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Yes

175 (69.2%)

I have an HTPC, but I don't use MC on it

16 (6.3%)

I'm thinking about it

20 (7.9%)

I've tried it

11 (4.3%)

No

31 (12.3%)

Total Members Voted: 249

[Mithrandir]

Hello,

I went with "Tried it," but that is not entirely correct.  I used HTPC's for Sagetv and MC (for music) for a couple of years.  I found that I hated having to fire up the TV to play music, so after a while I bit the bullet and went with sonos for playback and MC for all ripping and management. 

When the Sagetv HD200 extenders came out I moved completely away from HTPC's.  No more windows issues, codec issues etc.  No more, " Daddy, the TV doesn't work again."  Thin clients/extenders have just worked really well for me.

With Sagetv having been assimilated into the Gorg, I am looking for options, and I honestly believe I am just going to go with Directv's new 5 tuner DVR.  I can deal with the learning curve to set up another PVR solution, but I am not willing to deal with HTPC's at every TV again.  I could go with WMC, but that will require a big, loud, ugly xbox at every TV.  A big loud ugly xbox that will not play my kids movie rips.

I would love to go with MC for TV, but I am not willing to fool with full on HTPC clients any more.  If some sort of thin client were available I would be all over it.

M. 

[pcstockton]

I found that I hated having to fire up the TV to play music, so after a while I bit the bullet and went with sonos for playback and MC for all ripping and management. 

Why do you need a TV to listen to music? 

[Mithrandir]

Why do you need a TV to listen to music?

Because the only "monitors" I had attached to the HTPC's were TV's.  I was using MC in theater view.

[yoshi_1]

MC is a central part of my HTPC setup, and use it both for audio and video. Loudspeaker XO and room correction is performed in the digital domain by ConvolverVST hosted by MC. I simply love the short and elegant signal path:

MC => ASIO => LynxTwo-B sound interface => Hypex UcD amplifiers

FIR filters are generated by Audiolense speaker correction software.

[pcstockton]

Because the only "monitors" I had attached to the HTPC's were TV's.  I was using MC in theater view.

Then my question is how do you control the Sonos.... which leads to my point that you dont need a TV/Monitor to control MC.  Simply use a control point, e.g. an iOS app, Gizmo, another install of MC on a laptop etc. 

You dont REQUIRE a monitor for MC.

Thats all,
Patrick

[Mithrandir]

Then my question is how do you control the Sonos.... which leads to my point that you dont need a TV/Monitor to control MC.  Simply use a control point, e.g. an iOS app, Gizmo, another install of MC on a laptop etc. 

You dont REQUIRE a monitor for MC.

Thats all,
Patrick

At the time there was no Gizmo and the only available iOS app did not function in a manner that met our needs.  We did try hard to make it work for us.  I don't consider a laptop a suitable option.

What finally convinced me to go with Sonos was a really good iOS controller.  So to answer your question,  we use our I phones to control Sonos. 

If I was not now invested in Sonos I would certainly give gizmo a try. 

I know a tv is not required to control MC.   You do know this thread is about HTPC's attached to TV's, right?

M

[Bengi010]

Just adding my 2 cents, like many others here have already said, my htpc is the only thing connected to my tv and MC the only thing I use on it (well at least 95%).  I noticed Jim mentioned early on in the thread he predicted 1 in 4, as of now it's more like 2 out of 3.

[icstm]

Because of the bitperfect gapless playback, I like MC for music on the TV (ie being able to see what is playing w/o having to go to the computer.

As for TV and movies, I need to learn how to make it look and feel the way I want. It does not have to be fancy, but the use of fanart as well as coverart and to display seasons and their episiodes in a way that looks like a good TV front end, rather than a great computer front end, I still use MB within 7mc.

[tcman41]

Loft computer with 24" monitor:
JRiver software, media imported here, grouped, sorted & custom tagged.
Also used exclusively for listening to music.

Bedroom computer with 37" TV:
XBMC frontend software, media via via smb share from loft computer

Living room computer with 52" TV:
XBMC frontend software, media fed via smb share from loft computer

XBMC software is a frontend software only, really no tagging features, I am looking for an all-in-one solution, JRiver is getting close.

[Darth B]

I use MC to:
1) Listen to Audio
2) Watch DVD and Blu-Ray rips
3) View Pictures
4) Starting to manage portable devices - but mostly this is done with iTunes.

I do not use it for viewing TV.

For the most part, MC is in Theater View.  I would love to see more Theater View skins.  I've tried creating my own, but I too much of noob for it.  The available documentation for Theater View seems outdated and incomplete.

[beernuts]

At our house, MC is always in theatre mode:
Organizes and plays all the photos
Plays all our purchased audio
Played rented DVD's (until Netflix came to town)
Would play our rented audio, if last.fm (paid acct) appeared in Theatre mode
Would play our rented video (Netflix) if it weren't for that Canadian licensing glitch

We killed our satellite subscription last year, so we're purely digital now.
(Local news we get from the station website, by web browser. On OUR schedule.)

[datdude]

Theater View is pretty much all I use MC for.

Would love to see the following added:

Pandora
TuneIn
A pay per audio track service.
A pay per movie service like Amazon.

Maybe a few fun games.