Build Your Own Arcade Controls Forum
Main => Audio/Jukebox/MP3 Forum => Topic started by: sstorkel on July 12, 2011, 12:00:51 pm
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I've just purchased a couple of old 1930's-era console radios. The cabinets are beautiful, but none of the electronics work. My plan is to turn them into music-playing kiosks controlled by touchscreen. Looks like there are plenty of touchscreen-enabled apps that will play my MP3 collection, but are there any that will play Internet radio or other streamed sources? I'm specifically thinking of things like TuneIn, Slacker, Pandora, Last.fm, SomaFM, Live365 etc. Ideally, I'd like some sort of built-in directory or browser so that I don't have to manually enter info about the dozens of streams I might want to listen to. I'm relatively agnostic about the operating system used to run the player; if it runs on Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux I can deal with it.
Any suggestions?
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But is there a single app that will play both MP3s and streaming audio?
The best solution I've come up with so far is to use an old iPad 1 running SqueezePad and have it control either a Squeezebox (Duet?) or maybe a computer running SqueezePlay. My only concern is that my old Squeezebox Duet seems pretty darn buggy. Was hoping to find something PC-based that might be a bit more reliable with playback...
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AlbumPlayer does most of what you're asking. I'm not sure about the Pandora, but I know it will play web radio stations.
Brian
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Album Player, or at least the free demo, seem like it's a bit of a pain to setup for Internet radio. Doesn't look to me like it supports Pandora, Slacker, or any of the other popular streaming services.
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Etouch, has all the features you want...and its only 25
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Or get an AppleTV. You can remote control that with your iPhone/iPod.
Don't forget to add 8bit.fm!
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Etouch, has all the features you want...and its only 25
Looks like too much work, at least if the V7.0.07 demo I downloaded is anything to go by...
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J River Media Center will play streaming radio, and with the right skin, it works quite nicely on a touchscreen.
It's 50$, but their license essentially allows you to install on any number of machines you own, plus they can connect to each other, supports web remote (control playback from your iphone for instance) and a ton more.
Long story short, it's not free, and it's not particularly cheap, but, if you do alot with media, it might be worth looking at.
Where'd you get the consoles? i've been looking to pick something like that up for a jukebox project myself...
Pics!!!
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I bought the console radios from eBay. The cabinets were in good shape on both, but the electronics didn't work in either. Nobody seemed particularly interested, so the prices were pretty cheap ($65 for one, $165 for the other). Shipping from the east coast was $65 or $70 for each radio via Greyhound Package Xpress. So, not super-cheap but if I were to try to duplicate one of the cabinets, I'd spend a whole lot more money in wood and veneer (not to mention time)...
If you're thinking about buying an old console radio to use as a jukebox, I'd suggest:
1) Looking for a radio without working electronics; working radios sell for a lot more
2) Make sure that the seller will ship via Greyhound; UPS and FedEx are prohibitively expensive
3) Don't be afraid to consider lesser-known brands; everyone wants a Zenith or Philco, so those models tend to be expensive while other lesser-known brands are cheaper