Playing Music Stored on the PC

[superstar]

Hello all,

I have a dilemma and would like to hear from you guys your opinion.
I want to play music on the receiver (Onkyo 604) while the source is stored on the pc, I have found that you can do this by either getting a media player (Linksys, Dlink, etc which will cost about $300+ since I do not have a wireless router) or getting this device from Onkyo that costs $200, for the Onkyo product it states that it transmits on a 2.4Ghz signal, almost the same thing as a router. For those that have it or heard these devices perform, are there any interferences? drawbacks on these products? are they worth it? The main concern will be getting the best quality sound, what would you do? Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[MDS]

That kind of device is not like a router with WI-FI capabilities. It is more akin to an FM transmitter. You will have to play the music using WinAmp or other media player on your computer and you will not be able to control it using a remote or your receiver.

A better idea would be to buy a USB Wireless adapter and any other wireless media adapter that actually uses TCP/IP to stream the music. The Squeezebox is probably the best of that class of device and you could perhaps find a version 2 model for around the same price as the Onkyo transmitter. There are also other wireless media streaming devices that are cheaper and may work fine too.

There is always the risk of interference from wireless phones and poor performance due to the layout of your house but a device that actually uses a real network protocol will be far more reliable as lost packets can be retransmitted.

 

[enob]

Not sure if you considered this option yet and depending on the proximity of your PC to your receiver you may be able to use a 3.5mm male to Dual RCA adapter plug to connect your PC to one of you inputs on your receiver.
See link below as an example:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=775581&CatId=449

 

[skizzerflake]

If you want the best quality sound and files are stored on your PC as mp3, then you have already lost half of the battle. Lossy mp3 files may sound OK through small PC speakers but if you send mp3's converted to analog then to another device (such as a transmitter) that digitizes them again, the sound will deteriorate even further. Your best bet for using a PC with a decent sound card (does it give good sound through good headphones?) and use the mini-stereo to 2 RCA cable as input for your receiver. You can find these cables at any electronics store, including Radio Shack.

 

[jaxvon]

If you want the best quality sound and files are stored on your PC as mp3, then you have already lost half of the battle. Lossy mp3 files may sound OK through small PC speakers but if you send mp3's converted to analog then to another device (such as a transmitter) that digitizes them again, the sound will deteriorate even further. Your best bet for using a PC with a decent sound card (does it give good sound through good headphones?) and use the mini-stereo to 2 RCA cable as input for your receiver. You can find these cables at any electronics store, including Radio Shack.

Audio fallacy alert!

1. Properly encoded, high-bitrate MP3s (256k+) are indistinguishable from a CD. I have done direct comparisons on monitor-level headphones and super-hi-fi speakers and have found no difference when the selections were level matched. The speaker comparison was an unscientific blind test, but the headphone session was ABX.

2. I know of no DAC in use that degrades sound quality. Modern DACs are transparent.

3. I find the best way to transmit music from a computer is to use a digital signal the whole way (be it optical or coaxial). This is NOT because of the supposed 'deterioration' with A/D or D/A conversions, but rather because it eliminates the issues with noise that are common in analog outputs on computers. My Dell laptop has noise in the output stage that is unbearable with good headphones, so much so that I was forced to buy a PCMCIA sound card to rectify the issue.

 

[ichigo]

Slight deterioration from mp3 quality from minor conversions is not losing half the battle. Having bad speakers and/or poor positioning is losing 90% of the battle.

 

[MACCA350]

I use the SPDIF output on my motherboard. All I had to do was buy this S/P-DIF Combo Header Bracket Cable for AU$30 and connect it straight to the motherboard for a Digital Coax/Optical connection to the receiver. Works great, I even get DD and DTS bitstreams straight to the receiver for decoding.

cheers

 

[abboudc]

If you have a wireless router, the cheapest choice is probably an Apple Airport Express ($129).

 

[skizzerflake]

Audio fallacy alert!

1. Properly encoded, high-bitrate MP3s (256k+) are indistinguishable from a CD. I have done direct comparisons on monitor-level headphones and super-hi-fi speakers and have found no difference when the selections were level matched. The speaker comparison was an unscientific blind test, but the headphone session was ABX.

2. I know of no DAC in use that degrades sound quality. Modern DACs are transparent.....

I'm quite alert to audio fallacies, and I don't think this is one. Obviously point two would follow from point one if one were true, but to my ears (which are not all that great), lossy compression is mainly a proposition of reducing the damage with a higher bitrate. Some codecs are surely better than others, but this is a question of degree. Any time you take an analog signal and digitize it, damage is done. When it is lossy compressed, more damage is done. The extent and audibility of the damage depends on the sampling rate and bitcount of the original and the lossiness of the compression. Once that exceeds the distortion present in an analog signal path, things start to go bad.

For sure, when you listen to a portable media player on a noisy street or vehicle, it probably doesn't make much difference that the sound is lossy compressed but in a decent listening environment with good equipment (I'm not referring to a $50000 rig, but just decent stuff) I find that mp3 gets grating and gritty after a while, even above 256K. No matter how much I try to think otherwise, when it comes to a comparison of any mp3 to SACD or vinyl on a turntable, I keep the mp3 files mainly for convenience, not sound quality.

 

[kenhoeve]

If you have a wireless router, the cheapest choice is probably an Apple Airport Express ($129).

Yes, but a limited one, and not a good one!

Step one-
Get yourself a router and set up a wi-fi network! $50 is cheap. Have to have a wireless card on the computer you plan to play music from though.

Step two-
Get a Sirocco from www.sondigo.com ! This device will play any source due to it's unique driver that makes the computer think it is sending music to a wireless media card, it's rather brilliant. iTunes, windows, does not matter. This device will also transmit 5.1 sound, all digitally, to your receiver, via optical. It is also a wireless access point, so it can be set up to run ethernet to a future receiver. I have one, and love it!

 

[superstar]

Do cordless phones, microwaves interfere on a wireless G connection? I have a bunch of neighbors with very thin walls and we use the phone and microwave a lot. I don't mind connecting the device with a cat5 cable, just that it would be nice not to do so. Anyone experience drops/cut offs with their music wirelessly?

 

[MDS]

Do cordless phones, microwaves interfere on a wireless G connection? I have a bunch of neighbors with very thin walls and we use the phone and microwave a lot. I don't mind connecting the device with a cat5 cable, just that it would be nice not to do so. Anyone experience drops/cut offs with their music wirelessly?

Anything operating at or near the same frequency could cause interference but it is not a given.

As an example, I have a Netgear 802.11b router and a Uniden cordless phone that also operates at 2.4 GHz (although it is 'spread spectrum' which means it actually chooses frequencies between 2350 MHz and 2450 MHz - 50 MHz either side of 2.4 GHz).

When I lived in an apartment, I had the phone about 1 foot above the router and never ever had any issues with dropping the network connection when the phone was in use. Now I live in a house - same router and same phone but router is in my office and the phone is in the living room. If I am using my laptop wirelessly and the phone rings, the network connection drops instantly.

The microwave ALWAYS interferes with the phone causing static on the line but never affects the wireless network - not in the apartment and not in the house.

It's a crapshoot and you can experiment with router placement, changing the channel the router uses, etc. For now I can't be bothered and have resorted to running a 50 foot CAT5E cable from the wall jack to my couch for my laptop. If you have an 802.11G router and a 900 MHz or 2.4 GHz phone there shouldn't be any problems.

 

[kenhoeve]

Do cordless phones, microwaves interfere on a wireless G connection? I have a bunch of neighbors with very thin walls and we use the phone and microwave a lot. I don't mind connecting the device with a cat5 cable, just that it would be nice not to do so. Anyone experience drops/cut offs with their music wirelessly?

In fact, yes, the microwave does always interrupt my Sirocco connection, but not my network. I don't mind it, infrequent.

 

[superstar]

Great, thanks all for your input!! this forum rocks!!! So far I am inclined to go with the Sirocco product and getting a Wireless G router since it will be cheaper than purchasing the Onkyo product... one more question, has anyone know if the Bluetooth devices have a better connection than wireless? as far as drop connections, not speed.

Edited for clarification.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

I am using this http://www.rokulabs.com/products_soundbridge.php

So far it is one of the most simple solutions I have seen. I do not want a PC in my theater room. I ripped all my cd's onto a hard drive at full uncompressed aiff files and they are streamed via wireless to the sound bridge. The sound bridge is connected via toslink to my receiver and it is doing the processing. No loss of audio quality.

 

[superstar]

It sounds good, I was reading the reviews on that product as well but it says that it uses Wi-Fi 802.11b technology, and I don't want to regress if I get a wireless G router plus interferences from cordless phones/microwaves.

 

[Nestor]

I've pretty well given up on the "network receiver" portion of my Yamaha RX-V2700, and I'm kind of in the same boat. It's so poorly designed!

I too am looking to stream from my PC.

Has anyone purchased the Sonos or the Squeezebox?

Wireless streaming isn't an issue for me. I have wired LAN to my RX already.

 

[mlhm5]

Buy an ipod

Hook up the ipod to your preamp/receiver and away you go. Plus I can take my tunes and the simple interconnect anywhere.

I have 2gb of Miles Davis recorded at 320 and it really sparkles. No difference from redbook.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

It sounds good, I was reading the reviews on that product as well but it says that it uses Wi-Fi 802.11b technology, and I don't want to regress if I get a wireless G router plus interferences from cordless phones/microwaves.

I haven't had any issues with interference at all. Works flawless.

 

[superstar]

Update

Yes, but a limited one, and not a good one!

Step one-
Get yourself a router and set up a wi-fi network! $50 is cheap. Have to have a wireless card on the computer you plan to play music from though.

Step two-
Get a Sirocco from www.sondigo.com ! This device will play any source due to it's unique driver that makes the computer think it is sending music to a wireless media card, it's rather brilliant. iTunes, windows, does not matter. This device will also transmit 5.1 sound, all digitally, to your receiver, via optical. It is also a wireless access point, so it can be set up to run ethernet to a future receiver. I have one, and love it!

I ended up getting this device and its worth the money, I've encountered a few hic ups while playing music but not to the point of returning it, maybe 2 hic ups in 6 hours of playing music. The set up is easy, it has enough security, and one of the best parts is that it has a virtual speaker shifter feature, you will only use this if you have 2 tv's in different locations on the same room or a projector on a different wall, it's nice that you can still have the dialog and the surround sound in the right place without having to move the center to wherever you are facing. Great product!