Ideas for a Music UI mod.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

Okay sorry won't compare to sonos, but then again those who don't use sonos don't know what they are missing.Audio control in the wall is expensive as is a distribution amp not sure you will come out as cheap as sonos definitely will lose the features that make sonos what it is and that is internet radio Pandera,Rhapsody,LAst FM, I heart radio etc etc. There is no need to ever even buy music again with sonos. We use rhapsody as it is available on our iphones and soon to be car radios as well as computers so we really get our music every where and any cd we want for $9.99 a month. Airplay is pointless with sonos nice they added it but you can already control from any idevice or computer. I don't see why you need airplay on top of that but maybe I am missing something.

Just for when people have a song on their iphone or ipod they would like to play. That and the dj mode in itunes is cool. Other than that you are right.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

Just for when people have a song on their iphone or ipod they would like to play. That and the dj mode in itunes is cool. Other than that you are right.

But if it is on your phone it is more than likely on your computer right? Just saying others can't use it unless they are have your itunes password. Airplay only works if you are logged on the local itunes account.

[briands]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

But if it is on your phone it is more than likely on your computer right? Just saying others can't use it unless they are have your itunes password. Airplay only works if you are logged on the local itunes account.

I don't think this is accurate. My MIL got an apple TV and my iPad will share with it just by being in her network.

[reggie14]

My two biggest complaints with the stock music UI are:

1. There's no good way to see the current list of songs that are queued up. If I remember correctly, SageMC had a "Now Playing" screen that basically showed the current playlist. There's no good way to do something like that in the stock UI, though I realize you could go into the playlists section and select the current/default playlist.
2. There is no single button you can press on the remote that will skip to the next song in the playlist. Instead you have to hit the option button and select next song in the side menu bar. It's annoying.

Along the lines of the discussion Plucky and pjpjpjpj were having, I'd love it if there were a mobile Sage app that would let you browse your music collection, queue-up songs/playlists to play on an extender, and skip/move around in the current music queue/playlist. I'm not sure if its possible to implement that without changes to the core.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by briands

I don't think this is accurate. My MIL got an apple TV and my iPad will share with it just by being in her network.

You are correct sorry that is the apple remote I was thinking of.

[ptzink]

Originally Posted by reggie14

There is no single button you can press on the remote that will skip to the next song in the playlist. Instead you have to hit the option button and select next song in the side menu bar. It's annoying.

Actually, you can use the Channel +/- buttons to skip tracks. Admittedly, this is not at intuitive as the forward and back buttons.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by ptzink

Actually, you can use the Channel +/- buttons to skip tracks. Admittedly, this is not at intuitive as the forward and back buttons.

Only in visualizations. If you aren't in visualizations, it just pages up/down. The only way to skip songs is by using the options/next, which is a pain.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

Okay sorry won't compare to sonos, but then again those who don't use sonos don't know what they are missing.Audio control in the wall is expensive as is a distribution amp not sure you will come out as cheap as sonos definitely will lose the features that make sonos what it is and that is internet radio Pandera,Rhapsody,LAst FM, I heart radio etc etc. There is no need to ever even buy music again with sonos. We use rhapsody as it is available on our iphones and soon to be car radios as well as computers so we really get our music every where and any cd we want for $9.99 a month. Airplay is pointless with sonos nice they added it but you can already control from any idevice or computer. I don't see why you need airplay on top of that but maybe I am missing something.

Oh, I know Sonos is awesome and know what it can do, but my wife nixed it due to price.

My "cobbled" system is using a mini-amp and a 4-channel non-powered splitter. The cost of both together is about $80. "Real" distribution amps would cost about the same as a Sonos unit (or more), but I'm no audiophile and I don't need to crank my music up to 11. This will do what we need. I was smart enough to put the wall volume controllers and even some speaker wire on my Christmas list and got them from relatives (much to their... uh... confusion and eye-rolling), but that makes them "free to me".

[cncb]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Oh, I know Sonos is awesome and know what it can do, but my wife nixed it due to price.

I know, it better be awesome for that much!

For your setup, you might also want to consider using J. River Media Center on your Sage server. You can run your sound card output to your distribution amp and they have a web controller that lets you browse and control playback of your collection including playlists and smartlists (they also have a specialized Android app). You could even later get multiple sound cards and play different music to different "zones" all controllable from JRMC.

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by cncb

I know, it better be awesome for that much!

Its funny I keep seeing this cost thing., but compared to other options that are available that can do everything sonos can do with ease it is the cheapest and honestly most reliable. The only other way to do something like it is a true distribution system which will get up there higher than sonos and most still lack even half the features, except some really expensive ones can distribute video as well.

Now I am not saying it is cheap but compared to others for the function ease it is priced right. AirPlay is nice but I try to stay out of apples world as much as possible which isnt easy. I have way to many "I" crap as it is.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

I'm no audiophile and I don't need to crank my music up to 11.

Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten.

[Xiphoid]

I'm still waffling over buying a Sonos system or going with something else like a Russound system. Any thoughts on those? I'd love a more built-in look and feel that Sonos doesn't have from what i've seen...it's like having mini-ghetto blasters in all the rooms...no?

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Xiphoid

I'm still waffling over buying a Sonos system or going with something else like a Russound system. Any thoughts on those? I'd love a more built-in look and feel that Sonos doesn't have from what i've seen...it's like having mini-ghetto blasters in all the rooms...no?

I guess it depends on how you look at it. Yes there are units in all zones, but to have something built in it needs to be installed which make the cost go up. You could get the sonos ZonePlayer 120 and install in ceiling/wall speakers and hide the sonos unit for a more built in look. Not all that hard to do. It all depends on what you are wanting out of the system.

[wrems]

I haven't been following this thread, and am not too anxious to cull through it to see all the suggestions: good, bad or indifferent. At the same time, I am extremely interested in better music functionality.

It might be nice to see some sort of summary, or bulleted list in the first post or something...

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by wrems

I haven't been following this thread, and am not too anxious to cull through it to see all the suggestions: good, bad or indifferent. At the same time, I am extremely interested in better music functionality.

It might be nice to see some sort of summary, or bulleted list in the first post or something...

Check the fist post. I've added the requested features. My main focus will be the UI itself. Once I finish that I will then begin to add features.

[pjpjpjpj]

panteragstk,
Is this thread and your "consideration" dead? Or are you still thinking about doing something with the music? With ADM and the ability to add custom links to the default menu, would that open doors to creating something, uh, similar to what Phoenix just previewed?

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

panteragstk,
Is this thread and your "consideration" dead? Or are you still thinking about doing something with the music? With ADM and the ability to add custom links to the default menu, would that open doors to creating something, uh, similar to what Phoenix just previewed?

Honestly with all the work that this would require I gave up on it as soon as the google announcement happened. I really wanted to give it a try, but with at least a years worth of development ahead of me I don't think my effort would have been worth it. It wouldn't have been just my effort either.

I think that by the time I finished we would see something come of the google acquisition. I could be wrong, but we won't know until something happens.

[Olias]

Thanks for the update! I had hoped for years that the Sage music interface would be reworked by Sage or someone else. The WAF has been very high for Sage but she hasn't been receptive to an additional music solution (Sonos, J. River, Russound, etc).
I'll now give Phoenix a look-see.