play songs on stereo from external hard drive?

[ottenm]

I'm tired of shuffling my (physical) cd's around, and planning to rip them all to a hard drive. Are there any proven/recommended/easy routes to playing ripped songs (windows lossless or mp3) on my home stereo? Home computer and home stereo are not in the same room.

Thanks, and apologies upstream for being so clueless. But I am old(er).

 

[digitalsam]

.
Ottenm,

It might seem like a convenient concept, but don't go there man! I am a certified PC technician, and must inform you of how flaky hard disk drives are in this day and age.

The single most common issue I see with PCs is damaged hard disk drives. I replace tonnes of them. Very few manage to make their 'Mean Time Before Failure" ratings...

I suggest that you skip that concept and buy one of these instead:

http/www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=DVPCX995V%2fKIT2&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=hav_DVD_DVDPlayers
400-Disc DVD/SA-CD/CD Mega Changer

http/www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=DVPCX777ES%2fB&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=hav_DVD_DVDPlayers
ES 400 Disc DVD/SACD/CD Changer

Andrew D.
cdnav.com

.

 

[donkobes]

That reply is so yesterday! I have ripped my 400+ CD collection to my hard drive and play it using Logitech's Squeezebox Boom Internet radio, wirelessly or wired. System is a bit complex (not like turning on a radio) but it works well once you get it started. Eventually, someone with vision will develop a system as easy to use as a radio! LOGITECH needs to go back to the drawing board and make this product easier to use.

 

[americanaudiophile]

Both of the answers above are correct. Backup your ripped music on a 2nd drive
You can use Sonos instead of a Logitech Squeezebox. Much easier to set up, great control with any PC, Mac, Ipad, iTouch, iPhone or Android device. Fantastic internet radio, online music services, and dead easy to use.

 

[jsc]

Another alternative is a media player.

I was going to build a pure HTPC to supplement my 3 networked PC's, 2 laptops, and a netbook. Then I thought about what I really needed. All I needed was to move media content from a USB drive to TV/audio system.

Bought a little Western Digital TV Live.