MP3 jukebox?
October 5, 2013 9:47 AM Subscribe
I have like 500gb worth of MP3s on my computer. My computer is about 6 years old. I just bought a replacement and I don't want to transfer all my music. I want to have my music in my living room, but I don't want a computer set up in there. Instead, I was wondering if there was some kind of high capacity storage device that I could plug into, say, my TV, and control with a remote. Does such a thing exist? How much is it? Where can I get one?
How about a Mac Mini and Apple TV? I use Apple TV with my Macbook and iTunes Match and I love it.
posted by kdern at 10:09 AM on October 5, 2013
posted by kdern at 10:09 AM on October 5, 2013
I use a WD TV Live with a 1 TB WD Passport for this exact purpose. Both devices together are smaller than a paperback book. Total cost under 200 bucks CDN for the setup.
posted by Sternmeyer at 10:12 AM on October 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Sternmeyer at 10:12 AM on October 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
There are plenty of cheap devices like this one available - some are better than others. You just plug in an external hard disk (or repurpose an old one) and it's ready to go.
posted by pipeski at 10:25 AM on October 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by pipeski at 10:25 AM on October 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
if you're keeping the old computer and all your stuff is already in iTunes, just keep it going wherever and get an AppleTV, which will stream anything in your iTunes library. you can do similar things with an Xbox360 or Xbox One or PlayStation 3/4 too, but I don't necessarily know how to set either of those up.
Roku boxes - specifically, the Roku 3 - can play locally-stored files. move your collection to an external hard drive and plug it in. (or, just buy an empty case for your existing one and dump the drive in there. not sure how the Roku will handle all the other stuff that'll be on there.)
does your TV have a USB port? if so, check the manual as it may have a media player built in. if it's fairly new it may be able to do this. it need not be a smart TV - even my cheap dumb Vizio can deal with pictures via the USB port (but not anything else though the slightly nicer yet slightly smaller cousin to it will also do music).
there are also things like the WD TV Live that Sternmeyer has already mentioned and this thing from D-Link and stuff too. for what it's worth, a lot of BluRay players can deal with these things too; the crappy Toshiba one I have supports USB drives and has things like Netflix and YouTube and all that too. (your mileage may vary for things like BluRay players and stuff - at least on cheap ones. the UI and remote on my BluRay player is horrible.) with all of these, you either just copy your music to an external hard drive or drop a drive in a case and go from there. some can even stream from your existing PC if you want to do it that way.
posted by mrg at 10:30 AM on October 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
Roku boxes - specifically, the Roku 3 - can play locally-stored files. move your collection to an external hard drive and plug it in. (or, just buy an empty case for your existing one and dump the drive in there. not sure how the Roku will handle all the other stuff that'll be on there.)
does your TV have a USB port? if so, check the manual as it may have a media player built in. if it's fairly new it may be able to do this. it need not be a smart TV - even my cheap dumb Vizio can deal with pictures via the USB port (but not anything else though the slightly nicer yet slightly smaller cousin to it will also do music).
there are also things like the WD TV Live that Sternmeyer has already mentioned and this thing from D-Link and stuff too. for what it's worth, a lot of BluRay players can deal with these things too; the crappy Toshiba one I have supports USB drives and has things like Netflix and YouTube and all that too. (your mileage may vary for things like BluRay players and stuff - at least on cheap ones. the UI and remote on my BluRay player is horrible.) with all of these, you either just copy your music to an external hard drive or drop a drive in a case and go from there. some can even stream from your existing PC if you want to do it that way.
posted by mrg at 10:30 AM on October 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
My sister uses her Roku for this. It's pretty simple. I could play music through my tv with my playstation, but my tv has lousy speakers.
We use the Logitech squeeze system and have been superhappy with it. They've replaced it with their Smartradio, which looks identical, but apparently isn't. Sonos is a similar system but I'm not familiar with it.
You did not mention using iTunes, so I'll mention that we don't and neither does my sister.
posted by crush-onastick at 10:37 AM on October 5, 2013
We use the Logitech squeeze system and have been superhappy with it. They've replaced it with their Smartradio, which looks identical, but apparently isn't. Sonos is a similar system but I'm not familiar with it.
You did not mention using iTunes, so I'll mention that we don't and neither does my sister.
posted by crush-onastick at 10:37 AM on October 5, 2013
I use an old Airport Express + iTunes for this. Can pick them up on eBay for around $60. You can control it either from iTunes or your tablet/phone of choice using Apple's Remote app or Android's Retune app.
posted by rosary at 11:31 AM on October 5, 2013
posted by rosary at 11:31 AM on October 5, 2013
I also have a Logitech Squeezebox (the touch screen model). It's been working out well. It has both analog and digital outputs, and can play music from attached SD storage, a USB connection, or stuff served wirelessly from networked storage.
posted by Nomyte at 1:29 PM on October 5, 2013
posted by Nomyte at 1:29 PM on October 5, 2013
No matter what you do, get those mp3s backed up and onto an external device! Jeez!
I have a mac mini with a few usb drives for this, and I listen through my tv. The through the tv thing is less than optimal, but the rest is awesome. I control the whole thing via my other (Apple) laptop, and it's really, really easy. Then, once you have iTunes set up and you have an iPhone, you can control iTunes via the remote app on the phone. It's incredibly easy and intuitive and a snap to set up.
posted by nevercalm at 6:47 PM on October 5, 2013
I have a mac mini with a few usb drives for this, and I listen through my tv. The through the tv thing is less than optimal, but the rest is awesome. I control the whole thing via my other (Apple) laptop, and it's really, really easy. Then, once you have iTunes set up and you have an iPhone, you can control iTunes via the remote app on the phone. It's incredibly easy and intuitive and a snap to set up.
posted by nevercalm at 6:47 PM on October 5, 2013
You could leave the MP3s on the computer, install Google Play Music Manager which would upload all of your music to the Google Play Music cloud (free up to 20K songs) which you can then stream to any device that supports it. You could then buy a $35 Google Chromecast, plug it into the HDMI port on your TV and stream music (and lots more) to that, controlled with a computer or smartphone. You would need to change very little in your current setup, with the bonus that your MP3s are now backed up.
posted by bizwank at 9:41 PM on October 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by bizwank at 9:41 PM on October 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
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posted by musofire at 10:09 AM on October 5, 2013