> -----Original Message----- > From: Nick Lidakis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 11:56 PM > To: debian-user@lists.debian.org > Subject: Re: Audiophile grade music server using several flavors of Debian > > Stackpole, Chris wrote: > > I am not very knowledgeable on this subject, but I have a few questions > > if you don't mind. I am rolling my own entertainment system and learning > > a lot as I do. So I have heard terms and of products but I am a far cry > > from expert on them. :-D > > > > The comments are interspersed within the body of the email. > > > > > > > > If I understand right, the Nokia is how you control the hardware. My > > question is what mpd client do you use on the Nokia to control the > > software? Do you use it to create and keep multiple playlists? Or is the > > adding and creation of playlists done on the PC that rips to FLAC? Does > > the Nokia support Album art as it displays the music? Lyrics? Is there > > good support for sorting your music (eg, more then just artist/album)? > > The Nokia MPD client is MMPC. http://mmpc.garage.maemo.org/ > Like I mentioned earlier, it's a one man effort and it's at version 0.1. > Currently I can create playlists, browse songs by artists, file system. > There is no support currently for lyrics or album covers, but it's > planned. > > You can have several MPD clients connected at once. I usually have gmpc > running on the bedroom computer, and mmpc on the Nokia N800. If I'm > putting together some complex playlist I'll just walk over to the > bedroom and use the much more efficent mouse and keyboard, walk back to > the couch in the isteing room and manipulate the play list from the > Nokia. It's this kind of flexibility that made me eschew the other > commercial offerings. And with these new UMPC Linux devices getting > smaller, I'll probably be able to run a full distro with gmpc (or any > other of the more full featured MPD clients) on of those things in the > future. > > Another very interesting option might be using an Apple iPod touch or > iPhone. There's at least one guy I know that has written an MPD client > for those devices: > http://www.katoemba.net/makesnosenseatall/index.php/mpod/ > > > > Does this control sound volume as well? Or do you have multiple remotes? > > I already have seven remotes for all of my tv/music as is. I am also > > curious as to if the Nokia allows me to get rid of a few remotes, or if > > it just adds more remotes to confuse my guests. :-) > > You have several options here; pros and cons for both. The Trends Audio > UD-10 uses the Burr Brown PCM2704 chip. It's a double duty device: > mid-range DAC and a USB to S/PDIF converter. I use it in the latter > category, so there is no volume control of the S/PDIF signal. If you use > it as your main DAC (using its analog ouput) you can control the volume > using any MPD client, but your throwing bits away in the digital domain, > and the lower the volume the more bits being tossed. > > I use the volume on my Pass Labs Aleph L analog pre-amp (non-remote > controlled). > > > > To shrink my remote collection, I was personally looking into the > > Logitech Harmony 1000 ( > > http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/373&; > > cl=us,en ) but I wasn't able to find much information on people using it > > with Linux (I am sure my standard devices [TV,Wii,DVD,ect] would work, > > but not sure about MythTV or any of my other Linux systems). I really > > like the display and ease of use. The Logitech rep I talked to did say > > that they were going to be releasing a newer version in the next few > > months (no release date). He said that he didn't know if it would work > > with Linux or not, but that it would have more support for accessing > > wireless devices over standard connection frequencies and he didn't see > > why it wouldn't over those standard frequencies. If anyone has any > > comments, I would be glad to hear them (though if you say "It sucks" I > > would like to hear why you think so :D). I am also open to any comments > > about using the Nokia as the OP does. > > From what I understand, those remotes have to be programmed in Windows. > There is no Linux support. The Nokia does not have any IR, so you can't > use it to control any those devices. > > > > This is the product on the Trends website that I found > > (http://www.trendsaudio.com/EN/Product/USB_Audio_desc.htm ), and you > > said you use the Adcom which I believe is an optical-to-analog > > converter. So if I understand right (that may be a big if) you are going > > digital(usb) to optical (Trends) to Analog (Adcom). Why? Why not just go > > from Trends directly to speakers? What am I missing? > > The Adcom DAC is a digital to analog converter. Before putting the ALIX > server together the Adcom was fed by a Theta Data Basic CD transport. > It's known as having digital separates. The Theta just reads the bits > and output them in in S/PDIF, Toslink (optical), or even AT&T glass > fiber to the DAC. The DAC converts that to an analog waveform; something > a preamp or amplifier can handle. If you've ever bought a CD player, > you're basically getting a CD transport and a DAC in one box; the output > being analog and connecting to an amp or headphones. My Adcom DAC (circa > 1999) has inputs for S/PDIF, Toslink (optical), and digital AES/EBU. I > needed a way to get the FLAC files from the USB out of the ALIX fed into > the DAC, and the Trends UD-10 allows me to do that. The setup is: > > ALIX USB to USB input of Trends USB. Trends S/PDIF output to input of > Adcom S/PDIF input. Adcom analog line leel out to my preamp. Preamp to > amp. Amp to speakers. > > There are several mid-range and high end DAC designers that have > realized that CD transports/players are becoming obsolete with the > advent of digital music players and HUGE hard disks. These new DAC's > come with nifty USB inputs to accept FLAC, WAV, mp3, aac, and mp4 > natively. The Benchmark DAC-1 USB (http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/) > is something I'm looking into as a DAC with a dedicated USB input. It > also has inputs for S/PDIF and optical as well. Purchasing a DAC like > the Benchmark would obviate the need for the Trends UD-10 converter. > > > You went with the CF route, which to me seems much more difficult then > > just using a thumbdrive. Maybe it is just me, but it is hard to beat the > > price/space/ease of just buying a multi-GB thumbdrive. The Debian Live > > project makes rolling-your-own-thumbdrive distro incredibly easy. Does > > the ALIX 3c2 not support booting off of a thumbdrive? Or did you just > > really want to use the CF? > > > The ALIX supports CF on board, and I had a spare CF card laying around. > I never investigated a thumb drive installation. I gravitated towards > Voyage Linux because a) it was Debian based, b) i could apt-get almost > any package, c) the whole OS runs in a read only mode minimizing writes > to the CF card, and d) they specifically support the hardware on the > ALIX boards. It was a no brainer. > > > > Hope I didn't ask too many obvious/dumb questions... > > :-D > > Not at all. > > > > Have fun with your new setup! Congrats! > > Chris Stackpole > > Thanks. The Trends UD-10/ALIX combo actually sounds better than the > Theta Data Basic transport. Something I was not expecting. Don't know if > it's because of lower jitter or whatnot... > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact > [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
Thanks for the response! I have some research to do. :-D Chris Stackpole -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
