer, but we would just have a cheap and simple computer. I guess it's a question of whether that is cheaper than buying a large capacity mp3 player, since all we need to do is play music?

Neither of us have a smartphone, and I don't know if that would solve the problem, anyway. We would want to take the phone with us.

We have two older dedicated iPods that connect directly to our Onkyo HT receiver via a simple docking port. FWIW, many of the more recent Yamaha receivers also offer such options. Anyway, the best part is the sound quality is decent because we use the docking port (digital output) instead of analog via the headphone jack. Although it's certainly still compressed MP3 sound, it's a lot better when you compare with the two through a home audio system.

You could even try loading the Rockbox firmware on your Sansa player to get FLAC file support and send that output directly to your receiver with some sort of compatible dock. Sound quality is superb vs MP3.

We seem to end up with something with an user interface (buttons and display). I've owned those units that you use with a TV and can write I gave it away.

This is why I went with a netbook solution (which was 228 bucks same as a big MP3 player or cheaper.)

Today I'm looking at a better remote control from my smart phone.

This is an area that can have use spend a lot of time and money so hearing more options is a good thing. The big player is a great idea but for what you pay for it, the netbook does rival it for home system use.
Bob

There is a possibility that you could avoid having to go with a more advanced GUI of a netbook or smartphone if you didn't need it and used a dock connector with accompanying remote compatible with an iPod or your Sansa. The slight advantage of using Sansa is that it would not be married to iTunes like an iPod. Disadvantage is by comparison, there are a heck of a lot more different types of docks/accessories available for Apple devices.

Not totally unrelated, I'm wondering about your Yamaha receiver. Does it have any open digital optical ports? My next project is to finally add an Airport Express to my HT setup. With this device it is possible to stream to the receiver and utilize other music players besides iTunes (WMP, VLC, etc.). You could also use AirPlay to send along content from an iPod Touch, etc. More and more receivers will support the Airplay as well so there would not be a need for intermediate hardware. Info- http://gigaom.com/apple/ios-101-how-to-use-airplay-on-ios-devices/

Actually I missed the part about the Hard Drive. My external speakers on my computer also have a headphone jack that I can plug the FM transmitter into. Same result as the MP3 player. Goodbye commercial radio stations!

which may be great for users living in Monroe West Virginia or North Dakota. But in the big city, there is hardly any frequencies that are truly empty, especially if you are riding in a car where the signal strengths are in constant flux. Currently I use something called a Monster brand cassette adapter, which is a "cassette tape" with a wire that plugs into your mp3 player's jack, and plays through your cassette deck. It's worked pretty good for me.

That was my first method until I bought a vehicle with CD only. I can see where high density areas would be a problem. I live in the midwest. Too bad these little FM transmitters can't broadcast at 100,000 watts like all those lame radio stations. I hope you find a solution that works for you. The forums have helped me with a lot of my computer problems.