News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

April 2, 2008

music

WMA and DRM iTunes get a room

Posted Apr. 2, ’08, 12:17 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Music

nuvoautonomic1.jpgHome entertainment fiends face many challenges: finding a TV with enough inputs for all their media gadgets, finding a remote awesome enough to flawlessly and effortlessly orchestrate the whole shebang, and getting a cozy enough recliner — with integrated toilet — so they’ll never have to get up. And, of course, playing through their audio systems both WMA (Windows Media Audio) and iTunes Store music files.

They don’t play well together. Lots of slapping and shin-kicking.

Two companies, Autonomic Controls and NuVo, set out to bridge the musical gap, and developed a solution that allows you to stream (up to six streams) both kinds of files — from one library — to a whole-house music distribution system.

The software runs on virtually any PC or Windows Home Server. A 5.1 sound card in the PC or server becomes a three-zone music player.

Add a second card and you get six streams flowing from the server in any combination of WMA and iTunes. “There is no other company that can do multiple-output iTunes,” says NuVo CTO Rick Kukulies.

Now, plug the outputs from the sound card(s) into the stereo inputs of a NuVo Grand Concerto or Essentia E6G multiroom audio system to distribute the music throughout the house.

Windows software…but it gets the job done. Check the CEPro article for the skinny, as well as a slideshow of the gadgets in action.


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