RE: Audiophile grade music server using several flavors of Debian
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nick Lidakis [mailto:nlidakis@verizon.net]
> Sent: Monday, July 21, 2008 11:56 PM
> To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
> Subject: Re: Audiophile grade music server using several flavors of
Debian
>
> Stackpole, Chris wrote:
> > I am not very knowledgeable on this subject, but I have a few
questions
> > if you don't mind. I am rolling my own entertainment system and
learning
> > a lot as I do. So I have heard terms and of products but I am a far
cry
> > from expert on them. :-D
> >
> > The comments are interspersed within the body of the email.
> >
> >
> >
> > If I understand right, the Nokia is how you control the hardware. My
> > question is what mpd client do you use on the Nokia to control the
> > software? Do you use it to create and keep multiple playlists? Or is
the
> > adding and creation of playlists done on the PC that rips to FLAC?
Does
> > the Nokia support Album art as it displays the music? Lyrics? Is
there
> > good support for sorting your music (eg, more then just
artist/album)?
>
> The Nokia MPD client is MMPC. http://mmpc.garage.maemo.org/
> Like I mentioned earlier, it's a one man effort and it's at version
0.1.
> Currently I can create playlists, browse songs by artists, file
system.
> There is no support currently for lyrics or album covers, but it's
> planned.
>
> You can have several MPD clients connected at once. I usually have
gmpc
> running on the bedroom computer, and mmpc on the Nokia N800. If I'm
> putting together some complex playlist I'll just walk over to the
> bedroom and use the much more efficent mouse and keyboard, walk back
to
> the couch in the isteing room and manipulate the play list from the
> Nokia. It's this kind of flexibility that made me eschew the other
> commercial offerings. And with these new UMPC Linux devices getting
> smaller, I'll probably be able to run a full distro with gmpc (or any
> other of the more full featured MPD clients) on of those things in the
> future.
>
> Another very interesting option might be using an Apple iPod touch or
> iPhone. There's at least one guy I know that has written an MPD client
> for those devices:
> http://www.katoemba.net/makesnosenseatall/index.php/mpod/
>
>
> > Does this control sound volume as well? Or do you have multiple
remotes?
> > I already have seven remotes for all of my tv/music as is. I am also
> > curious as to if the Nokia allows me to get rid of a few remotes, or
if
> > it just adds more remotes to confuse my guests. :-)
>
> You have several options here; pros and cons for both. The Trends
Audio
> UD-10 uses the Burr Brown PCM2704 chip. It's a double duty device:
> mid-range DAC and a USB to S/PDIF converter. I use it in the latter
> category, so there is no volume control of the S/PDIF signal. If you
use
> it as your main DAC (using its analog ouput) you can control the
volume
> using any MPD client, but your throwing bits away in the digital
domain,
> and the lower the volume the more bits being tossed.
>
> I use the volume on my Pass Labs Aleph L analog pre-amp (non-remote
> controlled).
>
>
> > To shrink my remote collection, I was personally looking into the
> > Logitech Harmony 1000 (
> >
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/remotes/universal_remotes/devices/373&;
> > cl=us,en ) but I wasn't able to find much information on people
using it
> > with Linux (I am sure my standard devices [TV,Wii,DVD,ect] would
work,
> > but not sure about MythTV or any of my other Linux systems). I
really
> > like the display and ease of use. The Logitech rep I talked to did
say
> > that they were going to be releasing a newer version in the next few
> > months (no release date). He said that he didn't know if it would
work
> > with Linux or not, but that it would have more support for accessing
> > wireless devices over standard connection frequencies and he didn't
see
> > why it wouldn't over those standard frequencies. If anyone has any
> > comments, I would be glad to hear them (though if you say "It sucks"
I
> > would like to hear why you think so :D). I am also open to any
comments
> > about using the Nokia as the OP does.
>
> From what I understand, those remotes have to be programmed in
Windows.
> There is no Linux support. The Nokia does not have any IR, so you
can't
> use it to control any those devices.
>
>
> > This is the product on the Trends website that I found
> > (http://www.trendsaudio.com/EN/Product/USB_Audio_desc.htm ), and you
> > said you use the Adcom which I believe is an optical-to-analog
> > converter. So if I understand right (that may be a big if) you are
going
> > digital(usb) to optical (Trends) to Analog (Adcom). Why? Why not
just go
> > from Trends directly to speakers? What am I missing?
>
> The Adcom DAC is a digital to analog converter. Before putting the
ALIX
> server together the Adcom was fed by a Theta Data Basic CD transport.
> It's known as having digital separates. The Theta just reads the bits
> and output them in in S/PDIF, Toslink (optical), or even AT&T glass
> fiber to the DAC. The DAC converts that to an analog waveform;
something
> a preamp or amplifier can handle. If you've ever bought a CD player,
> you're basically getting a CD transport and a DAC in one box; the
output
> being analog and connecting to an amp or headphones. My Adcom DAC
(circa
> 1999) has inputs for S/PDIF, Toslink (optical), and digital AES/EBU. I
> needed a way to get the FLAC files from the USB out of the ALIX fed
into
> the DAC, and the Trends UD-10 allows me to do that. The setup is:
>
> ALIX USB to USB input of Trends USB. Trends S/PDIF output to input of
> Adcom S/PDIF input. Adcom analog line leel out to my preamp. Preamp to
> amp. Amp to speakers.
>
> There are several mid-range and high end DAC designers that have
> realized that CD transports/players are becoming obsolete with the
> advent of digital music players and HUGE hard disks. These new DAC's
> come with nifty USB inputs to accept FLAC, WAV, mp3, aac, and mp4
> natively. The Benchmark DAC-1 USB
(http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/dac1/)
> is something I'm looking into as a DAC with a dedicated USB input. It
> also has inputs for S/PDIF and optical as well. Purchasing a DAC like
> the Benchmark would obviate the need for the Trends UD-10 converter.
>
> > You went with the CF route, which to me seems much more difficult
then
> > just using a thumbdrive. Maybe it is just me, but it is hard to beat
the
> > price/space/ease of just buying a multi-GB thumbdrive. The Debian
Live
> > project makes rolling-your-own-thumbdrive distro incredibly easy.
Does
> > the ALIX 3c2 not support booting off of a thumbdrive? Or did you
just
> > really want to use the CF?
>
>
> The ALIX supports CF on board, and I had a spare CF card laying
around.
> I never investigated a thumb drive installation. I gravitated towards
> Voyage Linux because a) it was Debian based, b) i could apt-get almost
> any package, c) the whole OS runs in a read only mode minimizing
writes
> to the CF card, and d) they specifically support the hardware on the
> ALIX boards. It was a no brainer.
>
>
> > Hope I didn't ask too many obvious/dumb questions...
> > :-D
>
> Not at all.
>
>
> > Have fun with your new setup! Congrats!
> > Chris Stackpole
>
> Thanks. The Trends UD-10/ALIX combo actually sounds better than the
> Theta Data Basic transport. Something I was not expecting. Don't know
if
> it's because of lower jitter or whatnot...
>
>
> --
> To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
> with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact
> listmaster@lists.debian.org
>
Thanks for the response! I have some research to do. :-D
Chris Stackpole
Reply to: