A reasonable way to use a 68k as a jukebox?

[MrMacPlus]

I just stumbled upon http://mpd.wikia.com/wiki/Client:M68kmpc while gathering information on the Music Player Daemon.

While the link it gives is dead, there's probably a mirror somewhere on the internet. If you ran the mpd server on another machine and then networked the 68k to it, you'd have a neat looking :beige: jukebox. I plan on testing this sooner or later.

 

[Osgeld]

that would be a cool little jukebox to have tucked on a shelf (kinda like a uber bookcase stereo), Id do it too, but I dont have a cute little compact mac (dont think I would do it with a 2 piece) and I already have pc's in the bedrooms and a Xbox Media Center in the living room

 

[Bunsen]

If you want to play MP3s locally stored and decoded on a 68k there's MpegDec

 

[MrMacPlus]

Cool. That might actually be more practical. I just realized that with mpd it would play all music on the server machine. Unless there is some way to stream the audio over as well (with a 68k).

 

[LCGuy]

MpegDec supports MP3 streams, if you can set up another machine to perform an M3U or PLS stream, MpegDec should be able to use it.

 

[MrMacPlus]

MpegDec supports MP3 streams, if you can set up another machine to perform an M3U or PLS stream, MpegDec should be able to use it.

Don't you think it would likely be way too slow? A good majority of my MP3s are also >128kbps which would slow it down even more. Also, MpegDec would rule out my Compacts, but I guess they don't have very good speakers anyway. :-/

 

[Bunsen]

For High quality stereo playback in MpegDec, you want a 40MHz '040 - which means an 840AV, a Radius Rocket or another machine with a Quad Doubler upgrade. Possibly an overclocked 660AV.

I doubt that transfers of 128kps MP3s over a 10Mb/s LAN should be a problem, as long as you're using a switch and not simply a hub.

The ideal setup would be a Compact or Pizza with 16 bit 44KHz audio out, and a remote, powerful machine streaming strait AIFF 16 bit audio over the LAN to the player Mac. You could do other formats apart from MP3 then, and/or VBR and higher bitrates.

Another possibility involving much more hacking - both soft- and hardware - would be piping the raw MP3 data out of the Mac to an MP3 decoder chip and analog-to-digital converters. Or building a complete MP3 player kit with its own storage (flash or HD) and just using the Mac as a GUI front end over a serial connection.

 

[MrMacPlus]

I doubt that transfers of 128kps MP3s over a 10Mb/s LAN should be a problem, as long as you're using a switch and not simply a hub.

Just realized that the latest versions of mpd support httpd streaming. I downloaded and compiled the latest version and am able to listen to the stream with WinAmp on another PC. I can stream in any bitrate I want. This should do fine, I think.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Or you could always cheat & hack a couple of dead compacts into speaker housings . . . }

. . . hooked up to a far more capable Mac runnin' MPegDec in the center! [] ]'>

 

[Bunsen]

Hey jt! Get outta my brain!!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

:?:

 

[MrMacPlus]

I think he means that he was thinking the same thing.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Then he'll probably come back with the suggestion of using FOUR Compacts for front and rear channels . . .

. . . a MacII for the Center channel and a Quadra 950 for the Subwoofer . . . [] ]'>

. . . . in order to out - over the top - yours truly! [] ]'>

 

[Scott Baret]

The Mac surround sound system sounds pretty neat, but what would be at the center of it as the controller?

Keep in mind that these old Macs can always play CDs. I used to have a CD-ROM drive on a Plus for the sole purpose of playing music. It required external speakers, but that's what compacts modified into speakers are for

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

The Mac surround sound system sounds pretty neat, but what would be at the center of it as the controller?)

Like I said, I CHEAT! I'm into Mac Furniture, ATM, not sound systems, but if it were my project . . . }

I'd take the $35 5.1 Receiver I got from Goodwill that spec'd 8 Ohm Speakers, precluding use of my old RCA 3 Ohm 5.1 set. I've since assembled 5.0 worth of 8 Ohm speakers for between $5 & $10 ea. I just need a Powered Sub to complete that set.

When I get around to fixing my original RCA receiver, I'll have 5.1 in all three rooms designated as "design/bookkeeping/sleeping/light hacking areas!" I can turn up the volume of the living room setup, which is fine as it stands w/o 5.1, so I can hear it in my kitchen/shop. off topic>

With 5.1 SpeakerMacHacks, I don't really think a Mac running the show would be all that important, except one to feed stereo MP3 output and CD output to the 5.1 receiver to bump the stereo up to ersatz 5.1, which sounds GREAT in my Bedroom/Serious Graphics Workstation area..

Matter of fact, I might skip the center Mac entirely, I've got my eye on a $44 Phillips DVD Player w/HDMI output for my HP 22" 1080p LCD. That would play CDs and maybe even burned MP3 CDs.

Dunno,it's not my hack & I think I've taken it as far over the top as is my custom.

 

[Bunsen]

I'd probably use one of the cheap Tripath Class D amps from Hong Kong/Guangzhou and mod it by putting in the correct components, like this modder.

You don't need 5.1 for a jukebox. 2.1 would be plenty. How about a couple of iMac ball speakers and a 6500 subwoofer, if you want to go all Mac?

 

[MrMacPlus]

This thread seems to have steered off-topic : . I'm not intending to hack a sound system out of Macs. My current "plan" consists of running MPD on a host machine, hooking up speakers to said host machine, and using a compact (probably an SE) to control it using an MPD client. Either that or I could install *Nix on my Quadra and run Media On Console to play a copy of my iTunes library (as my Quadra has a 6GB hard drive).

 

[Bunsen]

Off topic? Nah, that never happens

MPD --> host --> speakers sound entirely doable.

 

[MrMacPlus]

entirely doable

Of course, otherwise I wouldn't attempt it.