Re: PC Driven MP3 Players

["Rick" <rcalvin.lee@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for the information Bill.  I am placing an order for the CAV6.6
this week.
I would like to know more about your setup. I have much to learn about
PC/home audio-video interfaces, and all things related, so please
excuse my ignorance if some of the questions have obvious answers.
Do you have a PC dedicated to your home audio/video system?
With a dedicated PC, could one not connect via the R232 and avoid the
MP3 usb interfaces?
As for system control, how do the Russound keypads work with MC11?  I
must have a system that my wife is comfortable with, and she needs
simple controls from the keypads.

Thanks again.

Bill Kearney wrote:
> >  Russound also offers a media server, their SMS3, but it is quite
> > expensive at almost $2K.
> > Can one achieve similar results with the CAV6.6 / J.Rivers setup?
>
> Just about.  The SMS3 can display it's interface on a TV and you can do
> quite a number of things from there.  That and some of the keypad functions
> are more capable.  The CAV66 plug-in for MC11 doesn't do quite as much as
> the SMS3 but it's more than enough to most situations.  I don't have the
> SMS3, and have only used it in a quick demo situation, so it's not like I
> 'know for sure'.
>
> But I've been VERY pleased with the MC11 setup.  I've got three streams
> coming from the PC into the CAV66.  I use three Creative MP3 usb interfaces.
> Each has it's line-out signal going into an input on the CAV66.  MC11 sees
> each of these as a "zone".  You can use the PC to switch between zones and
> manage playlists on each of them.  I have only one complaint about MC11, and
> it's one they've LONG ignored.  There's no "single click" way to switch
> between zones.  You have to use a pull-down menu, or a right-click, to
> change zones.  This makes it a bit tedious to use a touchscreen on the PC to
> jump between zones.  Other than this, and J.River's long ignoring of this
> feature request, I'm pleased with MC11.  No other media manager I've seen
> (and I've tried ALL OF THEM) comes anywhere near as close to MC11 for total
> functionality.
>
> > We have multiple CAT5e and RG6 wiring throughout the house, so that
> > should not be an issuer.
>
> Yeah, wiring shouldn't make much difference in this case.
>
> -Bill Kearney