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Re: Ripped cd's to HD, now what????

Posted by andy_c on September 7, 2006 at 09:13:20

In Reply to: Ripped cd's to HD, now what???? posted by Ron on September 7, 2006 at 06:55:22:

Hi Ron,

Keep in mind that because there are so many alternatives, describing each one thoroughly would take a small book :-). And as you've seen, there'a ton of technical minutia but it's difficult to find something that describes the big picture that you need to get your hands around this thing.

The simplest way to get sound from your computer to your stereo is to just get a Radio Shack adapter cable like this one and run an RCA cable to your stereo if it's close enough. That will get you started. You'll find most computer sound cards don't have very good sound quality though. To go further, it would help if you would be as specific as possible regarding your goals for the system (multi-room audio, etc). In that way, many possibilities could be eliminated at the beginning, simplifying the discussion.

A few words about the Squeezebox. What makes it different is that it's a network device, not a sound card. It has its own IP address on your local network, uses TCP/IP for communication and so forth. The upside of this is that it simplifies "network-like" applications like multi-room audio. You can either use ethernet cables from your router to the Squeezebox if your home is wired for ethernet, or you can get yourself a wireless router and stream the music wirelessly to multiple Squeezeboxes if you like. The downside is that because the OS does not see it as a sound card, you cannot use applications like Foobar and Windows Media Player with the Squeezebox. You are forced to use the SlimServer software. Many people don't like SlimServer. It is freeware, and you can try it out without needing a Squeezebox to test it. This is done with the SoftSqueeze software that comes with SlimServer. SoftSqueeze "fakes" a Squeezebox in software using your sound card to get the sound out.

Some planning can avoid unnecessary expense. If you buy an awesome $500 sound card now, then later decide you want multi-room audio, that 500 bucks will end up not being well spent. The high-quality sound card solution is a better fit to a single audio system rather than a multi-room situation.

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