I have a fairly large CD collection, and a fairly modern Hi-Fi system (with a DVD player, VHS player, SVHS player, SRS, radio system, dual tape deck, 20" TV, and so on). There are about 300 CD's, and most of the Hi-Fi stuff is from the eighties. OK, so except for the DVD player most of it is pretty outdated, but it capably plays anything quite easily (I have stuff on different formats). But using the CD player with the 300 CD's was a pain, so I decided to put an end to it with the help of an old Mac I had around.
To summarize: I ripped the discs to MP3 format, which I put on the Mac. Then I used the Mac's AV outputs to hook up to the SRS sound system, and the S-Video output to hook up to the TV to use as a monitor. Lastly, I used a remote control to skip, pause, play, and navigate the libary. Read on to find out the details.
The Mac, in this case, was a Power Mac 8500/180AV. This isn't a "stock" 8500 by any means, read on. You need some ample disk space on the computer you'll be using for this task. Most high-end older Macs have SCSI hard drives (the 8500 does) which are pretty scarce. Since I don't have a GIANT library (300 CD's, after all, only take up so much room) and it all fit on a SCSI RAID of several drives I had around (pulled from various older Macs), that was not an issue. But because new SCSI hard drives are expensive, you might want to try a IDE/ATA card available from Mac warehouses with an 80 GB Hard Disk, if you have a lot of tunes. If you don't have a lot of music, you can make do with some SCSI HD's scavanged from, say, the unused older Macintoshes at your work. If, on the other hand, your Macintosh came with an IDE drive and port, you can merrily add any off-the-shelf IDE hard drive (just take care not to try any HD over 130 GB, which won't work in any Mac unless it has an on-board ATA100 controller, or you have purchased such a card). Also, you might not want to use a drive that has been used daily in the past; it might not be very reliable.
Next, don't expect to run any MP3 software without having a reasonable amount of RAM. The 8500 had 128MB (it was my main work machine seveal years ago) - you can probably get by with less, but hint: 16MB won't do the trick. Again, a bit a scavanging is needed - around old, unused computers at school, work, or a community club - but be sure to get Permission first. Some Macs accept RAM from PC's, but be cautious with any RAM you install: check the specs first, and don't try to force it in the slot if it doesn't want to fit. You don't want to fry your computer.
Third. The Mac I used had A/V in and out. These are stereo RCA plugs, and one Composite Video and one S-Video both in and out (some Macs, like the 7500, only have Inputs). The S-or-Composite-Video plugs are needed if you wish to display your library on a TV screen, but you can make do with an external monitor (next to the TV, for instance) if you don't have these on your computer. RCA plugs are nice to have on the Mac, but if you don't have any, you can get a Sound-out to RCA-plug converter at a place like Radio Shack.
Once you get your Mac running, and it has everything listed above, start encoding MP3's onto it. I used iTunes on the 8500, but plenty of other players, such as Audion and MacAmp, are available. I networked the 8500 to my G4, which encoded faster, and then transferred the music to my 8500 via the Ethernet port. All the same, I installed a 24X CD-ROM drive (the stock CDROM is 8X) so I can encode any new CD's I get in the living room - but encoding speed depends more on processor speed than CD-ROM drive speed. Also bear in mind that some old hard drives, especially in PowerBooks, don't like MP3 encoding. In this case, a new drive is in order (or a wireless card, so it can recieve music from a faster Mac, if you have one).
Once I finished transferring music, I took the 8500 downstairs and seated in next the HiFi tower. I ran the S-Video cable to one of the inputs on my TV, and the RCA jacks to my stereo reciever (which hooked up to the SRS system). I booted the Mac, and volia, on the TV screen was iTunes (I set it open at startup). Probably you won't see the menubar, because TV screen usually overscan (which means they project the menu bar outside of the screen area). Computer screens (CRT's) underscan (which is why there's a fat black border around the picture in every CRT). Usually, this shouldn't matter (you can always shut down your computer by pressing Control-Option-Command-PowerKey; this doesn't do it any harm such as pressing Control-Command-Power to restart it would). However, if it bothers you, there are some settings in the monitors control panel that could alleviate the problem.
As for remote controlling the system, well, there are plenty of used ADB remote controls available from eBay and such. Personally, I'm using a compact ADB keyboard (the Mac Classic one) to control iTunes. If you have a newer computer, a PowerMate is cool for adjusting volume and pausing. I kept this bare-bones, made from used stuff I found around the lab, nothing that costed extra. :)
Lastly, if your stereo system isn't surge protected, add some surge protection. Even if your Mac is on a safe power line, surges coming thru the TV and stereo (that don't hurt the HiFi system) could come down the RCA plugs and SVideo and fry your Mac. It never hurts to be on the safe side. :)
Happy Hacking,
Mackie
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