A good music server can offer you unparalleled enjoyment of your music. But for
many servers there is a steep learning curve, complex features you’ll never
use, missing features you’ll regret not having, and many quality issues that
can dampen your enthusiasm. Here is a music server with an elegant design,
sound quality that will please discriminating audiophiles, and the best voice
search for music. First, you’ll need the following components.
1) A computer with 500 MB RAM and Bluetooth 2) A Blackberry Smartphone 3)
Talkhouse Music Server Software 4) Talkhouse Client Software for you blackberry
For the computer we recommend something small that doesn’t require a fan. We’ve
had favorable experiences with everything from Ultramobiles and tablet PCs to
Laptops. Although Vista will work fine we recommend sticking with XP. If you
have an old PC or laptop lying around it might be adequate. What if you don’t
have Bluetooth? Most computers today already come with Bluetooth. If yours
doesn’t you can add a Bluetooth adapter for about $35.
For a handheld remote the Blackberry 8800 and the Blackberry Curve are both
nice choices. They both have Bluetooth capability and nice color screens.
Although you’ll probably choose to use speech recognition to search your
library it’s nice to have a keyboard and screen for seeing search results,
browsing, and controlling the volume.
Step 1. Copy music onto your computer.
If the computer your using supports WIFI that’s great. But for copying your
initial collection over you might as well just plug it into you home network
via an ordinary ethernet cable if you already have a large collection.
If your music is still on CDs we recommend ripping it to either FLAC or Ogg
Vorbis. FLAC is lossless but it takes much more space than Ogg. Ogg Vorbis is
lossy, but much better sounding than mp3. Unless the rest of your audio
equipment is really good you’ll have a hard time telling the difference. If
you’ll be doing your ripping on OS X we’ve had good luck with the following rippers:
Max (OSX)
CDex (Windows)
BonkEnc (Windows)
Step 2. Install Zax-a-Phone on your computer.
It’s a one click installer that you can download here.
The first time you start the application a wizard will guide you.
Step 3. Install the Talkhouse Client on your Blackberry.
Using the web browser on your Blackberry just click here.
Step 4. Pair your Bluetooth devices.
Open your Blackberry settings application. It probably looks like a folder with
cogs in it. From there select the blackberry options icon. It probably looks
like a wrench. Select Bluetooth and enable it.
Step 5. Add a Bluetooth device.
A list of all Bluetooth devices in the vicinity will appear. Select the one you
want to use. A screen should pop up automatically on your PC allowing you to
setup a numeric pin. Enter a pin for your PC first. Then enter the same pin on
your Blackberry.
Enjoy!
Here are some of our favorite Zax systems. Send us yours!