Creating a home office

[MrsBlue]

<font color="blue">Sometime next year I'll be setting up a home office in a new home. I want it to be part studio and part office. Ideally there will be three networked computers in the house, with the main computer being the one in the office.

The main computer will need to have huge RAM and hard disk memory, because I'll be working with music. I will want to make sure that the room is wired correctly for all of the pieces that I will need.

This is the first time that I'm doing something like this, so I want to go through it step by step to make sure that I get it right the first time. I'm pretty sure that I would achieve better results if I put the PC together from scratch but that's something else that I've never done before.

Also, I keep hearing that Mac is better for these types of things, but I'm not that familiar with Mac.

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Where do I start? </font>

[j-kid]

Re: Creating a home office

Yuh start by listing on paper the specifications of what your needs are, and give more details of what you want the system to do. Your descreption so far is too general. If i had to do it over again I would go with the Mac OS because it is more stable, expecially where working with graphics and large files are concerned.

Exactly what will you be doing with the music?

[MrsBlue]

Re: Creating a home office

<font color="blue">Some mixing, storing, there will be a board connected. The music will be pre-recorded, and there will be some vocal recording. The main reason for all of the space is storage. I have about 15 gigs of music on my hard drive now and that is a fraction of my collection.

What I wonder is if I should separate the computer in the office or stay with the plan to network all of them. One computer would be general use, probably the family room or kitchen, for the brats to do their game-playing, homework and whatever internet surfing needed to be done. A third computer would probably be a notebook.

I would like to install home monitoring software and peripherals also. Do I need to have a server?</font>

[j-kid]

Re: Creating a home office

Personally, I think you should keep yuh media PC separate. However if yuh waa peek in pan di pickney dem activities remotely den yuh can network dem. Also if yuh plan on sharing resources, printer files, etc then do the networking. Dahjah has a similar setup, maybe he can give some advice on his experience relative to the good and bad of both configurations. The potential is also there, that if the kids download something malicious through their PC, that the network could be infected, including your media PC.

You will need to focus most of the resources on making sure that your media PC is maximized to it fullest, and not bogged down by any other non-essential operations going on in the background.

A server setup, will require it to be running all the time, if you turn it off, it defeats the whole intent, and in that case you would be indicating that you really don't need a server then.

[MrsBlue]

Re: Creating a home office

<span style="color: #3333FF">I came across this. I was thinking of something like this for whole-house audio that can be controlled from a central location.

AAS
Adagio™ Audio Server


As the centerpiece for any home audio system, the AAS Audio Server provides an easy, powerful way to store and enjoy your complete music collection, with the ability to instantly access any album or track from touchpanels, keypads and computers throughout the home.

Instant Access
The AAS Audio Server is a hard disk based audio system which can store many hundreds of hours of music, all with the convenience of instant access from its front panel, from a computer, or from Crestron touchpanels and keypads. Whether you select a track by title, album, artist, or genre, the AAS locates it instantly and plays it at your command. And with hard disks up to 250GB, literally thousands of hours worth of music can be stored.

On-Screen Menu
Browsing through albums and tracks, ripping CDs, and organizing a complete music library is fun and easy using the onscreen menu (OSM). Displayed on a video or SVGA monitor, the OSM shows full album, track, and artist names as well as album cover art, letting you manage and play the entire music library using the front panel controls or IR remote. The same OSM can be viewed and navigated using any computer Web browser (Macromedia® Flash® required), or even a Crestron touchpanel as part of a complete control system.

Easy Loading
Loading an entire CD collection onto the AAS is easy. Just place a CD into the disk tray, and the AAS rips it to digital in less time than it would take to play it. Then, the AAS automatically connects to the Gracenote CDDB Music Recognition Service via the built-in modem or Ethernet connection, downloading all of the information and cover art graphics for that CD. This information can also be entered manually, building a complete database for the entire music library.

Custom Playlists
The AAS lets you organize and control your music collection the way you want it. Using playlists, the AAS can be customized to suit the individual tastes of each family member, with the ability to compile different playlists for different moods and occasions. At any time, just select a playlist and let the AAS be the DJ, serving up a perfect mix of music from the list of tracks that you specified.

Multi-Zone Outputs
With up to 4 stereo outputs, the AAS is a vital component of any multi-room audio distribution system. The discrete outputs allow up to four different tracks to play in four different rooms at once. Professional quality features ensure exceptional audio quality in every room.

Plug-and-Play Integration
The AAS affords easy plug-and-play setup as part of a complete Adagio system. Without any programming, Adagio delivers full access and control of the AAS from every room in the house. The AAS can also be integrated with other systems, with control provided via Ethernet or IR.

Computer Access
The AAS even lets you listen to your music directly on any computer and transfer tracks to portable devices using applications such as Windows Media® Player or Apple® iTunes®. Connected to your home LAN, the AAS simply behaves as a network drive allowing for easy file management.



High-performance digital audio server
Choice of 80GB, 160GB, or 250GB capacity
Supports WMA, MP3 up to 320k, and uncompressed WAV formats
Multi-zone outputs - up to 4 discrete analog outputs
Audiophile quality - high-end Wolfson Delta-Sigma 24-bit DAC's on a dedicated audio board
Lossless optical and coaxial digital outputs
Digital and analog inputs - record to hard disk from vinyl records, tapes and radio
Access OSM control screens and view cover art on any video display, Crestron touchpanel or Flash-enabled Web browser
Access the music library from or any device running Windows Media Player, Apple iTunes, or other music player application
Transfer PC files easily using AAS as a network drive
Ethernet and IR controllable
Plug-and-play integration with Adagio systems </span>

[MrsBlue]

Re: Creating a home office



<span style="color: #3333FF"> Browser Screen: Easily search through the Adagio Audio Server music library and select songs using the playlist manager. Select music by genre, artist, album, playlists, track, eras, and years. The lower portion of the screen displays the track currently playing and the number of selections in queue. When making selections, the choice is given to listen immediately or add it to the playlist.

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