Just gotta new toy (1 Viewer)

[EarleD]

Its a D-Link MediaLounge wireless media player(DSM-320) and a Linksys wireless G router. I can finally stream mp3's to my HT without the hassle of running cable.

This is my first attempt at setting up home network. Setup was simple. Plug in the router and and run the included software. Everything worked the first time.
I turned on the media player, it found the routers signal and viola 5 minutes later music was playing.

Sound quality is pretty good, I rip my mps's at 320kps. I cant wait until I get all my CD's ripped and can retire them to storage as backups.

The D-Link player is pretty easy to use, even my wife is having no trouble using it.

Anyone else here doing this? It is the ultimate in COOL.

Ive had this for a couple of weeks now, and the only complaint I have is that you cant play the songs on a CD in the order intended. The media server plays them in alphabetical order.

Earle

 

[Angelo.M]

Earle:

I'm doing this as well, but with the Roku Soundbridge, which will control iTunes over a wireless or wired network. I have just about all the music I need ripped as AAC files, and the Roku interface makes for a great jukebox.

Enjoy.

 

[EarleD]

It's great to see others are taking advantage of this cool technology.

Too bad you cant stream Hi-Res formats, hopefully in the future.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Earle, I hope you turned on the wireless security features for your Linksys router. They are usually turned off by default.


Angelo, have you played any 128K AAC files on your home system with this? I was looking at the Roku, too, since I've ripped everything in AAC at bitrates from 128K - 192K, depending on the material, to fit everything on my 40GB iPod. I wasn't sure if 128K AAC would sound decent on my home system, though (especially since I'm used to SACD sound quality).

 

[Scott L]

It's acceptable if you're a music lover but on a decent setup you'll just know it's compressed.

I'm still looking for a solution to play my iPod/iTunes collection in the shower. I spend a long time in there. I see that Altec Lansing gizmo, anything else available in the size of a boombox?

 

[Angelo.M]

Scott:

I have everything ripped at 224 kbps AAC. On my iPod, I hear quite a bit of difference between these files and 128 kbps AAC (after ripped things at different bit rates, 224 kbps was the rate that truly sounded transparent to me). I'd expect the same over the Roku, but will check.

 

[David Norman]

Even if it's probably a typo, this is funny.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Angelo,

Thanks. I had to make a compromise in bitrates in order to fit my 600+ CDs on the iPod, which is why I used 128K AAC for a lot of my rock and roll recordings (especially the older stuff). For newer music, jazz, classical and higher quality rock recordings I used either 160K or 192K, (although I have a few favorites at 320K, too). I've used up about 28GB, leaving about 9GB left for future purchases.

I may pick up a Y-cable and plug the iPod directly into my different systems via analog to see how it sounds before investing in the Roku -- that should provide a comparable sound. I suspect it will be fine for background music in the bedroom and basement rec room systems, but will probably be disappointing on my main system.

One thing I noticed about the Roku that concerns me -- it does not appear to support WPA as an encrypted wireless access method -- the online manual only mentions WEP. I really do not want to step down the security of my home wireless network to WEP, especially since the Roku requires that iTunes be setup in server mode to share music. Has Roku added WPA support in newer software releases?

 

[Angelo.M]

Don't know. I'm using it wired, although I do have a hybrid home network. The wireless component is only secured by WEP, however.

 

[Ted Lee]

hmm...i just found out that bb sells the roku doo-hickey. since i work there, i'm thinking santa (aka my wifey) may hook me up with one.

please stand by for the inevitable "how do i use this thing" posts.

 

[EarleD]

Scott

I think I have the security features turned on. My Lynksys page, under security, has all the options checked except "Filter Internet NAT Redirection" Firewall is enabled.

Is there more I should do? Im new to networking and want a secure system. Thanks for any help.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Earle,

What you mentioned is just part of the security features of your device, which is a combination router, firewall and wireless access point. The router portion manages the TCP/IP traffic on your local LAN and to/from the Internet, the firewall portion blocks bad people on the Internet from accessing the devices on your local network via your broadband Internet connection (which is always on), and the wireless access point transmits/receives 802.11 wireless traffic to/from other wireless devices on your network (such as your Dlink Medialounge device).

I'm not using a Linksys router (mine's a Dlink), so I am not familiar with the actual screens, but there should be a section for your wireless LAN security. Typical options are none, WEP (64 or 128 bit), WPA, WPA-PSK, etc.

If you had enabled the wireless LAN security feature on the Linksys, you would have entered a password to be used for either your WEP or WPA encryption key to allow access to your wireless LAN. You would also need to setup the same WEP or WPA key in your Dlink Medialounge's wireless config.

If you have not setup WEP or WPA (WPA is more secure, but not all devices support it yet), then your wireless LAN is wide open to any neighbors that may be within reach of your wireless signal. These features are almost always turned off by default in the routers from Linksys, Dlink and Netgear.

 

[EarleD]

Scott

Thanks for the help. I still have so much to learn. Thanks again

 

[Patrick Larkin]

I ripped all my CDs over the summer into iTunes at 256k mp3. I have around 9000 songs, over 700 albums, and 532 artists. I play them through my HT via my Tivo and the Tivo Desktop software.

The coolest trick is to leverage the power of iTunes "Smart Playlist" functionality. Playlists automatically collect songs of a given criteria as you load them.

While the Tivo interface isn't geared toward a library this large, it does do the job and if you have a Tivo, no further expense is necessary. A big disadvantage is that the Tivo only plays mp3. So tunes downloaded from iTMS need to be run through Hymn and then converted to mp3.

 

[Ted Lee]

earle, if you have a linksys router, this link will help.

http://www.linksys.com/edu/page10.asp

edit: enable "wep" as well. it's like a password that all your gear has to know in order to communicate with eachother.