Digital Home
Digital Home
In July 2011 I purchased the Cambridge Audio Sonata NP30, a network music player. After about six months of use I posted a detailed review, which was somewhat surprisingly popular. Often people I meet in work related situations will want to talk more about tune streamers than some facet of SharePoint! :) In early May I got me the Stream Magic 6, and again here is a review after a period of extensive use (roughly four months), as opposed to the claptrap you will read in “hi-fi” rags that only used the thing for half a day! The Stream...
Back in July last year I finally, after much procrastination, plumped for a new tune streamer. Whilst I posted a few thoughts shortly after my purchase, many folks have asked me about it since and so here is a more considered review of the Cambridge Audio Sonata NP30 after about six months of real use. [UPDATE 09/05/2012] A few weeks after I posted this review, Cambridge Audio shipped a significant firmware update. After a couple of months running this version I have added additional comments to the review below. [UPDATE 24/07/2012] A further firmware update was released on...
I finally got around to getting myself a new network tune box. Those of you who know me will be aware I am somewhat of a muso and I have a distinctly uncompromising stance when it comes to “better sound”. For a while I was using a Squeezebox Duet, which is OK but leaves a lot to be desired. So the hunt for a proper network tune box commenced about this time last year. I’m not interested in a all in one media player, I want a dedicated device for tunes and that doesn’t need a television to control. Seriously,...
After a considerable amount of experimentation, I decided on the basic setup for my digital media requirements. In a nutshell this is a Windows Home Server, and a Windows 7 Media Center. This post will focus on the Media Center, which I will call MCE to save me some typing. The software is the real discussion here. I’ve used all iterations of MCE, and to be perfectly frank, the previous incarnations just weren’t up to scratch. Too many loose ends and issues with codecs and TV tuners and the UI. The good news is that with Windows 7, the...
As some of you will know I’ve been over time working on a setup in the house for digital media. Recently a surprising amount of people have asked me to blog about it and my experiences. So here goes with part one of a mini series of off topic posts about it. Whilst I am a computer geek, I don’t like mess and I certainly don’t like servers in my home. Nasty computers in the living room is also a big no-no. As many of you know I am also *seriously* into music. Over the past six years I’ve...