Turning iTunes into the ultimate entertainment system

[little_room]

I've just put my G5 in my living room and want to go about turning it into the ultimate jukebox and media player.

So far I've got my whole music collection on iTunes and use The Filter to create instant playlists ( http://www.thefilter.com ) This sorts out my general background music. I get all of this pumped to last.fm so I get recommendations to buy new albums.

I'm also controlling iTunes with a with Romeo and my bluetooth Nokia phone as a remote control.

There must be lots of other exciting new software I can try - any suggestions? Any cool movie interfaces, any funky new visualisers? I'd like a sort of Front Row type thing that works without an Apple remote - or some way to control The Filter with my phone.

 

[symphonix]

You could get yourself an Airport Express (or better yet, two or three Airport Expresses) and move your computer back out of your living room. Then, you can pipe your music into any room in your home.

Also, while Romeo is quite good (I personally really like it) Salling Clicker is far superior and will even let you see cover-art on your phone / palmpilot.

And then, of course, there is always Apple TV.

 

[Jacksloadedgun]

no matter what you do your entertainment system is going to sound horrible playing itunes128 k/bsec rips. if you want to have a nice entertainment center i stronly suggesting getting the .flac plug-in for quicktime (and itunes too) and using that so you can play cd quality music over your system, otherwise, your just wasting your time and it's going to sound like crap.

 

[symphonix]

no matter what you do your entertainment system is going to sound horrible playing itunes128 k/bsec rips.

I'd have to say - well duh. iTunes offers plenty of formats to rip in including lossless ALC, and hi-quality AAC. Even the Mp3 ripper goes up to (and above) 256kbps. In fact, you'd have to go out of your way to set the quality *lower* than the default to end up with a 128kbps rip, so I don't know what you're talking about.

And yes, I like FLAC - its open source and lossless. But really, I just don't need it. ALC, AAC and even 256k MP3 are certainly enough for 99% of users.

 

[Ferdinand]

I'd have to say - well duh. iTunes offers plenty of formats to rip in including lossless ALC, and hi-quality AAC. Even the Mp3 ripper goes up to (and above) 256kbps. In fact, you'd have to go out of your way to set the quality *lower* than the default to end up with a 128kbps rip, so I don't know what you're talking about.

I completely agree with that.