Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication

It's been a few years since my serious "dealer days." Surrounded by the newest gear and with a focus on performance over convenience, I invested in additional amplifiers, video processors and expensive sources. Over that period of time, I inched away from CDs and moved to iTunes (lossless of course), eventually graduating from DVD discs to a server. I think what happens as we get older is we become far more engrossed in important things, and have less time to fidget (this is something I believe that causes audiophiles to have less respect than they should: who really has enough time on their hands to do the tweaky things they do?)

Part of this evolution or devolution, depending on who you ask is based around the Apple "iLife" system philosophy. Never before have we had the ability to eschew wall controls and giant remotes in favor of distributing audio around the house from our smartphones. Streaming DVDs to an iPad or the 360 for the little ones is appealing, especially since their attention span (and mine) is too short to fuss with finding a disc, turning on the theater and sitting to watch. Having my rather basic computer serve all multimedia to the entire house as opposed to a multi-thousand dollar Kaleidescape-style setup makes sense, and it's easy. My two year old knows how to swipe on my iPhone, which in my opinion is a mark of excellent design. Thanks to these hand-held controllers, system control, traditionally a huge part of a system's price tag is effectively rolled into the relatively cheap price of the iPhone and a few well-edited apps. Even gaming is moving away from the TV and onto my iPhone. Ask me 10 years ago if I ever thought I'd be in that place. I happened to stumble on this CNET article, which reinforces the idea that as we get a little older, we value convenience even more:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57490921-71/apples-fanboys-have-all-grown-up/
"Fanboy" is a little strong, but that's fine.

The high end clings on, and it should. Smart dealers know when and where to target their amazing audio and video systems. For those that employ babysitters, housecleaners and have wives that don't expect the owners of these systems to actually kick in around the house, this makes sense. For the rest of us, having the best performing gear assumes a lesser position compared to spending quality time with the kids and focusing more on reality. I believe this also allows us to focus more on the content, and less on the gear itself.

Simple Xbox 360 DVD Streaming

DISCLAIMER: These techniques should always and only be used for store-purchased, properly owned DVDs. This is not designed for illegal copying from disc to your PC, nor for creating illegal duplicates for distribution. These methods are for personal convenience and archival purposes only.

When searching for various methods in streaming DVDs from my standard Windows XP computer to my Xbox 360, I was shocked to see how difficult many made this process seem. The advantages other than convenience are many. The simplicity with which you can navigate and select titles may help you rediscover movies you haven't watched in years. Additionally, DVDs that are finicky in DVD or Blu-ray players usually rip perfectly to a hard drive, preventing the blocking and stuttering from conventional playback. The process is so easy that it should take no longer than maybe 30 minutes to get up and running. Here is the process in a few quick steps.

-Download the free HandBrake software.
-Download one of the many free DVD ripping software programs on the market. DVD Fab and DVD43 work very well.
-Download the Zune program for your XP machine. Again this is free, and the software that the 360 ultimately looks at for your DVD files.

Open the HandBrake program. Select the "Normal" preset in the selection window on the right side of the screen. This is ideal for Xbox 360 DVD streaming. Next, Open your Zune software. Make a new folder somewhere on a large hard drive, naming it something that is relevant and easy to remember. Copy the drive path and name. Paste this drive path name into the "Video" folder that you want Zune to monitor.

Place your DVD in the computer. Allow the selected DVD ripping software to remove any copy protection on board. HandBrake will quickly find the appropriate title to use on the disc. Click on the "Source" tab on the top left side of the screen in the HandBrake software. Select the DVD name found at the bottom of the list. Click on this. Click "Start" which begins the encoding process, dumping the audio and video files into the folder Zune monitors for streaming.

Turn on your Xbox 360. Head to the "Video Apps" box. Select your computer's name from the list that appears. If it appears twice, pick the one with the zig-zag Zune logo next to it. Find the folder with the name you supplied to it earlier. Press "A" on the controller to cycle through the menus until your movie starts.

Some important notes:

-The Xbox 360 only allows stereo streaming with this configuration. Most modern home theater receivers convert this to Dolby ProLogic II, retaining some degree of surround. There are workarounds to this issue, but the point of this article is to keep the process simple.
-Most encodes take anywhere from two to four hours. You can rip multiple audio and video TS files to your selected drive, then add these to the "Add to Queue" list. This sequentially encodes multiple files overnight or while you're at work.
-Use a wired connection if possible. A solid connection with CAT5e or CAT6 Ethernet from the computer to your router as well as from the router to your 360 results in perfect streams without stuttering or drops.
-Place each movie into category folders, such as "Action," Sci-Fi," and the like. These subfolders are found in the primary folder you made that Zune monitors. Drag and drop each new title into the relevant folder after it's done encoding. It is not necessary to place each subfolder in the Zune monitor list.

Happy streaming!

Rural Wireless Internet Solutions

In a rural location, long range solutions exist to expand the range of your Wi-Fi network. Although the wireless transmitter inside your router is usually fine for signal for your home, that signal often isn't strong enough to extend beyond your front yard. Selecting the proper Wi-Fi antenna extends the signal to distances that would otherwise remain unreachable with just the router.

Parabolic Dishes

Parabolic dish antennas offer the strongest overall link. However, the highly-directional nature of this antenna type means that it may be very difficult to make and maintain the link to the sending station. These are often as large or slightly larger than a satellite dish you would use for DirecTV or Dish Network satellite reception. Distances over 2 miles may suffer from from network acknowledgement time out issues, where the receiving end of the connection did not respond to the sending end within the allotted time. This can normally be adjusted at the router or sending station through the unit's interface.

Backfire Designs

Backfire antennas look like miniature satellite parabolic designs. These are discreetly mounted to a pole or the side of a structure, offering strong performance for building to building links exceeding the range of a conventional wireless router. Most backfire antennas are around 10 inches in diameter. Like all parabolic designs, care must be taken to ensure obstacles such as trees and other structures are not in the line of sight between the dish and the target. Backfire dishes are preferred when smaller size is desired and the extended range of a larger parabolic is not required.

Yagi Antennas

Traditional Yagi-style antennas are useful for long-range rural Wi-Fi applications. Yagi designs are, like parabolic antennas, very precise in their aiming requirements. Yagi antennas have the ability to transmit at 2-3 two the three mile distances, comparable to parabolic solutions. Yagi antennas tend to not be as precise with aiming requirements as parabolic designs. This is useful if you already have an antenna on your roof for television or radio reception, but would rather re-purpose the antenna to extend your Wi-Fi network to an outbuilding or shed.

Mesh Networks

Also known as cloud networks, mesh networking is an effective way to cover the vast expanses often encountered in rural areas. The "antennas" used in this environment are actually repeaters, installed every so often as needed to repeat and boost the wireless signal as needed. Signals originate from a standard wired high-speed connection, with a directional antenna such as a parabolic aimed at the primary node. Each node then relays data to the next, and so on as needed. Repeaters are small low-power stick antenna relays or conventional wireless routers, each covering a few hundred feet prior to needing another relay point. Further connections closer to buildings have a wired connection option from the node nearest to the structure.