Google Chromecast Audio (again)

[News]

Bought the Audio Chromecast which arrived, and does exactly what it should, connected to my 1974 purchase amp and speakers. Casts YouTube etc as advertised. Dragging an mp3 to the browser bar plays perfectly.

However, dragging and playing mp3s one at a time is a drag (!). What I would really like is to browse a folder of music, click a title and it plays AND casts. Can't seem to find a Windows media player that also casts. Any thoughts?

Yes, there is Google Play but that is an abomination second only to iTunes, which I hate. What I really, really don't want is something that is going to try associating an image with every tune, or group things in 'genres' or change file names. All I want is a simple list of file names (in my order) that I can click to play, or form into a simple play list.

I tried Plex, but the size of my mp3 library (45GB) seemed to kill it stone dead.

[Huge]

I know you've already bought the Chromecast, but I'm really pleased with the Squeezebox stuff I've bought s/h on eBay.

[News]

Thanks for that. Yes, another option, although we already have a Brennan JB7 which is not really the same thing, but yet another audio box. The options keep increasing!

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , News escribió:

I've been tempted by one of those for a long time. What's it like?

[News]

In message , Mike Tomlinson writes

Well, I enjoy using it. So far, I have copied perhaps a hundred or two CDs to it. It will not read my home made CDs, but does accept mp3s direct, although I have not used that feature yet. Using the built in control to access particular tracks is a bit of a faff, but it does accept a USB keyboard, so I just bought a small, cheap one which makes life easier.

Perhaps the best feature for me is just hitting Play which plays random tracks, so I hear CD tracks that I haven't heard for years. Perhaps it is just me, but with so much digital music available now, I find I tend to just play favourite tracks rather than complete albums. However, when the Brennan plays a track, it is easy to then find and play the complete album, which I am enjoying. Yesterday, I played Tapestry, The Stranger and Brothers in Arms, none of which I've played in their entirety for years.

Another feature I have not yet used is the ability to allocate music to genres. Not having done that yet means that some fairly unlikely combinations can be played back to back.

Having said that, were I starting from scratch, I would investigate the Squeezebox mentioned by Huge, although that seems to be a posh Chromecast. Ideally, I would find a device that combines the Brennan storage of existing CDs and mp3s with the ability to cast or stream anything, including YouTube, anywhere in the house, without using Google Play or itunes.

[Huge]

[29 lines snipped]

Which is what Squeezebox does ...

Keep the music on a NAS, stream it wherever you like. It can do everything you mention the Brennan (whatever that is) can do. And the server software is Open Source, so there's a community of hackers producing plugins.

The only downside is that Logitech bought, then ceased production of, the whole thing, so the hardware is only available second hand.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , News escribió:

[snip useful JB7 mini-review]

Thanks for that. I've put off getting a JB7 mainly because the same functionality (ripping CDs and storing them) is available to anyone with a PC, and nowadays playing the ripped tracks can be done on a bewildering variety of different devices with a bewildering variety of software to anywhere within reach of the network.

Cheers also to Huge for the mention of the Squeezebox, will look into that.

[Huge]

You're welcome. I've also inducted 2 colleagues into the world of Squeeze, and they're both very pleased!