snarlydwarf Wrote: > That's because Apple won't license it to anyone else. (And because they > make promises to record companies about how their licensing model works, > this is unlikely to change.) Name two digital music players (hardware > or software) that are not made by Apple that support iTunes DRM > directly. (Requiring iTunes to be installed on the PC, as Music > Library does, means that he's using the iTunes DLL's... it won't work > without iTunes installed, and it won't work unless you authorize that > specific PC to play them, using up one of your licenses.) > > > > Again, none of the 'network audio players' will play DRM'd iTunes > tracks. The only product not made by Apple that does is one cell > phone. That's it. The only software that supports it requires iTunes > to be installed and authorized for that track, and has no access at all > to the unencrypted stream. > > Really.
Really irrelevant to me. I have no intention of removing iTunes. You make the point from the premise that i have to have iTunes. Well, of course. I have no issues with it. It is, in fact, one of the best music library managers out there. Bested only by J.River's Music Center. > > Beware: This Will Change. Look at things like 'Secure Audio Path' from > Microsoft and their plans to make this stuff mandatory on Vista. You > will not be able to do anything except, perhaps, use the analog > loophole and loopback your audio-out to your Aux-in. No more sneaky > device drivers that capture sound. This means a loss of quality -- you > have to throw in an extra digital-analog conversion which is a Bad Thing > for fidelity. For every attempt to control the users PC, there will be just as many things created to circumvent it. Do you honestly believe that somehow Microsoft and Apple have found the impenetrable silver bullet? This issue goes beyond my specific requirements and even the miniscule by comparison network audio devices realm. I certainly have no plans to upgrade to Vista. So far no value-add as far as Im concerned. > > Sure, it's simple in theory: but you'll find that it's going to get > more and more complex. You're going to be fighting Apple, Microsoft > and Real (and now Google). It's also not at all what the Squeezebox is > good at. True. The hardware is only the receiver of the stream and distributor to the stereo. Im mostly interested in the quality of it's audio components in terms of what it does receive. The fact of the matter is that it's worthwhile to spend the money to get the open source software. > > It still sounds like what you want is not a "network audio player"... > it sounds like what you actually want is "a very long cable from my > computer to my amplifier". That's fine: it's not how I would do > things, but it really does sound like what you want. Especially when > you talk about using Remote Desktop to control things. > If a very long cable was possible we wouldn't be talking. > > There are existing devices to do that. They pollute the 2.4Ghz > spectrum, but they do exist: X10.com has piles of them. Google for > "audio sender" for a bunch of others. They're usually less than $50. All these devices suck, to put it plainly. I've tried FM transmitters, too. Nothing in the less than $100 is good enough. > > Far cheaper than a Squeezebox. > I think i made my point. $300 is still more economical, plus better quality. > > Of course, you will still run into DRM issues. (Try to play two iTunes > tracks at the same time.) You will have a higher costs (keeping at > least one Windows server up and running, possibly more depending on how > many unique streams you wish to support, not to mention all the licenses > you will need for the music... Why would I need to play two iTunes tracks at the same time? The frequency that one person wants to play something on the PC and someone else wants to play something on the stereo from the PC source is next to nil in my home. Until it does, the point is moot and i'll deal with that issue if and when it arises... Licenses? Irrelevant. If I have access to what the player is sending to the output of the soundcard, then its already assumed that the validity exists else i wouldn't be able to play the material. -- kewe65 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ kewe65's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3295 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=20083 _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list Discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
