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#346305 - 08/07/2011 02:59 Collective nostalgia?
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Noticing more actual empeg activity these days, is this all a case of collective nostalgia? I'm even feeling it a bit, tempted to install my empeg back into the car after my disastrous CarPC experiment.

Anyone know a good car audio shop in Southern California? Willing to drive a bit to let pros handle it, since my car still has some quirks with the audio setup post CarPC.

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#346306 - 08/07/2011 03:20 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: drakino]
Happy Birthday larry818
old hand

Registered: 01/10/2002
Posts: 1033
Loc: Fullerton, Calif.
New Age Audio on Commonwealth in Fullerton is / was pretty good. At least they knew what an empeg was "back in the day".

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#346348 - 11/07/2011 18:23 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: larry818]
siberia37
old hand

Registered: 09/01/2002
Posts: 702
Loc: Tacoma,WA
I'm still using my Empeg but I find myself increasingly to lazy to sync to it. Why can't it have automatic MP3 searching so it just finds new MP3's on a network share and syncs them automatically? What can I say new technology has made me lazy.

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#346369 - 12/07/2011 21:21 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: siberia37]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Fired up mine and tinkered with it a bit today. Forgot how many various things I had installed on it over time, and was glad to see the two 30GB drives have held up this long.

Used jemplode to update hijack from 477 to 513. I no longer have my linux server that would autodetect an empeg on the network and update hijack automatically. I'm guessing 477 was on there from back when I used the empeg on my desk for music, as it seems too new to be from 5 years ago.

Tried to change the name of the player, and jemplode was throwing an error that fsck couldn't run. Forgot I added mt-daapd to autostart, and with it running, a sync couldn't complete. This, only after discovering my USB->Serial adaptor has no functional drivers for any modern OS. (Last official ones supported Windows 2000, and Mac OS 9. The Linux ones are badly broken, never mapping to a /dev/tty device).

Rooted around my drives via the hijack web interface, and found my old distributed.net stuff, along with various old web interfaces that don't work well in modern browsers. empire install from way back, along with the gps 0.17 version. Oh, and the all important ttsclock is still running every boot, with StrongBad telling me the time.

It's all coming back now. Trying to remember why I even went with the CarPC route 5 years ago, instead of just installing the empeg in the car. At least it sat patently waiting, tucked inside the mlord dock.

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#346372 - 12/07/2011 21:38 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: siberia37]
Daria
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
when i find a suitable wifi bridge to hang in my car, i'm going to do that. it's got a 320gb drive. it's just going to sync my entire iTunes share, which now nightly gets mp3tofid run over it.

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#346373 - 12/07/2011 21:40 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: drakino]
Daria
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
Originally Posted By: drakino
Noticing more actual empeg activity these days, is this all a case of collective nostalgia? I'm even feeling it a bit, tempted to install my empeg back into the car after my disastrous CarPC experiment.


In my case, my online stream isn't (anymore), so, it was time to use more than the aux in again!

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#346393 - 13/07/2011 12:34 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Daria]
siberia37
old hand

Registered: 09/01/2002
Posts: 702
Loc: Tacoma,WA
Originally Posted By: dbrashear
when i find a suitable wifi bridge to hang in my car, i'm going to do that. it's got a 320gb drive. it's just going to sync my entire iTunes share, which now nightly gets mp3tofid run over it.


Ahh mp3tofid- there's something I need to look into. I decided this morning I'm going to start over. Get rid of all my old music that I don't listen to anymore and copy a whole new library over. mp3tofid looks like a good way to do this quickly.

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#346397 - 13/07/2011 14:25 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: siberia37]
julf
veteran

Registered: 01/10/2001
Posts: 1307
Loc: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
mp3tofid is pretty much indispensable for me.

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#346402 - 13/07/2011 15:32 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: julf]
Daria
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
i put it in github, ported it to macos, and added a patch to make it spit out jemplode csv and xml files, fwiw.

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#346498 - 19/07/2011 15:01 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Daria]
Cris
pooh-bah

Registered: 06/02/2002
Posts: 1904
Loc: Leeds, UK
As we all know we recently lost one of our members, Godfrey. His wife Christine has been kind enough to give me Godfrey's empeg!!! A great honour indeed.

So for the first time in quite a while I have an empeg on my desk!!! I am actually really enjoying Godfrey's playlist, and am still blown away by how good this little box of tricks sounds. The fact it fired up first time, and I could find it in jemplode first go is quite amazing. I am currently taking a backup of his playlist/mp3s.

I think its back on the desk for good, and I'm off to dig out my own...

Cheers

Cris

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#346519 - 20/07/2011 14:39 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: drakino]
pim
addict

Registered: 14/11/2000
Posts: 474
Loc: The Hague, the Netherlands
Originally Posted By: drakino
Noticing more actual empeg activity these days, is this all a case of collective nostalgia?


I think it has to do with the Empeg Meet. It's just not right to care about these meets and not about the player itself. Even though I did not attend.

Pim

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#346532 - 20/07/2011 19:53 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: pim]
Taym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/06/2001
Posts: 2504
Loc: Roma, Italy
Since I was naive enought to uninstall it from my car, my main empeg has been sitting on my desk in its dock, connected to my stereo, ready to play anytime. But, the truth is, I've been afraid to turn it on for quite a while, now, and be reminded of the many appreciated features I am missing with silly "modern" players around the house. Squeezebox being the only good one which I use all the time, still the Empeg is by far the best around.

Yes, I too think that if only the player could detect new music in my collection and sync automatically, that would be quite an incentive to put it back in my car.
_________________________
= Taym =
MK2a #040103216 * 100Gb *All/Colors* Radio * 3.0a11 * Hijack = taympeg

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#346536 - 21/07/2011 02:11 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Taym]
Daria
carpal tunnel

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 3937
Loc: Providence, RI
i'm working on that, but without either wifi in the car or you empeg coming inside, it wouldn;t work for you.

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#346842 - 09/08/2011 21:38 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Daria]
Taym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/06/2001
Posts: 2504
Loc: Roma, Italy
Empeg detecting new music in my collection via ethernet? I would not ask for more, and would most likely go back and install it in my car.
_________________________
= Taym =
MK2a #040103216 * 100Gb *All/Colors* Radio * 3.0a11 * Hijack = taympeg

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#346891 - 11/08/2011 18:47 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Taym]
Bagpuss
member

Registered: 24/05/2000
Posts: 108
Loc: UK
Just dug my Empeg out of the cupboard, and was pleased that it just booted up and ran fine.

Last time I used it was the 8th July 2008.

It still beats the pants off any other in-car MP3 solution I've tried. It won't fit easily in my current car, due to the custom dash layout of the factory fit stuff.

It's now found a permanent place on my desk, serving up tunes, just like it always used to. Can't think why I ever stopped using it.

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#347119 - 26/08/2011 18:32 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Cris]
jbrinkerhoff
member

Registered: 02/04/2002
Posts: 148
I too have recently dug out my empeg. I installed it in my current Jeep back in 2004, then for some reason I can not recall, removed it about 2008 or 09. I think I too am going to start over - I have the perfect little wireless bridge, and have already tested that it will work at least at my home. Now just a few little details to work out.

I hope to find either a spare unit or VFD fairly cheaply as well, since mine is partially shot. I seem to recall the rotary encoder was also on the way out, so time to look at that also.

On the plus side, Seagate EE25.1 rugged drives are a little easier to find cheaply, so I have a pair. These work well down to at least 0F, which around here is a requirement in the winter (I know, I should bring it in... But I dont).
_________________________
Empeg Mk2a 60G

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#349117 - 16/11/2011 01:51 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: jbrinkerhoff]
FireFox31
pooh-bah

Registered: 19/09/2002
Posts: 2494
Loc: East Coast, USA
My empeg has been sitting in its Pelican case for about a year and a half. Since mid 2009, I've been listening almost entirely to podcasts, and since mid 2010, my cell phone (Palm Pre!) has been (automatically) downloading and playing them for me.

I began upgrading the stereos in my cars to replace the no-frills Alpine decks with the awesome JVC KD-R810 to get A2DP bluetooth streaming from my phone. While the Benz has both the JVC and empeg installed, the Volvo has neither (yet...), leaving me to listen to my phone through a single headphone. Weak.

I often want to finish the installs and bring the empeg back into service. While I use my phone for time-sensitive podcasts, my empeg receives the more immortal ones (like Car Talk). There's so much good content on it that I want to hear. Oh yeah, and music too...

I'm glad to see the empeg community is still around. As someone's signature once said, "I'll get around to installing an empeg in one of my cars one of these days..." Take care.
_________________________
-
FireFox31
110gig MKIIa (30+80), Eutronix lights, 32 meg stacked RAM, Filener orange gel lens, Greenlights Lit Buttons green set

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#349173 - 21/11/2011 00:02 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: FireFox31]
msaeger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 23/09/2000
Posts: 3608
Loc: Minnetonka, MN
Originally Posted By: FireFox31
My empeg has been sitting in its Pelican case for about a year and a half. Since mid 2009, I've been listening almost entirely to podcasts,


Me too I just listen to podcasts now and it's not really worth installing the empeg just for that.
_________________________

Matt

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#349599 - 24/12/2011 14:40 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Daria]
Taym
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/06/2001
Posts: 2504
Loc: Roma, Italy
Originally Posted By: dbrashear
i'm working on that, but without either wifi in the car or you empeg coming inside, it wouldn;t work for you.

So, any news on this awesome idea? smile
_________________________
= Taym =
MK2a #040103216 * 100Gb *All/Colors* Radio * 3.0a11 * Hijack = taympeg

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#349603 - 25/12/2011 16:19 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: drakino]
Redrum
old hand

Registered: 17/01/2003
Posts: 998
Well after all these years I Empeg about every day. I have one in the garage, my Jeep and my wife’s car. If I come across another one cheap someday I’ll have one in the barn as well.

I sure like the one press artist enque. I really don’t know why that isn’t a standard feature on newer players or Android apps.

Today, Christmas, is the day the Empeg comes inside and we listen to the Christmas play list all day.

Merry Empeg’ing

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#349758 - 10/01/2012 04:22 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: Redrum]
ricin
veteran

Registered: 19/06/2000
Posts: 1495
Loc: US: CA
I took mine out a few months ago to see if they still work. Sadly, two won't boot, and the other boots but seems to have dead drives.

I haven't had any installed in a car since 2006, so I haven't bothered to get them fixed. I'd like to get them all fixed and get one in my car, though. I've really been missing it.
_________________________
Donato
MkII/080000565
MkIIa/010101253
ricin.us

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#349788 - 12/01/2012 11:47 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: ricin]
ShadowMan
addict

Registered: 09/06/1999
Posts: 558
Loc: Newfoundland, Canada
Sadly my empeg will be removed from the dash of my 2000 CR-V in the next little while. I am replacing it with a Pioneer double din unit that does what I want in terms of video and navigation.

It will be a sad day, but it really hasn't been used for a couple of years even though it's been sitting in the dash.

I also have another empeg sitting in a nice dock I built for it at home. It hasn't been turned on since we moved into our current house... four years ago.

I think I have three metal cages for the empegs, a home dock, built around a metal cage (might be one of the three), a bunch of different colored lenses and misc parts, including two winter proof hard drive supplied by the empeg folk around the time I stopped tinkering with the empeg.

If anybody is interested in the gear let me know. I may keep an empeg as a nostalgia piece, but the rest will be sold. Time to move on... frown
_________________________
12 gig empeg Mark II, SN: 080000101
30 gig RioCar SN: 30103114
My blog

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#351220 - 31/03/2012 00:51 Re: Collective nostalgia? [Re: ShadowMan]
Dviant
new poster

Registered: 14/01/2005
Posts: 38
I have been using the Empeg nearly daily for longer than I can remember. Love the thing still after all this time. I am honestly surprised at how well the thing has held up over the years. Occasionally I have had to open it up mess with the HDD cable, but so far thats it.

I have thought about alternate music strategies like feeding my music via my phone, but still the thought of having EVERY thing I own (nearly) at my finger tips keeps it in my car. Even if syncing every quarter or so is a bit of a bear.

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