Computer Media Center

Amps, preamps, speakers, cables, and any other Non-CJ products.
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Computer Media Center

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In recent years with more songs released on high quality digital formats (not mp3 or lossy) people have started to incorporate large music libraries played off of a computer. I have one in my system and although a minority of my active listening is done using this as the source (I listen mostly to vinyl and CD's) it sure is very convenient to have quick and easy access to thousands (or tens of thousands) of tracks. Making playlists is also very nice. I think even Conrad Johnson realized this fact and decided to release the HD3 usb DAC.

I use this dedicated computer only for music but many also backup their movies as well. I converted my old pc into one of these media servers and purchased a moderately priced audiophile sound card (ASUS Xonar D2/PM) that uses some decent Burr-Brown DACS. The system currently has nearly 17,000 audio tracks.

For the software I use a program called Winamp combined with an output DSP addon called iZotope Ozone.

Here are some pictures. Would love to hear whether other CJO members are using media centers, and if so, what software/hardware they are employing.
Attachments
Side shot of the PC in Acrylic case with lighting
Side shot of the PC in Acrylic case with lighting
87883.jpg (132.84 KiB) Viewed 2030 times
Current arrangement, PC between audio racks
Current arrangement, PC between audio racks
96609.jpg (69.93 KiB) Viewed 2030 times
Old setup with previous media rack
Old setup with previous media rack
87760.jpg (120.09 KiB) Viewed 2030 times
ASUS Xonar D2/PM Sound Card
ASUS Xonar D2/PM Sound Card
P_500.jpg (39.57 KiB) Viewed 2030 times
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Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
camusmuse
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Re: Computer Media Center

Post by camusmuse »

I also use Winamp, though have yet to "go Pro" and pay for it. Do you have the full version? ...and if so do you think it was worth it? FWIW, I still set mine back to the original winamp front end, I dunno, guess its just nostalgia. I do have a nifty "Analog" that was from several years ago, but many of the functions are hard to read....especially for when the wife uses it.....
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Re: Computer Media Center

Post by admin »

camusmuse wrote:I also use Winamp, though have yet to "go Pro" and pay for it. Do you have the full version? ...and if so do you think it was worth it? FWIW, I still set mine back to the original winamp front end, I dunno, guess its just nostalgia. I do have a nifty "Analog" that was from several years ago, but many of the functions are hard to read....especially for when the wife uses it.....
I do have pro, but actually went pro a long time ago and that carried forward. In all honesty, there is not much use to going pro. The only advantage is that you can burn CD's at full speed and I think it also has native mp3 encoding. Otherwise I think the functionality of the software is the same. There will be no effect on audio playback quality in any way. If memory serves (it was a long time ago), I upgraded to pro as there was some "special deal" so it was a very minimal amount of money and I have been using the software for over 10 years now! I have it installed on multiple computers, and it plays online (shoutcast) radio through my house pretty much all day long. If you feel like supporting the software, go ahead and pay (but considering AOL owns it, i'm not sure if that's much motivation), but in terms of function, unless you use it to burn a lot of audio CD's, want native MP3 encoding, not much else is going to change.

Overall, it's great software with so many options and settings. Unfortunately, I think AOL has not pushed it too much. It could have been itunes in popularity but AOL screwed it up, what do you expect?
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Home Theater in Member Gallery
Main stereo: ART Amplifier and ET7s2. 2nd stereo: PV-14L and MV-55. Previously Owned: PF2 preamp, Evolution 2000 Amp, PV-12AL preamp, D/A-2b Vacuum-Tube Digital Processor.
camusmuse
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Re: Computer Media Center

Post by camusmuse »

AOL screw something up? No.....(insert sarcasm here), they were probably paid to shelf it by apple and other competitors. I have been using it since, wow....1998? It was free, easy to use and didnt seem to have any malware bundled....at least not any that you couldnt undo with a custom install. Never messed with shout cast, have always had some sort of whole house network....the day I brought home two broken computers out of the trash and made one that worked(really just had to reinstall Windoze), though at the time I was big into Linux and ran a dual boot. Now emulators are all the rage, and I have lost the patience it takes to make some of that stuff work right, especially together in a network environment.

One thing I did do, though hardly audiophile, was buy a little FM broadcast box(made from kit and legal where I am and at what wattage I run), and used that for a long time to get music to rest of house and even to a few neighbors houses. Just ran my dedicated Media PC full time(using winamp on repeat of course)....kinda felt like I was in the movie pump up the volume.....

Signing off HHH......;)
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