[lug] audio questions

[John Hernandez]

dio2002 at indra.com wrote:
> Nathan Berry wrote:
>> The reason I have ripped my CD collection is that I run an MP3 server 
>> on my
>> LINUX box.  I can listen to my music from anywhere I have internet 
>> access.
>> I have also converted my LPs to CDs and then ripped them as well ( I have
>> over 1000).  So my music collection is pretty good sized.  It is nice to
>> have my entire collection available to me when I am at work.  Just my two
>> cents.
> 
> i'd like access to that collection ;-)
> 
> how do you access the files remotely?  do you tunnel into that server or 
> is it wide open?  what software do you use to navigate and access the 
> files remotely? i'm thinking straight http directory listings would be 
> rather inconvenient though simple to implement.
> 

Cool thread so far...

I also have remote access to my collection.  I run the open source 
Squeezecenter server (was Slimserver, pre-Logitech) and an ssh server on 
the Linux box that hosts my mp3 collection.  I can establish an ssh 
connection to this server and use ssh port forwarding to connect remotely.

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/DebianPackage

The assumption with Squeezecenter is that the music collection has 
already been properly tagged, but Squeezecenter can do a fair job of 
guessing based on filenames.  There is no built-in tag editing 
functionality.  It essentially scans the collection and uses MySQL to 
store the catalog.

Another nice Slimcenter feature is on-demand transcoding.  Say your 
collection contains flac sources.  You can configure your remote player 
to be 128kbps max bit-rate.  When you play music, Slimcenter will then 
perform on-the-fly transcoding to mp3, assuming your server's CPU is up 
to the task.

Here is the basic incantation for a remote client (where I want to listen):

1) ssh -L 9000:localhost:9000 server_ip_address

2) vlc http://localhost:9000/stream.mp3  (or your favorite player)

3) connect a web browser to http://localhost:9000 then select and play 
some music

Enhancements to this basic scheme might include:

- Use something like gstm to manage the SSH tunnel under Gnome, 
replacing step #1.  Consider key-based authentication, and perhaps 
ssh-agent to cache your key.

- If you additionally forward port 3483 across the tunnel, you can use a 
squeezebox emulator (ie SoftSqueeze) instead of vlc in step #2.  This 
enables multiple autonomous players (zones) and other nice features.

- Consider buying a Squeezebox for home.  I use one in my living room 
and really like it.