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Author Topic: MP3 Players for lobby music... William Bunch Film Handler Posts: 87 From: Misawa, Japan Registered: Nov 2001 posted 11-08-2003 06:22 PM                        Frank, Have you considered a MD player? Yes, a moving part but only a very small disk turning. Low mass. Good sound. You can record to them in real time from an analog source in ATRAC or in MP3 mode. There are decks that run off AC. In MDLP-4 you should be able to get about 5 hours on one disk.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-08-2003 08:39 PM                        Well, the Ondio is still under warrantee so I sent it back. If fixes it instead of saying that melting the player into a solid lump of bakelite voids the warrantee, then I will get a good regulated power supply and try again. If they send an email back that says, "Stupid American....you got to be kidding," then I'll just get an iPod. I don;t know what I'm worried about, those little hard drives should last years after I retire....then it'll be someone else's problem. Frank  |  IP: Logged Micheal Turlock Film Handler Posts: 9 From: Banff, Alberta, Canada Registered: Sep 2003 posted 11-09-2003 12:29 AM                    To add to William Bunch 's MD idea, I have and MD505 and you can fit about 4 hours (5 Cd's) on one disk. It runs off 1 AA Battery or the outlet and plays for almost 40 hours!  |  IP: Logged Robert D. LaValley Film Handler Posts: 58 From: Florida Registered: Aug 2003 posted 11-09-2003 03:52 AM                     I have found with guitar equipment (distortion foot pedals, wah pedals) that take a 9volt battery but have no adapter, I have looked to see the exact rating for power, AKA voltage and amps.. and gone to radio shack to buy the exact rating. The adjustable adapters that can do alot of different ratings never worked for me, they would "blow up equipment". I don't know if that helps you with the MP3 thing.. but that is my experience with make-shift adaption.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-09-2003 04:05 AM                        Yes, like Robert said, you'll need the supply to be current limited. Preferably to not much more than the device is supposed to consume (of course you could measure what it is consuming on batteries).  |  IP: Logged Jean-Michel Grin Expert Film Handler Posts: 222 From: Geneva & Lausanne, Switzerland Registered: Jul 2002 posted 11-09-2003 04:31 PM                        Hi everyone ! In some place we use MD players for the non-sync music, running 10 hours a day. they are pretty reliable, we exchange the discs every two month. An assistant has the charge to prepare various playlists an make the copy from CD to MD. Every 3 years we have to replace some MD players they are worn out. But I like the idea of the MP3 player, take care that nobody will steal hem  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 11-10-2003 11:07 AM                        While it doesn't fit your requirement of no moving parts, an Audiotron might work well for you: It's a standard width component that is rack-mountable and is 1U in height. It doesn't have any moving parts, but it does require a network connection to a storage device to retrieve WMA's, MP3's, or WAV files. I use my desktop PC as a server, since it's running all the time anyway. One of the greatest things is that you can control it via a web server interface built-in to the Audiotron. You could have this stuffed in a corner somewhere and set up playlists and control it from the mgr's office or a PC in the booth. Sound quality through the digital (optical) output is excellent, and it's a lot better than having a CD changer in my entertainment rack. The moving parts are in your PC, which is probably on most of the time anyway, and PC components are going to hold up better than a portable over the long run. Something to consider as an option...  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 11-10-2003 11:40 PM                        Scott, Very cool; this is exactly what I was talking about. Something designed for a professional environment, not something that people are supposed to wear in their jocks. But does this Turtle unit rely on a constant feed from the server PC or is the server used just to upload the music files and playlist instructions to the unit and then the unit plays it on its own? Our marquee is like that -- the PC just does all the composition and schedule commands and then the memory in the marquee just sucks it up and plays it back, over and over. You can turn off the PC if you choose once the upload is complete. Anyway, Archos is sending back a repaired Ondio player and I am going to hook it up to a good, regulated power supply. If it blows up again, then I'll hook it up to the 240vAC supply just to punish it and so I can see the LCD display quirt its black polymers all over room. Regardless, I found what I think is the perfect player -- a Creative Labs Muvo MP3 player that comes with a Universal AC adaptor. I am almost hoping I can't jerry rig the Ondio so I can order this: http://www.nomadworld.com/products/muvo_2/ The tech team assured me it will play using its AC adaptor as the source. We are a performing arts center so they want classical music on hold (well La De Da....La De Da). I got one of those horrid CD compilations -- One Thousand Great Moments of Classical Music; and they aint kidding when they say "moments" -- each piece is hardly longer than 1.5 to 2 minutes each. As awful as these box sets are in almost any other conceivable situation, here, it actually is a good thing -- the "moments" are long enough for a caller to hear a snipit of a classical melody, and no matter how often he calls, he will rarely hit the same piece. Will let you know the final outcome.  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 11-11-2003 02:08 PM                        The Audiotron does require a constant ethernet connection to the storage device. It only has buffer memory, it doesn't download the entire library locally. While this is a strength for some, it probably negates its usefulness for your application. I'm glad to hear you found a device that should work for you. Hopefully it will work as advertised, and the bright yellow case won't scream "steal me!"  |  IP: Logged Brad Allen Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 688 From: Evansville, IN, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 10-26-2004 11:58 AM                     So Frank, I'm looking to do the same as you. How did the Creative Muvo work out for you?  |  IP: Logged Anslem Rayburn Master Film Handler Posts: 476 From: Yuma, AZ, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 10-26-2004 01:36 PM                     Maybe something like this - Olympus Voice Recorder and MP3 Player Pretty decent price at NewEgg You do have to buy the AC Adapter separate.  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 10-26-2004 04:58 PM                     Frank, Have you considered the possibility of subscribing to the satelite radio service? They are offering the service, including rights for public performance, at reasonable cost. You can use an automobile receiver to feed the stereo signal for the "hold music", lobby and auditorium with a good selection of music types. They spin the discs and you just tune them in! I believe that there are some independent Michigan theatres using this system. Low cost, low initial investment and it's legal. The car receivers are well filtered and very tolerant of power levels, battery eliminators can look like old exciter lamp supplies. KEN  |  IP: Logged David Buckley Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 525 From: Oxford, N. Canterbury, New Zealand Registered: Aug 2004 posted 10-26-2004 11:32 PM                        Reliable self contained audio with no moving parts - gee thats an easy question. Run (dont walk) to http://www.gilderfluke.com and buy a MP3-50, and a 128meg smartmedia card from your local wholesale outlet. Load the music from your PC to the MP3-50 through a USB cable, screw to wall, power up, forget. The question you need to ask though, is do you need $461 worth of peace of mind? If you do, its a no-brain solution. It will do what you need forever. If $461 is a little steep, then a cheap hard disk MP3 player and a spare is probably the best you'll do. My daughters iRiver thing plugs in through a wallwart so it can be effectively mains powered.  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-27-2004 01:33 AM                        Final Update. Brad, I have been using the Ondio MP3 player hooked up to a Radio Shack regulated power supply -- the white AC Power Adaptor line -- the one with selectable outputs from like 1.5v to 15. I simply stripped it's wires and soldered them to the battery terminals in it's back. It doesn't look as elegant as I invisioned....installed in a 1U rack mount that I fancied I'd convert it to, but it works fine -- and forever. Only thing is, I found that even though it holds all these classical music "moments," it still becomes pretty repetitious for the staff; the music not only plays on hold for customers, but it plays on the staff's desk phones which have a background music feature -- speakerphones play the line feed when the phones are on-hook. Soooo, next approach. I dug out a junked PC out of our junked PC closet and just use it as a music "server." I uploaded tons of CDs to it's hard drive as MP3 files and it just plays and plays. When it craps out, there is a closet full of other junked Pentiums that can replace it. OK, so it's not my no-moving-parts idea, but it works and I am sooooo over futzing with it and listening to whiners complaining about their speakerfone music being repetitive. It also is a salve for the guilt I have about all those natural resources that are sucked out of the earth to go into a PC that has a life of about five years if your lucky, only for it to wind up in a landfill somewhere (after it first sits in our junk closet for a few more years). At least I am putting one to good use. I switch between the MP3 playlist on the hard drive and playing an internet station, www.mostlyclassical.com -- no commercials, no announcers, it's practically XFM without a subscription. Only thing with the web station is, that for some inexplicable reason, it just stops dead & has to be restarted occasionally. I still use the little modified Ondio MP3 player as a backup when I am changing playlists or recording CDs to MP3s on the hard drive. Next time around I am just going with either the largest capacity iPod on the market or Scott's Auditron unit and be done with it!  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 10-27-2004 01:44 AM                        quote: Frank Angel it still becomes pretty repetitious for the staff; the music not only plays on hold for customers, but it plays on the staff's desk phones which have a background music feature -- speakerphones play the line feed when the phones are on-hook That's nothing Feature: #86 won't fix! I don't know anyone that will tolerate telephone backgound music for more than a week. Everyone seems to opt for their own radio or cd player.  |  IP: Logged

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