PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

First of all, I hope this is the right group to ask this Q, if it isn't
would welcome advice on which is.
Getting a new PC soon and would like to be able to store my CD's on that in
some compressed format, and then play back via the HiFi, which is in a
different room. Running cables between the two would be a royal PITA but
could be done. Are there any wireless ways of doing this?
What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real Audio? I
only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the best format. Also,
what software player? One thing I'd like to be able to do is choose albums
or even tracks at random when playing, perhaps in 'categories' ie rock, or
jazz or whatever. Does this sort of application exist?

Finally, I may also entirely replace my ancient HiFi with a DTS system. Does
this change any of the recommendations and whats a good group to find out
about those?

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

In message , Tumbleweed
wrote

First of all, I hope this is the right group to ask this Q, if it isn't
would welcome advice on which is.
Getting a new PC soon and would like to be able to store my CD's on that in
some compressed format, and then play back via the HiFi, which is in a
different room. Running cables between the two would be a royal PITA but
could be done. Are there any wireless ways of doing this?

http://www.slimdevices.com/index.html

Quite expensive for all it does IMHO, but I'm not aware of any
equivalent device.

--
Dave Cunningham dave at upsilon org uk
PGP KEY ID: 0xA78636DC

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

In message , Tumbleweed
wrote

First of all, I hope this is the right group to ask this Q, if it isn't
would welcome advice on which is.
Getting a new PC soon and would like to be able to store my CD's on that in
some compressed format, and then play back via the HiFi, which is in a
different room. Running cables between the two would be a royal PITA but
could be done. Are there any wireless ways of doing this?

http://www.slimdevices.com/index.html

Quite expensive for all it does IMHO, but I'm not aware of any
equivalent device.

--
Dave Cunningham dave at upsilon org uk
PGP KEY ID: 0xA78636DC

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:55:48 -0000, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:

:)First of all, I hope this is the right group to ask this Q, if it isn't
:)would welcome advice on which is.

Dropping into this grp out of nowhere, I'm about a year ahead of you.

:)Getting a new PC soon and would like to be able to store my CD's on that in
:)some compressed format, and then play back via the HiFi, which is in a
:)different room. Running cables between the two would be a royal PITA but
:)could be done. Are there any wireless ways of doing this?

Haven't done that, can't comment. Or have I ? When I moved in here,
first thing I did was put a hole through a wall for phone extension
lead for the modem. It also got used for speaker wires ! Currently not
in use at all.

:)What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real Audio? I
:)only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the best format.

..wav - but it ain't compressed ! I'm currently favouring MP3 over WMA.
The latter being produced by Windows Media Player and not so good. Of
course there may be quality options to tweak in each format. I've a
few .wav files - for when I feel like it.

Also,
:)what software player? One thing I'd like to be able to do is choose albums
:)or even tracks at random when playing, perhaps in 'categories' ie rock, or
:)jazz or whatever. Does this sort of application exist?

Windows, spit, Media Player does this sort of thing if you let it. I
don't - but I do use it a juke box now. WMP comes with Windows.

Search the net for ezcddax504zip.exe ("poikosoft" I think), CD - WAV
or MP3 converter. Also I use "Total Recorder" for recording from other
sources.

I also have an M Audio Delta 66 sound card. It uses 4in/4out balanced
1/4" jacks + S/PDIF. Software includes sound mixer and choices on
sample rates.

This nice set up is spoiled by a loud CPU cooling fan !

:)
:)Finally, I may also entirely replace my ancient HiFi with a DTS system. Does
:)this change any of the recommendations and whats a good group to find out
:)about those?

Pass !
--
Comm again, Mike.

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:55:48 -0000, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:

:)First of all, I hope this is the right group to ask this Q, if it isn't
:)would welcome advice on which is.

Dropping into this grp out of nowhere, I'm about a year ahead of you.

:)Getting a new PC soon and would like to be able to store my CD's on that in
:)some compressed format, and then play back via the HiFi, which is in a
:)different room. Running cables between the two would be a royal PITA but
:)could be done. Are there any wireless ways of doing this?

Haven't done that, can't comment. Or have I ? When I moved in here,
first thing I did was put a hole through a wall for phone extension
lead for the modem. It also got used for speaker wires ! Currently not
in use at all.

:)What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real Audio? I
:)only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the best format.

..wav - but it ain't compressed ! I'm currently favouring MP3 over WMA.
The latter being produced by Windows Media Player and not so good. Of
course there may be quality options to tweak in each format. I've a
few .wav files - for when I feel like it.

Also,
:)what software player? One thing I'd like to be able to do is choose albums
:)or even tracks at random when playing, perhaps in 'categories' ie rock, or
:)jazz or whatever. Does this sort of application exist?

Windows, spit, Media Player does this sort of thing if you let it. I
don't - but I do use it a juke box now. WMP comes with Windows.

Search the net for ezcddax504zip.exe ("poikosoft" I think), CD - WAV
or MP3 converter. Also I use "Total Recorder" for recording from other
sources.

I also have an M Audio Delta 66 sound card. It uses 4in/4out balanced
1/4" jacks + S/PDIF. Software includes sound mixer and choices on
sample rates.

This nice set up is spoiled by a loud CPU cooling fan !

:)
:)Finally, I may also entirely replace my ancient HiFi with a DTS system. Does
:)this change any of the recommendations and whats a good group to find out
:)about those?

Pass !
--
Comm again, Mike.

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 00:03:29 +0000, pmailkeey wrote:

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:55:48 -0000, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:

[snip]

:)What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real
Audio? I :)only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the
best format.

.wav - but it ain't compressed ! I'm currently favouring MP3 over WMA.
The latter being produced by Windows Media Player and not so good. Of
course there may be quality options to tweak in each format. I've a few
.wav files - for when I feel like it.

Or FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net/ which is as lossless as the
original CD.

If you want greater compression rations, then Ogg Vorbis
http://www.vorbis.com/ is generally regarded as better quality than MP3
for the same bitrate.

However, hardware players for FLAC and Ogg Vorbis are limited in number,
so you may wish to resort to MP3. Bitrates of between 170-210 kbps usually
result in transparency, but your ears and music may vary.

Personally, I use 192-256 kbps VBR MP3, as this is where I stop hearing
artifacts on things like cymbals.

Best Regards,
Alex.
--
Alex Butcher Brainbench MVP for Internet Security: www.brainbench.com
Bristol, UK Need reliable and secure network systems?
PGP/GnuPG ID:0x271fd950 http://www.assursys.com/

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 00:03:29 +0000, pmailkeey wrote:

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:55:48 -0000, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:

[snip]

:)What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real
Audio? I :)only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the
best format.

.wav - but it ain't compressed ! I'm currently favouring MP3 over WMA.
The latter being produced by Windows Media Player and not so good. Of
course there may be quality options to tweak in each format. I've a few
.wav files - for when I feel like it.

Or FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net/ which is as lossless as the
original CD.

If you want greater compression rations, then Ogg Vorbis
http://www.vorbis.com/ is generally regarded as better quality than MP3
for the same bitrate.

However, hardware players for FLAC and Ogg Vorbis are limited in number,
so you may wish to resort to MP3. Bitrates of between 170-210 kbps usually
result in transparency, but your ears and music may vary.

Personally, I use 192-256 kbps VBR MP3, as this is where I stop hearing
artifacts on things like cymbals.

Best Regards,
Alex.
--
Alex Butcher Brainbench MVP for Internet Security: www.brainbench.com
Bristol, UK Need reliable and secure network systems?
PGP/GnuPG ID:0x271fd950 http://www.assursys.com/

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 08:49:20 +0000, Alex Butcher
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 00:03:29 +0000, pmailkeey wrote:

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:55:48 -0000, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:

[snip]

:)What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real
Audio? I :)only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the
best format.

.wav - but it ain't compressed ! I'm currently favouring MP3 over WMA.
The latter being produced by Windows Media Player and not so good. Of
course there may be quality options to tweak in each format. I've a few
.wav files - for when I feel like it.

Or FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net/ which is as lossless as the
original CD.

If you want greater compression rations, then Ogg Vorbis
http://www.vorbis.com/ is generally regarded as better quality than MP3
for the same bitrate.

Since ogg is the container format and vorbis the audio, an interesting
variation I use is ogg flac, which gives the benefits of the ogg container
(ie multiple headers, better tagging) with lossless compression.

--
Jim H jh
@333
.org

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 08:49:20 +0000, Alex Butcher
wrote:

On Tue, 06 Jan 2004 00:03:29 +0000, pmailkeey wrote:

On Sun, 4 Jan 2004 20:55:48 -0000, "Tumbleweed"
wrote:

[snip]

:)What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real
Audio? I :)only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the
best format.

.wav - but it ain't compressed ! I'm currently favouring MP3 over WMA.
The latter being produced by Windows Media Player and not so good. Of
course there may be quality options to tweak in each format. I've a few
.wav files - for when I feel like it.

Or FLAC http://flac.sourceforge.net/ which is as lossless as the
original CD.

If you want greater compression rations, then Ogg Vorbis
http://www.vorbis.com/ is generally regarded as better quality than MP3
for the same bitrate.

Since ogg is the container format and vorbis the audio, an interesting
variation I use is ogg flac, which gives the benefits of the ogg container
(ie multiple headers, better tagging) with lossless compression.

--
Jim H jh
@333
.org

PC to Hi Fi system and related Q's
 

"Tumbleweed" wrote in message
. ..
First of all, I hope this is the right group to ask this Q, if it isn't
would welcome advice on which is.
Getting a new PC soon and would like to be able to store my CD's on that
in
some compressed format, and then play back via the HiFi, which is in a
different room. Running cables between the two would be a royal PITA but
could be done. Are there any wireless ways of doing this?
What recommendations would people make for formats? MP3. WMA, Real Audio?
I
only want to convert my Cd's once so I'd like to pick the best format.
Also,
what software player? One thing I'd like to be able to do is choose albums
or even tracks at random when playing, perhaps in 'categories' ie rock, or
jazz or whatever. Does this sort of application exist?

Finally, I may also entirely replace my ancient HiFi with a DTS system.
Does
this change any of the recommendations and whats a good group to find out
about those?

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

I would just add to the other posts that some of the Kiss range allow
streaming of just about anything from a pc, but work best connected to a TV
and are not (as far as I know) wireless.

Rob