Does the Pioneer VSX-921-k surround receiver have a GUI that will work with a large volume of MP3's connected through the USB port?

September 20, 2011 9:57 PM

Does the Pioneer VSX-921-k surround receiver have a GUI that will work with a large volume of MP3's connected through the USB port?

I emailed Pioneer but no response- I asked a dealer but he did not seem clear on this.

I have a 1TB external hard drive with about 600 GB of music-I want to play it on shuffle through my home stereo (no visualization needed other than a menu of songs.

Does anyone know if this is viable with the receiver mentioned?

If it will work with the Pioneer-will I have to have the MP3's loose or will in folders work?

I looked at putting Ubuntu on my PS3 with a 1 Tb drive but from what I have read in the archives re PS3 =poor performance / not simple to change over between music and games.

I did not find any easy sounding solution in the archives-for any type of systems . :(


Would a "slingbox" / "boxee" type device be better than the reciever?

I DO NOT want to do any wireless connection. I have a huge selection of quality music I really would love to listen to .

Thank you in advance

posted by plumberonkarst to Technology (6 answers total)

Have you read the manual? It seems to imply that it used the OSD on the receiver and not the TV.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Home/VSX-921-K%20OperatingInstructions022311.pdf
posted by wongcorgi at 10:01 AM on September 21, 2011

The OSD is on the TV ("On Screen Display").

I have recently acquired a VSX-1020k, which I gather has a similar GUI, but I haven't tried using the USB port with a drive full of stuff, or with folders. The display when using an attached ipod is a little underwhelming - I think you basically have the options of next/previous. I'm busy the next couple of evenings, but I've sent myself this link to have a look.

Would a "slingbox" / "boxee" type device be better than the reciever?

Admitting that I haven't really had a good poke around, I'd say the answer to this is 'almost certainly yes' (I'm using a mac mini with itunes with mine).
posted by pompomtom at 5:15 PM on September 21, 2011

wongcorgi -I read the manual I found online ( I have not bought it yet as I want to know if my use is viable first) but a combination of being heavily medicated and perhaps the manual itself-I could not determine the scale/useability of the GUI. Thank you for the comment

pompomtom- if you manage to spare some time and could give me some real feedback on this-it would be MOST appreciated.If you do t get time-you have given me useful information already-Thank you

Again due to medication(forget what I read within seconds)- I tried to set up a wireless system and had issues with outside 'dabbling". My mind cannot seem to decipher properly securing wireless so hard wired is best for me.
posted by plumberonkarst at 10:41 PM on September 21, 2011

Hi again,

I've chucked some photos up here (apologies for the quality...), showing the GUI. You'd definitely want folders, and you can really only play a folder at a time... unless you enjoy listening to your music in alphabetical order.

I think the USB functionality makes sense if someone's brought around a thumbdrive full of tunes or photos, but for a decent-sized music library you'd want to have something else feeding the amp.
posted by pompomtom at 8:35 PM on September 23, 2011

(oh, and the '#####' shows that it doesn't deal with unicode characters either... that should've read: "パトリック")
posted by pompomtom at 8:37 PM on September 23, 2011

pompomtom; Thank you So much for putting so much effort into this.I really appreciate it and fully agree that I will want to look at another method.I would never have known this so clearly without your screen shots.T

hank you again

BTW I think I might break down and try wireless and Itunes as it will accept that source.
posted by plumberonkarst at 12:13 AM on September 24, 2011