- 2006.05.08
Our journey to set up an older Mac as a digital audio jukebox is
finally coming to an end. This installment examines the components
needed for integrating our jukebox with an existing audio system,
along with a few tips on how to control playback.
Specifics of this arrangement will reflect the use of my
Power Mac 7600, but the
techniques can easily be applied to any Mac.
Integration
Clearly, there are many different devices that can output sound.
From a simple arrangement of connecting external computer speakers
to small all-in-one devices and more complex component devices.
However, the common denominator is the types of audio in ports
available - likely one of two designs, a single 1/8" audio jack or
the twin round red and white RCA jacks.
Physically connecting a Mac to your existing audio system is
easy enough. Most Macs have a simple 1/8" audio out headphone port.
If so, a 1/8" to RCA or 1/8" to 1/8" cable will be necessary,
depending on the device you're connecting to. Some Macs, like the
Power Mac 7600, have the same RCA ports found on regular stereo
equipment. Finding an RCA to RCA cable should prove simple as
well.
If your Mac is connected to your audio system via the 1/8" audio
out port, remember to keep the Mac's volume set to the highest
setting. Likewise, the specific audio application used for playback
needs to have its volume set to the highest setting.
If your Mac comes with RCA out ports, the Macs internal sound
setting doesn't matter, as the external device is in complete
control of the volume. Those handy RCA out ports are yet another
reason why I favor using my Power Mac 7600 for this project.
Make sure your external audio device is set for the correct
input (common labels are CD, AUX, DVD, and a few others.)
Typically, all of the stereo in ports are the same except for the
phono port. Just remember to select whichever one is connected to
your Mac.
When shopping for cables, you can spend good money on a name
brand like Monster, although, in all honesty, I've found regular
store brand cables transmit audio of comparative quality to the
more expensive brands.
If you have a high-end audio system, better cables may make a
difference in sound quality. Then again, you may find lossy audio
sounds worse when played on a sound system that's able to really
dig into an audio track. Even going from a quality set of computer
speakers to playback through a home audio system can increase the
likelihood of hearing noticeable audio imperfections from lossy
formats. Of course, high VBR MP3 and Ogg Vorbis files will still
sound darn good, even coming through a respectable set of home
audio speakers. Maybe not as good as WAV, AIFF, or FLAC, but
suitably nice.
Similarly, gold tipped cables have never made that much
difference in my listening pleasure. I typically buy whichever is
available and reasonably inexpensive. Improper speaker placement
(not enough separation between channels) is always a killer, and
ambient noise is more likely to interfere with the pleasure of
listening to my favorite tunes than cable quality.
Take any advice on audio fidelity with the full knowledge that I
am not an audiophile. I'm not sure how good an ear I have in
regards to music, but in a blind test on my home setup, I can
routinely detect the difference between lossy and lossless audio.
The difference is not as great since increasing the bit rates on my
digital music collection. Again, higher bit rates and a good
encoder are the keys to good audio quality when dealing with lossy
codecs.
I can't say much on placement of the Mac jukebox, as each setup
will have different requirements. Desktop Macs similar to my Power
Mac 7600 are certainly easier to integrate into my existing audio
equipment. The fairly compact size of a desktop versus a tower or
all-in-one design makes for easier placement on a shelf or rack.
Also, depending on the size of the stereo system, the audio output
device may be able to fit on top of a 7600-sized desktop Mac.
Controlling the Jukebox
Once the jukebox is physically connected to the audio system,
you need a way to control it. Unlike typical home audio equipment,
a Mac is not likely to come with a remote control (some older
Performas and Power Macs had TV systems that came with a remote,
but this was not a universal arrangement). Nor is keeping a full
computer setup (system, keyboard, monitor, and mouse) always ideal
for a living room, bedroom, den, small office, or other setting.
Instead, there often needs to be a less cluttered integration
method. Ideally, an integration that would grant occasional full
access to the computer for restarting or other maintenance
tasks.
There should be no need to state it, but I will anyway. If your
Mac jukebox is an all-in-one, especially a portable model, there's
not quite as much cause to conserve space. You may very well be
able to squeeze a keyboard or mouse into your setup, since the
monitor is already built in. With a portable Mac, the whole system
is exceptionally integrated, compact, and energy efficient (proper
sleep implementation is a grand thing).
There are many options for controlling of our new Mac jukebox
system. A few of my favorite ways are detailed below, but this list
is not exhaustive.
The Automated Stand Alone System
If life should be suitably random, why not go with an automated
stand alone system for your Mac audio jukebox. No need for a
monitor, keyboard, or mouse. The easiest way to accomplish this
task is to place an alias of the desired audio application into the
Startup Items folder (found within the System Folder). Next, set up
your desired application to play a specific playlist automatically
at startup.
My two favorite applications, Audion and MpegDec, can be
configured this way. In Audion, create a desired playlist, go to
"Preferences", found under the "Edit" menu, and click on the
"General" tab. "Default Playlist" and its options for playback are
listed near the bottom if this window.
MpegDec requires a little bit more configuration, but is not too
hard either. Under MpegDec's preferences click the "AutoStart"
checkbox. Create a folder named "mpegdecauto" on the root level of
your startup disk. In Playlist Editor 3.1.1 (a separate companion
application to MpegDec, found within the MpegDec folder), create
and save one or more playlists of your favorite tunes. Press the
"SelectMode" button, which flips you into the SetList Mode. In this
mode, multiple playlists can be added to create a series of
playlists which MpegDec can read and play together. Name this
playlist autostart and save it to the "mpegdecauto" folder.
Now, when your Mac jukebox is turned on, your audio application
will load and your desired playlist or playlists will begin
playing. If you don't mind not having control of the system in
regards to playing, pausing, stopping, or choosing a specific song,
you can simply let the Mac do it's thing.
For a further refinement of this technique, use the Energy Saver
Control Panel to start and shutdown your jukebox at specific times
of the day. The Mac is ready to begin and end audio playback
without further intervention.
Remote Control (Hurrah, a Pun)
The stand alone technique is not without obvious limitations.
Once setup, there is essentially no user interaction until the next
time a keyboard, mouse, and monitor are attached. A favorite
technique of mine is to connect the stand alone Mac jukebox to my
network, either through a switch or a direct crossover connection
with a portable Mac. Even handier is a wireless network, where any
computer in the house, portable or otherwise, can be used as a
terminal for the Mac jukebox. The network connection also grants
Macs without high capacity for internal storage access to music
stored anywhere on the network.
Once you have established some sort of network connection
between your Macs, you'll need software to actually do the
controlling. I've experimented with three different packages and
have been thoughtful enough to document my experiences.
Timbuktu Pro
I found Timbuktu to be the best solution for my particular audio
setup, equally flexible and powerful. While I never tested the
extent of the compatibility, Timbuktu is purportedly a cross
platform Windows and Mac solution.
I have put to extensive use my fully licensed copy of Timbuktu
Pro 3.0 (it came on floppy disks - remember when Mac software was
distributed on floppies?). This version is compatible with both
AppleTalk and TCP/IP networks. I don't honestly know if the binary
is fat (68k and PPC), but Timbuktu Pro 3.0 works well on every Mac
in my collection, from 68k to PPC. Timbuktu 3.0 supports every Mac
OS release from System 7.5 to Mac OS 9.2.2 and even has limited
support for the Classic environment found within Mac OS X
(tested with Mac OS X 10.2.8).
Controlling older Macs from the Classic environment within Mac
OS X works well. Doing the reverse, while out of the scope of
this article, is not feasible, as this version of Timbuktu is not
capable of displaying PDF images. Since OS X's display engine,
Quartz, is built around PDF technology, this inability for Timbuktu
to remotely administer and view OS X Macs makes sense.
Obviously, newer versions may be more capable with OS 9 and
OS X compatibility, but I only have version 3.0 on hand for
testing.
Timbuktu has many features that go well beyond the scope of our
project. Such niceties as the ability to transfer files back and
forth from control to remote systems and a built in chat mechanism
could prove useful when applied to a less specific operation.
Timbuktu feels faster, perhaps better optimized, than the other
solutions. This certainly makes sense. After all, this version was
released when bandwidth was limited.
Timbuktu provides the ability to offer observation or full
control of the remote system. The final compelling feature is the
ability for Timbuktu to accept modifier key (command, option, and
control, etc.) inputs that are fully recognized by the remote
system. Indeed, Timbuktu offers a sensation almost akin to working
directly with the remote machine. Whether using a 68k Mac with a
10base-T connection or a PPC-equipped Mac with 10/100 ethernet,
performance is consistently acceptable. Controlling to or from a
68k or PPC Mac yielded similar performance.
The faster the connection the smoother the performance, but
overall, the only time I felt disappointed with performance was
during serial networking connections.
Everything sounds wonderful, but all is not flowers and
sunshine. Timbuktu Pro isn't free; it's potentially costly
commercial software. Also, the version needed for older Mac systems
is at the least a few releases old. Consequently, finding the
correct version for your individual setup may take some
hunting.
Bosco's Screen Share
Quick sidebar, I cannot currently find a link for the older Mac
OS 9 version of Bosco's Screen Share. Current versions are
OS X or Windows. Since I still have a copy of the software
somewhere and have used the software to great effect in the past, I
wanted to at least mention it. For those who still have a copy of
the OS 9 version, it makes a decent freeware alternative to
Timbuktu. The OS X version is quite excellent as well, with
more polish and features than the short-lived OS 9
version.
Bosco's screen share offers the same basic operations as
Timbuktu Pro, except lacking a control option for Mac OS 9
systems. This feature remains Mac OS X only. However, if you
were to couple this remote viewing application with an input device
connected directly to the jukebox, say a trackball (which needs
less space to perform its input duties than a mouse), you could
jury rig a decent remote control system. Indeed, I have used that
system in the past when I needed to control my old Power Mac 7300 jukebox system.
My G3 iMac (now my mother's computer - her first Mac!) acted as
the eyes for the 7300 and the single extra input device (I don't
recall if it was a mouse or trackball) performed ably as I pointed
and clicked away.
VNC
Ideally, I would use Timbuktu Pro on all my systems, but cost
considerations and OS compatibility dictate other options. Luckily,
the open source and free of cost Virtual Network Computing (VNC)
comes to the rescue.
Whereas both Timbuktu and Bosco's Screen Share are integrated
solutions to remote access, VNC uses a separate server and client
solution.
Another key difference, VNC is essentially ubiquitous when
compared to the staid Windows and Mac cross platform nature of the
other solutions. VNC viewers are available for almost every
platform imaginable. Congratulations to Newton owners who want to
monitor their computers - you're covered here as well.
Actually, a Newton or other PDA with a VNC viewer and WiFi
connection would sure make a handy "remote control" for our Mac
jukebox project. Unfortunately, I don't have any such hardware
available for testing. Although, my PowerBook 1400c with a 802.11b card may
make for a suitable substitute.
The basics of VNC are rather simple. The server software is
installed onto the machine needing to be controlled remotely. The
machine accessing the remote device is equipped with the client (or
viewer) software.
In my testing VNC has generally been slower and less polished
than Timbuktu Pro. However, VNC is completely cross platform and
certainly comes in handy when I want to use my Ubuntu box as a
media server and PowerBook 520c
as the viewer.
You'll discover that even 68k Macs with 10base-T connections are
up to the task of monitoring a jukebox over VNC, yet a 68k Mac
doesn't have the power to be comfortably controlled as a VNC
server.
PPC equipped Macs should fare better; both my 350 MHz Power Mac
G3 and G3-upgraded Power Mac 7600 work admirably with the VNC
server software. It should go without saying, but PPC Macs operate
wonderfully well as a viewer.
Other than possible sluggish performance, the biggest negative
with the VNC remote control solution is a slightly clunky setup in
comparison to other remote desktop applications.
My Jukebox
My personal Mac Jukebox setup is fairly simple. Power Mac 7600
connected to both my Yamaha receiver via RCA out (which is
outputting to dual Yamaha speakers) and my iHome iH5 via 1/8" out.
I use the Yamaha stereo setup when I want to give the music a bit
more volume. Otherwise I'm content to let the little
iHome iH5 (a fantastic iPod charger/player, alarm clock, FM/AM
radio, with both an audio input and output) perform its duty in
cranking out respectably crisp sound (from a small integrated
speaker system no less).
I tend to use Audion to play music on this system, and control
is accessed with an attached keyboard (no monitor or mouse needed,
thanks to Audion's handy keyboard shortcuts for play, pause, stop,
forward, back, fast forward, rewind, volume up, volume down, and
mute).
Either VNC or Timbuktu is used when I need visual access to my
headless jukebox. Which remote software used depends on what
computer system I use to make the connection.
Although the Mac audio jukebox project is now complete, I intend
to provide further information as I discover new tips, tricks, and
other customization techniques. In the immediate future, look
forward to a 68k Mac rendition of our jukebox project.
