Cheapest way to hook up a stereo to my PC

What distance do you wish to transmit? Does your Stereo have a FM receiver?

Kev wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

Only 5 meters within the same room, no walls in between to block the signal.

Yes, it does.

The price is right, that's a fact! But alas, I've noted the following: "The TuneCast is only available for use and sale in North America"

As I'm not in America, that's a bit of a problem :)

Thanks, though!

Ikke

I only went to the "Belkin" web site but it is available in Europe. e.g.

Rob wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@bt.com:

I've had a look at the Belkin website, and have found the device.

Is there another solution available, without having to go through the FM receiver?

Ideally, it would be some sort of mini-device which connects to the stereo via an RCA jack, and which connects wireless to the laptop.

Also, it would be nice if all my stereos in the house could be connected.

Ikke

Nope, you can buy them in the EU. Check on amazon.co.uk f'rinstance.

Its not so simple.

If you plan to use the wireless network, your PC needs to have some s/w to convert music into a stream of IP packets that it pushes out over the network.

Your stereo needs some s/w and h/w to capture and convert the IP packets back into analogue signal to feed in the RCA/phono ports.

The Tunecast and similar units do the above using FM radio rather than

802.11 and TCPIP, which is simpler and saves money as the reciever is free.

You might find this works for you:

know its designed for video, but it works fine for audio too, and it works with the GB-PVR software which is much neater than the Hauppauge stuff.

You're looking for

and a 2nd mortgage...

Search eBay for "linex fm". I've got one of their units (an older model). It's a USB soundcard that transmits on an FM frequency. Your PC sees it as another soundcard.

Works reasonably well.

Hi,

Just to throw something else into the wind. (I have two of the following gadgets and make use of them often.)

The FM receiver idea is definetly the easiest (and cheapest) way to go, _but_ :

- Since you said you were looking to put a network together and wanted to run something through a network

- They are cheap, if you can find them.

- Not only will it give you audio over a network, but also video. You can do other things like stream internet radio stations and get all sorts of data as well. They also are small enough to travel with. I take one with me in my laptop bag when I am on the road and use it to stream stuff that coming from home.

- Catch: you'll have to be willing to tinker a bit to get the most out of them. There is a great open community built around these providing software and forums though.

The animal is the Hauppauge MVP player.

The open project is GB-PVR. number of folks there are from Europe. The MVP player can be found in Europe. Hauppauge is European company even.)

I bought my players from Radio Shack when they were being cleared out. The second one, I only paid $25 for. First one was $30-something. Dig around and ask on the forums, may find a source over there for cheap...

If you are a "golden ear audiophile", you probably won't be impressed with the audio, but I find it works just fine with me with the one I have hooked up to an HDTV and DD/DTS receiver...

Just another idea to throw out and, admittedly, not the best one -- unless you like playing around with things...

Eric

Do you have input jacks on your stereo? If so, they make stereo cables (not sure what store there, I get em at radio shack in the us) for about $8 that go from the headset plug on your laptop to the rca stereo aux input jacks on most stereos.. Fraid it may be extremely cheap and simple to do it wired, instead of wirelessly.... :)

Will this Media MVP work without a TV set? That is, just running the audio outputs to a stereo?

Looking it over briefly, I get the impression that they are using the TV as the interface for controlling it...

It would be great if it worked like an Airport Express, but without being stuck on ITunes. Also without the $130 price tag of Airport EX.

Steve

Hi,

Yeah, you need a TV display to navigate around. Yeah, thats how one of mine is connected: video out to TV and audio out to the receiver.

I mainly just use mine for listening to music: mp3's and occassionaly internet radio stations... Also occassionaly for data stuff over the internet (weather, news, sports, etc)...

They can be worthwhile if you can find them cheap and don't mind tinkering around a bit.

Just remembered a gadget I saw in a recent ad from Microcenter not too long ago. It was a small little wireless animal that pulled MP3's over a WLAN, had an LCD screen for control along with a remote, and could be piped out to a stereo. That would probably be more fitting to what he wants to do. Can't remember the price, but seemed cheap enough.

Cheers, Eric

There's a web interface which runs on the PC.

Cheapest would be an adaptor to go from the headphone output of the PC to the RCA-phono jack input of the stereo. I connect my MP3 player that way.

The sound on that may not be optimal. Here's a Belkin-branded version

I think I paid about $2.99 for mine.

Other solutions are here:

I intended to get the HIFI-Link USB-to-RCA for $50, but never got atround to it.

"Peter Pan" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net:

Yes, there are several RCA jacks for input (DAT, DVD, etc...).

True, and I have a lot of these cables at hand, but the stereo and laptop are situated opposites of eachother in the room. Long story, but that's where they'll remain.

Therefor I'm looking for a way to do it wireless...

Thanks, and thanks to everyone else who offered advice - I'm sure I'll find a suitable solution.

Ikke

"Eric" wrote in news:45b14f3f$0$9573$ snipped-for-privacy@roadrunner.com:

Well, there's no TV in the room (I use my PC and I don't watch that much anyway), so that's a no-no. But thanks for suggesting it anyway!

Aha - I guess I'm off hunting little wireless animals on Google then :)

Thanks again,

Ikke

Mark McIntyre wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

But that doesn't leave much room for my own player, I guess...

Ikke

Well, I can say good things about the Tunecast II.

I have mine plugged into the line-out of my PC in my study.

I have a radio in my bedroom, about 15 ft away through a brick wall, and I can hear it fine on that.

I have radios on each of the kids' CD players in the bedrooms up a floor and between 20 and 30ft away, and its actually clearer on those. I could even hear it downstairs in the kitchen (probably 30ft through several walls). The reception was poor mind you.

Trouble is, unless you go for the FM based devices, you need extra s/w to convert the sound to TCP packets and broadcast them over the wireless network. Your own player won't do that, I guess.

On Thu, 18 Jan 2007 19:49:41 GMT, Ikke wrote in :

Reconsider iTunes, which can easily drive speakers wirelessly with the Airport Express. Works a treat. Highly recommended.