Audio

Holiday Project: Lyrion Media Server & Spotify

This week saw me spending some time to get Lyrion Media Server working with Spotify again. I started using Logitech’s Squeezebox series streaming music players since the Squeezebox 3 was introduced in 2005. Lyrion Media Server is community supported version of what was once known as Logitech Media Server.

Of course, the Logitech hardware eventually died. Electrolytic capacitors eventually age. Our fleet of SB3 were eventually replaced with a handful of Raspberry Pi running PiCorePlayer. Both Lyrion Media Server and PiCorePlayer are open source.

Originally, LMS was all about playing stream from a local library of music. That didn’t last very long. As streaming music sources appeared online the software was extended to include these services. While I’ve used Pandora and Radio Paradise in the past, more recently I access a paid Spotify account by way of Michael Herger’s excellent Spotty plug-in for LMS.

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Revisiting the Alto Professional Presenter

Late last year I detailed my quest to find a small public address system for use by our local civic association. I settled upon the Alto Professional Presenter, which is a portable, battery operated PA in the form of a podium. What follows are some notes about how I’ve used it over the past nine months, and some recent tweaks to the setup that have made me irrationally happy.

While I was initially quite enthusiastic about the product, that proved to be substantially unwarranted. Out-of-the-box it’s actually quite terrible. It’s a nice idea, poorly executed.

The major problem is the included gooseneck microphone. You can’t turn the device up loud enough to be useful without generating feedback. As a practical matter, the position of the microphone is fixed relative to the front-facing speakers. Also, I suspect the microphone suffered from being physically connected to the podium. The physical connection increases the likelihood of feedback, as vibration was passed directly to the gooseneck.

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An Elegant Solution to Meeting Audio: Indoors & Outside

I never really wanted to lead anything. In fact, I spent my career trying to be the second or third in-charge. The guy one tier down the org chart who got stuff done. However, back in May of this year I was once again elected to the board of the Woodland Heights Civic Association. From 2017-2021 I was on this board as director of Communications. This time around I was elected president. I was weak and allowed myself to be talked into it.

WHCA Members Meeting May 14-2024

The member’s meeting (pictured above) where the election was conducted was held outdoors in a nearby park. It was May, so the weather was nice. It wasn’t yet too hot.

The outgoing president used a small, battery operated, PA system to be able to address the gathering of  a few dozen. It looked like a tiny guitar practice amp. It had a wireless microphone with a very limited range. I suspect it was Bluetooth based. The range seemed to be about 6 feet. Take two steps away from the amp, or even turn to face away from the amp, and the signal faded. That made things a little awkward, but the business got done.

Given my background, I’m fussy about AV stuff. This experience stuck in my mind. It started me on the lookout for a better solution for meeting sound. Preferably one that was suitable for both indoor and outdoor use.

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Revisiting an old love: JBL Studio Monitors

JBL 705P QuarterIt happens from time to time. I become entranced by some little thing. Something so special. An elegant piece of engineering. And admirable work of art. It’s happened again. This is the back story.

As a young person, I had a fascination with media technology. In fact, my teen years read like a rough draft of Wayne’s World. I volunteered/hung around the small town cable TV studio, learning to use their gear. Shot and edited little programs. Volunteered as a DJ. Lots of hands-on with the media technology the time.

So, when it came time to consider College, I decided that I wanted to study media production. There weren’t many options for media arts education at the time. My friend and I selected a private school in Toronto. It was good. All the teachers were active in the business. But it didn’t have its own facilities beyond classrooms.

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