Good idea for another option, since indeed my wireless router is always on so this does make sense. It does however mean another appliance running constantly burning power. I think as long as I can still connect to the player/computer with a network cable to my laptop whenever I want to update music on the HDD inside the player I should be ok. I am thinking now that perhaps a USB connection would be too messy with the minimalist controls I intend to have on the player. At least with a network cable I should be able to just plug in and update, right?
I'm personally just going to be crafting a stand-alone music player out of a netbook. The things are so dang cheap now, have plenty of CPU, and with a small USB to SPDIF or quality USB DAC, will sound great. Throw a bigger drive in them, and you can store all your FLACy goodness, with a linux or windows interface.
I love the thought of building something standalone from scratch, but these days, I think you're better off with COTS (commodity-off-the-shelf).
You can find a lot of the 9" netbooks now for $150 from the surplus sites. Add $100 for a 500GB laptop drive and $50-100 for a USB-to-SPDIF converter, and you're good to go.
I love the thought of building something standalone from scratch, but these days, I think you're better off with COTS (commodity-off-the-shelf).
You can find a lot of the 9" netbooks now for $150 from the surplus sites. Add $100 for a 500GB laptop drive and $50-100 for a USB-to-SPDIF converter, and you're good to go.
Woo hoo! Sweet, think I just found my ideal audio player, don't laugh now, its one of the "Sheepfriends" - and this one's called Billy! http://www.sheepfriends.com/?page=billy
It's freeware, and uber fast. That's because its so simple. Best of all it can be controlled by keystrokes so will be able to hack a keyboard to do basic controls on the front panel. Code can also be modified to make fonts large so reading a monitor from the sofa will be possible without having excess crap info surrounding the title of song playing. Even has features like sleeptimer which can be set to turn off the computer!
Anyone have information about the easiest way to replicate multiple key strokes with single button controls? Or any links to hacking keyboards in general?
Thanks!
It's freeware, and uber fast. That's because its so simple. Best of all it can be controlled by keystrokes so will be able to hack a keyboard to do basic controls on the front panel. Code can also be modified to make fonts large so reading a monitor from the sofa will be possible without having excess crap info surrounding the title of song playing. Even has features like sleeptimer which can be set to turn off the computer!
Anyone have information about the easiest way to replicate multiple key strokes with single button controls? Or any links to hacking keyboards in general?
Thanks!
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Well, I'm now the proud new owner of a 10year old(?) Pentium III HP Vectra, and have installed it with my optical out sound card (currently running into my mini system).
After playing around with 'Billy' I realised it didn't really have enough adjustability for my requirements. I am now using Foobar2000 and it seems to have the right mix of simplicity and usability for my purpose. Keyboard shortcuts are programmable and the text on the playlist can be made large and clear to suit a small screen.
Not sure if anyone else has already done this but I had an idea tonight about how to scroll through all the music in my playlist easily and user-frienderly(?) Basically, I intend to use the scroll wheel out of a ps/2 mouse and rewire the press action of it to work the left click button of the mouse, then above and below the scroll wheel I will install buttons that your finger easily slides onto for page up and down respectively. That way you can fly through screeds of music files alphabetically and then slow down and scroll through individual files line by line with the wheel (setting mouse wheel in windows control panel to one click per line). Then once the song you want to play is underneath the arrow just double-press in the scroll wheel. Should work a treat I think. I wont have any need to move the arrow around on screen as all other functions would be controlled by 'keyboard' controls (buttons on front panel). This should work pretty well since the mouse always appears in the center of the screen each time the computer is booted (and Foobar2000 is only program in windows "Startup" list so everything is ready to go moments after booting).
After playing around with 'Billy' I realised it didn't really have enough adjustability for my requirements. I am now using Foobar2000 and it seems to have the right mix of simplicity and usability for my purpose. Keyboard shortcuts are programmable and the text on the playlist can be made large and clear to suit a small screen.
Not sure if anyone else has already done this but I had an idea tonight about how to scroll through all the music in my playlist easily and user-frienderly(?) Basically, I intend to use the scroll wheel out of a ps/2 mouse and rewire the press action of it to work the left click button of the mouse, then above and below the scroll wheel I will install buttons that your finger easily slides onto for page up and down respectively. That way you can fly through screeds of music files alphabetically and then slow down and scroll through individual files line by line with the wheel (setting mouse wheel in windows control panel to one click per line). Then once the song you want to play is underneath the arrow just double-press in the scroll wheel. Should work a treat I think. I wont have any need to move the arrow around on screen as all other functions would be controlled by 'keyboard' controls (buttons on front panel). This should work pretty well since the mouse always appears in the center of the screen each time the computer is booted (and Foobar2000 is only program in windows "Startup" list so everything is ready to go moments after booting).
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Just reporting back that I have had success with my DIY single touch scroll wheel/ hacked mouse. Details here:
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=28105
See my last few posts for circuit details and photo.
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/showthread.php?t=28105
See my last few posts for circuit details and photo.
It's been slow going, but I have managed to make steady progress on this project. I have now finished the solid wood case in English Elm (front, top and sides to cover the computer), and am about to get it stained and lacquered after I do a little more sanding. It involved a lot of routing and compound miters, but it has come together quite nicely. I also made a matching remote control in solid English Elm with selected functions from a universal USB remote. Will put up some photos later in the week, but have the original plan from Google Sketchup linked here:
Music Library Console plan
Once I get the wooden pieces back from the workshop, I will be able to install all the hardware and controls that I have prepared. Should have the whole lot done within a month and can then start moving on to making some tower speakers!
Music Library Console plan
Once I get the wooden pieces back from the workshop, I will be able to install all the hardware and controls that I have prepared. Should have the whole lot done within a month and can then start moving on to making some tower speakers!
Thanks. No, timber was all cut on a table saw. I got the dihedral angle through protractor feature in Google Sketchup. Then I could halve the angle to set the saw blade angle, and back screwed the piece of Elm I was working on to a rectangular piece of MDF, using a rafter square to make sure that the line I was cutting was exactly perpendicular to the saw fence (so cutting line was parallel to saw).
Most of the routing was done using a copy/tracer router that holds the workpiece with clamps and allows the user to set the 3d limits of the maneuverable router bit.
Compound angles were epoxied together with tape on the joins to hold the pieces together while glue dried.
Got the left hand knob completed last night. Rather a lot of effort (and considerable tweaking to get smooth operation) to get the simple functionality of twist left (previous track), twist right (next track), and push (play/pause). But quite a fun little project within the larger project all the same.
A few pics of my workspace in action, and ever handy collection of miniature screws I have accumulated over my lifetime. Something about the colorfulness of the tools and materials in this sort of hobby that appeals to me visually.
A few pics of my workspace in action, and ever handy collection of miniature screws I have accumulated over my lifetime. Something about the colorfulness of the tools and materials in this sort of hobby that appeals to me visually.
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I'm impressed. The wooden case is slightly reminiscent of vintage radio consoles.
I suppose it's too late to point out that many of the old twin-shaft car radios with digital tuning used push/twist switches for the tuning knob. (Some went overboard and used a shaft encoder or something for the twist function instead of a simple switch.) Those old AM/FM/cassette radios aren't exactly valuable today, although I'd hesitate to part out a working name-brand model in good cosmetic shape.
There's plans for a USB LCD display with encoder knob here:
Make your own USB LCD controller! It emulates a Matrix Orbital display, so should be supported by most things that support external displays.
USB gamepads can be found at thrift stores for a couple of bucks, and the buttons mapped to perform various functions. (Find the last free version of Girder, for instance.) Or, get a USB keyboard that happens to have extra keys for media player controls ($2 at Salvation Army), strip it down to just the circuit board, and wire up just the play/pause etc buttons.
Mice are another good idea. A mechanical USB wheelmouse could yield three knobs and several switches. Some people have managed to replace the mouse rotary encoder bits with off-the-shelf encoders, which saves a lot of mechanical fiddling.
I should maybe stop thinking and writing about my media player ideas and actually put one together. I'm holding a surplus embedded PC based on a Compulab Geode board with no heatsink or fan, less than 4" square, and has onboard flash memory for DOS or a small operating system. Just need to make up some harnesses so I can hook up a keyboard/mouse/monitor.
I suppose it's too late to point out that many of the old twin-shaft car radios with digital tuning used push/twist switches for the tuning knob. (Some went overboard and used a shaft encoder or something for the twist function instead of a simple switch.) Those old AM/FM/cassette radios aren't exactly valuable today, although I'd hesitate to part out a working name-brand model in good cosmetic shape.
There's plans for a USB LCD display with encoder knob here:
Make your own USB LCD controller! It emulates a Matrix Orbital display, so should be supported by most things that support external displays.
USB gamepads can be found at thrift stores for a couple of bucks, and the buttons mapped to perform various functions. (Find the last free version of Girder, for instance.) Or, get a USB keyboard that happens to have extra keys for media player controls ($2 at Salvation Army), strip it down to just the circuit board, and wire up just the play/pause etc buttons.
Mice are another good idea. A mechanical USB wheelmouse could yield three knobs and several switches. Some people have managed to replace the mouse rotary encoder bits with off-the-shelf encoders, which saves a lot of mechanical fiddling.
I should maybe stop thinking and writing about my media player ideas and actually put one together. I'm holding a surplus embedded PC based on a Compulab Geode board with no heatsink or fan, less than 4" square, and has onboard flash memory for DOS or a small operating system. Just need to make up some harnesses so I can hook up a keyboard/mouse/monitor.
Project Complete
Finally all finished!
Got a few things back to front (wiring on keyboard PCB
- had to replace that as + & - were reversed) and upside down (LCD Screen) on my first power up but all sorted (and replaced) now
Now just have to build a stereo rack to keep it on and provide space for future additions to my hifi setup...
Am expecting a Musical Fidelity Digilog DAC in the mail tomorrow that I bought second hand a few days ago online. Hoping that it is compatible with the optical out or coaxial on the soundcard I have in this project.
Foobar2000 is the audio playing software. As can be seen in the pictures, music is listed alphabetically and when a track is selected the album cover art fades in for 3 seconds before fading out again. Looks pretty smooth. Hotkeys (on front panel for ripping playing etc.)are managed by another program called AutoHotKey.
Finally all finished!
Got a few things back to front (wiring on keyboard PCB
- had to replace that as + & - were reversed) and upside down (LCD Screen) on my first power up but all sorted (and replaced) nowNow just have to build a stereo rack to keep it on and provide space for future additions to my hifi setup...
Am expecting a Musical Fidelity Digilog DAC in the mail tomorrow that I bought second hand a few days ago online. Hoping that it is compatible with the optical out or coaxial on the soundcard I have in this project.
Foobar2000 is the audio playing software. As can be seen in the pictures, music is listed alphabetically and when a track is selected the album cover art fades in for 3 seconds before fading out again. Looks pretty smooth. Hotkeys (on front panel for ripping playing etc.)are managed by another program called AutoHotKey.
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