jroughgarden

I have Roku 3 already. How would that help?

Like lots of people, I have several hundred CDs that contain music I really like. Pandora is great, but not as good as my CDs. Recently, my old Sony ES amplifier died after 30 years, and I bought a Sony STR-DN1030 to replace it. My problem is to figure out how to be able to play the CDs and playlists based on the CDs using reasonably friendly software. I know I can get the CDs ripped and converted to mp3's, and then put on an external HD or a USB flash drive. But after that, I am at a loss. The new AV receiver supports connecting to my iPhone via Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay, but the software is terrible. The new AVR also supports connecting to my notebook computers (via wireless or wire) and I can play music in folders or in playlists. But, again the GUI on the TV is just terrible. I can't read the titles or artists, and the song durations and playlist contents are not shown. The GUI that is so terrible seems to be part of the software that comes with the Sony STR-DN1030 AV receiver. It is just unacceptable. If I had an extra computer with an HDMI port, I could connect it to the receiver, open up iTunes or Window Media Player, and push what it was putting out into the receiver, which would then send the video to the TV and the sound to the speakers. I suppose if I got a wireless mouse and keyboard, I could control it all remotely, i.e. from the couch or dining room. Is there simple (cheap) hardware dedicated for this purpose? It just needs an OS, a hard drive, and HDMI port, and the ability to run music playback software. Any advice to this newbie is much appreciated.