Data stick to stereo player?

[X-ian]

After buying new converters and monitors I have. Been spending a lot of time running in and out of the sudio checking mixes on my home stereo in my living room (basically learning to mix again.) I burn the mix to a cd check it toss it in the garbage and repeat. I could go get some re-recordable cd's. However I really wish I could find a sort of docking station for a flash/usb drive that had a music player and converters built in with rca outs so I could just drag my mixes to a data stick, dock and hit play. I also have my entire cd collection on a hard drive and would like to play it through a variety of cool and not so cool stereo gear I have in my house without having to run out of the sound card of my computer. Kinda like a cd player with no cd and a USB port. So does anyone know of such a device? Does that seem useful you guys? Or how do you all end up playing your files on other consumer gear?
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"It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done" - Gibby Hanes

[Nick Sevilla]

iPod, with a charging dock.
Plus one 1/8" to rca stereo cable.
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The Song. Nothing else really matters.

[X-ian]

I do have an I-phone I just find I-tunes annoying, and it changes everything to an aiff. My hard drive is full of 16 bit wave files. It would just be nice to plug the drive in. No program with user agreements every two days. Just drag, drop, plug, play.
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"It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done" - Gibby Hanes

[RoyMatthews]

iPhones play WAVs.
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"If there's one ironclad rule of pop history, it's this: The monkey types Hamlet only once."

[chris harris]

That's too bad... a company already offers something that does pretty much exactly what you want. But, you don't want it because 1. you don't understand how to use it, and 2. irrational fear.

iTunes doesn't automatically convert anything. You should look into how to use iTunes. You also only have to approve the user agreement when they make updates. Lots of users appreciate how frequently they improve the usefulness of their application.

Couldn't you do the same thing with a portable player from another company, though?
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Studio - http://www.hookechosound.com
Label - http://www.wearenicepeople.com
Band - http://www.depthandcurrent.com
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/HoodEchoSound

[Nick Sevilla]

[X-ian]

Ok I am wrong about the I-phone. And yes I am old and computers scare me. (I just record on one every day.) I still can't conect a 2 tb hard drive to it or borrow a friends hard drive and connect it. I love my I phone this whole post is being done on it at a volleyball tounament. I am just dreaming of a device I wish existed but I have not found. It sounds like I am the only one who would use it. Maybe that is why they don't exist. I just think it would be cool to have the storage separate from the player and not need to sync anything or use a program to get it on the storage. I suppose I could get a player with one of those micro sd cards (not exactly a two tb hard drive but removable storage.) But like I said earlier I am old I can barely see those things I would surely lose it. a USB data stick is about as small as I want to go.
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"It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done" - Gibby Hanes

[jhharvest]

Don't worry, X-ian. They do exist and other people use them too! Type in "usb media player" into Google and you'll find plenty. A lot of them take memory cards as well, so you aren't just restricted to USB. A lot of them however will only take MP3 and WMA (i.e. no wav or even aiff, which you so revile) and a lot of them will require a TV to see what you are doing.

The Mini APE might be most suitable for your needs.

[X-ian]

I guess I just want to turn a drive into something simple like a tape,cd or record. There is something nice about the simplicity of those devices. They hold data you put them in or on a player and sound comes out. I know I could take the time learn to use the devices I already own better. I just thought would be cool. I don't hate aiff I just want to pick a file format and stick with it. I chose wav. I saw some of the players that do video and music that hook up to your tv. I have a 3d tv that connects to the Internet and the Xbox and blue ray and the wi and my computer and dvr and stereo and they all network and have apps and stream Netflix and on and on. I just want a stand alone device. I never had to hook my turntable to the tv to get it to work, but thanks for the advice. I will just pick up some rewritable cd's and get on with the process of learning my new gear.
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"It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done" - Gibby Hanes

[jhharvest]

I'm sorry I wasted my time in replying to your thread.

[X-ian]

I'm sorry I didn't mean to come off as dismissive of your suggestion. After searching as you recommended I did find products that seem very close to what I am looking for. I might want one for the mess of stuff in the living room. It just won't work for every stereo, as it seems it must be connected to a tv. The boom box in the garage would be out of luck. The price of the video ones seem very cheap. I would buy 5 audio only USB media players with just a small dx-7 size screen to navigate folders and track numbers if I could find one. Then I could just walk around the house and check mixes in different rooms on different systems to see how mixes are translating. One for the car test would be cool too. It does not seem like the technology would be too difficult.
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"It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done" - Gibby Hanes

[X-ian]

Buying this just for the USB would be overkill http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/534550540
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"It's better to regret something you have done than something you haven't done" - Gibby Hanes

[Snarl 12/8]

Hey X,

I just want to say hi to another person who's sick of all the gadgets. People think we're stupid assholes for not wanting to adapt the way we work, live and even think to all the tiny menus and keyboards that are out there. Not every human can thrive in menu hell and, frankly, I'm glad there's some diversity among humans in this regard.

I was looking for a player that I didn't have to boot up for the livingroom/kitchen stereo. So I could get to cooking breakfast, or dinner, or making tea or whatever without having to face a boot up. My family bought me a turntable for my birthday. So obvious it didn't even occur to me as I was looking through all the tech that was out there. And records are even random access, I love it.

So, what about a low-power FM transmitter hooked up to your mixer. Anything with a radio could audition your shit. Fast, no waste and old school. And somehow sounds about a million times funner that dicking with USB all afternoon. You'd have to find one with a suitable range, not too long or too short.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=fm+transmitter

ck
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Carl Keil

[vvv]

I love the idear of what you are looking for.

That Mini Ape player is US$320 on E-bog.

FWIW, my daughter has a I-Pod and phone and alla that happy crap - I think I-tunes is bloat-ware that wastes my time and energy keeping it updated, and I agree, AIFF is not to my liking, either.

My son has a little player - Samsung? - that takes WAV; the only problem is, I don't have easily accessible ports or even jacks on the stereos in my house and office, and I drive a '96 pick-up.

In the truck I use a FM-band transmitter (Belkin, I think, US$30 or so).

In the house, etc., I use CDR's; I buy 'em in bulk.

I really missed the large artwork when we went from albums to CD's. At this point, I refuse to give up CD's because I don't want to lose covers and lyrics and info.

I carry a Discman with me on my commute.
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vlayman; THD; blog; TFP

[Scodiddly]

You want low-tech, no menus, no bloatware. You don't want to compress the files.

Run a fucking cable.

[Scodiddly]

You want low-tech, no menus, no bloatware. You don't want to compress the files.

Run a fucking cable.