SMC Ez-Stream SMCWAA-G

[n_maher]

I thought about putting this in the DIY forum but mostly it's about a modded new source, so here it is. Full credit goes to Brain Donegan (of Twisted Pear Audio) who showed me one of these when I was at his house picking up some other parts. He also pointed me to the thread at DIY Audio where some guys had figured out a nifty little mod for the units, more on that in a minute.

In stock form this is essentially a poor man's Squeezebox. It's setup to work with a MusicMatch library file and allows you to stream mp3's from your PC wirelessly and connect it to your amplification device of choice via the unit's analog outputs. Not all that special until you factor in three key points, one, that these things can still be had for around $60 if you hunt a bit (at least that's what I found the two I bought for), two, that they can be quickly modded to have an optical digital output and three, that with a piece of software called tversity that will transcode your lossless files so that they can be streamed via the SMC. So, for about $70 (including the parts for the optical mod) I've now got a second wireless source that'll do lossless, not that I need two but I wanted to have a trial run before modding Ian's. I'll probably end up selling this unit at some point or modding it further, who knows...

[en480c4]

Nice! Well done Nate.

I've been using one of these for a month now and it's a cool little unit. Out of the box, it sounds pretty good. IIRC it uses a CS4345 DAC, and is pleasant-enough sounding. Adding the versatility of the digital out will take this to a whole new level. I'm pretty psyched to be able to use it with the Denon DA-500, which has proven at work to do wonders to my vbr .mp3 filled library. And the ability to transcode lossless at the PC will come in very handy as I start re-ripping my CD library.

So, when are you picking mine up?

[ojnihs]

Nice work Nate!

I got curious about this thing after wanting to create a wireless bedside rig, however, I need something that I can control from my bed, since my computer is in the other room, meaning that the Squeezebox is probably my only option. Dang.

[n_maher]

Nice work Nate!

I got curious about this thing after wanting to create a wireless bedside rig, however, I need something that I can control from my bed, since my computer is in the other room, meaning that the Squeezebox is probably my only option. Dang.

Why wouldn't this work, since it does essentially the exact same thing an SB3 does, right down to the fact that both the analog and digital outputs are remote volume controlled?

[jinp6301]

So thats what that thing is! Thats a pretty sweet device for only $70. Still have to wait till I'm out of the dorms to use it though

[ojnihs]

Why wouldn't this work, since it does essentially the exact same thing an SB3 does, right down to the fact that both the analog and digital outputs are remote volume controlled?

Well I was under the impression that you could scroll through you music collection using the squeezebox only, but if it's possible with one of these, then hot mama, I may have to look into one.

[n_maher]

I probably wasn't clear enough in my original post. What you do is install Musicmatch onto the host PC, add all of your music files to the Musicmatch library and then close the Musicmatch software, never to be used again, it's the friggen devil. The SMC simply connects wirelessly (or wired, if you wanted to for whatever reason) to the PC and uses the Musicmatch library file to create a directory structure for itself which you can then browse directly from the unit. It works almost exactly like the SB3 albeit in a more crude and less polished manner. But hey, what the hell do you expect for $60?

[ojnihs]

Oh I see. Then it's definitely what I'm looking for.

Does this thing work with Mac? I guess I could just use Crossover/Parallels/Fusion to get it to work, but if it was Mac OS X compatible that would be sweet.

[grawk]

Seems like if you already have a mac, an airport express is a better choice

[ojnihs]

Seems like if you already have a mac, an airport express is a better choice

Well I have an airport express, but the problem is that my computer is in the living room, and I want to get a wireless source for the bedroom. I love my AEX, but not being able to access my music without using my computer is where the AEX loses to the Squeezebox or SMC.

[ojnihs]

Also, I haven't been using the AEX since I got my Macbook, since the optical out on my macbook can upsample to 96khz.

[grawk]

AppleTv then. I actually use a mac mini for that job. But the SMC lets you use a remote? I didn't realize.

[en480c4]

The SMC is only usable through the remote. As Nate said, once you build the library file on the computer, you just leave the computer running as a server, but don't have to touch it again until you want to add more to the library. My HTPC is in the living room, and the SMC is in my bedroom with the rest of my rig.

I can't speak to Apple support, though. AFAIK, it's PC-based but that's not to say it can't be done, either natively or figured out by someone far more clever than me. But it's worked out quite well with my HTPC running XP Pro as a media server.

[n_maher]

But it's worked out quite well with my HTPC running XP Pro as a media server.

Not to mention that yours now has an optical digital output.

[jinp6301]

noob question, you need an wireless or wired network for this, correct?

if so, then I should cancel my order since I cant use it in the dorms

[en480c4]

Yes, you need wireless or wired. Could you use a USB ethernet adapter in addition to your wired network connection to wire it?

[en480c4]

Not to mention that yours now has an optical digital output.

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!

[hYdrociTy]

would there be a way to add coax out instead of optical?

[n_maher]

would there be a way to add coax out instead of optical?

Last I knew a couple people had done it but those much smarter than me advised against it since there's no provision in the circuit to do so. The optical was always meant to be there, the man'f just decided to leave off three parts and not have it active. It's literally one resistor, one cap and the TORX module.

[thrice]

Coolness Nate..neat little player.

[en480c4]

Well, Nate dropped of my modded EZ-Stream tonight, and the optical out worked great. My Denon DAC got a lock immediately, and it sounds great. Definitely opens a lot of possibilities.

As for Mac compatibility, I have no idea. Sorry

[n_maher]

Well, Nate dropped of my modded EZ-Stream tonight, and the optical out worked great. My Denon DAC got a lock immediately, and it sounds great. Definitely opens a lot of possibilities.

F'ing SWEET! I love it when I don't break things.

[ojnihs]

is it Mac compatible?

well, musicmatch is the software used, and considering that musicmatch decided not to support mac anymore, i'm doubting that this will work, which sucks

[ojnihs]

there's got to be a way to make this work on mac os x. i really don't feel like using crossover to use it. can't find shit on the web about this.

[ojnihs]

According to [ame=http://www.amazon.com/SMC-SMCWAA-G-Adapter-802-11G-54MBPS/dp/B000B9SLJM]this[/ame], it works using Twonky Music Server (what the fuck is that?) on Mac OS X