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[dedidio]

Hi,

I decided some of you will have some home set-ups along the lines of what I need so I thought I would get your opinions.

I have in "the spare room" my pc with all my mp3's on.  Downstairs there is the lounge with decent TV/Audio setup.  How do I get my music from here to there (preferably still using MC)?

Bonus points if you get DVD downstairs too (PC has dvd, downstairs doesn't) - this is not a priority though as a DVD player for downstairs may get on the Christmas list.

Some ideas/suggestions would be great - what works for you people.  I wont put a budget on it to keep it interesting for all

Cheers.

[JimH]

Media Center's Media Server is one way.  It's under Tools/More Tools/Media Server.  

You then run MC on the other machine and use it to connect.  That's under File/Library/Search for servers or Library Manager.  

MC Help should provide details.  A search here may also help.

[PhatPhreddy]

Do you have a HTPC by the TV ?? If so its simple network shares etc...

I am guessing you dont (as thats too simple)...

If not how important is sound quality to you... If its vital then regular cable beween the two is required... Either a line level cable to carry the audio to an reciever or amp (or a TV in ??)... Or a CAT5 cable to a SlimMP3 or other MP3 network 'node' player... I do not yet know of a 802.11 network node layer (there should be one !!!)..

If you dont mind some trade offs consider looking into devices like http://www.smarthome.com/7654s.html or http://www.x10.com/products/x10_vk53a.htm will distribute both TV and stereo audio as well as routing IR back and forth to the host PC...

If your PC has a composite out TV line feed that to this device and do some IR control work with Girder / SuperNudeList and you have a pretty capable setup...

You could also consider if a PDA and PPC MusicLobby wopuld solve your needs better in the 2 way remote control aspect... Very cool but as always more $$$

[dedidio]

All good food for thought.  I can see that getting some form of PC in the Downstairs room is choice number one - however the cost of silencing one of those things may be a bit too much.

Something like sliMP3, I do like this idea (although wireless network would be required to get rid of the cable hanging down the stairs).  My brother has one at his place and I was impressed with it.  It doesn't seem suited to parties though, where everyone picks a few songs - it's just too awkward for playlist-building.  I will look at the alternative 'node' players though.

There is that wireless video link thing, which if i got girder, or an x10 mouse remote, I could use with MC (probably in hairstyle mode).  The reviews I've read of this say the sound isn't bad unless your wanting to play DVD's though it (as in it's a stereo system).

At the moment I will continue to investigate - because if I can get a PC quiet enough to go in the lounge then I will do this, otherwise I will probably go with wireless video/audio - unless there is a 'node' player out there better suited to me.

Thanks for the replies.

[jleerigby]

If the pc in the lounge is to be networked to the main pc (music files etc on main pc) then it'll not need much running on it so it shouldn't be too difficult to get it running quiet right?  i.e. 1 hard drive, a not too fast processor that doesn't require mega cooling, power supply won't need to be all that big, some akasa sound proofing inside the case etc. etc.  And this would mean that it's a fairly run of the mill machine that you can pick up reasonably cheaply or build yourself if you know how.

This is the sort of thing I had in mind as I'm trying to find a similar solution to this problem.  At the moment my pc is in the lounge but I've spent quite a lot getting it quiet.

...And another thing. It doesn't need to be quiet if you play your music at high volume!

[loraan]

Solution 1: Use existing house wiring to move the audio to the other room. Major disadvantage: requires that your house was wired for audio/network when it was built. Okay, so this solution probably isn't for you or you wouldn't be asking this question, but I thought I'd mention it. They're doing some amazing things with whole-house audio distribution these days, including running line-level stereo audio over cat-5 cable... very cool!

Solution 2: Put an HTPC in the secondary room and either run Media Server on the main PC or just copy your library between them. Since you don't have network wiring and probably don't want to run cables, a wireless network would be used to transfer files. The "copy the library" solution works really well--you copy the entire library's "data" directory and all of your music files and voila! MC on the secondary machine is up to date. I do this with a script to copy only files that have changed since last copy so that I don't have to copy my entire library over the network every time.

Solution 3: Move just the audio via wireless. Terk makes a product called the "leapfrog" that does this. Radio Shack carries one (don't remember the name) that also transmits IR signals. The quality on these devices depends HEAVILY on how clean the 2.4 GHz range is in your environment, so if you've got an 802.11 network or 2.4 GHz phones, this solution may not be for you.

[LisaRCT]

...And another thing. It doesn't need to be quiet if you play your music at high volume!

This also works well for automotive mechanical problems . . . if you hear a strange noise under the hood, just turn the radio louder.
Once it really breaks they can more easily find the problem, thus sparing you the embarrassment of sounding like a nut-case trying to describe and immitate the noises you claim to have heard.  
However, when one of those 'idiot lights' on the dash starts glowing, do NOT put on your sunglasses as this does not work as well as the radio does with noises and can be much more expensive.

[Mastiff]

Why not do cables through walls and floors in some way? You can make S-Video cables from long network cables, and sound can be as easy as running SPDIF to a DD receiver downstairs (if you've got one) or running regular phono cables to an analogue receiver. You can have a look at my website, where I describe how I did it in my house. That's of course not one room of sound and video, but five rooms of sound and one of video, but the principle is the same.