Couple of Design Questions

[NetworkGuy]

Hi,

I recently digitized my entire CD collection, so I am looking at the best way to play it on my existing house stereo system. I loaded the digital CDs on my Synology NAS and installed the latest version of LMS. A couple of questions:

1. The NAS is in a different part of the house than the stereo system. I want to connect the stereo and NAS via ethernet. What is the best hardware solution?
2. I currently use a Harmony Companion remote for my AV system. Is there a way of controlling the LMS using the Harmony remote?
3. If I can not use the Harmony remote, what are some good alternatives?

Thanks,
John

[Julf]

I want to connect the stereo and NAS via ethernet. What is the best hardware solution?

Are you asking about cabling/connectivity, or suitable music player hardware?

[*]I currently use a Harmony Companion remote for my AV system. Is there a way of controlling the LMS using the Harmony remote?[*]If I can not use the Harmony remote, what are some good alternatives?

For controlling LMS you would use a tablet or smartphone, but the Harmony is great for controlling the player (doing the usual halt/play/stop, next/prev, and volume adjustment).

[tcutting]

Hi,

I recently digitized my entire CD collection, so I am looking at the best way to play it on my existing house stereo system. I loaded the digital CDs on my Synology NAS and installed the latest version of LMS. A couple of questions:

1. The NAS is in a different part of the house than the stereo system. I want to connect the stereo and NAS via ethernet. What is the best hardware solution?
2. I currently use a Harmony Companion remote for my AV system. Is there a way of controlling the LMS using the Harmony remote?
3. If I can not use the Harmony remote, what are some good alternatives?

Thanks,
John

Sounds like you have the "server" portion of the system ready to go - digitized music stored and accessible, and the Logitech Media Server (LMS) setup.
What you need is the "player" portion. The player is (typically) located in the area where you want to listen to the music, while the server can be anywhere, as long as it is on your network.
Your options for players are varied (in spite of the discontinuation of Slim Devices and Logitech produced Squeezebox hardware solutions).
It is still possible to find Squeezebox hardware on the used market (eg, eBay, Craigslist, etc). The Touch is one of the better options - as it has good audio performance, has a nice color display, and can be controlled locally by the touch screen, and by an IR remote (can probably use your Harmony remote?). There is also the Squeezebox3 (aka "Classic") - not quite as good audio performance as the Touch, monochrome (but easy to read) display, and IR remote support (no touch screen). There are other Squeezebox players with different features: Transporter - "audiophile" version, excellent audio, IR support, and 19" rack form factor; Radio and Boom are "powered" - they have build-in amplifiers and speakers, not really setup to work with existing AV or stereo system. And the "receiver" - this is simplest player, no screen, no IR remote support, just network input + audio out. Most of the players also have digital outputs which can be connected to external DACs (or use the DAC in your AV receiver) - exceptions are Boom and Radio.
Another option is the "build-your-own" solution - there are RaspberryPi based setups - start with RaspberryPi computer card, add digital interface card or DAC card, display (optional), wifi module (optional, RPI has built-in hardwired ethernet), can even add IR remote support. Checkout piCorePlayer thread on this forum (although not the only one) for information on setting up a player - it's actually pretty easy to set this up (I have two RPI players now).
As mentioned - you can control these in many ways - most of the players support local control (front panel, touch screen, IR remote); there are smart-phone or tablet app's to control LMS (and the players).

[NetworkGuy]

Are you asking about cabling/connectivity, or suitable music player hardware?

Cabling / Connectivity - something that allows me to use my Onkyo receiver.

For controlling LMS you would use a tablet or smartphone, but the Harmony is great for controlling the player (doing the usual halt/play/stop, next/prev, and volume adjustment).

Using what on the tablet / smartphone?

[Julf]

Cabling / Connectivity - something that allows me to use my Onkyo receiver.

OK, so it involves more than just cabling. As tcutting wrote, there are two parts to the connection. The LMS server (that stores and manages the music) on one end of the connection, and a player/receiver at the other end that actually receives the music stream and converts it to something your Onkyo can play (unless the Onkyo has some sort of network player functionality built in). So you either need one of the squeezebox devices, or something like a Raspberry Pi running player software. The best way to connect the two is a wired ethernet connection.

Using what on the tablet / smartphone?

Any web browser will do, but on a smartphone there are a bunch of different clients (depending on your phone OS) that are better tailored for the smartphone UI.

[tcutting]

Cabling / Connectivity - something that allows me to use my Onkyo receiver.




Using what on the tablet / smartphone?

Look at my response...
Depending on your receiver, could connect either with standard "RCA" cables, or digital. Touch, SB3, receiver have both analog RCA outputs, or digital (coax AND optical) outputs.
If you go RaspberryPi route, you'd pick the card to use - either a DAC (for analog output) or a "Digi" module (for digital output).
I assume your Onkyo has digital inputs? If so, it's probably best to use that connection, since most AV receivers use DSP, and therefore digitize the signal anyway.

There are apps available on smartphones and tablets. On iDevices, iPeng is the "standard". On Android, there is OrangeSqueeze, and some others.

[NetworkGuy]

I assume your Onkyo has digital inputs? If so, it's probably best to use that connection, since most AV receivers use DSP, and therefore digitize the signal anyway.

It is an Onkyo TX-SR608, with lots of connectivity options. http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/mod...urce=prodClass

The "duet" is what I had a long time ago. I gave up on it because I could only control it with it's own remote and that died.

I just looked at The Touch. $500 is way more than I wanted to spend.

It looks like I can get a used SqueezeBox V3 "Classic" for under $100 on eBay. And it can be controlled by a Harmony remote. Can it also be controlled by one of the Android apps?

Thanks,
John

[tcutting]

It is an Onkyo TX-SR608, with lots of connectivity options. http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/mod...urce=prodClass

I just looked at The Touch. $500 is way more than I wanted to spend.

The "duet" is what I had a long time ago. I gave up on it because I could only control it with it's own remote and that died.

Thanks,
John

Since you are likely using some DSP on your receiver (for example, if you use the subwoofer output, the AV receiver is creating that signal using DSP), then I would suggest using a digital connection. With a Touch or SB3, you can connect either optical or coax (your receiver has two inputs of each type). If you use a RaspberryPi as your player, you MAY be able to use HDMI (I don't have experience with that), or you can use something like a HiFiBerry Digi+ board which creates both optical and coaxial digital outputs.

If you still have the "Duet" receiver, you can still use that (without the remote) - it's a little harder to configure the first time without the remote (need to use a utility called "net-udap" which you should be able to find through this forum) - if you already had it configured, then it may still be OK. You can control it using one of the smartphone or table apps we mentioned. A Touch or SB3 is a good option (keep looking - you can still find at more reasonable prices.... someone had shown some for sale a couple weeks ago on this forum).
The RaspberryPi route works very well - it's cheaper, but requires some DIY.

[NetworkGuy]

Since you are likely using some DSP on your receiver (for example, if you use the subwoofer output, the AV receiver is creating that signal using DSP), then I would suggest using a digital connection. With a Touch or SB3, you can connect either optical or coax (your receiver has two inputs of each type). If you use a RaspberryPi as your player, you MAY be able to use HDMI (I don't have experience with that), or you can use something like a HiFiBerry Digi+ board which creates both optical and coaxial digital outputs.

If you still have the "Duet" receiver, you can still use that (without the remote) - it's a little harder to configure the first time without the remote (need to use a utility called "net-udap" which you should be able to find through this forum) - if you already had it configured, then it may still be OK. You can control it using one of the smartphone or table apps we mentioned. A Touch or SB3 is a good option (keep looking - you can still find at more reasonable prices.... someone had shown some for sale a couple weeks ago on this forum).
The RaspberryPi route works very well - it's cheaper, but requires some DIY.

Thanks for the advice.

Here is a thought, can I use an Android TV box instead of a SB3 or Touch?

[wortgefecht]

Thanks for the advice.

Here is a thought, can I use an Android TV box instead of a SB3 or Touch?

In theory, yes. There's an app called SqueezePlayer that turns any Android device into a player that can be remotely controlled via any Squeezebox app.

The sound quality and the file types supported depends on the box, of course.

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