Anyway… the sad news is neither appears to be worth it right now.

I am as yet undecided, but it is not looking good for either device.

Both the Roku and the NEW AppleTV have no internal storage; so there is no way to keep your own media files local to the device (the old AppleTV was way better in this regard, and I am still recommending that).

Both the Roku and NEW AppleTV can stream just fine assuming you have very good broadband connectivity; but then so can any profile 2.0 or newer Blu-Ray player, and frankly, the Blu-ray players are better at this than either stand-alone streaming only device.

Roku HD can do 1080p, but there are almost no streamers streaming that resolution so it is not a huge difference. Again, the Blu-ray players can do 1080p too…

Neither is easy to point at your own streamer already in your house; this is a small deal, as very few people are going to set up their own streaming server in their own house… though geeks like me are probably already doing so.

I am leaning towards a Boxee device and/or Popcorn Hour – both of which are more expensive, but both of which allow local streaming on the LAN very easily and neither is limited to proprietary streaming types. Both also have extra apps that you can load. Popcorn Hour can also mount local disk drives.

The ultimate device is probably a Linux based home theater PC with Blu-ray drive, gobs of hard disk, Myth-TV software, XBMC software, and Boxee software – but that is probably a ~$700 option.

For streaming only… Blu-ray kicks both the new AppleTV and Roku out of the running.

The old AppleTV with 160GB hard drive (or even 40GB drive) is still very interesting because you can hack it quite easily to put Boxee software or XBMC software on it and play your own files locally. Offsetting that wonderful feature, the old AppleTV has older, slower processors and some media, especially flash based, is really getting choppy in the old machine.

I guess the bottom line is that this market has not firmed up yet and none of these devices is really ready yet. Apple was making progress, but frankly took a step backwards with the new AppleTV.

Update: There is now a new contender, the Iomega TV is very much like the Boxee box from D-Link, with larger hard drives and more standard form factor.

I eventually switched to compact disks, but could not afford to replace the entire record collection, so I maintained both collections and working turntable and compact disk players. As the years went by I played my records less and less, and even ripped all the compact disks into my computer for convenience. Many of my record albums are now replaced with compact disks now.

There are a few records that I keep because they sound better than a compact disk. There are very few of these, but they are special. It requires a really good moving coil cartridge and high quality preamplifier to get this spectacular sound, but I am proud to own a few.

There are many records that I keep because the labels have never printed a compact disk version of the album, or they did so, but for a short run and it is now out of print and impossible to find.

For these, I thought I would get around to digitizing them some day, and then I kept putting it off.
My Mom has re-prioritized this for me, and I love her for it. She had a few records she could not find on compact disk and she wanted them “turned into CDs” but knew one of her two computer geek sons could do this… and the first batch included some old Christmas albums she (and my brother and I) grew up with. Now I have a mission and a deadline… and set to work.

I ran into several road blocks. Converting the entire CD library over to computer files has been so convenient for me that I had not even used the plain old stereo gear in ages. The CD player, the cassette deck, and the turntable were all dusty and not working. I could not even find the phonograph cartridge I packed away so it would not get damaged in the last household move. A long weekend, and some time wrestling dust bunnies (are they still bunnies when they can swallow you whole?) and I am happy to report the gear is mostly working again. The cassette deck and CD player (both vintage late-1980s Technics) are once again working and sound fantastic. I forgot that MP3 is a convenient compromise that really does NOT sound as good as CD or even tape.

I found the cartridge, a Yamaha MC-705, and it’s replacement, a fantastic Denon D-110; I spent a few hours trying to adjust the tonearm on my Yamaha PX-3 turntable, and could not get it to work. Something is preventing the arm actuators from sensing when it needs to move, and the belt for the linear tracking arm is slipping. Service manuals and repair kit are now on order.

In the meantime, I wanted an even quieter belt drive turntable to record from, so I ordered a Denon DP300F with Ortofon 2M Red cartridge from NeedleDoctor.com and it came in just a couple of days. I did not really need the new cartridge, but I wanted to hear a different take and have a backup. I disabled the preamplifier that is inside the turntable, as my vintage Onkyo Integra P-308 has a vastly better preamplifier, plugged everything in and adjusted the tonearm in about an hour and started playing records and was immediately impressed with the quality of the sound.

For years I have used a Roland Edirol UA-1EX USB audio interface to connect my Mac Mini to my vintage Yamaha R-9 receiver (the main amp in my house). The Edirol can import and export sound, I had just never used the import function before now.
I plugged the tape out connectors on my preamplifier into the inputs on the Edirol, and fired up Audacity (free, open source sound file editor and converter for Linux, Mac, Windows, others) and was pleased to discover that the sound was already being “heard” on my Mac Mini. Simply press the “record” button and it began sampling direct to my hard drive. I had no idea how easy this would be. The hard part is getting a turntable working and balanced again.

I tackled “Jimmy Dean’s Christmas Card” (1965 Album) first for my Mom. I recorded each track by playing them one at a time, then pressing record and stop in Audacity. I then cleaned up the tracks a little (I must learn more about this part) and saved the AIFF files for each song, tagged and marked appropriately. I have modified this method now, and record a whole album side into Audacity, save the project, then cut up the project into individual song tracks as needed (it’s faster this way).

I copied the files into an iTunes playlist and burned my first audio CD album, then burned a label.
I enjoyed many fond memories while listening to the album I grew up with, and thank my Mom for getting me started on a new hobby for a while (digitizing the rest of the vinyl that I don’t have on CD already).

Thanks Mom!

What’s needed:

• a decent quality turntable (plain old analog players are best, USB turntables are junk)
• a decent quality phonograph preamplifier that matches your cartridge to line level outputs
• a sound sampling card, or USB interface, or device on your computer
• a computer
• sampling and sample editing software like Audacity (free)
• track ordering and CD burning software like iTunes (free)
• about an hour per album, minimally

Remember, turntables are sensitive to vibrations – so refrain from jumping for joy as the beautiful old music streams out of your speakers, at least while you are recording.

I cannot rave enough about how cool Audacity and iTunes are for this sort of job; and I am a raving fan of Edirol as well, excellent device and well worth the money. I am picky about audio gear, so you could probably do this for a lot less expense if you went cheap on record player, cartridge, and preamplifier; but remember, your time is valuable too. If you are burning an hour to do this why not spend the money getting the best master copy you can.

When it finally came in, I discovered that the old Becker required special removal keys unlike the standard keys I already had… so another few weeks for those special keys to be delivered went by.

Those keys came in and I could finally pull out the Becker only to discover that we don’t have a standard factory installed system I expected, and the wiring harnesses Crutchfield graciously supplied me don’t match (which is not their fault, it’s mine for incorrectly assuming we had a factory unit). The good news is there is an extra amplifier hidden somewhere in the car. The bad news is now I have to figure out how to bridge the harnesses to connect to the mystery amp. Sigh.

I have pictures of the wiring label on the Becker and the plugs that are attached to the car in case someone is interested in the project.

http://gallery.me.com/scottdavidnolan#100282

Get Tickets and More Details

It’s a Tuesday at 8pm, evening concert.

I have loved every Cirque show we’ve gone to, and never regretted the ticket price, even proportionally… and I am a stingy man. I am so stingy that I remember being glad someone else paid for our $80 tickets to see Blue Man Group; which I also loved, but I did not love them $80 worth… perhaps $60 worth and I’d have been happy). Cirque tickets are more than Blue Man Group, but always worth every penny and Cirque always manages to expand my definition of humanity and what it is possible for humans to do.

Having said that, there are stand out Cirque shows amongst the greatness of them all, my favorites are: Ka (visually stunning theatrics and a dual themed story arc of twins and war), Mystere (big drums, childhood, growing up), Quidam (lonelyness in a crowd, broken families, dreams), and Saltimbanco (amazing acrobatics and music; so amazing this show has been traveling for more than a decade and then some).

We stayed at Brookshire Suites in the Inner Harbor area (small, but clean with excellent service) and used their complimentary shuttle service to get over to Fells Point for dinner and back. We enjoyed drinks at the hotel, and then a quiet dinner at Louisiana Restaurant (rich, pricey, but delicious) the first night.

We walked over to the Maryland Science Center to see the Leonardo da Vinci the Genius exhibit (which is inspiring, and on display until January 31st, 2010). We also got to see an egg drop competition, hot air trash bags floating in the atrium, blue crabs, dinosaur bones, and all kinds of hands on science exhibits and displays. We continued walking to the Rusty Scupper for a fun lunch and then meandered back through the Inner Harbor doing a little shopping at La Mesa (nice cotton clothing, interesting weaves, unfinished website).

We somehow managed to be indoors through Saturday afternoons biggest downpours of rain; which was a lucky break. We napped a bit and then walked over to the main event: Rodrigo y Gabriela in concert at Rams Head Live!. The venue is really nice, but standing room only. You can get very close to the performing artists; and they have drinks and food; but there is no reservation system other than what the crowd comes up with on the fly, and you’d best be wearing very comfortable shoes. No cameras allowed, and they require you to check any you may bring accidentally. Interestingly this did not seem to apply to cell phones and other flash-less devices… so I suspect they don’t want flashes distracting the artists.

The opening act was Rocco DeLuca (on his own, no band), and he was spectacular. I’d never heard of him, though several of his songs were familiar. This opening act alone would have been worth the trip to Baltimore for a weekend; we liked him so much we bought his CD and I was happy just to see him play live at about 30 feet (amazing guitar technique).

Rodrigo y Gabriela were even more astounding. I think this was the best concert I have seen (and I have seen Jethro Tull and The Who when they were in their prime). The amazing skill at which they play their guitars is astounding and inspirational. Also – I’d only ever heard them and seen a few videos at very low resolution; so I was pleasantly surprise to discover that both are very beautiful people. They played most of their new album, 11:11 and some of their big hits from previous albums. Beautiful, talented, authentic, sublime. I cried. The crowd was a very interesting mix; so Rodrigo y Gabriela clearly connect with an eclectic mix of fans of many ages and demographic groups.

After the show we were famished and we managed to get into Ruth’s Chris just before they closed; and so we got a very quiet and romantic meal in a mostly empty restaurant. A short walk back to the hotel to collapse for the night finished our Saturday.

Sunday we checked out of the hotel and drove back to Virginia on a gloriously sunny Fall day that inspired us to stay outside and taste wines at La Grange (a few miles from our house) where you can sit outside and enjoy the crisp Fall air.

You can get a taste of Rodrigo y Gabriela on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8dPso79Z9I

Search YouTube to get some samples, or just check out this track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FXOd97CtnQ

Been jumping in and out of the pool to stay cool, but it is hardly helping – the pool water is not really refreshing at 85F (at least not to me), though evaporating dry on the hammock (now moved to the shade of the cherry tree) does help a lot.

I created a “sirens” playlist with female vocalists from several genres and have been enjoying that last night and today… Kate Bush, Nina Simone, Dido, BoA, Eva Cassidy, Norah Jones, Heart, Pat Benetar, Joan Osbourne, Poe, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Suzanne Vega, No Doubt, etc, etc, etc…

For those who can’t see embedded videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWGmN_x00hg

I have many close personal friends who happen to be gay and happen to be in life-long relationships. They deserve the exact same treatment that I enjoy with my partner today. Some of them even get credit for counseling my partner and I through difficult times. Our marriage is stronger because of them.