[vorlonix]

http://web.media.mit.edu/~ladyada/make/minty/index.html

link is currently slashdotted. give it a few tries, or a day.

 

[Sryzon]

Google archived it before it got slahsdotted

Overview [64.233.167.104]
Hardware [64.233.167.104]
Firmware [64.233.167.104]
Software [64.233.167.104]
Fabrication [64.233.167.104]
Downloads [64.233.167.104]

(the links were ripped out of slashdot, didn't actually find them myself)

It "talks" ATA so it's suposedly easy to swap it with a full IDE drive instead of the CF card used, In that case one could actually use a large hardwrive instead and use the thing as a home music library...maybe (and probobly combine it with a DIY DAC....)

 

[robzy]

That is be no means the only small DIY mp3 player around, i was looking at the yammmp design not too long ago, after hving decided it would be a good idea to make my own - untill i thought about the coding side of it.

The reason i solder so often is to get a break from programming!

Rob.

[edit]: On 2nd looks, that one only cost $25? That is impressive, when the site is back up i might snoop it out

 

[Syzygies]

What I want is a 24/96 iPod. I've gotten a fair bit of practice digitizing analog sources, and the bit depth really matters for the magic we're all straining to hear. Even with CD sources, this opens the door to slower-than-real-time preprocessing algorithms to reconstruct overtones, get rid of 16 bit digitization noise. If we're building our own, we should do better than the market offers.

On the other hand, the Mac Mini with the right DAC might just be a 24/96 iPod in disguise.

 

[pummer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syzygies What I want is a 24/96 iPod. I've gotten a fair bit of practice digitizing analog sources, and the bit depth really matters for the magic we're all straining to hear. Even with CD sources, this opens the door to slower-than-real-time preprocessing algorithms to reconstruct overtones, get rid of 16 bit digitization noise. If we're building our own, we should do better than the market offers. On the other hand, the Mac Mini with the right DAC might just be a 24/96 iPod in disguise.

Are there batteries for the Mac Mini?

 

[Syzygies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pummer Are there batteries for the Mac Mini?

That's funny, I wrote Macintouch about the special needs a Universal Power Supply will have for the Mini, which is an interpolation between a laptop and a desktop. People are already considering it as the heart of an audio system.

The Mini comes with a custom external power supply, which I'd like to replace with a battery-buffered power supply. A traditional UPS passes through AC unnecessarily.

 

[silvervarg]

Would this in some way be different to using any computer as source with digital out and using a good external DAC?

 

[Syzygies]

Quote:

Originally Posted by silvervarg Would this in some way be different to using any computer as source with digital out and using a good external DAC?

Not really. Fry's has a whole section devoted to compact PC's aimed at the home entertainment market, people mod them to do video conversions on the fly that blow away any commercial product.

These DIY brethren of ours rig tiny displays that fit one drive slot, and they rig remote controls. The Mini is less easily modded, but it should run ok headless, just the size to gulp down one's CD collection while playing. I'd look to remotely controlling it over wireless, although my experiences with this class of software have been dismaying. Perhaps simpler than mirroring the desktop would be to write a simple program that runs on one machine, passing instructions to the second, headless machine.

Tiny keyboards abound. Unfortunately, the standard LCD panels the Mac Mini wants to use spike back up in price below 15". I want a tiny display if this is going to run my audio system...

 

[Earwax]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syzygies Tiny keyboards abound. Unfortunately, the standard LCD panels the Mac Mini wants to use spike back up in price below 15". I want a tiny display if this is going to run my audio system...

If I was doing something like that I'd use a wireless Pocket PC running a citrix ICA client as a remote control. (i think that's the name, been a while since I worked with that stuff)