Floppyhead - Digital Media and Home Theater Computers

I have Sonos envy. The Sonos ZP80 looks like a fantastic product (see review here). The beauty of the ZP80 is that you can access your digital music collection without a TV. You control your music selection though their i-Pod like remote anywhere in your house. Quite honestly, Apple should have made a system like this. The Sonos ZP80 is the perfect complement to an iPod. However, I am having a hard time justifying $750 for the system (or should I say my wife is having a hard time).

I started to wonder whether it was possible to make an audio system that could hook up to a receiver and be controlled by a remote without the use of a computer monitor, in other words, a headless audio server. If you have the right spare pieces, and the desire to tinker, it might be cheaper to build your own system rather purchasing a Sonos ZP80 and remote. In order to build your own Sonos-like system, you need the following:

• a spare computer to hook up to an stereo receiver
• a Pocket PC with a wi-fi card
• a wireless router
• NetRemote by Promixis to control the computer
• audio software like i-Tunes, Windows Media Player, J-River’s Media Center, or Winamp.

If you have to buy all of the pieces listed above, building your own system may not be cost-effective. However, if you are like me, the chances are you already have most of what you need. Remeber that old computer sitting around when you upgraded last year? Consider making it an audio hub. By giving the computer a new case to blend it in with your receiver, your old computer will feel right at home in the living room. Such home theater cases can be purchased for under $200. I purchased the Ahanix D5 case for $180, which includes a power supply and VFD screen. I connected my computer and receiver through a digital-out line, or spdif line. Most onboard sound cards have such outputs, though a generic sound card can be purchased for under $30.
When the computer is hooked up to the receiver, you now have an audo system that can be controlled by a monitor and a mouse or though a remote desktop application. Each solution is bulky and quite frankly not very impressive. One solution is to use NetRemote by Promixis, which is software that will turn a Pocket PC into a remote. NetRemote has the folloiwng features:

• Full control of your media player: play, stop, pause, next, previous, volume control, seek and more.
• Create your own custom playlist on the fly- just click through your music and add them to the “Now Playing” listing.
• Works with any wi-fi enabled Pocket PC device such as the Dell Axim, HP iPaq, and Windows-based Tablet PC’s.

There are two caveats with NetRemote:

1. You have to use Windows XP. I am hoping a Linux version is made available in the future.
2. The user interface on your Pocket PC requires some tinkering.

Overall, I am quite pleased with the NetRemote. The “Opus” skin looks very professional and will definitely impress you friends. NetRemote works with i-Tunes, Windows Media Player, and J-River Media Center. The thing that is fantastic about NetRemote is that you can make playlists on the fly. This is a killer feature when hosting a party.

Conclusion

Should you build your own audio system? As always, the answer is it depends. The Sonos is a more polished system and is more consumer friendly. My DIY system is more flexible and was about $350 dollars cheaper for me, after I bought a Pocket PC and a new computer case for the living room. Both systems will give you fantastic sound. If you have a spare computer, a wireless router, and a Pocket PC, I would definitely roll your own Sonos.