[mci_nano]

Hi

I'm looking towards to use xbmc as multi room home media system (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=78431). i dont want to play hd content in every room. In most of my rooms I just need a headless(no display) minimalistic sound playing hardware.

Something like

• a mini pc
  
• without a display
  
• wlan
  
• sound output
  
• fanless for low noise
  
• cf- or sd-card slot or something similar
  

Any recommendations?

Just dreaming but a realy cool thing would be a active speaker (including amplifier) and the little pc

[CASHMON3Y]

You could probably pick up one of those older non-ION Atom boxes on ebay for pretty cheap. Or if you want the possibility of playing some better video, maybe a used Apple TV.

[Torroa]

...or a Squeezebox?

[maxinc]

The way I have it setup now is using Apple Airport Express adapters in the rooms I want to play music. They have stereo and SPDIF output and can be connected to any active speaker set or amp. They cost about £80 in the UK.

I can send music to any of them from either from my Mac, my Laptop, iPhone or iPad via AirPlay. So easy to use that even my 3 year old enjoys playing songs from the iPad on the big speakers.

[defiler]

...or a Squeezebox?

Squeezebox is *excellent*. The server software will run on just about anything (it's all written in Perl), the devices give great sound quality (and the Squeezebox Transporter will keep up with even the *top* end hifi equipment), and they are so simple to use I didn't even need to show my wife - she just got stuck in and figured it out.

They play basically any non-DRM music too (I have all of my music as FLAC). If you get the *original* SliMP3 (the predecessor to the Squeezebox range) then they only play MP3, but the server can transcode. But since they still work fine I don't imagine you'll see many for sale second-hand.

If you want a device that has speakers built-in, look at the Squeezebox Boom or the Squeezebox Radio. But be warned, they're not cheap!

[sushiban]

I would also vote for Squeezebox. I have Squeezebox Classic + Beresford tc-7510 DAC + Active sound monitors and I love it.
You could also try to build small PC with old/cheap VIA Epia boards or Alix boards (http://cheap-silent-usb-linux-music-serv...gspot.com/)

[defiler]

Oh, one of the reasons that the Squeezeboxes (at least the Boom and the Squeezebox 3) are so expensive is because they have VFD displays on them , which are great. Especially in a dark room.

[mci_nano]

I'll have a look at squeezebox and the ion board. thanks for that.

Are squeezebox and apple able to play the same songs simultaniously in different rooms?

[defiler]

Multiple squeezeboxes will synchronise easily, so you can walk between rooms and not notice the change. It doesn't control the Apple stuff though (and vice versa). They're separate systems, but you'd get that with anything that's not another Apple device, if you already have an Apple system in place. They tend not to play well with others. So whilst you could have them all play from the same music collection, you couldn't sync the players up without being a demon with the remote control...

Also, since you've not mentioned Apple before now, the Squeezebox will play music that you've ripped into iTunes, but I don't think it'll play DRM'ed music from the iTunes store. Can't be bothered with iTunes myself, so it doesn't affect me...