Building dedicated MP3 player for home stereo

[hagbard]

I'm looking to put together an MP3 computer to go with my home stereo, which will be accessing music from another computer via my home network. It should be capable of running WinAmp, delivering good sound to the amp, and be extremely quiet...oh...and extremely cheap. I'm thinkin g about using an old P166, 32mb ram, a four year old 2GB drive, and a SB Live Value card and no extra fans. Will that do it? Ideas welcome.

 

[sohcrates]

the sblive value *should* be ok. hard drive doesn't really matter since you'll be streaming off the network.

i built a very similar comp in my apartment last year. it was known as the "D.A.W" (digital audio workstation)

you might find, though, that winamp on a 166 might lead to a lot of skipping unless you get some more RAM

as far as outputting to the stereo, easiest method is to use a 1/8 inch male stereo jack to dual RCA's and simply run that right into an AUX input on your stereo

the other option is to use the SPDIF output (if your value has one, i don't remember) and run it to a coaxial digital input on your receiver (IF you have a home theater receiver that actually has a digital input). that will result in a cleaner audio signal, but only if you have those types of connections on your equipment.

 

[jere01]

I dunno this probably won't help you but I heard about this guy that took a 286 and put it in the trunk of his car and ran mp3s off of it to his car stereo.. noooo idea how he did that but yea it's possible

 

[jteef]

a 166 is more than enough to play mp3's. My roommate in college had an acer pentium 75 with 24mb ram that played mp3's just fine with winamp as long as thats all he was doing. I am not sure if you need a fan with them or not, if so, i would definitely try to look for something that doesn't need one, or buy a 200 or 225 and underclock it. I would also look for a fanless power supply. I hate my SB live value for sound quality. It's really noisy at high volumes, but if you've got a reasonable receiver/amp you should be able to keep the computer volume low enough for it not to be a problem. The 1/8" jack to stereo RCA converter suggested above is going to be the easiest solution and it wouldn't be worth it to get anything nicer imo.

I think it would be neat if you had a vid card with tv out, so you could use winamp plugins on your TV. You'd need a faster proc and a 3d video card for that though...

Have you thought about how to control it ? I think it'd look pretty stupid to have a mouse and keyboard in your living room. The AST/Logitech Remote looks pretty cool and a lot of ppl have had success with it. They are cheap, but the only place i've seen them for sale is on egay.

Edit: You also might want to install back orifice or vnc or pc anywhere on it so you can control it remotely and remove all need for a monitor.

jt

 

[fs5]

headphone jack to RCAs is the easiest way to do it, it also give the worst sound quality.
If your live has anything digital out and your receiver has any digital in do it that way.

 

[Finality]

Am I the only one here that thinks that an nForce -small form factor would probably be the best choice in terms of sound quality and size?

The board itself will at most be the size of the heatsink (you could underclock a duron and put a small heatsink on it). Add a 1U case and it should pretty much slot in anywhere.

I have been dabbling with the idea apparently the capuccino pcs are very good but a bit costly due to its size (about the size of a large hand).

 

[Alex]

get nforce, hell yeah!

with some klipsch promedia 4.1 or 5.1 if ya got cash and its an AWESOME sound xperience!

 

[Mingon]

Personally I would suggest an archos jukebox, the mp3 player with a hard drive.