MP3 Integration to main system

[JRace]

I have laptop with usb sound card and an external hard drive with all my media on it.

The laptop sends its video out to my projector, and I can watch TV, movies or even browse the net.
I have around 80gigs of music, moslty in FLAC. I rarely spin a disc these days. Iuse Foobar 2000 as my media player and I can create any playlist I need.

When I want to take my music to the shop patio or vehicle I just take my 30gig Ipod (rockboxed - to allow flac playback) and plug that into the respective stereos.

Works great!

[bob1029]

What ive used for ages is a simple htpc with decent sound card running winamp. Now what I do is map a network drive to the actual computer holding the music (or just simply put all the music on the htpc). Additionally, I install a nifty plugin called WAWI, and I can build the playlist, change tracks, control volume, etc from any networked computer through a simple web interface. Ive actually used this in combination with shoutcast to access my entire mp3 collection at work over a streaming connection. The main benefit to using winamp is the massive amount of plugins that are available, and if you can hook it up to the video input, it makes for an awesome visualization for parties.

[Owen Bartley]

Bob, I've always liked Winamp, and that's what I have used in the past, just with a long headphone extension cord and a splitter into my stereo. I might just stick with this for a while until my indecision settles.

[Soundoctor]

Here's an approach.
Inasmuch as I have a lab full of equipment to test, generally mess with, etc, what I actually listen to is I have a dual core machine with a pleasant realtek board; there are twin 500G drives, and my CD' and vinyl are simply ripped at 320k. There are simply separate folders for rock, classical, jazz, electronic and 'other' and it's organized in a heirarchy I like, since I did it!

The line out goes into an Aphex 204, then into a pair of M&K 1611P's (crossed over at 80) and a JL audio f112 or f113 sub.

Whether playing some background Chopin, or the latest nickelback at 115 dB, all I can say is you should see the looks on people's faces, and many are speechless for hours...!

Let's put it this way: after setting up sound systems for nearly 50 years, I simply like it! I can find any of my favorites in seconds, and it's enjoyable!

Barry

[Owen Bartley]

Barry, that's what I like about having the PC as my music player, no matter how good an interface is on most components or portables, there can be a lot of scrolling involved that just can't match the efficiency of some good ol' point and click.