Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Mon, Sep 6 2010, 5:10PM
#2
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
No probs, pg - have just finished writing a piece for the November issue (yes, I know, mad lead times) with more detailed advice on connecting grown-up adding machines to the modern gramophone.
In the meantime will continue to answer those questions I can on these pages.
Tue, Sep 7 2010, 9:44AM
#3
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Jamcast sounds interesting, and potentially an appealing part-solution. I'd like to know it works though - any idea why you couldn't get it going on your Vaio?
No, frankly - like most wireless networking problems, it probably has something to do with permissions or firewalls, but I didn't have time (or the necessity at the time) to investigate further. Am hoping to do so shortly...
Wed, Sep 8 2010, 10:18PM
#4
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Just to let everybody here know that the Gramophone Player is now online for previewing. For more information see http://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/the-gramophone-player-is-live . I hope you all like what you find, and I do mean what I write about welcoming feedback. Good evening.
Thu, Sep 9 2010, 5:08PM
#5
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
FYI - Update on Gramophone Player/iPad/iPhone non-compatibility here
Mon, Sep 13 2010, 10:23AM
#6
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
The October issue has one or two interesting quotes, though they don't for me improve the situation. Firstly, James Jolly in his Tune Surfing piece refers to Network Music Players and says he uses 'a Squeezebox but there are many alternatives'. He doesn't say what flavour of Squeezebox he uses - most of them don't really seem to be designed for hifi connection - nor does he name any other alternative. One thing that seems clear at the moment is that there aren't actually many alternatives. Then Tony Williams, in an interesting piece on NAS, namechecks Airport Express again. Once again, though, he doesn't say which version of it he recommends.
I do hope Andrew's piece in the November issue answers a lot of these questions - I suspect the subject needs quite a long article, which the modest space now available for hifi matters in Gramophone may not allow. But curiously, the specialist hifi press doesn't seem to pay the topic much sustained attention either. Am I really the only one interested?
Mon, Sep 13 2010, 11:53AM
#7
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Then Tony Williams, in an interesting piece on NAS, namechecks Airport Express again. Once again, though, he doesn't say which version of it he recommends
As far as I'm aware, there's only one version of Airport Express available – this one:
Mon, Sep 13 2010, 12:29PM
#8
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
I've nicked this from wiki, hope I'm not breaching anyone's copyright:-
AirPort Express
AirPort Express base station
The AirPort Express is a simplified and compact AirPort Extreme base station. It allows up to 10 networked users, and includes a feature called AirTunes.The original version (M9470LL/A, model A1084) was introduced by Apple on June 7, 2004, and includes an analog–optical audio mini-jack output, a USB port for remote printing or charging the iPod (iPod Shuffle only), and a single Ethernet port.
The main processor in the AirPort Express (802.11g version) is a Broadcom BCM4712KFB wireless networking chipset. This has a 200 MHz MIPS processor built in. The audio is handled by a Texas Instruments Burr-Brown PCM2705 16-bit digital-to-analog converter.
The device can be used as an Ethernet-to-wireless bridge under certain wireless configurations.
An updated version (MB321LL/A, model A1264) featuring the faster 802.11 Draft-N draft specification and operation in either of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands was released on March 17, 2008 with almost all other features identical. The revised unit includes an 802.11a/n (5 GHz) mode, which allows adding Draft-N to an existing 802.11b/g network without disrupting existing connections, while preserving the increased throughput that Draft-N can provide.[8] Up to 10 wireless units can connect to this AirPort Express.
Both versions allow you to extend the range of a network, or to join as a dedicated printer and audio server.
An often overlooked feature of the AirPort Express is that its 3.5mm stereo mini-jack connection also functions as a TOSLINK optical digital connector when used with a Mini-TOSLINK adaptor, allowing connection to an external DAC or amplifier with internal DAC. This allows CDs ripped in iTunes in Apple Lossless format to stream to the AirPort Express which will in turn output a bitstream which is bit-for-bit identical to the original CD (provided volume adjustments, Sound Check and Sound Enhancer are switched off for playback in iTunes). DTS-encoded CDs ripped to Apple Lossless audio files which decode as digital noise in iTunes will play back correctly when the AirPort Express is connected via TOSLINK to a DTS-compatible amplifier–decoder.
- AirPort ExpressModelWi-Fi StandardWireless-to-Ethernet Bridge modeM9470LL/AA1084802.11b/gNoMB321LL/AA1264802.11a/b/g/Draft NYes
Fot what it's worth, I don't feel it's the answer for me, as I'm not (at least for now) an iPod/iTunes user.
Mon, Sep 13 2010, 3:22PM
#9
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Well, given that only the current version is, umm, current, it's that one to which reference was made in the magazine.
Wed, Sep 15 2010, 7:07PM
#10
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
There's a rave review by Kal Rubinson of the modestly priced Sqeezebox Touch in the October Stereophile, which has made me wonder if I should look at it seriously as a possible solution. (I've copied it privately to Andrew.)
Wed, Sep 15 2010, 9:45PM
#11
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
I saw it, but wondered what took them so long. It's a possible, and it's good, but I'm not sure it's as jaw-droppingly wonderful as that review suggests. Must get round to a Gramophone review of it soon...
Wed, Sep 15 2010, 10:33PM
#12
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Thanks, Andrew, I shall continue to avoid precipitate action!
Thu, Sep 16 2010, 9:58AM
#13
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
I've been considering getting a DAB radio with an iPod dock for our kitchen but then stumbled upon a Sqeezebox "radio" - as I have a NAS that supports it, I realised I could simply use one of those instead and so have access to Internet radio stations plus all of the iTunes libraries on our network. Will a Squeezebox be able to play the Gramophone player?
Regarding a post earlier about Squeezeboxes in general, they do a range of types including one specifically designed to be connected up to a "real" audio system, which would be an ideal solution for the G player as well.
Thu, Sep 16 2010, 10:40AM
#14
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Apologies - I've been meaning for days to get round to going over some of the other options for remote control and/or streaming of the gPlayer, but work and life keep getting in the way. Part of that was how to get output to a Squeezebox, which on a PC means using the WaveInput plugin, which basically records audio from your PC and streams it to the Squeezebox with a slight delay.
Thu, Sep 16 2010, 1:09PM
#15
RE: Getting ready for the new Gramophone Player
Thanks John - does that mean that the Squeezbox will be able to control the G player, ie., select what to play, pause, etc?
I feel I should thank both Andrew and John for their helpfulness in answering my continuing run of questions. I'm vaguely assuming I'm not the only one interested in this topic, particularly in light of the forthcoming Gramophone Player, though hardly anyone else has weighed in. Perhaps most people will be content simply to listen through PC speakers?