How to play digital music files on my old Technics SC-CH700

[Duncan James Waugh]

We use our phones and play stuff via the FM transmitter - doesn't require docks or cables, just tune the system to an unused frequency band and you're sorted. A bunch of Symbian and Android phones have them. Also means you can use it elsewhere like on your car stereo for example.

[speedlolita]

It does kind of sound like this is what you want. A portable device which will store and play the music and has its own display. Except that it won't play FLAC, only Apple's proprietary lossless AAC audio format.

It works on the bus too!

Although it doesn't have optical of course. But I doubt you'll notice the difference really.

You mean ALAC. I use FLAC via Apollo on my Galaxy Note.

[Brad]

Getting something with an optical out would be nice and it shouldn't be that hard.

I'm looking at the Western Digital range: WD TV Play, WD TV Live, WD Elements Play and WD TV Live Hub, from cheapest to most expensive. The first two models don't have any internal storage, which could actually be a plus as I've heard complaints about their reliability in the models that do include an HDD. They all have optical audio and HDMI output.

A second hand mac mini on eBay should cost about the same as WD system (just seen one for ?65) and will be much more versatile. If you want to buy new then of course Apple cannot compete...

[Deuteros]

It does kind of sound like this is what you want. A portable device which will store and play the music and has its own display.

When I said I wanted something 'portable' a while back, I was replying to J0e's suggestion and meant it as 'more portable than a PS3'. I don't have to ride buses or trains very frequently and I prefer to avoid having to wear headphones or earbuds.

A second hand mac mini on eBay should cost about the same as WD system (just seen one for ?65) and will be much more versatile. If you want to buy new then of course Apple cannot compete...

But it doesn't have a built-in display. Much like the PS3 J0e suggested, I'd need a TV nearby at all times or I wouldn't be able to listen to my music...

We use our phones and play stuff via the FM transmitter - doesn't require docks or cables, just tune the system to an unused frequency band and you're sorted. A bunch of Symbian and Android phones have them. Also means you can use it elsewhere like on your car stereo for example.

Actually, my Sony Ericsson W715 can pull that off with an attachable FM transmiter. Sadly, it only supports Memory Stick Micro (M2) cards of up to 8 GB and you have to remove the battery to access the card, making swapping between cards too much of a nuisance.

[wakka]

Also the sound quality from FM transmitters is normally absolutely terrible.

[Brad]

Do you have an iPhone or an android phone? If so you can run XBMC on something (a Mac mini or rasperry Pi for example) and you can browse and control your music from your phone.

[Duncan James Waugh]

Also the sound quality from FM transmitters is normally absolutely terrible.

To be honest I can't tell the difference on a mid-range hifi. Obviously mileage will vary based on how crowded the FM bands are in your area and the difference between an external transmitter and one hardwired into the audio logic of your device will affect it also. A lot of reviews online seem to be from people using them with stuff like Apple products and bearing in mind the poor quality of their digital to analog circuitry they're already on a backfoot to start with compared to digital out.

[Deuteros]

Do you have an iPhone or an android phone?

No, I'm not a fan of touchscreens so I don't have a smartphone. I'm sure I'll get one someday, though.

I've given up on getting something with a built-in display. I'd have to settle for something like an iPod and those simply don't have the storage capacity I need.

Feel free to point me in the direction of a nicely priced Mac Mini! I'm still considering one of the WD products I've mentioned earlier. Maybe I'll just buy the cheapest one, connect it to an external HDD filled with music and see how that goes.

[Adrock]

Anybody ever considered a raspberry pi?

You could set one up to wirelessly stream from a hard drive? It'd be cheap. Or even plug in a USB hard drive to the pi.

http://squeezeplug.de/ - I'm gonna be doing it myself.

[smouty]

I tried XBMC on Raspi when it first came out and it was OK. I'm sure it is much better now though.
It is not really stand alone unless you add a display and for digital out it is HDMI so you'd also have to build a toslink interface.

[Adrock]

There has been mention from what I've read of USB dacs being used with squeezeplug. Another component necessary to purchase though, it could quickly end up getting expensive once you factor all the additional pieces in.

[Deuteros]

Using a Raspberry Pi sounds cool as hell but I'm not really very tech-savvy... I'll go with the 'lazy' approach and buy the WD TV Live. It should take care of all my current needs and the rest of its features could prove useful one of these days.

Now, if anyone could point me in the direction of a reliable external HDD with fast read times, I'd be all set.

[concretesnail]

ok, keeping it simple. standard ipod of your choice, i believe there is a good one on the buy sell here on the forum. and something like an onkyo dock. the dock reads all music files and video files and out puts in either optical of coaxial. the dock also has a remote so you can control the ipod from around the room/flat. i bet you could do the lot for less than 200 quid

[Deuteros]

Thanks for the suggestion but I'd like to have more storage capacity than that...

I'm going with a WD TV Live and a 1 TB external HDD. Would anyone like to suggest a reliable brand and model? Read times won't be as important as I thought since I'll be bottlenecked by the maximum throughput of an USB 2.0 connection.

I'd like to start ripping my music collection so suggestions for software and settings are also welcome. I'll go with MP3 with a decent bit rate since it's a format that more devices support.