spacey
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Probably show my ignorance but..
won't be the first time.
I loaded some albums on a memory stick so I could load them in my PC at work and
wondered...
I'd like to have a small system in my shop and thought it would be great
if I had just a small unit that I could plug a memory stick in and it would
play the files...do they make something like that? I searched but didn't find
anything.
Maybe I don't know what to call it. ?
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Beepster
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:24:16
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You could just get an MP3 player and a speaker dock but personally I'd rather get a cheap netbook or even an old beater laptop and some powered speakers/old stereo. More useful.
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:26:32
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Yeah Beep...alternatives are for sure but....
Can't one plug a memory stick into a car stereo and
it'll play the files?
Nice little shelf unit with just a memory stick plug-in is what I'd like.
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Beagle
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:30:24
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spacey
Yeah Beep...alternatives are for sure but....
Can't one plug a memory stick into a car stereo and
it'll play the files?
Nice little shelf unit with just a memory stick plug-in is what I'd like.
yeah, that's what I was thinking when I read your OP. my truck's stereo has a USB input jack and I can plug a USB stick in it and if there are any mp3's or waves it will play them. but I don't think I've ever seen a shelf unit or anything that has that feature.
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:37:19
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Maybe that's something John can build. Maybe we have a CH device to market LOL.!
That would be cool.
Yeah I load .wav files.
I'd like to use a stick for a group.
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Beepster
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:38:09
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Again your best and most versatile option for stuff like that is an MP3 player or a phone/pocket pc dealy with a built in player. Lots more place you can dock/plug into like newer cars and even if you have an older vehicle they have those weird transmitter thingies that send the signal to the car stereo. Places that don't have an actual docking port you can revert to just using the 1/8" output of the player and the appropriate cables/adapters to hook it up. With just a USB stick you need something (obviously) to process the info. The mp3 players have that built in... which you already know.
That's not to say units like that don't exist these days but I haven't seen one and if they do sell them it'd just be a scaled down computer anyway and probably cost more than it's worth. Cheers.
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drewfx1
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:38:57
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I have a Yamaha receiver with a USB port on the front. I plug my iPod in there, but the manual says it supports other stuff as well.
The model is RX-V373, but they may have shelf systems with similar capabilities. I know the manuals are online at the Yamaha site as well.
 In order, then, to discover the limit of deepest tones, it is necessary not only to produce very violent agitations in the air but to give these the form of simple pendular vibrations. - Hermann von Helmholtz, predicting the role of the electric bassist in 1877.
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Bub 
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:42:19
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Here's one for $65 bucks used, $80+ new. 8"wide x 2"tall x 5"deep Looks really nice and it has great reviews. I was thinking of getting one for my shop. Pyle Home Mini 2x120W
"I pulled the head off Elvis, filled Fred up to his pelvis, yaba daba do, the King is gone, and so are you."
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:42:58
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Drew have you tried to plug a stick in that has nothing but .wav files on it?
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:44:14
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Bub that is the only one I could find and they say the wattage
isn't what they say.
It is the only unit I've found though.
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Bub
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 15:58:42
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spacey
Bub that is the only one I could find and they say the wattage
isn't what they say.
It is the only unit I've found though.
Now that I think about it, you may be better off going with a car stereo, reason is ... most of those will allow you to skip through your files on the USB drive. This Pyle is bare bones. Stick it in and it plays it from beginning to end. Some of the new WiFi routers for your home have a USB port in the back of them, I have a Netgear and it's got one. You can plug in any USB drive to it, thumb, or USB-Hard Drive, and share the files over your home WiFi network. Doing that would allow you to take a laptop out to your shop, and connect wirelessly to your router. You'd be able to view/listen to any file, audio, video, pic. I'm in the process of ripping my DVD collection on to an HDD and I hooked it up to the USB port on my wireless router. I'm much more inclined to watch the movies I own when all I have to do is click a file rather than go thumbing through my hundreds of DVD's. I can even access to them through my Playstation and watch them on my TV. I have a very cheap Sony Blu-Ray player that lets me access it too. This stuff is getting very inexpensive. Don't know how long it will last, but it's certainly cheap.
"I pulled the head off Elvis, filled Fred up to his pelvis, yaba daba do, the King is gone, and so are you."
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Bub
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 16:00:52
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As for the laptop idea, it's a good one. As long as you don't have any expectations other than listening to MP3's, any laptop made in the last 10 ~ 12 years will do.
They have them at pawn shops for a $100 bucks or less all the time.
"I pulled the head off Elvis, filled Fred up to his pelvis, yaba daba do, the King is gone, and so are you."
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Beepster
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 16:11:37
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I realized I may have come across as poo pooing the idea. If so I apologize. I actually had this same question quite a few years ago when I was working with consumer electronics and the general answer was that they don't really make units like what you are describing because with mp3 players and portable PCs there isn't much need, and more importantly consumer demand, for such devices. Back then I didn't really like that answer because I wanted a set up just like what you are describing but in retrospect it does make sense. It's kind of redundant to have yet another computing device in ones arsenal when so many other options already exist with more versatility and functionality for very little cost. An mp3 player is pretty much a glorified mass storage device as it is. Cheers.
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drewfx1
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 16:25:02
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spacey
Drew have you tried to plug a stick in that has nothing but .wav files on it?
I haven't tried it because I've only actually had the unit for a few months. And I have an 80GB iPod Classic with like my entire music collection on it (which it works quite well with), so I haven't really had a need to try a thumb drive out yet. But the .pdf manual shows a picture of a thumb drive with instructions and says it supports USB mass storage FAT16 or FAT32 for PCM WAV, MP-3, WMA, MPEG-4 AAC up to 48kHz (but it says it doesn't support USB HDD's, and also says some features might not be compatible depending on the device/manufacturer). I can easily try it out with a thumb drive later if you want me to. I can say, having tried thumb drive playback on my TV and other devices, that sometimes the UI's can be a bit clunky for this sort of thing if you're trying to do anything more complicated than just plug something in and hit play.
In order, then, to discover the limit of deepest tones, it is necessary not only to produce very violent agitations in the air but to give these the form of simple pendular vibrations. - Hermann von Helmholtz, predicting the role of the electric bassist in 1877.
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 16:34:38
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No. Not at all Beepster...I asked for input and appreciate yours very much.
I was on the line that with a USB stick working then an external hard drive would too.
Not wanting a full blown system in the shop is another factor.
The only MP3 I've messed with is when I was posting in the songs forum...and only reason
I would.
Man Bub....my router, a DLink has a USB port. So I could get an external hard-drive, load
it with .wav files, plug it into the router and access them?
So that unit we've found would work too? Plug an external hard drive in USB loaded with
.wav files only and good to go?
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 16:40:07
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Drew I was thinking it would be cool just to have a stick with
a groups catalog on it so it would be simple plug and play while
in my shop...nothing fancy. Hours of jams and I don't have to mess
with it while I'm busy.
That little Pyle unit is probably just what I'm wanting even if the power
rating is off. Most of the people seem very pleased with it.
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Beepster
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 16:49:53
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Ah... actually I meant to bring that up but figured you probably already knew. Many so called "mp3" players these days actually can handle .wav files. They just take up more room on the device but generally those portable players have more storage space than even the high capacity USB sticks. Cheers, dude. You and I seem to think alike. Somewhat abstract and object oriented. It's why I like you.
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Bub
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 17:23:42
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spacey
Man Bub....my router, a DLink has a USB port. So I could get an external hard-drive, load
it with .wav files, plug it into the router and access them?
You'll have to check on that. Sometimes the USB port is there for doing updates and it's not really a USB port like we have on our computers that we can access. Sometimes on routers it's just there for firmware updates. I have a new Netgear router. The USB port on it was one of the selling features. It's designed to be a file server based off that USB port. So that unit we've found would work too? Plug an external hard drive in USB loaded with
.wav files only and good to go?
Sometimes on the less expensive units, there is a folder size limit and a hard drive/thumb drive size limit. For example, if you put all of CCR's CD's in one folder and that folder size ended up being 2GB, and the USB port can only see up to 1.5GB, it won't play all the files. And in some cases, you have to put all the files on the drive without a folder. I downloaded the manual and it did not say there was a USB size limit or how the file structure has to be ... You can skip through songs when using the USB port on it, that's nice.
"I pulled the head off Elvis, filled Fred up to his pelvis, yaba daba do, the King is gone, and so are you."
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Beagle
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 17:38:30
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I am pretty certain you cannot connect a USB hard drive to the router and access files from it. you need a "network storage" drive for that to work - which means it would have a circuit card in it which would make it a configurable IP device. a standard USB hard drive will not do that.
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drewfx1
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 18:00:43
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Yeah, there's a variety of media servers, network drives that support media streaming protocols and whatnot, but I've found all of them have serious shortcomings that are dealbreakers for me (file types in my library that don't stream or play, need for a TV to operate the UI, no support for playlists, etc.).
I haven't found anything that works as well as the iPod together with my Yamaha, which works and does everything I need it to, though the UI is more complicated than it needs to be. Luckily I can deal with that.
In order, then, to discover the limit of deepest tones, it is necessary not only to produce very violent agitations in the air but to give these the form of simple pendular vibrations. - Hermann von Helmholtz, predicting the role of the electric bassist in 1877.
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craigb
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 18:40:34
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spacey
I'd like to have a small system in my shop and thought it would be great
if I had just a small unit that I could plug a memory stick in and it would
play the files...do they make something like that? I searched but didn't find
anything.
Maybe I don't know what to call it. ?
(I couldn't be arsed to read all the replies so I'll just add mine.  ) I've got one that does just that. It's an iSymphony that was less than $100 at Best Buy for a little 50 watt system.  Sure, I use it mostly with an iPod, but it also provides the sound for our TV (since the sound from the TV itself is broken), it can play CD's (both normal and MP3) and it can play memory sticks (either USB or SD cards). Very cool little system.
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 19:59:50
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 Philips DCM278/37 Micro Hi-Fi System Dock with CD for iPod/iPhone - USB Direct for MP3/WMA Music Playback Thanks to USB Direct mode, you can also enjoy music directly from USB devices. Just plug in your USB Flash device loaded with MP3 or WMA audio files and enjoy playback, complete with ID3 tag display of track information. I ordered this one. Our kid will like that she dock her ipod too. I found it cheaper than Amazon. Maybe it'll work in the shop....I like that it wall mounts. Thank you guys. I appreciate your efforts much.
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Bub
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 20:34:01
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Beagle
I am pretty certain you cannot connect a USB hard drive to the router and access files from it. you need a "network storage" drive for that to work - which means it would have a circuit card in it which would make it a configurable IP device. a standard USB hard drive will not do that.
Not sure about Spacey's router ... but I have a 1TB Western Digital MyBook USB 2.0 HDD connected to a Netgear N600 Router. There are different versions of the N600 ... the one I have has a USB port that is powered by proprietary Netgear technology called "Readyshare". It doesn't show up as a drive with a drive letter. Just one of those network icons show up with the name 'READYSHARE' under network connections. Works like a charm. The only reservation I have with it is, I don't trust USB HDD's. :) They seem to go bad on a regular basis. :)
"I pulled the head off Elvis, filled Fred up to his pelvis, yaba daba do, the King is gone, and so are you."
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craigb
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 20:36:33
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Yep. Our startup has a Netgear N600 router as well with an external (usb) hard drive attached to it.
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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Crg
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 20:40:00
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I don't know why a DAW disciple like your self even bothers with MP3. I'm sorry was that,.... prejudiced?
The format isn't released yet, if that makes any sense. We went from analog to digital, 1, 2, 3, pork pie, huh? WhaTEVER!
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Beagle
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 21:01:28
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Bub
Beagle
I am pretty certain you cannot connect a USB hard drive to the router and access files from it. you need a "network storage" drive for that to work - which means it would have a circuit card in it which would make it a configurable IP device. a standard USB hard drive will not do that.
Not sure about Spacey's router ... but I have a 1TB Western Digital MyBook USB 2.0 HDD connected to a Netgear N600 Router. There are different versions of the N600 ... the one I have has a USB port that is powered by proprietary Netgear technology called "Readyshare".
It doesn't show up as a drive with a drive letter. Just one of those network icons show up with the name 'READYSHARE' under network connections.
Works like a charm. The only reservation I have with it is, I don't trust USB HDD's. :) They seem to go bad on a regular basis. :)
ah - OK, cool!
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 21:14:11
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Crg
I don't know why a DAW disciple like your self even bothers with MP3. I'm sorry was that,.... prejudiced?
The format isn't released yet, if that makes any sense. We went from analog to digital, 1, 2, 3, pork pie, huh? WhaTEVER!
Craig I can't tell if you were directing this at me but...I don't mess with MP3s. I did when I use to post in the songs forum but it didn't make sense to me so I posted awhile with .wav from Box IIRC. This is just so I can use a memory stick with wav files in my shop. The only sounds I have there is an old mono radio that sucks. Get one good PBS channel out of Monroe, LA and that's it. I hope to jammin' soon!
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Crg
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 21:22:42
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Nevermind, I didn't read it all. Same difference though. Your DAW isn't in your shop? A quick player for a memory stick? USB memory stick portable player? Hmmm?
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spacey
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/08 21:31:41
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DAW in my shop? !! LOL... No table saws in here Craig!  That's you on the right monitor :) And I'm going to get the sawdust out of my teeth.
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craigb
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Re:Probably show my ignorance but..
2012/11/09 03:40:27
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Holy crap! Look at all the tiny amps! Love it!
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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