Hi,
I need some advice, or pointers as to where to go and read up.
I have an idea of what I want in my head, but good suggestions might change the plan altogether (I have my requirements, how to is very debatable).
That is why I lay out my complete plan here. In theory if I get the perfect software I am set, but I am not sure it exists. Else I might have to rethink my hardware at the moment:
What I want:
1) a standalone media player connected to my hifi (via a USB DAC) , to play my CD collection as ripped onto a hard drive
2) must play FLACs (and the occasional MP3 / WAV)
3) must play off a locally installed HDD (or maybe external USB drive) - I don't have a NAS and my PC not on all the time
4) I must be able to add new music outside of the application, in the file structure that I like - it must scan the drive to update its library (if it has a library concept), or simply work off the drive's file contents.
5) must connect to my home network via wifi (and must be able to share its drive so I can maintain it)
6) things like www streaming & youtube & scraping for album covers and info and lastFM etc is of secondary importance, but could grow.
7) interface must be geared towards music (not "media" in general, meaning movies & series) - e.g. playlists, "add to playing queue", search while playing the list, etc.
8) must be able to search for a song, or an album, artist, etc
9) Big friendly readable font size.
10) don't want to spend forever custom building something that is tricky to maintain, e.g. there are Audiophile versions of Linux etc.
My current plan:
1) I bought a Mac Mini with 500Gig HDD. The idea is that it is noiseless, small, lower power usage
2) I bought a Cambridge Audio DACMagic (here on the forum)
3) I bought an old 3:4 screen for the Mac Mini which fits my hifi cabinet exactly - plan is to "float" it in front of the cabinet
4) I bought a "Rii" small remote keyboard to operate it.
Plan was to get the perfect player software that can do all this, and leave the Mac Mini on permanently as my media player, and with a wipe on the keyboard's touch pad wake it all up, and play music!
How far I got so far:
I spent very little time trying different software so far. E.g. iTunes don't play FLAC, and I didn't really like the interface, or the fact that it internalises everything & hides the structures it uses internally. E.g. it made copies of the files somewhere, and it's still available even after I deleted the original files. This will eat up too much space, and I don't want to give up control.
Last time I looked at Kodi (a few versions ago) I couldn't really get to grips with it.
VLC player seems too simple.
I must admit I did not apply my mind to test enough software, and this project has been sitting for a while.
Any suggestions welcome. Even hardware options, as I can sell the Mac Mini again for it to be more useful as a PC to someone, if I need to get some other hardware that already does all of this.
Thanks & Regards
Leon
I need some advice, or pointers as to where to go and read up.
I have an idea of what I want in my head, but good suggestions might change the plan altogether (I have my requirements, how to is very debatable).
That is why I lay out my complete plan here. In theory if I get the perfect software I am set, but I am not sure it exists. Else I might have to rethink my hardware at the moment:
What I want:
1) a standalone media player connected to my hifi (via a USB DAC) , to play my CD collection as ripped onto a hard drive
2) must play FLACs (and the occasional MP3 / WAV)
3) must play off a locally installed HDD (or maybe external USB drive) - I don't have a NAS and my PC not on all the time
4) I must be able to add new music outside of the application, in the file structure that I like - it must scan the drive to update its library (if it has a library concept), or simply work off the drive's file contents.
5) must connect to my home network via wifi (and must be able to share its drive so I can maintain it)
6) things like www streaming & youtube & scraping for album covers and info and lastFM etc is of secondary importance, but could grow.
7) interface must be geared towards music (not "media" in general, meaning movies & series) - e.g. playlists, "add to playing queue", search while playing the list, etc.
8) must be able to search for a song, or an album, artist, etc
9) Big friendly readable font size.
10) don't want to spend forever custom building something that is tricky to maintain, e.g. there are Audiophile versions of Linux etc.
My current plan:
1) I bought a Mac Mini with 500Gig HDD. The idea is that it is noiseless, small, lower power usage
2) I bought a Cambridge Audio DACMagic (here on the forum)
3) I bought an old 3:4 screen for the Mac Mini which fits my hifi cabinet exactly - plan is to "float" it in front of the cabinet
4) I bought a "Rii" small remote keyboard to operate it.
Plan was to get the perfect player software that can do all this, and leave the Mac Mini on permanently as my media player, and with a wipe on the keyboard's touch pad wake it all up, and play music!
How far I got so far:
I spent very little time trying different software so far. E.g. iTunes don't play FLAC, and I didn't really like the interface, or the fact that it internalises everything & hides the structures it uses internally. E.g. it made copies of the files somewhere, and it's still available even after I deleted the original files. This will eat up too much space, and I don't want to give up control.
Last time I looked at Kodi (a few versions ago) I couldn't really get to grips with it.
VLC player seems too simple.
I must admit I did not apply my mind to test enough software, and this project has been sitting for a while.
Any suggestions welcome. Even hardware options, as I can sell the Mac Mini again for it to be more useful as a PC to someone, if I need to get some other hardware that already does all of this.
Thanks & Regards
Leon
