CD Player in the woodshop?

[Mac McAtee]

I want to put a CD player out in the shop. I would rather it not be a single disc unit. I don't want to put it in the house and run speaker wires, I want it and all the controls in the shop. My main concern is fine sawdust getting inside the thing and screwing it up.

I have seen the DeWalt construction site unit at HD or Lowes. That may solve the issue but it is a single disc unit and way over priced. I am just guessing it has some provision for dust getting into the CD player since it is intended for a rough environment.

My son has a little portable unit that is waterproof, he claims that it can be put underwater and it will keep on ticking. That unit would have to be paired with an amplifier and again, it is only one disc at a time.

Anyone solved this or know of a multi disc unit that would work and hold up? 3 discs would be fine, and 5 great!

[Steve Evans]

Mac

I use a device called an Audiotron made by Turtle Beach. It hooks into my network and allows me to access any mp3's on my server ,>6000 and growing ( they're all from my own cd's so I'm safe from the RIAA). A bit more trouble than a CD player to set up but once it is set up it is one sweet outfit.

[Bruce Page]

Mac,
Dust is the enemy when it comes to electronics! I went through a couple of single disk players before building a vented cabinet designed around a Pioneer shelf system. I installed a replaceable automotive air filter at the bottom and mounted an old computer-cooling fan to draw air up & around the unit and pull the heat out. I used a weather stripping around the door opening for a tight seal. I’ve had the system for several years and it’s still going strong.

[Ian Barley]

I know its not what you asking but I use a minidisc player. It seems to be more robust with the dust than a CD and I get about 4.5 CDS onto a single disc at a quality that I can't really distinguish from CD quality. This gives me about 2/3rds of a days programming without the need to change discs. My guess is that this is what you were looking for from a multidisc unit?

The MD unit is small and therefore easy to protect from dust and could be used to power speakers or earphones. My current player is just over a year old and showing no signs of harm from the dust. Maybe its because it is small, low powered and does not have any obvious ventilation to draw the dust in? I don't really know but I do know that it works for me.

Sony NetMD comes without software and USB cable to make it a cinch to copy your own CD's to MD. This allows me to build up a library and every evening while I am doing accounts etc at the PC I also select the next days programming.

I tend to use mine for spoken word books as much as for music and it works just fine for me.

[JayStPeter]

How about MP3? I have an Apple iPod that is awesome. It is a small sealed unit that will probably hold your entire CD collection. It has a line out to hook to a receiver. I got a 15 GB version and estimate that it'll hold about 300 CDs worth. The Apple website has refurb units for sale every so often at a pretty good price. I never really expected to buy anything from Apple again, but they have a hit here. You will need firewire on your PC though (which is easy enough).

[Bill Marcheck]

I really like the MP3 route. The IPODs look really nice but
they are too expensive for me. I got a 20GB unit from Archos
for $200.

I use it everywhere, I listen through headphones at work,
I plug it into my car stereo, my home stereo, and in the
shop I plug it into a pair of self powered computer speakers.


Bill

[Richard Allen]

I add a vote for the Archos jukebox (http://www.archos.com/products/mp3_music_product_list.html) .

http://www.archos.com/img/products/171x90/jbrec_20.png

I have the 20 GB record version which uses USB-2 for file transfer. It has about 4000 songs on it (about 3/4 of my CD colection). There is free software from Rockbox that replaces the software from Archos and allows for lots of options on playback. I have used the unit for a year and a half. It is hard for me to imagine music being delivered any other way. There is a wired remote you can get for the unit which lets you advance to the next song if you like.

I also like to listen to the radio sometimes, Car guys Saturday morning and the football game Sunday afternoon. So I hook mine to a cheap stereo reciver (http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?c=1&b=g&catoid=-8021&qp=0&bookmark=bookmark_0&oid=38868)

http://www.circuitcity.com/IMAGE/product/hires/she/PC.SHE.RX4103.JPG

and a couple of little speakers from radio shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F007%5F004%5F003%5F003&product%5Fid=40%2D5001) .

http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/40/40-5001.jpg


As for multidisc CD player. I would recomend one built for a car. You can put the discs in another room and the "head unit" in your shop to control what is going on. Sony does 10 disc and others do 6 discs.

Good luck

Richard

[Mac McAtee]

Richard,
This Archos thing looks like a great solution. Can you elaborate a little about it's function?

You transfer music from a CD through your computer to the HD in the Archos?

Now, say I have 50 CD's stored on it and I want to listen to Alison Krause and then after her CD runs out I want Dido Anderson to play. How do you do that. Does it just start at song 1 on the HD and play till it gets to song 4500? Or can you schedule a play list, set it and walk away and it does it? Like here I am padding on shellac and the first CD runs to the end, do I have to drop the pad, take off the gloves, go punch a bunch of buttons and then get back to the shellac?

[Bill Marcheck]

Richard,
This Archos thing looks like a great solution. Can you elaborate a little about it's > function?

You transfer music from a CD through your computer to the HD in the Archos?

Now, say I have 50 CD's stored on it and I want to listen to Alison Krause and then after her CD runs out I want Dido Anderson to play. How do you do that. Does it just start at song 1 on the HD and play till it gets to song 4500? Or can you schedule a play list, set it and walk away and it does it? Like here I am padding on shellac and the first CD runs to the end, do I have to drop the pad, take off the gloves, go punch a bunch of buttons and then get back to the shellac?

The Archos is an MP3 player. So you have to convert your CDs to MP3 using your
computer. When you connect the Archos (via USB) to the computer, it gets recognized as a USB hard drive. So all you have to do is drag and drop MP3 files.
It's also possible to create directory structures on the Archos, just like a regular
hard drive. You can even carry data files between computers using the Archos.

I've created a top level file structure that looks something like this:

Classical
Jazz
Rock
World
etc.

Under the "Rock" directory there's a seperate directory for each artist & group
then a directory for each album, and finally the mp3 files for that album along with
an album playlist.

And yes you can make playlists of your favorites and run them.

I agree that the "RockBox" software is very nice (http://rockbox.haxx.se/)

Bill

[JayStPeter]

Just for thought, the advantage of the iPod in the shop is that it is completely sealed and the buttons and scroll mechanism are membrane type (i.e. completely sealed). Only the connectors have an opening in the case.
You can get 10G iPods for $169 refurbished. 20G are $100 more.
I like the user interface better.

Jay

[Ed Marks]

I also love the Apple iPOD. There are no real openings in it to collect dust, all the controls are touch sensative, and it holds my lifetime collection of CDs with room to spare. If I'm not using a lot of machinery, I listen to it on a set of good PC speakers. If I'm making a lot of noise I put it in my pocket, route the headset cable under my shirt so it's not dangling anywhere, and use the small headsets they give you under hearing protectors. The batteries last about 6 hours and it takes less than an hour to recharge.

[Jim Becker]

I also like to listen to the radio sometimes... So I hook mine to a cheap stereo reciver...

Very interesting...that's the same receiver I just bought for my shop recently! The price was right, especially after the small Ebates rebate. Nice receiver. I've only had a little problem getting the FM presets to...umm...preset. I do wish the remote had "all" the controls on it in a logical manner since I have it mounted up at ceiling height.


...and a couple of little speakers from radio shack.

LOL! I'm using essentially the same speakers, but my Minimus 7s are date back to about the mid-1980s when I managed a RS store. I was using them in my office for the last few years, but didn't need them anymore for that when I put the FM/TV board in my PC.

I like the idea that you and others have been proposing about using an MP3 player. It really obviates the dust problem that could be a real issue with a mechanical CD player. One can blow dust out of the receiver on a regular basis without a problem, but dust in the player is much more difficult to deal with.

[Richard Allen]

Hi Jim

The Reciever and speaker examples I used were just that, examples. Mine is of the same sort of quality and expense though 10 years older. They work fine and I have never had an issue with the set-up.

The MP3 player is a bit of effort to get started. You have to rip and convert your CD library to MP3s. While that is a simple process it does take time (depending on the speed of your computer anywhwere from 5 minutes a CD to an hour for a CD). In this conversion process the CD is looked up on the internet by the conversion program to add information such as artist, album, genre... Which is added to the MP3.

I store my MP3s on a directory callem Music with sub directories for each artist and sub sub directories for albums.

I copy the songs in this same structure to my MP3 jukebox.

I can make "playlists" on my computer (drag and drop or by automated programs in a random way) which are then uploaded to the MP3 player. The playlist are small files which load very fast and I can call on those playlists on the MP3 player. Because the directory structure on my computer is the same as the directory structure on my Jukebox the same playlist work on both. The playlist can be played in order or randomly. A playlist on my jukebox is limited by the software I am currently using to 450 songs. So I usualy randomly play one of the 450 song playlists (which I have randomly generated from the 4000 songs I have). About once a week I switch playlists.

I have some "special" playlists which I will sometimes play. For example I have about 50 sea chanties which I will sometimes get a hankering for. Or sometimes I will want to limit the play to the couple hundred bluegrass songs I have. On the 4th of july I might listen to John Philip Sousa martches for an hour.

Any playlist can be selected and played or any directory can be selected and played. So if I want to listen from the complete works of the Eurythmics I can do that.

All of this is simple to do once you have copied the CDs to MP3s. There is a utility for the jukebox that lets me add music. So when I get a new CD I can "rip" it to MP3 and the upload progrm will detect the difference between what is on my computer and what is on my jukebox and only load the new stuff. It will also creat new playlists to incorporate the new stuff.

Of course if you have any questions you would like specifics on just let me know. Like which conversion programs I use and such.

Good luck

[Jim Becker]

On the 4th of july I might listen to John Philip Sousa martches for an hour.

Pray, tell...what do the turnings look like after that?? LOL! :D Of course, Click and Clack probably affect the shapes, too. hee hee

[Mac McAtee]

Richard,
I mention what I was thinking about to my 17 year old son, Robert. He is the CD-Computer-Burner nut around the house.

He told me that if I was going to go for an mp3 player to be sure and get one that can process ".wma" files. He said that they are more compressed than mp3 and take up less room on your hardrive. Those files are generated by Microsof Media Player.

I guess the question is, does the young man know of what he speaks? Does the Archos player deal with those files also or only with mp3? I really do think that I can get any and everthing I would ever want on a 20 GB hard drive and don't see why I would need to worry about conserving space on it. He just seems to think that the .wma format is something I need to take into consideration in the process.

[Jim Tobias]

I want to put a CD player out in the shop. I would rather it not be a single disc unit. I don't want to put it in the house and run speaker wires, I want it and all the controls in the shop. My main concern is fine sawdust getting inside the thing and screwing it up.

I have seen the DeWalt construction site unit at HD or Lowes. That may solve the issue but it is a single disc unit and way over priced. I am just guessing it has some provision for dust getting into the CD player since it is intended for a rough environment.

My son has a little portable unit that is waterproof, he claims that it can be put underwater and it will keep on ticking. That unit would have to be paired with an amplifier and again, it is only one disc at a time.

Anyone solved this or know of a multi disc unit that would work and hold up? 3 discs would be fine, and 5 great!

I put in a 5 disc changer and receiver, speakers, etc. in my shop a couple of years ago. I made a clear cover box of plexiglass. Glued it together to form a 4 sided(rectangle) with a top. Drilled some air vents low on the sides and back to allow for heat escape. I have had no problems with dust getting into the cd changer. Remotes work fine.

[Richard Allen]

Richard,
I mention what I was thinking about to my 17 year old son, Robert. He is the CD-Computer-Burner nut around the house.

He told me that if I was going to go for an mp3 player to be sure and get one that can process ".wma" files. He said that they are more compressed than mp3 and take up less room on your hardrive. Those files are generated by Microsof Media Player.

I guess the question is, does the young man know of what he speaks? Does the Archos player deal with those files also or only with mp3? I really do think that I can get any and everthing I would ever want on a 20 GB hard drive and don't see why I would need to worry about conserving space on it. He just seems to think that the .wma format is something I need to take into consideration in the process.

The Archos Jukebox does not work with ".wma" files. Just MP3 in all the various conversion rates from 16kb/sec top 320kb/sec as well as variable bite rates. Most people agree that 128kb/sec is high quality. Certinaly of a high enough quality that you would be unable to tell the difference between a CD and the MP3 in a car or in a shop. For auidophile conversion 196kb/sec. At the 128 rate the conversion is 1 MB per minute. so 20 GB is about 300 hours of music.

.WMA is a pripitory format owned by Microsoft. MP3 is an open format.

You son is right. .WMA can be converted to a lower bit rate than MP3. while still delivering good sound quality. I am not sure the trade off of using a Microsoft owned format is worth the disc space. Who owns the MP3 format? MP3 is part of the public domain. BTW different mp3 convertors yeild different results.

Thanks

Richard