2. pc-audio
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External HD question

I currently have a 2TB external drive connected to a little netbook that streams to an Airport Express (then to a DAC Magic/Brio-R). Sounds great.

I would really love to cut the streaming out of the picture. I would really also love to *not* have a laptop--however small--sitting next to my stereo (not to mention that it is my understanding that XP is not great for a direct connection).

What is the minimal product I would have to buy to accomplish as-direct-as-possible of a connection to my DAC? I imagine it would have to have some sort of operating system, GUI, and inputs/outputs...I have been told that some Logitech products may do this, but frankly, I am trying to keep everything of very good quality.

I am afraid that a chorus of people is going to say either "get windows 7 and suck it up" or "get a mac mini." Isn't there some tiny little box out there that fits my description without paying for a new mac?

As always, I am sorry if I have duplicated anything from a previous post--I tried to search around.
dcowen1234
rbautista
97 posts
 
I think you may want to look into the SqueezeBox Touch. I've had great success with it. You would still need to keep your netbook but you can at least store that away in another room to stream your music to the SB Touch. Then with an Android or "i" device, you can control the touch with an app.

It may sound complicated at first to setup, but it straightforward. Keep your external connected to you laptop, install Logitech Media Server, and start up the SB Touch and connect to your network. Once the SB Touch is done booting, you just go to "My Music" and point it to the your Logitech Media Server.

Once you get all that up and running, then you can look into SoundChecks TT 3.0 Mod to furthur refine the SB Touch.
sufentanil's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
sufentanil
782 posts
 
The Mac Mini is actually a pretty cost-effective music server with good performance, so I wouldn't just dismiss it out of hand.

The easiest and most cost-effective solution, though, I feel is the Squeezebox. I'm a huge fan of them, and have several of them throughout the house. Keep in mind that you may eventually want to get a dedicated music server (such as a Mac Mini running Squeezebox server software) rather than running everything off your laptop, although that is certainly an option.

Michael
dcowen1234 OP
9 posts
 
Thanks all...I've had my brain swirling for a while and I think that Mac mini and squeezebox touch are both great suggestions. Whenever I imagine the cost effectiveness of my desired product, I come back to those products. Thanks!
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