The Music Server Site
All you ever wanted to know about the world of media servers
Welcome to our new site, dedicated to keeping you informed about all the latest developments in the world of digital and wireless music systems in the home.
In the coming months, we will be dedicating ourselves to becoming the authoritative source of information on music servers, media servers, multi-room AV systems and everything that surrounds them.
We are starting by compiling a full guide to all the products available on the market, with links to manufacturers' and reviewers' websites. If you know of any products that are missing from the site, please let us know by contacting us.
If you are new to home digital music, please take a look at our "How Does It Work?" page. We also have a glossary of the most common terms you will come across.
It's about the latest digital music technologies that let you store all your music conveniently in one place (no more hunting for lost CDs!) and then stream it - through a wired or wireless network - to hi-fi systems and music players around your home. Couple that to a remote control that enables you to control music playback and search your music library and you have a complete digital multi-room home music system. Or add video for a complete AV (audio/visual) system.
As there are still few defined standards for these technologies, when buying equipment you need to be careful to make sure everything you purchase will work together. One of the things we are doing on this site is collating information on features and compatibility for each product on the market.
The music server is the hub of the future home music system. This is where a user's entire music collection is stored on hard disk, ready to be streamed around the home. A typical music server will be able to deliver multiple streams of music to different parts of the house and will have a search facility so you never again have to spend hours searching for that lost music track. Some music servers also have the ability to control an attached CD changer or to access music on other devices (e.g. PCs) in the same network..
Music servers fall into three broad categories: software based servers, like Microsoft's Windows Media Connect or Apple's iTunes, hardware-based servers, often produced by hi-fi manufacturers like Cambridge Audio, Imerge, Linn and Olive, and hardware servers based on a PC architecture.
At the moment, we are also including some network attached storage (NAS) products in this category (e.g. Thecus N2100), if they can also act as a music server. These may be listed separately in the future. The whole area of digital home music is evolving quickly, and this site is here to keep you up-to-date with the latest developments!
A network music player (sometimes also called a music client) interfaces to your music server on the one hand, and your hi-fi system on the other. It enables you to remotely select the music you want to play and have it streamed to your output device via its digital or analogue inputs. A good music player will have an intuitive interface and an easy-to-operate remote control. Among the most prominent makers of network music players at the current time are Roku, Slim Devices and Terratec. Many manufactuers of music servers also produce dedicated clients for use as part of a system.
In this category, we also look at some products produced by networking manufacturers, which provide a cheaper alternative - a simple way to play digital music from your PC on your hi-fi without spending hundreds of dollars. Such products are produced by Linksys and Netgear, among others.
If a music server plus network music player combination resembles a system made up of hi-fi separates, then a complete multi-room system is like an integrated music system. Here you have no worries about compatibility as the system includes both the server and the network music player. Examples of this kind of system include MediaMax from Avonix, the Yamaha MusicCAST and products from Imerge.
More Info coming soon.....
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