I have been struggling for many months to organize my large music library and make it accessible thoughout my house. Perhaps I should have bitten the bullet and went for a custom installed home audio system where cool LCD panels in each room control every component, and music follows me around the house. But I was looking to leverage the computers and equipment I already owned, and was interested in how many other options exist and whether these cheaper versions would offer any advantages.

I probably have more computers than one person really needs, and had already experimented with a number of different music programs that share music across a network. I will touch on that here as well but want to explain the other options I explored, and what I thought of each.

Create the Music Archive

The first step for me was to centralize all of my music in one place. I bought a 250 GB external hard drive. This size will be more than enough for what I need, even if my 10,000+ song library doubles in the next few years. An external drive is not required, but does offer the advantage of being portable if you need to take your library on the go.

I used an average powered computer that was mostly idle. I have found that serving up music is not particularly stressful on a computer, but I didn't want anything else to compete with the music software if that meant "skipping" or annoying breaks in the tunes, which can happen with an overloaded machine.

Having the music files on a hard drive is only half the "music archive" battle. You need to pick the software that will manage your music. There are plenty out there, but I have had a hard time leaving iTunes since I found it. It's free, works on PCs and Macs (I have both), and offers some real sharing advantages when connected to other instances of iTunes on the same network.

Stream to networked computers via Rendezvous

Pointing iTunes (or similar software) at your music stash is trivial, so I won't cover that here. What I will point out is that if you leave iTunes running on the dedicate computer (the one with the music files on the local hard drive), then you can take advantage of Apple's network sharing technology. Apple calls it Rendezvous, but you will never need to understand how it works.

Simply configure your primary iTunes application to "share" your music and instantly other instances of iTunes, running on other computers on the network will detect and connect to the primary application. Once this happens, you are free to browse the music archive and listen to anything as if you were sitting in front of the dedicated computer. None of the complications of copying files, mounting network drives, or keeping multiple instances of a music application in sync. Anything you add to the Music Archive using the primary iTunes application will immediately be accessible to other iTunes machines.

The first option for sharing music is leveraging your existing home network and running iTunes on each computer. Plug in some good speakers into your computer and enjoy!

Stream to Home Audio using AirTunes

The next experiment was to use Apple's Airport Express, a solid white brick that is probably more familiar as a Wi-Fi device extending both wired and wireless networks. However, the folks at Apple added features to the Airport Express which uses an audio out jack to let iTunes stream music to a set of external speakers.

Again this feature is available to both Mac and PC users, but does require iTunes as the music software. Interestingly enough, the AirTunes feature does not require wireless technology - it will work just fine from a wired computer on the network. When the Airport Express is connected to the network, iTunes will detect and provide it as an option to direct the sound from the music being played.

You are free to connect any powered speakers to the audio out jack or plug it directly into your home stereo. This last choice is much more attractive than physically locating a computer near the stereo, or schlepping MP3 CDs back and forth to your DVD/CD player to get tunes from your music archive to the sound system.

AirTunes Tip: Apple buried a digital connection below the analog jack which means that by purchasing a special elongated Toslink cable, you can stream music digitally to your high-end

The only downside to this option is that you need to be in front of the computer at some point to select the music or to make changes to the playlist in iTunes. This can be inconvenient, but will likely be solved with additional gadgets in the near future.

Stream to Bedroom using TV instead of computer

Next stop is the bedroom. I have no need to have a hardwired computer here, but I would like the option of enjoying the media I accumulate and need a solution that is simple and convenient.

I chose the Prismiq MediaPlayer because of its small size and rich feature set. The device plugs into my wired network and works with Prismiq software running anywhere on the network. Then, after making a simple connection to my TV (and alternatively separate speakers) -- voila, I can use the supplied remote to browse music, photos, and video from the comfort of my bed!

So I traded a TV and remote for a full-blown computer, but the effect is the same. Prismiq works independently of any other music software but is perfectly happy feeding off the same hard drive that is driving iTunes.

It is a pain to load all the music (and other media files) into the Prismiq application, and you still need to spend some time re-creating playlists which is duplicate, work but I found that I am less picky about the music I want to hear in the bedroom anyway. So, I took some shortcuts to keep it simple.

Stream to Living Room without Computer or TV

Still not satisfied, I went looking for a different solution altogether to pump tunes into my living room where I do not have computer or a TV. I had researched a number of standalone music servers with their own displays, and decided to try the Squeezebox from Slim Devices. This can connect to your network, wired or wirelessly, and uses custom software running on the network to serve up the music.

But the big advantage of this devices, and those like it over the previous options, was the ability to control the music using only a remote. The Squeezebox has a built-in display that lets me see what I am selecting, which just seems a whole lot lighter weight.

The downfall of course is that this is quite an expensive solution for something that will only play music - no video or photos here. But the latest version does offer higher-end, digital audio connections. So if I am only going to hear sounds, at least they will be higher quality than the crummy, old analog red/white sound.

Portable Speakers + MP3 Player = Portable Sound

With all this in place, you might think I would be satisfied. I was, for a short while. Then I realized there was still more room to explore. Since I owned an iPod, the next step was to find a portable speaker system that would pump music from my portable MP3 player anywhere - without wires.

Altec Lansing's "In Motion" speaker system fit the bill. It supports any line-in audio signal, but accommodates the iPod particularly well with a special docking platform that also charges the iPod when the speakers are powered by the provided wall plug. But, to truly be portable, you need to pop in 4 AA batteries.

After docking the iPod and turning both devices on, you can play your tunes anywhere. With a portable speaker solution like this, you use the MP3 player as the controller, and volume is adjusted by a switch on the speakers themselves.

Final Thoughts

As I have found, there are a wide variety of options for enjoying your favorite tunes throughout your house and beyond. A key factor in the direction you decide to take is how you would like to control the music. To review, I presented four options:

1. Control from computer - for computer-to-computer or through AirTunes
2. Control from TV/remote - specialized products like Prismiq
3. Control from music server - some products like Squeezebox offer adequate displays
4. Control from portable MP3 player - connect iPod or similar device directly to external speakers

There are the enthusiasts who will scoff at these options and insist a completely wired home is necessary, and it is important to point out that those solutions open up many more music options than just an MP3 music library. The alternatives presented here are certainly more palatable for the novice, or for solving smaller audio problems.