Vortexbox

bikezappa
bikezappa Posts: 2,463
edited August 2014 in Electronics
Hi I'm trying to set up a music server and saw this advertised for $400.

Has anyone used this and what do you think?

Is it easy to set up and listen to music to.

Thanks

Peter
Post edited by bikezappa on
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  • bikezappa
    bikezappa Posts: 2,463
    edited April 2013
    I forgot to add that I have Squeeze box touch.
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  • Syndil
    Syndil Posts: 1,582
    edited April 2013
    It's just a NAS with an attached CD reader for ripping CDs directly to the NAS. Doesn't save any time IMO since you still need to tag and organize your music to suit you after it's been ripped, which you'll be doing with your computer, so why not rip from the computer anyway.

    And it only supports 1 HDD so of course it's not RAIDed, which kind of defeats the purpose of a NAS.

    Get a ReadyNAS, rip your music to it instead.

    RT-12, CS350-LS, PSW-300, Infinity Overture 1, Monoprice RC-65i
    Adcom GFA-545II, GFA-6000, Outlaw Audio 990, Netgear NeoTV
    Denon DCM-460, DMD-1000, Sony BDP-360, Bravia KDL-40Z4100/S
    Monster AVL-300, HTS-2500 MKII
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  • jmwest1970
    jmwest1970 Posts: 846
    edited April 2013
    I built my vortexbox from an old Dell Optiplex 745 and I love it. It rips and tags my music automatically. The caveat is that you must configure the process manually if you don't like the default way it tags. This is done once through a text config file. I also like the fact that it can rip audio into multiple formats. I rip flac for streaming to a Squeezebox Classic and mp3 for my wife. It saves a lot of time over manual conversion.
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited April 2013
    To me, the hardware is nothing special - it's the software that lets you turn any pc into a music server - that's where it's at for me.
    http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?126056-VortexBox-rocks!

    Love my vortexbox solution. It rips, tags, stores, and serves. Can't ask for more for free.

    Read up at www.vortexbox.org or info.vortexbox.org
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  • Syndil
    Syndil Posts: 1,582
    edited April 2013
    Yeah I can understand building a Vortexbox more than buying one. But for the price of the hardware, a different NAS is a much better way to spend your money IMO. If you've got an old PC you want to throw it on, that's one thing, but buying an expensive (and dumbed-down) NAS just to run Vortexbox...

    RT-12, CS350-LS, PSW-300, Infinity Overture 1, Monoprice RC-65i
    Adcom GFA-545II, GFA-6000, Outlaw Audio 990, Netgear NeoTV
    Denon DCM-460, DMD-1000, Sony BDP-360, Bravia KDL-40Z4100/S
    Monster AVL-300, HTS-2500 MKII
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  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    edited April 2013
    I'm not advocating for the NAS. I'm just a fan of the free software. I put together my own low-cost, low-power pc solution to run it.
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  • bikezappa
    bikezappa Posts: 2,463
    edited April 2013
    Sorry for the late reply.
    I'm not a computer whiz and am hoping that the Vortexbox provides lossless data transfer as well as organized, logical, detailed, and editable information. I realize that NAS is cheaper but my limited knowledge of how it works leads me to believe that it is a more general format than Vortexbox and would require an ability to associate the NAS with my Squeezebox while the Vortexbox has that feature of recognizing Squeezebox built into it. Am I missing something by dismissing NAS as not practical to a less than savvy computer user?
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited April 2013
    I didn't like the interface issues that I had with Vortex box when I built one; no longer use it.
    Jake
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  • bikezappa
    bikezappa Posts: 2,463
    edited April 2013
    You built one! We were going to buy one from Amazon for $400 I think.
    By interface issues do you mean loading the CD music lossless or trying to find the music you want easily.

    Or something else.

    Sorry for the dumb questions.

    Thanks
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited April 2013
    I always seemed to have issues when logging on to it from my regular PC. I was able to transfer some music to it, but got errors after using for a week, and I didn't have the code experience to trouble shoot and figure out what was going on.

    I also have a squeezebox touch, and currently serve all my music off a second hard drive on my main PC in the office. If you want a stand-alone option, I would recommend a NAS for ease of use, and since the SBT works with a lot of different servers.

    If you still want to try the Vortexbox route, I'll send you a clean, low-profile PC and fresh copy of Vortexbox OS for the cost of shipping.
    Jake
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  • bikezappa
    bikezappa Posts: 2,463
    edited April 2013
    Zingo

    Thank you for your generious offer. I'm not sure what my wife wants to do with the Vortexbox yet. It's a lot of work loading a 1000 cds.

    She read some where that someone had dropout issues while playing cds with the squeezebox.
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited April 2013
    spam
    Jake
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  • kappclark
    kappclark Posts: 136
    edited June 2013
    I love my vortexbox .. runs on a garden-variety HP tower w/2GB and 130GB HD...BTW - it is not correct that you can only run a vortexbox with 1 HD ... I am OK in hard drive dept since the entire music library is only 70GB

    Here is how

    anyway - the PC was free, the server software is free, and the included player is free ...currently feeds a Yamaha receiver powering a pair of Polk monitor 40's ... upstairs I use squeezeplay to access the vortexbox library, and feed a pair of monitor 60's ..access to thousands of radio stations and is controllable with an ipad/iphone or the Logitech remote.

    A good support community...
    *************************
    ** Bill Clark Windham, VT **
    *************************
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  • kappclark
    kappclark Posts: 136
    edited July 2014
    How did you do with the music server ?

    Just rebuilt my vortexbox with 1 TB hd and version 2.3 ....very easy...library of music and movies now about 350 gb, so lots of Rome to grow.

    Great support community
    *************************
    ** Bill Clark Windham, VT **
    *************************
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  • bikezappa
    bikezappa Posts: 2,463
    edited August 2014
    I have hooked my Squeezebox to my Vortexbox and all appears to function well. I have three Sony jukeboxes with about 800 cds. I have loaded about 400 cds onto the Vortexbox. I like the sound of this set up better than the Sony CD players. I also love the playing options with the remotes screen.

    One thing I have noticed is the SQB/VORT combination has a greater dynamic range when playing CDs. I some times need to lower
    the volume.

    Anyone have a similar experience?
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  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,590
    edited August 2014
    Interesting... I may have to give one of these a shot. That or try using the WD Live TV to play my music...
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
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