dacs.doc electric

 

Digital Audio Part V
Music Distribution

by Frank Powers

 

In this series I have talked about storing and organizing music files on your PC’s hard drive. If you have been following along you should have a sizable collection of music stored on your PC. You’ve learned about organizing the stored music by Artist / Album / Genre / Song Title, and we have discussed creating Playlists. Last month we talked about Internet Radio and how a cable
or DSL connection can bring music from all over the world into your PC.

I hope that over the last five months you have installed a player, moved your music from CD & vinyl to your PC, created a Playlist, a custom Audio CD, and tuned into a Internet Radio broadcast. Cool stuff! Now we are going to talk about sending that collection of music to multiple locations in and around your house. And we’re going to explore how every location can play a different selection of material at different volumes simultaneously from one PC Music Server.

The Concept

A Pentium or Celeron computer with a good network connection and large hard drives can serve MP3 or WMA files to more locations than you will ever need in a typical home. Now that you have music organized on a PC why not use that one central library to send music to locations throughout your home. Turtle Beach™ has a graphic, which I’ve inserted below. The picture explains the concept better than words

Using your existing PC, broadband Internet connection, and home network, they have developed a stereo component that requests songs from your PC through a home network, and plays them on your stereo, Home Theatre, or powered speakers. The Turtle Beach AudioTron™, Sonic Blue Rio Receiver™, and Motorola SimpleFi ™ are just a few of the devices on the market today that enable a music distribution system.

Using a Portable player to bring your collection to your Stereo

If you own a portable MP3 player or even a DVD player that allows playback of DATA MP3 CD’s you can use the sneaker method of connectivity by loading your portable device with songs from your PC. Then connect the portable device toyour stereo. Just use the 1/8” to stereo RCA jack connector we discussed inlast months article to connect the Headphone or Line Out of the portable device to your Auxiliary or Tape Monitor In on your stereo receiver. Set up your
desired playlist on the portable device and your ready to go.

Or create an Audio or DATA MP3 CD using the techniques you learned in Article 3 of this series. If you own a fairly new DVD player, just make a DATA MP3 CD using one of the jukebox programs we have discussed and pop it in the DVD player for hours of music. Most DVD players will accept an M3u playlist so you can set an order for playback of the music. At the very least you can make an Audio CD to play on your CD player and stereo.

Connecting your PC to your Stereo

There are several ways you can connect your PC to your stereo, and the method you choose is dependent on several factors:

  • How far away from your stereo is your PC?
  • Do you want to be able to control the volume, skip songs, and / or choose adifferent set of songs to listen to?
  • Do you currently have a “Home Network” installed? If so, is it a hard wired Ethernet network or wireless Ethernet (WiFi)? Have you opted instead to use your existing telephone (HPNA) or electrical wiring (PowerLine)?
  • How much do you want to spend!

Poor Man’s Music Distribution

You can bring your PC music to your stereo for as little as $19.95 if your PC happens to be located in a room adjacent to your stereo. How you ask? Well the same way you connect your Tape Player or DVD player. A simple audio cable connection from your PC’s line out to your stereo’s Auxiliary / Tape / CD etc. input. If your stereo is less than 20’ away you can buy a pre-made cable, typically a 1/8” stereo phone jack to dual RCA jacks. Drill a small hole in your molding and run the cable directly from your PC to your stereo. If the distance is greater than 20’ you can still use a cable, but you will probably need to make a custom cable. Materials for making a cable and the tools necessary can be purchased at stores like Radio shack, or from outlets you can find on the web.

The down side of this setup is that the music must be started on the remote PC and you will not be able to remotely change the song selection. To control the volume, you can use the remote control for your stereo system if your system has one. Otherwise, on older stereos, you’ll have to get up and fiddle with the volume control on the stereo receiver. Check this months PC World© for more details.

Wireless Music Distribution

You can also bring your PC music to your stereo by acquiring a RF transmitter /receiver from vendors like X10 and Turtle Beach. The units sold by these companies are very similar and allow remote control operation of the volume and song selection. The receiver is connected to your stereo Aux or Tape Monitor inputs, and the transmitter is connected to the Line Out on your soundcard. The Turtle Beach unit comes with connecting cables and a splitter cable to attach to your soundcard so that you can still connect your PC speakers to the soundcard Line Out. Additionally you will need a free Serial Port on your PC to connect the Remote Control receiver to your PC. With the remote control receiver connected, you can select up to 20 pre-configured playlists, radio stations, or Album / Artists / Genre combinations. You’ll also be able to control volume, and skip forward or backwards within any of the “Favorites” you configure. If you attended the DACS meeting last month, this was the setup I was using to start and stop the songs I selected.

The benefits of this setup are:

  • RF remote control works up to 50’ feet away and will send and process commands through most walls.
  • Simple wiring and no need to drill holes in your walls.
  • Relatively inexpensive

The down side of this setup is that the 2.4gHz frequency it transmits on is susceptible to interference from microwave ovens and some portable phones. The sound quality is also diminished and you may hear hiss and noise at low volumes.

Network Audio Appliances

By far the coolest way to listen to your PC music collection is on one the new breed of network enabled audio appliances. Manufacturers like, Turtle Beach, Sonic Blue, Phillips, Onkyo, and BOSE all sell devices that can connect to your PC home network. These units can play your PC’s music collection anywhere in your home that a network connection is available.

Turtle Beach AudioTron™

There are several manufacturers of Network Audio Appliances. I’m going to use the Turtle Beach AudioTron as an example for several reasons:

  • I own and use one
  • I highly recommend it for its price / value

Here’s a picture of the unit:

And here’s the units rear panel connections:

Connecting a Network Audio Appliance

If you have a wired Ethernet or HPNA network already installed in your home, and one of the wires you installed is near your home stereo, you are all setup to connect the AudioTron to your PC. Just plug in the network connection and then connect either the analog or digital out of the AudioTron to your stereo. There are also PC file share and network configurations that will need to be setup as well, but those configurations are outside of the scope of this article. All the manufacturers have diagnostic and setup programs available to help you configure your PC and network to allow the unit to share your music collection.

In order to access your music collection your music server PC will need to be left on, or you can opt to install a NAS (Network Attached Storage) Server. Either way, the music files need to be on-line in order for the AudioTron (AT) to access and play them. The AudioTron doesn’t store any of the music internally, but rather, creates a directory of where on your network a particular song file is stored. When you select a song, the AudioTron reads the location from its memory and goes out over the network to “fetch” it. The AudioTron then “Streams” the song file across the network connection and handles all the audio decompression and digital to analog conversion. The actual audio is then sent out either the digital or analog connection to your
stereo receiver for playback. The display on the AudioTron tells you what song is playing and allows you to select songs from your library by browsing through Artist, Album, Genre, and / or Playlists that it has cataloged. You can use either the included remote control or the front panel buttons to select the music and control the playback volume. You can also use any web browser to control the AT, so you can start playback of music in the living room from a PC connected to your network in the den. If you have a wireless network and a wireless network enabled Pocket PC you can use the web browser on your Pocket PC to control the AudioTron from anywhere your wireless network reaches. You can connect as many AudioTrons to your network as your network has free ports. You can have one in the den, living room, and your bedroom. This particular unit even has an alarm clock function. Several users have created java applets for it as well, and you can also have it display current weather information as well as time.

The AudioTron and other devices in this category will also allow playback of Internet Radio without the PC being on if you have a DSL or Cable router. I find that I use Internet Radio more often than my PC music library simply because the PC isn’t always on. Internet Radio is a great wake up setting for the alarm clock function I mentioned before.

Windows Media PC’s

This year Microsoft in collaboration with Hewlett Packard and other PC vendors has introduced a new breed of PC that is designed to be the brains behind your entertainment center. These PC’s are equipped with Microsoft products that allow you to send both audio and video content stored on your PC’s hard drive to your TV and stereo. You will pay for the convenience of having everything pre-installed, but if you have the wallet size and don’t enjoy fiddling with PC and stereo components, this is an easy way to get all the gear you need set-up and ready to go. Just add a wired or wireless network and you can transmit audio and video to other PC’s and network enabled audio / video devices.

Whole House Music Distribution

At the very high end of the spectrum you can hire a consultant to install and configure a personalized audio / video distribution network. This can be very expensive in an existing home, but if you are building and / or remodeling your home consider installing cabling while the walls are open. Even if you don’t buy all the gear to enable whole house audio / video distribution now, having the wiring pre-installed will allow you to add both audio / video distribution as well as home automation and PC connectivity quite easily in the future. Hi end audio stores such as Tweeters and Harvey’s have recently added all sorts of network enabled gear to their inventories and have specialists who can help you design and install Home Theatre and Whole House Audio / Video distribution networks. The sky and your wallet are the only limits in this category.

Frank’s do it yourself whole house audio

For my house I have a combination of all the techniques described above. Over the last few years I have wired the house with Ethernet cabling, run speaker wire and mounted outdoor speakers with volume controls on both my front porch and rear deck, and added the Turtle Beach AudioTron to my living room stereo system. My most recent addition is a Pocket PC and a wireless access point. Here’s a typical scenario of how I use this network of do it yourself pieces.

My music server PC is in the very front of my home and wired with a coaxial digital connection to my Sony receiver in the same room. I use the analog output of my soundcard to connect to an old power amp which is hard wired to outdoor speakers mounted on the outside of the studio. So in the front of the house I can be listening to a Beatles album in my studio while my wife is listening to Internet Radio outside in the garden. Since I have the RF remote control attached to my computer she can change stations and conrol the volume on the outdoor speakers from the garden as well.

At the same time my daughter can be upstairs in her room and through the wired Ethernet connection to her computer, she can listen to the Dixie Chicks on her PC and speakers. Later we can have the living room stereo playing a party mix from the AudioTron using the same library of music. The living room stereo is wired to speakers on the back deck so I can party while I’m cooking. And with the addition of the Pocket PC and wireless access point, I can control the
Audiotron from the rear deck and change the volume and selection of music playing on the living room Audiotron when its time to barbeque on the rear deck.

Wrapping up

I hope you’ve both enjoyed and learned from this series on Digital Music. I have covered a lot of ground in this series of articles and I’ve only scratched the surface of what you can do. As you contemplate how you can implement your own Digital Music Library, remember that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to enjoy a large number of the benefits of storing your music collection on a PC. I’ve given you some tips, tricks, and ideas, but don’t be bound by what
I’ve told you. Let your own imagination and talent add, subtract, and complement what you’ve learned in this series. And be sure to let me know whatyou come up with.

Listing of links to sources quoted in the series

Jukebox & Audio Editing Vendors

Cables & Accessories

Internet Radio

Network Enabled Audio

Frank Powers has extensive digital music experience, working for companies like Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc and Sam Ash Music, as well as composing his own material and running an Internet radio station. Frank is available for digital music consulting and can be reached by email at: frank@franksamericana.com. You can find out more by visiting his website at http://www.franksamericana.com. He also can be heard on the Internet at Frank's Americana(tm) Live365( Internet Radio station at http://www.live365.com/stations/fpowers

©2002 – 2003 Francis A.Powers

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