Audio Library On A Tight Budget

[stratman]

So, is it up and going? Have you burned your Bay City Rollers collection yet?

Well I got back late afternoon on Sunday, I actually worked today, my father in law wants to "help" so I'm starting on Wednesday (as he had minor eye surgery.) So I'll post as soon as it's up and running, hopefully without any hiccups. Bay City Rollers, yes, big in '76, all but dead in '77, disco did them in!

 

[stratman]

Well today is the day, I just unpacked everything, laid it all logically and first thing in the morning I'll switch sound card, plug in the Firefly and hopefully all will go as planned, keep fingers crossed. I'll post on progress.

 

[stratman]

Well installing the Montego was a breeze, I downloaded the MediaMonkey program, no problems there. Well, the Firefly is another matter, there seems to be some conflicts with Vista, but I'm slowly (very slowly) sorting it all out. For a minute there I freaked right after the Montego was in, I checked the SPDIF an there was no red light, YIKES! I was dreading a dead card, anyway went to control panel, SPIDF is off as default, one click took care of that, so far the Firefly is the only fly in the ointment.

 

[stratman]

Well the Firefly is about 99% working correctly and I like what I see! I just bought what amounts to my mini-raid system, two WD Caviar 500GB HDDs and a Startech Info Safe USB 2.0 Dual SATA Drive enclosure with RAID 1 capability.

So far this is the cost of project.

One Dell PC Inspiron 530 with 15 monitor 606.72
Turtle Beach Montego DDL soundcard 67.74
MediaMonkey software*
SPDIF cable-BJC 13.00
SATA RAID enclosure 51.56
WD 500GB HDDs 219.58
Firefly PC remote 77.39


TOTAL 1036.06


Not too bad for a music library with 1 Terabyte of space, PC remote, soundcard with SPDIF, Dolby Digital Live, 7.1 Surround. Much less money than dedicated single purpose machines, in the future I can slways use this PC for my kid as he gets older or upgrade it with more storage and video capabilites. The platform has turned out to be very flexible. Also it can be done for less with a "slower" machine and less storage, I rip in WAV so it's space hungry. those that prefer more compressed formats can do with less storage. This weekend, if all goes well, I plan to kick back and start ripping.


*MediaMonkey was in an existing PC from 2 years ago, they give you an unlimited license and unlimited upgrades for life when you get the GOLD version ($19.00.)

 

[stratman]

Here's another product that might do: http://www.iomega.com/direct/products/detail.jsp?PRODUCT<>prd_id=51777687&FOLDER<>folder_id=54110787&ASSORTMENT<>ast_id=63191&bmUID=1203995817444

The only problems are you need some type of display and you're putting all your music into one giant 500GB HDD, we all know what that means. So you'll have to have your music backed up somewhere or risk losing it all when the HDD fails, oh it will. The great thing is the cost:

Multimedia drive with remote and cables $220.00
LCD Sharp LC15SH7U $194.00
Digital Coax $ 12.50
MediaMokey $ 19.00

TOTAL $445.50

This is the cheapest way to do a music server that supports WAV and has major GBs to store uncompressed. You'll need a PC to rip (and to back up, unless you want to re-rip when the drive goes South) to your IOMEGA also a receiver or integrated amp to hook up your digital coax. Again you're at the mercy of a single HDD that can't be user replaced when it kicks the bucket. If you can live with the shortcomings it's quite impressive, the IOMEGA also supports video.

 

[stratman]

UPS dropped of my RAID enclosure today, my 2 HDDs are scheduled to be dropped off tomorrow. Hopefully this weekend the ripping will begin!

 

[gus6464]

Here is a cheap solution with tons of data storage:

Dell Optiplex GX260 - $100
http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=802221361&s=uwb93694

1gb ram upgrade - $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141198

Apple Airport Express - $100

2 500GB externals - $200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822204034

Total - $440

Those little optiplex systems run dead quiet and a p4 2.0 is all you need for music. If you need a screen you can pick up a really cheap LCD if you want. For remote if you use itunes you have quite a bit of options:

PSP
Laptop
ipod touch
iphone
Any other device which has wifi

 

[MUDSHARK]

UPS dropped of my RAID enclosure today, my 2 HDDs are scheduled to be dropped off tomorrow. Hopefully this weekend the ripping will begin!

Glad to see you are almost there. No cave should be without one.

 

[stratman]

Glad to see you are almost there. No cave should be without one.

Thanks Mud, it was getting lonely talking to myself.

 

[Rickster71]

So far this is the cost of project.

One Dell PC Inspiron 530 with 15 monitor 606.72
Turtle Beach Montego DDL soundcard 67.74
MediaMonkey software*
SPDIF cable-BJC 13.00
SATA RAID enclosure 51.56
WD 500GB HDDs 219.58
Firefly PC remote 77.39


TOTAL 1036.06

Did you factor in the price of a really long extension cord?
Since your cave doesn't have an outlet.

 

[stratman]

Did you factor in the price of a really long extension cord?
Since your cave doesn't have an outlet.

Well I've got two generators, squirrel powered generators, they each produce about 1.5kW. Nothing like a rabid squirrel to produce power, multiply that by 2 thousand, now you've got power! Simple, take your average squirrel strap it in front of the tv, tune into Lifetime, Oprah, CNN and at the end of 24 hours you've developed a little dynamo that'll eat that stupid battery bunny for lunch, set him loose in a cage with 1999 more of it's conditioned brethren and friend you've got a lightning storm in a cage. Funny you asked, isn't this how "normal" folk get their electricity, I mean really any 4 year old cave kid knows this, simple science! Come on Rick!

 

[stratman]

UPS just dropped off my 2 HDDs! WOOHOO!! Busy weekend ahead.

 

[Rickster71]

Well I've got two generators, squirrel powered generators, they each produce about 1.5kW. Nothing like a rabid squirrel to produce power, multiply that by 2 thousand, now you've got power! Simple, take your average squirrel strap it in front of the tv, tune into Lifetime, Oprah, CNN and at the end of 24 hours you've developed a little dynamo that'll eat that stupid battery bunny for lunch, set him loose in a cage with 1999 more of it's conditioned brethren and friend you've got a lightning storm in a cage. Funny you asked, isn't this how "normal" folk get their electricity, I mean really any 4 year old cave kid knows this, simple science! Come on Rick!

You cave men, are all alike. You think you're still bachelors.
When the cavewife sees the UPS man drop off that squirrel powered generator; the first thing she will ask is, "You're not using that in the cave are you?"
and, "I thought you were getting rock speakers; what are those ugly wooden boxes?"
So, I have a few extension cords I can lend you...

Good luck with your weekend project.

 

[stratman]

Thanks for the offer Rick, squirrels are my best choice. Anyway, the system is working beautifully, all glitches gone. RAID, MediaMonkey, Firefly are getting along with Vista, unbelievably. Started to rip in earnest today, I have a looooong ways to go. Was it worth it? Financially, DIY self-satisfaction, platform flexibility, all a resounding yes. I have a platform that I can grow with without breaking the bank. And the most important aspect: the sound, CD perfect. Anyone wanting to go this route I would recommend it, you'll need a bit of patience as you shop for the best deals and to make sure the hardware you choose will meet your needs.

 

[MUDSHARK]

Wecome to the server club. you may now act arrogant and counsel lesser life forms

 

[stratman]

Wecome to the server club. you may now act arrogant and counsel lesser life forms

Hehehe I feel like a rock has been lifted off my shoulders, to be frank when I saw all those boxes of hardware sitting around, it gave me a cold sweat! Will this work? Will Vista crash? Did any of the HDDs arrive DOA in the box? Will the RAID enclosure work? And on and on........well it did! Woo Whoo!!

 

[Rickster71]

Hi Strat,
Great to hear it all worked out for you!
I'd always planned on doing the same thing you've done.
That is, until one day, my wife and I were in our local stereo shop. It's one I've dealt with since 1985.
My wife overheard a demo of the Escient music servers. After listening for a while, she walked over to the other room I was in, and said, "You have to see this, we should get one."
She leads me back over to the demo; and I can't believe she giving the green light.
I immediately get suspicious, and think, my real wife has been kidnapped, and switched with a double!
I've become friendly with the owner over the years; and I ask him if he can do a store lock-down; like they do at Wal-Mart when a child is missing. Nobody leaves until we find my 'real wife!'
The short of it is, she wasn't kidnapped and we got the Escient MX-111 media manager.

Strat, I still like what you've done, and would've done the same, if she didn't twist my arm.

 

[Davemcc]

I'm glad you got things all worked out. To be honest, I had to drop out of this thread when things got technical, like when I started to know what the acronyms and initials of things meant

I don't know what an NAS storage device is, only a vague idea of what a RAID configurations is and I've never opened a computer case in my life. I'm not sure that I'd know how to rip a CD into the computer and I've never created a WAV or FLAC file. I guess this is why the Fireball is the perfect plug and play solution for me.

On the other hand, it's an area of the hobby I know I'm weak on and I'd like to learn more...someday...all in good time.

 

[stratman]

It's not that hard to fiddle with PCs, but I perfectly understand your point. My problem with the ES-80 is hard drive capacity (80 GB), it has a great price (affordable), but my CD collection is huge and I like to rip "lossless" (quirk, I know), the MX 111 is two grand, way over the budget I had allowed myself, but it's a great machine able to support an outboard CD/DVD carrousel. My top allowance was $1500 and I came in about $400+/- under, it leaves me cash for a BR player or the new 50" Panny I've oogling lately. Either way it was a fun build.

 

[mike c]

hey stratman, did you ever post pics of your RAID setup? actually, the only reason I ask is the sansdigital link you gave is down atm