5.1 Sound Card Delivers 3 Streams of iTunes 259
An anonymous reader writes "How do you distribute simultaneous streams of DRM-protected iTunes from a single computer to multiple rooms of the house? Autonomic Controls demonstrated a unique solution at the recent Electronic House Expo (EHX). The company's Media Control Server EX software turns a PC with a 5.1 sound card into a three-zone music distribution server. (Add a second card for six outputs). At EHX, the solution was demonstrated with a multiroom audio system from NuVo, whose keypads could be used to browse and select songs, playlists, genres, artists, etc. The Autonomic software merges WMA and iTunes files into a single library for easy access." I have mixed feelings about this: on one hand, this is a really clever idea and a cool hack. On the other hand, the fact that DRM makes something like this necessary is truly infuriating.
Time is on our side... yes it is. (Score:5, Insightful)
Simple (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Simple (Score:5, Insightful)
Rear 5.1 outputs (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Time is on our side... yes it is. (Score:1, Insightful)
You can buy a decent used piano, or a nice guitar, for the price of all that stuff. Want music? Go play some.
Re:Simple (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Simple (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Tech just isn't here yet... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Simple (Score:2, Insightful)
There is no amount of whining that is sufficient for some people. If an iPod gave you no strings attached sex for the rest of your life, dorks would complain because it didn't make your breakfast.
Re:Duh! (Score:3, Insightful)
Generally, I:
I argue that they have my $.99, so I should get to listen to what I paid for. Better than just skipping to #2, I think, though it's a legal gray area.
DRM doesn't make it necessary (Score:3, Insightful)
It's convenient because you can buy one computer and one sound card and have music in three rooms, instead of buying multiple computers or really expensive Sonos appliances.
Re:Time is on our side... yes it is. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Time is on our side... yes it is. (Score:2, Insightful)