As some of you will know, I am currently trying to work out the perfect scenario for my music and home audio system.
I have decided on the audio front to get setup with a Logitech Squeezebox system. The cool thing about this (and other systems similar!) is that it can play from a variety of sources including your ripped music collection and other bits such as Spotify.
Something that I discovered the other day, through a good friend who is running the system, is VortexBox!
VortexBox is a super quick install IOS that can turn any computer into a music server. It works with Squeezebox, Sonos, Linn and will also stream to Windows or OSX.
Features include:
- Convert an old PC to a CD ripper / jukebox / NAS in 15 minutes.
- Based on Fedora so it’s easy to modify.
- Automatically tags all files from online music database.
- Automatically downloads the cover art.
- Automatic sharing of file to SMB (Microsoft) file shares.
- Automatic re-indexing Squeezebox Server after every CD is ripped.
- AppleTalk – for OSX or Bonjour for Windows.
- DAAP – Automatically shares all MP3s for streaming to iTunes and Roku Soundbridge.
- NFS – For Linux boxes and almost anything else, Solaris etc.
- DLNA support – Play music and video DLNA enabled players, XBOX 360,PS3, Windows 7 etc.
- Easy installation of mplayer for AlienBBC support.
- Good support for Sonos.
- Works well as a back end server for XBMC (XBOX Media Center) running on XBOX, Windows, OSX, AppleTV, or Linux.
My friend has basically got this setup on a cheap nettop, which is so tiny and eco friendly. It looks like my WiFi router, except smaller, and when idle, uses a teeny amount of power.
He also has an optical CD drive connected to his VortexBox nettop, which, when you insert a CD automatically, rips it to whatever quality you like, finds the track names, album artwork etc, and then adds it to your music library. That, I would say, is pretty awesome.
So, I am fairly convinced that I am going to go ahead with a VortexBox setup. I just need to check and make sure that it’s going to play nicely with Apple TV in the way that I like (I will report back on that one).
Yesterday I came across a sweet looking nettop which I think will set me up perfect for a super sweet music server. I give to you, the Shuttle XS35:
That’s right…it is a teeny netbook that has a built in disk drive. Yay!
It looks beautiful, and I am pretty sure that pending some more investigation, this is going to become my media server. The plan is to customize so that the server will rip and store both CD’s and DVD’s/Blueray’s (Yes, it comes with a Blueray drive!) and then serve my Logitech Squeezebox devices and Apple TV.
It will be sweet.
The spec of the nettop itself is as follows:
- Fanless and silent
Passive cooling, no fan noise at all
Perfect to be used in noise-sensitive environments
Fanless, dust-free and thus virtually maintenance-free - Low power consumption
Power consumption: ca. 16W (idle mode) and ca. 20W (full load) - Chassis
Dimensions without Stand: 25.2 x 16.2 x 3.85 cm (DxHxW) = 1,57 liter
Weight: 1.8 kg net, 2.5 kg gross
Hole for the Kensington Lock at the back panel
Optional accessory: 75mm and 100mm VESA mounting kit (PV01) - Operation System
This system comes without operating system.
It is compatible with Windows 7, Windows XP and Linux - Processor
Intel Dual-Core Atom processor D510 (Codename: Pineview-D)
45nm manufacturing process, FCBGA559
Intel Hyper-Threading technology: 2-threads per core
Intel 64 architecture, Core clock: 1.66GHz
L2 Cache: 1024kB , TDP: max. 15W
Integrated North Bridge with controller for memory and graphics - Cooling
Passive, completely fanless cooling - Chipset
Intel® NM10 Express Chipset
Platform Controller Hub (PCH)
Code name: Tiger Point - BIOS
AMI BIOS in a 2Mbit Flash ROM supports PnP, ACPI 3.0
Supports external USB flash memory card boot up - Memory
Supports one module DDR2-667/800 (PC5300/6400), max. 2GB
SO-DIMM slot with 200 pins - Optical drive (optional)
Support an optical DVD or Blu-ray slim-line drive
Serial ATA interface, 12.7mm height, Slimline SATA connector - Hard disk drive/SSD
Supports one Serial ATA hard disk
or one SATA SSD drive in 6.35cm/2.5″ format
The optional accessory PHD2 supports a second 2.5″ hard disk
(the bay for the optical drive will be occupied then) - Integrated Graphics
The Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is integrated into the processor
Intel GMA 3150, 400MHz render clock frequency
Intel Dynamic Vidieo Memory Technology 4.0 (DVMT 4.0)
Share system memory max. 256MB
Supports DirectX 9 and 2D/3D instruction set, Pixel Shader 2.0
MPEG2 hardware acceleration
Intel Clear Video / ProcAmp technology allows
user adjustment of hue, saturation, brightness and contrast
Analog VGA: supports up to 2048×1536, 60Hz resolution - Integrated Audio
IDT92HD81 Audio Codec with Azalia support
Two analog audio connectors (3.5mm):
1) Line out (head phone)
2) microphone input - Card Reader
4-in-1 card reader at the front side
Supports SDHC, SD, MS und MS-pro memory cards
PCIe Interface - Wired Network
RJ45 connector supports 10/100 Mbit/sec.
PCI-Express x1 interface
Supports Deep Sleep Mode (DSM)
Combo controller JMC261 (for LAN and card reader) - Wireless Network (WLAN)
Supports IEEE 802.11b/g/n, max. 150Mbps up-/downstream
Security: WPA/WPA2(-PSK), WEP 64/128bit, IEEE 802.11x/i
Single-chipset: Realtek RTL8191SE
Half size Mini-PCIe-Card - Connectors
VGA Analog Video (D-Sub 15 pol., analog)
5x USB 2.0 (1x front, 4x rear)
Network (LAN, RJ45)
Audio Line-out (head phone)
Microphone input
DC input for power adapter - LEDs and Buttons
Power button
Power LED (white)
Hard disk LED (blue) - Power supply
External 40W AC/DC power adapter (fanless)
AC Input: 100~240V AC, 50~60Hz
Automatic voltage adjust
Dimensions: 89.5 x 37 x 26.5 mm (LWH) - Certification and Compliance
EMI: CE, FCC, BSMI, C-Tick
Safety: CB, BSMI, ETL
Other compliances: RoHS, Eup Lot6 - Environmental Spec
Operating temperature range: 0~35°C - Conformity
This device is classed as a technical information
equipment (ITE) in class B and is intended for use in
living room and office. The CE-mark approves the
conformity by the EU-guidelines:
– EMV-guideline 89/336/EWG electromagnetic tolerance
– LVD-guideline 73/23/EWG use of electric devices
within certain voltage-limits
Pretty nice for such a little device which is just a few hundred dollars!
So – tell me, do you have any experience in this sort of thing? I am very open to advice at the moment, as I would love to get the perfect setup.
Let me know in the comments, if you have any thoughts or you have a similar setup yourself!
Bartolo says
Did you ever get Vortexbox running on the Shuttle? It seems like it should be a match made in heaven!