A digital jukebox of high quality is a very fine piece to add to your system if you can afford it. Some people just use their computers, but then it really isn't part of their home theater, or they have usability issues.
The AudioRequest is by far one of the best digital jukeboxes on the market. Their GUI (graphical user interface) is very similar to the iPod in its simplicity, yet predates the iPod by several years. I actually would be considering a lawsuit against Apple for the structure of their menu setup for how much it compares to the Request for simplicity.
Scroll up and down, pick a category, continue to a sub-menu, and continue to drill down until you find exactly what you want.
If this is a 100% stand alone product, you may also want to look into the Escient line of digital music servers. They have many versions, some of which include DVD changer control, internet radio, and CD recorders so once you have everything on the internal hard drive, you can burn music or MP3 CDs as you want to. It is not nearly as eloquent as the Request, but it is definitely more bang for the buck.
If you are integrating into a control system setup - Request, Request, Request. Nothing is better... heck, nothing comes close.
A lot of companies use Xiva software which is found on their own product called the iMerge. This digital music server is kind of a middle of the road and really excells at neither bang for the buck, or usability, but is decent at both. I actually received a demo unit that I was allowed to keep and it is part of my system. A few years old now with only a 40GB hard drive. But, it offers 2 zones and includes up to 4 (or more?) zones of audio from the one box. So, I can listen to some U2 while the kids are listening to Coldplay at the same time.
If budget allows a Request, there is nothing better.
