Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: rack mount mp3 player

This is topic rack mount mp3 player in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-02-2019, 02:36 PM:

On the subject of rack mount equipment, does anyone know of a rack mount mp3 player that doesn't cost ten times what it's worth?

Not that I really need one since I just use a $30 mp3 player that I have hanging on a zip tie beside the rack, but a reasonably priced rack mount player would be a nice thing to have. [Smile]

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 03-02-2019, 03:41 PM:

Look at the Denon DN-F350. That should do what you want. Denon and Tascam both have higher-end models that do similar stuff, as well.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-02-2019, 06:35 PM:

Frank - honestly - why don't you get an iPhone from that shop that is about to close?

Admittedly, it is not rackmount, but you would get a sound level meter, screen luminance meter, audio/video remote, vnc client, mp3 player, and many more useful things for a cinema in one portable package.

With regard to a rackmounted device (including the one on a zip tie), the user interface for playing mp3 is much more elegant and variable on an iPhone.

- Carsten

Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 03-02-2019, 10:05 PM:

IF you do buy a Denon CD with USB drive steer clear of DN 700C units.
We bought 2 for the FM radio station I volunteer at to replace ageing other domestic type Denons...Nothing but trouble.

Extremely cranky machines that allow a CD to be inserted & then displays NO CD when you track select and because a CD is really inside & the daft machine says NO CD you cant get the friggin thing out again.
To get the CD out you have to disembowel the player and even once inside you need about 4 hands to release the damn CD. Swines of things but the USB portion seems to be reliable.

If you just want a quick use MP3 player there are heaps on EBay for about $20 tops that will play USB and TF cards and many have inbuilt FM tuners as well.

When I had my digital cinema I used one of those powered by a 5V USB plug pack and had a TF card fully loaded with music and whenever the site was powered up the MP3 player came up supplying the Non sync stuff and the CP650 was just told by the automation to switch to DCP or Non Sync as needed.
Worked a treat and with a TF card FULL of music you rarely heard the same track twice.

Just purchased a couple of similar modules from EBay that run from 12V Dc and are just the unit itself & requires a box around it but for $6 they are great.
Has line out (L & R) can play USB, TF cards, can pair it to an iPhone or similar via Bluetooth function plus an inbuilt FM tuner along with a small remote.
I am building this into a small box about 200mm x 150mm x 80mm to shove on the radio station audio rack so presenters who occasionally use USB or want to pair their iPhone to it can do so
with the thing powered by a 12V plug pack.
The remote allows them to stop /start as needed and IF you have recorded the track & artist info that appears on the display screen.
How the Chinese make these for that price is beyond me but they work and work well [Smile]

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-03-2019, 08:49 AM:

Some come with a front bezel that would make it very easy to mount them through a simple cutout into a 1U 19" blank:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-LED-Bluetooth-Stereo-MP3-Player-Decoder-Board-SD-USB-AUX-FM-Remote-Control/132678310385?

Looks as if this one memorizes play status, track and volume between power off/on cycles.

I would still prefer an older/second hand iPhone, because it is simply more versatile. Yeah, I guess I would find ways to rack mount it ;-)

- Carsten

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-03-2019, 01:30 PM:

Based on the price and (lack of) features, I guess I'll just stick with the $30 mp3 player and the zip tie.

Hey, I did find a way to rack mount it! Er, well, it is mounted on the rack, right? [Smile]

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-03-2019, 06:33 PM:

booooooooring...

Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 03-03-2019, 10:07 PM:

Carsten,

That link is to a very similar one to the ones I am playing with right now.
Very good performer once you get past the Chinglish instructions etc.
In our situation the unit will sit on one of the rack shelves and should look quite neat with its jazzy front display.

Lindsay

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 03-04-2019, 02:54 AM:

Don't you have an old computer somewhere? Some real desktop machine with a real ATX-sized motherboard inside of it?

Buy a generic 19" case for it and put Linux on it and you have a 19" rack-mountable MP3 player. Put mp3blaster on it and you can control your MP3 player via SSH from anywhere. [Wink]

Posted by Juan Jose Garcia Calvo (Member # 1702) on 03-04-2019, 06:33 AM:

There are rack mounting docks for IPhone. You can find it with gooooogle.

I was looking for something like you're looking for, but I wanted it to be a Lan connected device to "ingest" music and make playlist from the box-office computer.
I finally found this (second hand, 80 bucks):

CRESTON AAS Adagio Audio Server

It include an storage HDD, 4 independient outputs for 4 different zones (I only need one) and it's whatever I wanted but I have only one problem. The WEB UI needs and old flashplayer plugin and our boxoffice PC is a Win7 with the latest flashPlayer version.
I'm looking for an old flash player emulator (if it exists) better that downgrade the flash version...

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 03-04-2019, 12:45 PM:

quote: Juan Jose Garcia Calvo
The WEB UI needs and old flashplayer plugin and our boxoffice PC is a Win7 with the latest flashPlayer version.
I'm looking for an old flash player emulator (if it exists) better that downgrade the flash version...

Why not just pick up a cheap, Win XP loaded PC and run your player with that? You could easily run with an outdated flash player and not have to worry about viruses and other issues. (Which would be bad to have on your boxoffice computer.) You could probably also get away with having the player and cheap PC offline (from the Internet) for better security.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-04-2019, 01:42 PM:

quote: Juan Jose Garcia Calvo
I'm looking for an old flash player emulator

GNU Gnash

Posted by Juan Jose Garcia Calvo (Member # 1702) on 03-05-2019, 04:49 AM:

Good idea, Tony, but box office is as small and there are a lot of "things", electric, boxes... but this could be a good idea.

Thanks Frank, I will take a look in this link.

Regards