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Topic: Dedicated touchscreen computer for music? (Read 10101 times) previous topic - next topic
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Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

I've always been a Mac guy and I know nothing about Windows computers.  Heck, I don't even know much about Macs.  I probably am unaware of 95% of what my computer can do.

I also have a better-than-average component stereo setup, not audiophile, but still very very good.  I still don't have a way of playing FLACs and MP3s.  On my stereo right now, it's still only CDs.  My desk is not near the stereo, so I've never hooked up my computer for music playback.

A few years ago, I saw that promo for the Sooloos all-in-one music station, basically a touchscreen computer optimized for audiophile music playback.  But, the price is out of reach, so forget it.

So now I see Windows computers with touchscreens at Costco for five hundred bucks and I'm thinking I would happily spend that much to have working fluid touch-screen access to hard-drive based music right on top of my stereo.  No jittery wireless Apple Airport ... instead, fully wired in to my stereo as though it was just another component.  A dedicated touchscreen computer just for playing music through my stereo.

So, these days, does ANY computer do the job?  Would a $500 Windows computer with a touchscreen give me that "walk-up-pick-your-album-touch-play" experience?  And would a $500 touchscreen computer (that I would buy today) still do the job in two years if I upgrade from my very very good stereo to an unfreekinbelievable audiophile setup?

I understand I would also need a quality external DAC.  Other than that though, would a $500 computer be adequate?

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #1 –
The choice of computer doesn't matter at all.  If you just want a touch screen, I'd get something cheap and then spend the money I saved on a DAC.

Still $500 is a lot to spend for what you want.  If you already have a tablet/smartphone/laptop, a streaming device hooked up to your stereo might make a lot more sense.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #2 –
Quote from: saratoga on
Still $500 is a lot to spend for what you want.

A lot for what you want and rather little for a pre-built PC, in my opinion.
The thing probably wouldn't be very snappy. If you go this route, i advise you to test it or a similar spec'd model in-store before buying.

Definitely look-into tablets and stuff too, as saratoga said.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #3 –
Pretty much any computer with an SPDIF or HDMI output will get you the highest quality output possible. You might want to adjust some low-level soundcard settings; most Windows PCs default to 48khz out, if all of your music is 44.1khz, you might want to change it if you fear resampling artifacts.

Something to consider is an Android tablet with HDMI out, a large SD card, and upgrading your receiver. If all you're doing is 2-channel stereo, any basic HDMI receiver under $200 will exceed the limits of human hearing when connected to an Android tablet. You can use Bittorrent Sync to easily synchronize a folder of mp3s, aacs, and flacs between a desktop computer and the tablet.

I recently bought a $100 2-channel receiver that supports the aptx bluetooth protocol. It's based off of ADPCM, but I don't know if it can meet or exceed the limits of human hearing. Assuming the protocol is "good enough," you could wirelessly play music from an Android tablet!

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: saratoga on
Still $500 is a lot to spend for what you want.  If you already have a tablet/smartphone/laptop, a streaming device hooked up to your stereo might make a lot more sense.


Thank you for the replies, guys.  Very helpful.

Here is my current, very green, understanding.  I have a Mac laptop in the house.  I don't have a wireless router yet, but I could pick one up any day now. 

If I had my computer on my desk, the most frequent setup I read about involves Airport Express.  I haven't looked at it that hard, but I guess it's got some digital out or something.  Anyway, lots of guys are using it to wirelessly get music to their stereos.

Only thing is that I read about frequent hiccups, stutters, etc.  Apparently, the thing can't get data fast enough to play music without occasional breaks.  I don't listen to music casually.  I shut out the whole world and listen intently without interruption for the length of an album.  Listening in that way ... even one hiccup ruins a whole album.  Not an audiophile experience. 

I've read this complaint on more than one occasion.  So that has scared me off of wireless music in the house and has me thinking I should spend the $500 for a computer, another $X for a good DAC, and then I'll have my little poor man's Sooloos. 

But those posts about hiccups and stutters were not recent.  Maybe 6-12 months old.  Has anything changed since then?  Are hiccups a thing of the past and is wireless streaming now perfected (with full size FLAC or ALAC files, not just 128MP3's)?

Besides ... wireless streaming ... I don't think my three year old Mac laptop does that.  (I haven't learned much about wireless streaming yet.)  You need a more recent computer to send music from a computer to a streaming receiver like Airport, don't you?

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #5 –
A wireless network must be really poor not to be able to stream a ALAC stream. You're talking about perhaps 1 mbit/s max. plus a two second buffer in the AirPlay device to catch any small hiccups. I have a fairly shoddy wireless network (a lot of interference from dozens of neighbouring networks plus a poor router) but have never experienced a hiccup in my AirPlay. I use a 2010 MacBook Pro for AirPlay and it works fine, it's not hardware dependent, it's software dependent. If you can run a recent OS X (at least 10.7?) it will support AirPlay. Your three your old Mac will definitely support it.

Why not just get some old iPad second hand (make sure it can still run iOS 7 or iOS 8 so you're guaranteed it will run Foobar Mobile for the foreseeable future) and connect it to an external DAC? Playing music is hardly taxing for a device so some three year old iPad they're selling on eBay will still be more than enough for what you want. Then connect that with a cable to your amp. I have used the 30-pin to Lightning adapter (it contains a Wolfson WM8533 DAC inside) and connected it to a 30-pin to RCA+USB cable and ran that into my amp. It charges my devices while I listen to music and it sounds great.

You’ll have a very low maintenance device with a platform that will get a lot of attention from the Foobar devs for half of your budget.
Every night with my star friends / We eat caviar and drink champagne
Sniffing in the VIP area / We talk about Frank Sinatra
Do you know Frank Sinatra? / He's dead

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: John 31415926 on
I've always been a Mac guy and I know nothing about Windows computers.  Heck, I don't even know much about Macs.  I probably am unaware of 95% of what my computer can do.

I also have a better-than-average component stereo setup, not audiophile, but still very very good.  I still don't have a way of playing FLACs and MP3s.  On my stereo right now, it's still only CDs.  My desk is not near the stereo, so I've never hooked up my computer for music playback.

A few years ago, I saw that promo for the Sooloos all-in-one music station, basically a touchscreen computer optimized for audiophile music playback.  But, the price is out of reach, so forget it.

So now I see Windows computers with touchscreens at Costco for five hundred bucks and I'm thinking I would happily spend that much to have working fluid touch-screen access to hard-drive based music right on top of my stereo.  No jittery wireless Apple Airport ... instead, fully wired in to my stereo as though it was just another component.  A dedicated touchscreen computer just for playing music through my stereo.

So, these days, does ANY computer do the job?  Would a $500 Windows computer with a touchscreen give me that "walk-up-pick-your-album-touch-play" experience?  And would a $500 touchscreen computer (that I would buy today) still do the job in two years if I upgrade from my very very good stereo to an unfreekinbelievable audiophile setup?

I understand I would also need a quality external DAC.  Other than that though, would a $500 computer be adequate?


If you liked the Sooloos concept, Meridian have produced something similar that is supplied with certain HP computers, called 'HP Connected Music'. I haven't tried it, though: https://www.meridian-audio.com/hp-connected-music/

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #7 –
Quote from: John 31415926 on
I've always been a Mac guy and


My own view of Apple aside: http://support.apple.com/en-la/HT201739 ?

I would use something fanless though. And you might need some CPU power for a HUGE database if you have one. (I have.)

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #8 –
The only Apple hardware in my house are a couple of AirPorts that I use to distribute music. I have one connected to my main AV receiver, and another in another part of the house connected to an amplifier with its own set of speakers for that area.

The main PC with all of the music is in a completely different room. I can stream music from either MediaMonkey or iTunes from that main computer over wifi to the AirPorts.

Also, I can remote desktop to that main PC from a laptop anywhere in the house to control the MediaMonkey or iTunes application that is running on that main PC.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #9 –
Airport has done audio streaming on macs for more than a decade. I don't think the age of you laptop really matters.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #10 –
Is there a nice touch-screen (i.e. new-style / metro) music playing or control app for Windows 8.1? Either to play music on that machine, or control the playback on some other little cheap machine?

Crappy Android tablets are stupidly cheap, and usable windows 8.1 tablets are now quite reasonably priced (e.g. 10" for under £160).

Cheers,
David.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #11 –
As others have said, Apple already has a proven solution to your need.  Purchase an Airport Express and follow instructions on p14 of the manual:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000...setup_guide.pdf

Use iTunes on your Mac to select music and control playback/volume.  Get the Remote app and you can do the same from your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch:
https://www.apple.com/apps/remote/

Total investment: about $100.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #12 –
Dear John

I had the same idea as yourself and bought one of these 2 years ago when Windows 8 first came out.



ASUS Vivobook S200E

I wanted one capable of running Traktor and Ableton as well as foobar, VLC etc. The i3 3217U (1.8hz) version cost £400 at the time and has fulfilled it's intended role admirably. With maybe a few caveats that are understandable at the price. I have since retrofitted it with a Samsung SSD when the guarantee ran out. Easy.

The i3 3217U is quoted at 1.8Hz and is capable of running Traktor, Ableton (within reason) and Reaper. Streams and plays video seamlessly and only weighs 3 pounds.
I can even play some less demanding games. In fact in applications I have no complaints at all with the speed, especially since fitting the SSD. When it does have problems they all seem to stem from windows itself. Monthly upgrades can take up to 2 hours to complete for example. 1.8hz is a bit misleading though as that is effectively the turbo speed. It can throttle back considerably when it gets hot. Although like I said audio and video never give issues as long as Windows doesn't interfere and start serious disc bothering antics.

It is effectively a MacBook Air with a touch screen for half the price. Except nothing on it is quite as good as on the Mac. The screen is probably the weakest link comparatively. It is quite dim and making it more legible shortens battery life significantly. In any case it is quite useless outdoors on even a moderately sunny day. Flashing lights indoors also causes problems but when mixing it's best to use a physical mixer or control surface for detailed work anyway.

It has HDMI (& VGA) which  I don't use much. The built in analogue output is surprisingly good and I have no qualms using that for headphones or simple line out when on the road. Usually though I pair it with a $100 USB 2.0 Native Instruments Audio 2 when out and about so I can cue and pre listen. It also has software loaded so I can connect to my MOTU Ultralite and SPL Crimson interfaces when back at base.

NI Audio 2

The built in Bluetooth wireless is rubbish. Constant stutters and skips but I cured that by getting a cheap Sennheisser BTD 500 USB dongle which has Apt-X and works great with all receivers used so far. I have Belkin and a QED uPlay models permanently attached to my main interfaces. It's on the local network and I can even remote log in to my desktop PCs. Sit on the couch and flip through my collection without moving. Excellent. No need for a mouse!

BTD 500 USB
QED uPlay

All in all very pleased with the purchase. In fact it's been so useful I'd probably be prepared to spend a bit more if I needed a replacement. I'd look for an SSD, brighter screen, faster CPU and a model where the keyboard separates from the screen.

Please feel free to ask any questions you have but I'm starting to bang on a bit now so I'll leave it there for now.

ed: rd - added link and corrected error.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #13 –
Raspberry Pi attached to the receiver and running mpd. If you want something pretty on the TV screen you could run openelec or something on it.

For control you could use any android device with an mpd client (such as mpdroid) over the wifi network. Or if you go the full XBMC route use the xbmc remote app.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #14 –
Quote from: 2Bdecided on
Is there a nice touch-screen (i.e. new-style / metro) music playing or control app for Windows 8.1? Either to play music on that machine, or control the playback on some other little cheap machine?

Crappy Android tablets are stupidly cheap, and usable windows 8.1 tablets are now quite reasonably priced (e.g. 10" for under £160).

Cheers,
David.


Maybe something like this ??

http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php...st&p=886614

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #15 –
Quote from: Apesbrain on
As others have said, Apple already has a proven solution to your need.  Purchase an Airport Express and follow instructions on p14 of the manual:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000...setup_guide.pdf

Use iTunes on your Mac to select music and control playback/volume.  Get the Remote app and you can do the same from your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch:
https://www.apple.com/apps/remote/

Total investment: about $100.



well the OP did write

Quote
No jittery wireless Apple Airport ... instead, fully wired in to my stereo as though it was just another component.


so it appears he doesn't want that

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #16 –
Quote from: rick.hughes on
The only Apple hardware in my house are a couple of AirPorts that I use to distribute music. I have one connected to my main AV receiver, and another in another part of the house connected to an amplifier with its own set of speakers for that area.

The main PC with all of the music is in a completely different room. I can stream music from either MediaMonkey or iTunes from that main computer over wifi to the AirPorts.

Also, I can remote desktop to that main PC from a laptop anywhere in the house to control the MediaMonkey or iTunes application that is running on that main PC.



Original poster here.

Holy cow, guys ... thank you for the replies.  I don't know who to single out ... so much great information here.  Thank you *thank* you.

Yeah, an iPad would do the job - although in the back of my mind I do picture a larger touchscreen, preferably 20" or more.  Also, I'm really keen on having most, if not all, of my music collection at my fingertips.  Over 3TB of stuff.  I've never owned an iPad or even used one.  Do they connect to an external drive as easily as my Mac Powerbook?  With the $500 Costco computer, I've got 1TB on board, which would keep me busy for a little while, especially if I reencode all my FLACs to HQ-compressed.

rick.hughes ... since you're thoroughly into Airports, have you ever had the experience I've read about several times wherein the music skips or stutters because the wireless transmission isn't keeping up?  That's a show stopper for me, and I have read that complaint more than once, especially with regards to larger lossless files.  What is your experience?

If it wasn't for that, yes, I would be looking at an Airport.  But I'm like Woody Allen watching Citizen Kane or Casablanca.  If someone pauses it even for a second, the whole movie is ruined for the night.  It needs to play perfectly from beginning to end. 

 


But c'mon ... is there no one here who also imagines this picture below as the coolest digital music interface ever?  I know I'm going to miss the ritual of walking up to my wall of 1800 CDs, pulling down a disc, opening the case, laying the CD into the player tray, and setting the jewel case face-forward in the 'now playing' stand on the speaker.  At the very least, it would be cool to still have a large touch-display to walk up to, go through the process of choosing an album, and then stepping back and enjoying the music.  A handheld remote like an iPod Touch just wouldn't be my speed.  It gets the job done, of course, but there's no sensual foreplay in that.

Maybe this forum just doesn't cater to anal-retentive OCD weirdos like me.  I had always thought all real audiophiles had a streak of that going through them.  Is it in fact just me?





.
.
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jabbatheprawn ... since you asked, I'm not interested in the features of the Sooloos software or onboard ripping or any of that.  I'm perfectly happy with iTunes or Vox.  When I say I want something like a "Sooloos", all I'm really referring to is a large touch-screen in a stationary place like on top of my component cabinet... and the screen showing all my album art so that scrolling and selecting music is at least a little like pulling down LPs or CDs off a shelf.

Nothing more complicated than that.  Ripping, tagging, etc ... I can do all that on my Mac.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #17 –
Quote from: John 31415926 on
all I'm really referring to is a large touch-screen in a stationary place like on top of my component cabinet... and the screen showing all my album art so that scrolling and selecting music is at least a little like pulling down LPs or CDs off a shelf.


A "all-in-one" touchscreen computer? Like this? http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-23-g010-...asin=B00HC3YXRO
There are lots of them around, from somewhat cheaper than this (but this is 23") and up.

Edit: Myself I would avoid those in order to get the computer itself (fan noise ...) out of the way.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #18 –
Quote from: John 31415926 on
jabbatheprawn ... since you asked, I'm not interested in the features of the Sooloos software or onboard ripping or any of that.  I'm perfectly happy with iTunes or Vox.  When I say I want something like a "Sooloos", all I'm really referring to is a large touch-screen in a stationary place like on top of my component cabinet... and the screen showing all my album art so that scrolling and selecting music is at least a little like pulling down LPs or CDs off a shelf.

Nothing more complicated than that.  Ripping, tagging, etc ... I can do all that on my Mac.

By Sooloos 'features', I was meaning the browsing and playing experience. I've read reviews of Sooloos that showed a horror of the price (not surprising), but raved about the useability of the interface. If you can find a shop doing a demo of the bundled HP version, play with it a little and see if it's what you want.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #19 –
You might consider the AM1 socket processors from AMD. I got the top of line one, but it is still dirt cheap. I myself use it for video surveillance and it is running 24/7. So I can see from my home what's happening at my company.
Silence was an important factor because i keep it in the living room and computers can get noisy. AsRock has a motherboard for AM1 which uses DC input like laptops, so i got that and a power brick and I basically eliminated the noise from the power supply. The only moving part in this pc is the fan on the CPU, which is very quiet because the CPU has a max TDP of 25 W. I measured the finished computer and it pulls out 22W of the socket.
It works very smoothly in browsing, watched some full HD movies on it, no problem. I imagine this kind of computer would be great for what you want as well, just hook it up to a touchscreen.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #20 –
Quote from: Porcus on
Quote from: John 31415926 on
all I'm really referring to is a large touch-screen in a stationary place like on top of my component cabinet... and the screen showing all my album art so that scrolling and selecting music is at least a little like pulling down LPs or CDs off a shelf.


A "all-in-one" touchscreen computer? Like this? http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-23-g010-...asin=B00HC3YXRO
There are lots of them around, from somewhat cheaper than this (but this is 23") and up.

Edit: Myself I would avoid those in order to get the computer itself (fan noise ...) out of the way.



Thank you for mentioning fan noise, Porcus.  That's definitely another show-stopper.  I'm really looking for an ideal listening situation and fan noise would be another thing that would disrupt truly enjoying an album.

I saw a fellow on youtube ... it might be that top photo of the touch screen in the kitchen wall ... and he actually went the full distance of a touch screen with a Mac Mini inside the closet behind the touch screen.  So he had no computer noise whatsoever and the touch screen I'm after. 

Of course, he paid I suspect around $1200 for that setup.  At that point I have to ask how badly I want this thing.  As some guys here have pointed out, $500 for a cheap computer to play music is expensive.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #21 –
Quote from: John 31415926 on
I saw a fellow on youtube ... it might be that top photo of the touch screen in the kitchen wall ... and he actually went the full distance of a touch screen with a Mac Mini inside the closet behind the touch screen.  So he had no computer noise whatsoever and the touch screen I'm after.


There are a couple of 23" touchscreen monitors below $200 on Amazon. Dunno about Appleware compatibility.

Since you are likely looking to browse "big" covers by flipping them around (rather than small icons to tap on, right?) then - for all that I know - a phone or pad could suffice? (Don't ask me for software, sorry - I am completely helpless without a mechanical QWERTY.)

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #22 –
A lot of the recent, cheap "Bay Trail" (and somewhat pricier "Core M") based computers, even some touchscreen desktops, are fanless.

The Bay Trail chips in particular are also "gutless", meaning the quad core "pentium" and "celeron" units can be slower than dual core "pentium" units ("Haswell" core) at the same price point from a year or two ago. That being said, audio is not a data intensive application, unless you have a large quantity of 24/192 "high res" files.

Certainly you have more options than you once would have; Chromebooks/boxes and/or the Chromecast TV dongle can integrate into an AV system pretty readily as well. It makes more sense to me to get a tablet and some network attached storage with all of your music in a central location, but that limits your screen size, to be sure. Failing that, I'd re-purpose the old laptop with a new touchscreen (and an external DAC if you don't like the digital-out) monitor if OS X support is there.

If not, check out the tiny new HP Stream Mini (and Pavilion Mini desktops). They're fairly inexpensive, user upgrade-able (unlike the mac mini these days), and the Pavilions come with the Meridian Music Sync app, which looks kind of fancy. Stash them out of the way and then find a decent touchscreen monitor. Not a lot of room on the inside, so external drives, NAS or replacement look to be the options.

Also, be aware that most cheap touchscreens aren't particularly good at being screens (poor off-angles, crappy TN panels), so try to demo screens before you buy them.

Some newer AV receivers allow for USB audio in, but presumably you're aware that your unit does not

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #23 –
Quote from: Audible! on
It makes more sense to me to get a tablet and some network attached storage with all of your music in a central location, but that limits your screen size, to be sure.


I agree.  I have a Surface Pro 2, the Microsoft docking station for it, and an external 23" touchscreen monitor that is hooked up to the dock.  I have a 4TB Western Digital network drive (they call it My Cloud but it's nothing more than a network drive that is fully mountable) where all of my music and digital movies are stored.  I then have a Nexus Player hooked up to my living room receiver via HDMI along with a Miracast wireless display adapter.  I use the display adapter to watch my digital movies and Nexus Player for my music.

I have since switched to Google Music All Access for my music needs but still, I thought I would use my Surface Pro 2 (SP2) hooked up to the touchscreen monitor as me media hub.  Turns out it is a lot easier and more convenient just to keep my SP2 with me and broadcast music to my Nexus Player using its Chromecast functionality.  I have my entire library at my fingertips in a device that I can take anywhere.  The screen size is smaller but I don't really find it a problem because my SP2 has a resolution of 1080p (just like the touchscreen monitor) and I hold it a lot closer to my face than when I am standing in front of my monitor.  I can easily cue up any song in my online library and even add new songs while a different one is currently playing.  For me, it's a much better option than having a stationary source for music and entertaining.

My SP2 does have a cooling fan but it never kicks in when I am using it for music playback.  In fact, I only hear it turn on when I am compiling code in Matlab or when I'm playing a game like Goat Simulator.  As previously stated, the new Core M CPUs and Bay Trail Atom CPUs are fanless but the last generation (Haswell) Core i CPUs were thermally efficient.  My fiance has a Lenovo Yoga 2 (not the pro) with a 13" touchscreen display and a 1.5GHz Core i5 Haswell CPU.  I don't think I have ever heard its cooling system turn on whether she uses it in notebook, tent, or tablet mode.  Granted, she doesn't do anything fancy on it (Facebook, surf the net, shop online, and Office) but that's not really any different than playing back music files.

Dedicated touchscreen computer for music?

Reply #24 –
That Acer all-in-one PC looks like a very interesting possibility! No way of knowing for sure how much acoustic noise it generates as Acer doesn't publish that spec, but my guess is that for a non CPU-intensive task like music playback, it will work fine, and as I recall, Costco has a generous return policy.

Software: If you can find a touch-optimized app that you like, it may work very well. I haven't found a Windows "Modern" app that I really like specifically for music playback, but ones for Netflix and Hulu work very well with the touch screen, so the potential is there.

One annoyance of Windows in general is the amount of time spent waiting for the computer to finish auto-updating and rebooting. Fortunately you can shut off auto-updates. That's what I'd do: Just remember to periodically run updates manually at a time when you don't need the computer for anything else.

Onboard audio: Even a few years ago, you could still buy a fairly expensive computer and get lousy audio. But today, even some of the cheapest offer surprisingly good sound, so try before spending a lot of money on a DAC.