I've noticed on the upper-end Denon AVRs there's USB inputs that will let you plug in an external hard drive or a smaller flash drive and to play MP3 files.

Since the 970 does not have USB ports, what I'm wondering is if anyone has seen a hub/port/adapter that would allow connecting a hard drive via USB to the hub/port/adapter then connect the hub/port/adapter via RCA outs to the 970's CD or AUX inputs?

I know I could do something similar with an iPod and a connector, but I don't own an iPod and I'd rather not have to go buy one just to do this... I already have an external HD with enough capacity for all my CDs.

I'm guessing another sticking point would be the software to run the hard drive... I'm guessing Denon has something in it's programming to recognize the external drive and to play the MP3/WMA files.


Cheers,

PeteH

There's a bit of complexity tied up in this sort of thing. You need something to provide the playback, such as a media player like the Squeezebox or even the SoundBridge that I use.

My OPPO 980H player has a USB port specifically for access to USB storage devices such as hard drives in addition to reading such files off of a CD-R or DVD-R, but the player's interface for playing files like this is not purpose-built as a media server - the hardware that handles all of that can only manage up to 700 files.

Adding a USB port to a receiver still leaves you with the need to do a lot more before you can read files off of a hard drive: you need to have support for accessing and reading data from USB mass storage devices, then you need an interface of some sort for navigating that storage device (preferably on screen), and then you need to have support for playback of the various possible file formats (MP3, WMA, FLAC, WAV, AAC, and so forth). For archiving an entire CD collection, a dedicated media player is probably a more user-friendly solution.

yeah, I know it's not going to be easy - short of going and buying a Denon AVR 3803 or Yamaha RX-V3800... for a little less $$$ than one of those AVRs, one could buy a Cambridge 640H music server...

I have another option - that is, I have the Phatnoise Home Player in my rig right now, but all I have is the 10GB cartridge that came with my Kenwood Music Keg car-audio system. I could buy a larger cartridge and call it a day!

Ah well... I posted a request to the Outlaws in the Future Models section of the forum for USB inputs and a way to play files on an external hard drive or flash drive... maybe they can implement it in the next-gen of the 990???