PC Driven MP3 Players

I use a PC running J.River's Media Center version 11 with multiple USB sound cards. Each as it's own zone, tied into a Russound CAV6.6. MC11 is about the only app that reliably handles multiple zones properly. Each one gets it's own playlist. I've run it on machines as basic as a P3/800 and it worked reasonably well for 4 zones, but even then the CPU didn't get much above 50%.

-Bill Kearney

Thanks for the feedback Bill - that's exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I had run across a mention of Media Center in an online forum and it looked pretty good. SIIG makes a USB sound card (the SoundWave Optical 5.1) that also looks pretty good, but when I asked their Technical Support if I could run multiple units, they said "no - it's a Windows limitation", so I didn't pursue it. Glad to hear that it really works.

Thanks, Dave

Well, not all USB devices are created equal. I found the old Creative MP3 Blaster to be a reliable one. As opposed to the abomination they call the Extigy. It's certainly a matter of drivers. Some drivers don't support more than one instance of their hardware. Or they don't distinguish the names of the devices so you can't "tell" which one you're controlling. Read the J.River forums to see what devices to consider. DO NOT just assume some favorite card is going to work. MC11 is pretty full-featured but it can't make up for crappy drivers.

Bill, This is a bit of a different topic, but still relates to home audio/video. Since you are running the Russound CAV6.6 with J. Rivers Media center, would like your input on my poetntial set up.

We want to control whole house audio/video, and also have access to digital music from PC. We like the CAV6.6 and plan to start with that. Russound also offers a media server, their SMS3, but it is quite expensive at almost $2K. Can one achieve similar results with the CAV6.6 / J.Rivers setup? We have multiple CAT5e and RG6 wiring throughout the house, so that should not be an issuer.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Rick

Bill Kearney wrote:

Just about. The SMS3 can display it's interface on a TV and you can do quite a number of things from there. That and some of the keypad functions are more capable. The CAV66 plug-in for MC11 doesn't do quite as much as the SMS3 but it's more than enough to most situations. I don't have the SMS3, and have only used it in a quick demo situation, so it's not like I 'know for sure'.

But I've been VERY pleased with the MC11 setup. I've got three streams coming from the PC into the CAV66. I use three Creative MP3 usb interfaces. Each has it's line-out signal going into an input on the CAV66. MC11 sees each of these as a "zone". You can use the PC to switch between zones and manage playlists on each of them. I have only one complaint about MC11, and it's one they've LONG ignored. There's no "single click" way to switch between zones. You have to use a pull-down menu, or a right-click, to change zones. This makes it a bit tedious to use a touchscreen on the PC to jump between zones. Other than this, and J.River's long ignoring of this feature request, I'm pleased with MC11. No other media manager I've seen (and I've tried ALL OF THEM) comes anywhere near as close to MC11 for total functionality.

Yeah, wiring shouldn't make much difference in this case.

-Bill Kearney

Thanks for the information Bill. I am placing an order for the CAV6.6 this week. I would like to know more about your setup. I have much to learn about PC/home audio-video interfaces, and all things related, so please excuse my ignorance if some of the questions have obvious answers. Do you have a PC dedicated to your home audio/video system? With a dedicated PC, could one not connect via the R232 and avoid the MP3 usb interfaces? As for system control, how do the Russound keypads work with MC11? I must have a system that my wife is comfortable with, and she needs simple controls from the keypads.

Thanks aga> > Russound also offers a media server, their SMS3, but it is quite

Yes. It's a waste of time trying to use the PC for anything else. At least not for anything else that would require using the screen. Best to leave it as the only thing running. I've got mine plodding away on a 1gHz Celeron box, running XP with 256mb of RAM and it barely gets above 30% CPU consumption when playing all three zones.

Uh, 232 is serial, how you gonna get SOUND out of a serial connection? There's a serial connection from the PC to the CAV66. This is how the CAV66 Uno keypads control the PC running MC11. Each USB sound interface supplies

*audio* to the CAV66. I happen to use three zones. The other three are Tivo, DVD and CD Changer (which hardly /ever/ gets used).

If you've got a playlist selected in MC11 then the Uno keypads can play tracks from it. Step forward/backward/stop/pause/play, etc. You see the track info on the keypad screen. Basically works pretty much as you'd expect. The only issue is selecting a playlist on the PC first. Thus I keep three zones set up, each with a different 'theme' to make it easier. There's no way to work your way around the 'entire' library of tracks from the keypad. But then again you can't do that on the SMS3 either (you use the TV interface to work it visually, just like you'd use MC11 on the PC).

Thanks again Bill. And thanks for overlooking my ignorance. As I said, my knowledge in this area is limited.

One more thing. What is the deal with buying the CAV6.6 I know Russound is sold only thru authorized dealers, but there are lots of "unauthorized" sources on the net. I am not one to take chances with this kind of money, but all the "authorized" dealers I have spoken to (recommended by Russound customer service) only want to sell an installed system. There are 5 dealers in my area, and only two seem to even know what the system is? What is up with this? Did you buy your system from "authorized" dealer?

Any other Russound owners out there, I would like to know about your experience.

Thanks. Rick Bill Kearney wrote: