Let's get digital

tom, u'll need a sata card, unless u're mobo supports it already.
something like this:
pci sata controller card e.g. http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/Product+Details.htm?quicklinx=2PNT&searchphrase=sata
u'll also need a sata signal cable, and a molex -> sata power converter lead.
and u'll need a pci lan card to connect your pc to the switch, unless u have lan already (a.k.a ethernet controller)

 

Thanks, that won't break the bank tho'. I'll check out the spec of my Dell.

Spending a happy afternoon copying Christmas music to see how easy it is. It is.

 

Shame you missed the deal last week from Dell - They were selling 2.8Ghz Zeon Servers for £99!!!!!!!! I think this was possibly a page error, but I havent seen any denials from Dell a few days after the fact. I missed it but some of the guys at work ordered two or three. They will then make Dual CPU boxes and flog the spare parts on Ebay. Be interesting to see what transpires. The deal has now gone funnily enough.

 

OK, I might be about to take the plunge. But as usual cash is tight. So I will make do with my existing PC and upgrade the drives as & when. So I can get the Squeezebox & a wireless network card. But that leaves the DAC. I have absolutely no funds for even a basic jobbie. Do I need one for the squeezebox or can I get away with using the audio out straight to the amp?

I'm not looking for quality at this point, just the ability to get up and running.

 

Second question.

Wi-fi or ethernet? The distance is 10m with one plasterboard in the way. One wireless phone network, one bluetooth setup and a RFI sensitive turntable.

Wi-fi seems sexier and more convenient but ethernet seems cheaper and more robust. It really isn't something I have experience with.

 

I very much doubt that WiFi would cause interference on your hifi, however if you can find a way to lay an ethernet cable neatly over that distance I would do it that way. It's certainly cheaper. More robust - maybe, but I doubt it would make much difference. It's less of a pain to setup though. Just plug and play. With WiFi you have to do a bit of farting around (unless you want a completely unsecure network your neighbours can use too).

Michael.

 

tom,
the squeezebox has perfectly servicable analogue outputs that will work just fine with your 52. you'll need a din to phono cable though (they can be had for a few quid on e-bay)

as michael says, wi-fi should be no problem technically and shouldn;t interfere with your hi-fi at all. wired is cheaper and is probably the more robust option however wireless is very convienient.

good luck with things let us know what you think of it when you get it up and running.
cheers


julian

 

Just ordered the wired version, in black. (The wife's choice ), I'll report back when it arrives.

 

Having fun with Linksys-G

Good move going for wires, I think that if you had brought a WRT54G you might well have been up all night closing stable doors or tweaking things to your hearts content.

 

The only way I want to share my music with my neighbours is by opening the windows & turning the volume up

 

I'm having serious wireless lan range issues in my flat. My wife has just moved her office which was next to mine (where the wireless access point is) to another room about 10 yards away (ie office swapped with spare bedroom) and her wireless reception all but disappeared. As an interim solution I had to lay an ethernet cable down the corridor and plonk the wireless access point on a little table just a couple of yards from her office which kind of defeats the whole point of wireless .

The good reception range of wireless in my flat is approximately a 5 yard radius from the access point. So much for the 100m indoors claims on the box .

When we get the suspended wooden floors redone I'm going to cable up the whole flat with ethernet cables under the floor and ethernet sockets in every room

Michael.

 

Michael,
Stick a pringle tin over the arial

 

i use the linksys at home and have no range issues - i can happily surf upstairs with my router downstairs however the signal does drop off so i may investigate the hacks to increase range etc.
cheers


julian

 

I know others who also have no range issues, it's some feature unique to this flat. I don't understand what though since the walls are mostly thin and made of diagonal wood strips and, basically, rubble. It was a type of early earthquake proof construction (the walls can flex) started in Lisbon after the huge 1755 quake which lasted (the construction syle that is, not the quake) until the early 1900s.

Can't put a Pringle tin over the aerial because the access point has internal aerials. I used to have a Linksys WAP that died but it also had similar range issues in this flat.

Michael.

 

thats odd, maybe the stone work has some wierd metal elements in it
(doubtful, but sounds good in a conspiracy kinda way)

 

i have wireless range issues too - have to put the linksys usb thingy right next to the netgear router b4 a signal appears - solved by getting a very long length of ethernet, but yes not the tidy wireless option i was hoping for.

 

My Squeezebox and networking stuff come tomorrow. One word of warning. Don't buy direct from Slimdevices in Caliornia. Once you've paid postage, duty and UPS handling fee it's cheaper from the UK.

 

i got my stuff from dabs. ordered it sunday evening - it showed up monday lunchtime!
cheers


julian.

 

Doh, Just loaded in 90 albums. The limit of my HDD & all my Jazz & Celtic colection, roughtly 10% of my CDs. Looked at the Squeezebox and could only find 6 albums but over 1000 tracks. Que? Then I realised

I hadn't set any tags when compressing in Flac. Oh well, At least it was only 90 albums and not the whole lot.

 

Hi Tom, I've been following this with interest.

How's it sounding?