how to get music on my PC to play to me all around my house

March 1, 2010 2:28 PM

I want to listen to the music on my PC on my stereo system but also portably around the house. What's the best way of doing this?

I have lots of music that doesn't get listened to as much as it should. I would like to be able to listen to music stored on my PC on my stereo system, which seems easy enough to achieve with things like squeezebox. The problem is that I also want a portable device that can accompany me around the house that has access to this music (because washing up and waking up is not possible without music).

I'm based in the UK, I have broadband and a wireless router, an ipod touch (16gb) and a spare old PC not being used for anything at the moment. I have some technical ability but no experience of linux, and a little cash but not enough to buy separate units for every room where I want to listen to music. Most of my current music is in MP3 but I'd consider alternatives.

posted by unless I'm very much mistaken to Technology (7 answers total)

There's a couple answers in this question that would apply. Their specific need was to play a random mix, but all the streaming products suggested should work for you too. Basically, just set up one of those to stream, and the Touch should play it.
posted by inigo2 at 2:38 PM on March 1, 2010

Airfoil on the computer, sending to your touch with Airfoil speakers Touch and to your stereo with an Airport Express.
posted by fief at 2:45 PM on March 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Squeezebox server running on the computer. Streaming music to a Squeezebox player or two (perhaps the Radio for the bedroom and a Receiver for the stereo). And streaming an mp3 stream to your touch which you can listen to via Safari/Quicktime on the touch. As an added bonus, you could use iPeng on the touch to control what music is streaming from the server.
posted by fief at 2:48 PM on March 1, 2010

it depends on how you want to listen to them around the house, do you only want speakers? or do you want another computer (like you have) to use?

also, do you have a single area you want to listen to music to or are there several places?

sorry, its just there's a lot of things that can effect how you tackle this. :D

if you have a single place you want to steam music to, you can use that old computer as a server for all your music. then for a "portable" thing that you can take around the house, any netbook would suit you just fine.

there are many ways to tackle this. it just depends on your specific needs.
posted by NotSoSiniSter at 5:26 PM on March 1, 2010

I used to have 900Mhz wireless headphones I'd plug into the stereo if I wanted to listen outside the room. Been thinking about revisiting the concept with bluetooth headphones. And maybe something like bluetooth audio to a PC connected to a stereo. Other than that, perhaps an mpd server.
posted by pwnguin at 5:47 PM on March 1, 2010

I used to have a USB Bus powered Audio to FM Radio thing that I'd use to 'broadcast' itunes playlists to any stereo in the house that had a FM Radio receiver. worked ok. and cost me about $10.

the only problem is you couldn't necessarily change the playlist from where you were listening.
posted by mary8nne at 6:03 AM on March 2, 2010

Apps like Simplify Media let you stream music from your computer to your iPod Touch. Couple that with either headphones or a small speaker system, perhaps something from Audioengine.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:23 AM on March 3, 2010