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New here, Need Help (sound system setup)

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sgalvin07

New Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2012
Grab a cup of coffee guys, this might be a little long. Stay with me.

Background: I'm a DIY kind of guy. i can usually do everything myself, and what i don't know i go to the google machine and I search and search until I learn how to do whatever it is that I couldn't do. So i've spent hours searching, mostly getting overwhelmed and then giving up. My wife owns a dance studio that is rapidly expanding. She started it two years ago with 20 kids and is now up to 200. This meant the purchase of a new building (12,000 + sqft). Which ultimately means that purchase of new audio gear to fill the new rooms.

In the current studio I set her up with an I pod, CD deck, 2 channel mixer, running a pair of active PA speakers (Behringer). This was good for the time as she downloaded the songs she wanted in iTunes, could plug her iPod into the mixer and had great sound in her small studio. Now we're on to bigger and better things, and it seems as though her business venture is going to pan out into a career. So this means that her equipment needs to be better, the process needs to be smoother, and the "whole package" needs to fit a growing business.


So essentially she is going to have 3 dance rooms in this new studio, each with a sound system. In my head I believe the best idea is to run a NAS (network attached storage) on the network and have a computer in each studio attached to the network so that the playlists are available in each room.
Can multiple computers access iTunes at the same time from a folder located on a NAS?
I've always been a PC guy, but the wife bought me an iMac for christmas, and i'm slowly falling in love with it. Especially when it comes to cutting all of her music, and how easy it is to work with iTunes. On the current network at the studio are two PC's due to the dance program they use to control the billing/accounts. It's not available for a Mac platform. So in the new studio they will continue to run at least one PC on the network, but I almost feel like a Mac / iPad would be better to use inside the dance rooms to connect to the network and use iTunes for the music end.
Suggestions? Will a MAC and PC be able to use the same NAS to share files and back up data?
Is there anyway that i will be able to cut the music from home, connect to the network through VPN, and drop the new song on her work network and have it show up on their computers (I know that question is far outside the realm of this forum, but I'm cross posting this on multiple sites).
Last question I believe. And probably the only real question that is geared towards this site. What components (speakers, mixers, etc.) would you guys suggest. Clearly this new studio is a LARGE investment, required a large downpayment and a huge mortgage. So the cash for the sound system isn't quite budget friendly for the HIGH END stuff. However, I also don't want to put paper cones in there and tell her to live with it. What kind of components do you guys suggest that will make connecting easy, be able to tolerate hours on end of music, and be able to handle the bass relatively well for her hip hop classes? I've been pleased with the Behringer speakers, but are there other options out there that won't break the bank?


Sorry for the novel, but I hate when people post questions without giving any background or any detail into what they are really looking for. Any input/ advice would be appreciated. I have about 2 months to get prepared and have a plan.
 
I have never used iTunes, but as long as you can point it to a network share, it should be none the wiser of multiple computers reading the information. As for sharing, yes, an Apple computer can read a Windows share.

As for the VPN, you could do that, yes. Hamachi may be able to do this, but again, I don't have a lot of experience with it.

Personally, I'd run a Linux server with SSH and Rsync that runs at specified times using cron. That way, you don't have to do anything other than add music to a specific folder and it automatically uploads. As long as iTunes is capable of monitoring the folder for changes, it should pick up the new music instantly.

Don't apologize for the background information. It helps us give a clear answer. Also, welcome to the forums.
 
You can have an iTunes account on up to four computers and yes it is aware of the library and how many computers are sharing the account. You can set the shared music up on a network store without a problem and play it room to room with airtunes. You can even set up an iPod touch as a remote control for the system (I haven't done this myself, just read about it).

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4325
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4437
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB321LL/A/AirPort-Express-AirTunes#overview
 
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