A couple of tips/cool things to do:
o IMHO, the analog outputs (the 1/8" headphone connectors) on the backs of
most sound cards are total sh*t. If you're serious about using this
system for most of your music, get a sound card that has an SPDIF output,
and an amplifier (or receiver/amp) with a compatible SPDIF input. This
will send digital data from your machine to your stereo. Most computers
are too electrically noisy to do a really good job at D/A conversion.
On the other hand, if you just want to use your desktop speakers, the
analog outs are probably ok.
o Get a remote control system for your mp3 player. Our mp3 machine runs
linux, and we use lircd (look it up on freshmeat.net, I don't have the URL
handy). You can get IR remotes now for like $9, including an IR receiver
which hooks to the serial port of your machine. In our lab, we have 4
identical remotes, so we can all skip songs, change volume, etc.
I'm sure others here are doing things like this. I'd love to hear about
your experiences!
-s
On Tue, 17 Aug 1999, Joseph S. Barrera III wrote:
> Hi guys,
>
> So I recently had my house wired with cat-5 so now I have 100Mb/s Ethernet
> running everywhere. I also just a couple days ago started playing with mp3.
> I'm currently using RealJukebox Plus to convert (rip?) my CDs into mp3.
>
> My first question is, what sampling rate do you use? I'm currently using
> 192Kb/s variable bit rate (RealJukebox doesn't offer a higher VBR rate). How
> does 192Kb/s VBR compare to 320 Kb/s constant bit rate (the highest CBR that
> RealJukebox offers)? I know, I should just listen for myself, but I don't
> trust my sound card and I haven't had time to hook up to my stereo with the
> good speakers.
>
> Second question -- advice on sound cards? What are the best, highest
> fidelity sound cards? I don't care about how many fancy digital features are
> on the card; I do care about the D/A with high quality on the analog side.
> This may mean that the best sound card for, say, games may not be the best
> for a dedicated hifi mp3 player?
>
> I should probably explain what my grand plan is. Disks and PCs are amazingly
> cheap these days. You can buy a 17 GB Ultra/ATA 66 drive for $200 (see
> http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/productdetail.asp?product_id=98185). So
> my plan is to buy a case and motherboard and processor ($200 to $300), four
> 17 GB drives ($800 total), and a sound card ($100). This gives me a box with
> 67 GB for mp3s (subtracting a GB for the OS & misc). At 100 MB per converted
> CD, that would be enough space for about 670 CDs, which would fit most of my
> CD collection (well, at least the stuff I still listen to)... for $1100.
>
> Last question: what mp3 ripping/jukebox software should I use? Is there
> something significantly better than RealJukebox Plus? (Free is a plus, but
> not that important.)
>
> Has anyone already done this? (Undoubtably yes...) If so, I'd love to
> hear/read about it.
>
> - Joe
>