So this is how I use my music and video library

Alright, so some of this information is old hat, but I want to go through it so all can understand where I'm coming from.

I use my Xbox 360 as a media center as much or more as I use it for games. In fact, the whole reason I bought it was because it was the first solution on the market (besides a media PC) that allowed me to stream music and movies from my PC.

Ever since I was introduced to an Ipod four and a half years ago, I have moved all of my music collection to my PC and have been looking for a good solution that would allow me to play my collection on my home theater since the music sounds a hell of a lot better than on a lousy pair of pc speakers. Purists will argue that the Mp3 has been the death of high quality audio, but it's all up to how you encode your music. If done right, there is no loss of quality, but that discussion is best saved for a follow-up post.

I first tried using a pc as part of my home theater setup, but I wasn't happy with the performance when using an old pc (since I wanted video and audio), and I felt like if I was going to invest in a higher performing pc, it belonged in my office, being used for multiple things, not just listening to music and watching videos.

I then tried the Apple Airtunes product that allows streaming from Itunes to a fiber optic hub connected to your AV receiver, but the wi-fi had lousy range and if you didn't have the computer with Itunes in the same room, you have no way to control what you were listening to other than to wherever your desktop (in my case) was and use the pc interface. I even installed 3rd party RF remote sensors that let me use a remote to control my pc downstairs while in the theater room, but the best you can really accomplish with a setup like that is 'Pause, Play, Stop, and Skip forward and backward'. Not too bad, but if you want to be able to pick your music or browse through it, your out of luck.

The Xbox 360 (combined with the right pc software) will allow you to play any format of audio file that you would like to use. The interface isn't perfect, but it's the best I have used. You can browse through your entire library or whatever subset you choose right on your TV screen. The sound quality is up to you, based on how you encode your music on your PC. If done right, the music will sound as good as if you put a CD into the Xbox and played it directly. You can play individual songs, make playlists on the fly, play previously prepared playlists, play specific albums, specific artists, whatever you like. You can even play multi-channel music if you set it up right (and by multi-channel, I mean 5.1, 6.1 and so on).

You can also use the 360 to stream videos (from lousy resolution all the way up to full HD) from my PC (with no loss of quality I might add) and I use this solution to watch a lot of my TV shows that I have recorded. It's my own version of Tivo. The Xbox is a little picky about what file types it will play, but we'll discuss that later.

The PS3 is also a good solution for a media center as it supports both audio and video streaming as well. It is a slightly pricier solution, but it has its benefits as well. The reason I didn't go with a PS3 was do to a large price differential (at the time) and because the 360 was the first to support the audio and video streaming for which the PS3 has now caught up. I mention this because if you are into using either of these systems for gaming as well, then you can take your pick based on whichever you like better (PS3 also supports Blu-Ray, which will be beneficial to many, but if Blu-Ray is the only reason you would consider the PS3, you may want to re-think it as a player choice and go with a standalone player.....I digress though, that is also a discussion for another time).

There are other products on the market that will do HD video streaming, but I have yet to see one for less than $250, so you are much better off going with something more versatile like the Xbox 360 or the PS3.

So anyway, I use the Xbox 360 as a media solution in my home theater, and that is why I will be discussing the following in blog posts to come:

-What tools to stream the audio and video with?
-How do you capture video (TV, VCR, Camcorder, etc)?
-How do you convert the video/audio to something these platforms will play?

We'll also be discussing general home theater setup, speakers, TVs, components and such because, quite simply, it's fun to review!