external HDD player, with touchscreen and digital out

[anm]

Hi,
For my home stereo system, I want a player like iPod touch, but with digital out and expandable memory - by attaching an external 500GB type of hard disk.
Should be able to play at least WAV format, but better if flac etc.
I think squeezebox touch can be one such product - but it is not beyond rumor as of now.
Can you guys suggest something? Or maybe I can do some DIY to mod the ipod touch, or assemble some other kit?
One good alternative I see is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Car-DVD-Stere...temQQimsxZ20090703?IMSfp=TL090703154001r25178

However, not sure about the quality. I think it should not be too bad if it can read from hard disk and send music over digital output?

I know building a computer is a very flexible and great idea, but I just don't want to do it.

 

[star882]

There's a USB HD media player by Western Digital for about $100.

 

[anm]

thanks Star. I forgot to mention, it is a music only setup - so no monitor/ TV present. I need something that has a display of its own - that's why touchscreen (or may be a remote but definitely no keyboard + mouse.
Also I read somewhere that WDTV resamples music at 48khz - something similar to what kmixer does in windoze.

regards

 

[sivan_and]

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=572

 

[anm]

thanks - but I don't want this. It does not have any built in display. Also sound quality is doubtful as it resamples audio at 48khz

regards

 

[star882]

Build your own with a small PC running Linux.

 

[anm]

building comp is a big exercise, specially selecting the "best" components. 100s of hours spent in reading reviews of individual elements. What sound card to use? Will the best sound card have the best drivers available for linux, etc.
Then, it too would need a separate monitor in order to search/ select/ play. Then there are issues of unclean shutdown etc. A very real threat in the place I live, several times a day there are power cuts.

regards

 

[star882]

Just about any common sound card works on Linux. Or just get a mini ITX board that has a HD capable sound card with digital output onboard.

You can simply mount everything read only except in service mode. Many embedded network devices out there do just that and the only way to turn those off is to unplug them.

 

[anm]

ok - so you are saying I should use an external DAC?
Any stereo sound card recommended for analog out that works with linux - like asus xonar?
What about the disk with the song - can that get corrupted if unplugged?
I guess that too should be mounted read only? But what about saving settings/ creating playlists etc?

regards

 

[star882]

Use a pure digital amplifier. Keep it digital until the very last moment. Converting it to analog at high power levels gives a higher SNR.

You can temporarily remount the disk as RW to save settings, then revert to read only.

 

[anm]

Thanks.
I think I am ready to walk the path to setup my own comp, for music only. Need help with

1. which mother board/ processor - I think for music purpose I do not need fancy mobo with hdmi etc. Will a dual core be better than single?

2. sound card - asus xonar essence stx. Are linux drivers for it working?

3. OS/distro - which distro to use, and trimming it down

4. power supply/ casing etc

5. hdd - internal or external?

 

[star882]

Just get any cheap motherboard that has 24 bit S/PDIF output. All you're using the sound card for is a special high speed serial port. And you don't need very much CPU at all. One of those mini-ITX boards will work fine.

If you're using a mini-ITX board, build your own power supply using a cheap laptop wall wart and some buck converters. With the low power usage, a normal ATX supply might not even start up. (That problem actually happened to a friend of mine.) Here's a good one to start with: http://www.frys.com/product/5845773?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG You can even run a small digital amplifier from it at the same time.

Use a CF card for the firmware.

I'm not sure about the software, but something like Linux from Scratch or the x86 port of OpenWRT might be the best to start with. Mount everything read only and start up a media browser by default.

 

[anm]

but I want to use the asus sound card - instead of an outboard dac!
Will it fit into a mini itx board?
Can you please suggest a mini itx board? I live in India and 90% probability is that I will buy it across the counter, where I would have to explain the last detail to get something.

regards

 

[star882]

The digital output does not use the DAC. It is merely a very special high speed serial port.

But you can use a separate sound card if you wanted to.

 

[anm]

no I meant I do not have digital input on my amp. So if I use digital out of the comp, I would need to feed it into a DAC that I would need to purchase separately. My stereo HK 6550 amp takes only analog inputs.

Are you suggesting atom kit?

regards

 

[paul_peraic]

Hi,
For my home stereo system, I want a player like iPod touch, but with digital out and expandable memory - by attaching an external 500GB type of hard disk.
Should be able to play at least WAV format, but better if flac etc.
I think squeezebox touch can be one such product - but it is not beyond rumor as of now.
Can you guys suggest something? Or maybe I can do some DIY to mod the ipod touch, or assemble some other kit?
One good alternative I see is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Car-DVD-Stere...temQQimsxZ20090703?IMSfp=TL090703154001r25178

However, not sure about the quality. I think it should not be too bad if it can read from hard disk and send music over digital output?

I know building a computer is a very flexible and great idea, but I just don't want to do it.

PopcornHour C200 has its own LCD screen where you can navigate through the HDD and can run up to a 2TB hard drive @ $300 U.S.

 

[anm]

thanks Paul. I have recently purchased the apple tv 160gb model, and tested the ipod remote with it. It works really well that way. Waiting for an ipod touch to come my way.

Limitations - no usb or flac without playing with the fw. Not sure if remote app will work after I try some of the hacks.