MusicCAST System Setup and Configuration

Setting up the system was fairly straightforward. I connected the digital optical outputs and the s-video output to my Yamaha RX-V3000. I then connected the MCX-1000 to my home network via the ethernet port and turned on the server. I was greeted with the Welcome to MusicCAST text display on the unit's front panel, echoed by the MusicCAST startup screen. The Top Menu follows, which allows you access to the following screens and menus:

• Library
• Recording
• AV Receiver
• Client Playback
• Timer Setup
• System Setup
• Information

System Setup Menu (sub-menus Italicized)

Beginning my setup, I navigated to the System Setup page where I was able to setup my MusicCAST Server and MCX-A10 client. Knowing that I had a DHCP server installed in my home, I realized that I would have to configure the MCX-1000 to receive its IP address from the existing server (you can only have one DHCP server on any network. Having decided to attempt setup without first consulting the owner's manual (just to see if it could be done), I began on the Network sub-menu where I located and clicked on Expert Settings. Here I was able to "Automatically obtain IP address with DHCP" under the IP Address sub-menu. This allowed the MCX-1000 server to obtain an IP address from my existing DHCP server. For those without an existing home network, the MusicCAST server is capable of acting as a DHCP server for its connection to the client modules (in fact this is the default configuration). Having the DHCP option was critical and showed Yamaha's foresight in writing the OS code.

At this stage, configuration for the client is simple. Merely activate Auto Configuration under the Network page at which point you will want to go to the MCX-A10 client unit(s) and navigate to its Network page (under Setup). Select Auto Configuration on the client and the client should register with the server. That's all there is to it. If you switch back and forth between DHCP on the server, you may need to reboot the unit before you get successful registration of the client. When the client registers itself with the server, you will see its LCD screen show "Searching for ESSID..." Press STOP to Cancel". This process may take several minutes followed by a "Connecting..." message at which point the server will show the client registered and music playback can commence. Keep in mind that you can cancel the server's search for additional (nonexistent) clients by clicking on the OK button once it has found your client(s).

I next attempted to set the Date/Time using an NTP time server, however, after trying several known NTP servers I gave up and set the time manually. Under the Video Out submenu, the MCX-1000 allows you to set the OSD to either remain on all the time (default) or only output during operation. I left this on the default setting.

Since I have an always-on internet connection, I activated the internet database functionality of the Gracenote CDDB (CD database). The fact that Yamaha chose to include a hefty version of this database onboard the server is a great decision. If you are lacking an internet connection, your song titles, artist, and album info will, in most cases, still appear when you insert a CD (more on this later.)

You can set the MusicCAST server to automatically begin Playback of the last song played before the unit is shut down. The Recording settings allow you to specify whether you will be storing PCM & MP3 data onto the server or only MP3 data. You are able to select from available encoding bitrates of 160 kbps, 256 kbps, and 320 kbps. I selected 320 kbps as this is where MP3 gets very close to perceived CD quality audio in my opinion. You are able to manually delete PCM audio at any time for an entire album, entire artist, or a single title using the submenu of the Library Menu.

AV Receiver allows you to configure a Yamaha RS-232 equipped receiver automatically for use with the MusicCAST system. You can select the AV receiver input to which the MusicCAST will be connected, synchronize/slave power on/off of the receiver to the MCX-1000, change surround programs based on music genre, and even allow MusicCAST clients to broadcast audio from your receiver's tuner section.

You can engage Auto Level Control to automatically apply a theoretical average base volume to your tracks to keep your CD collection playback at roughly the same volume. If you are eclectic like me, and go from classical, to hard rock, to pop, you may want to leave this function disengaged. In either case, auto leveling is only applied to MP3 tracks and not PCM audio playback.

The On Screen Display page sets whether the MusicCAST displays the top menu at Power On or the last page displayed. Under Client you can specify whether or not you will allow PCM streaming to a MusicCAST client, and which client will receive PCM streams. At present, and presumably for reasons of implemented 802.11b bandwidth control, the MCX-1000 server can only stream to one client at a time. The rest of the wireless clients, up to 5 total, will receive digital audio streamed as MP3 files.

Yamaha has informed us that a maximum of two (2) PCM streams can be played back within a single MusicCAST system, one via the server, and one to a single client via 802.11b wireless. If you are adding wireless clients, keep in mind bandwidth and performance will decrease with distance from the server via 802.11b limitations. When using multiple clients, I'd suggest limiting PCM to the server.

According to the manual, depending upon your proximity to the server, number of clients used, and local interference, you may experience problems using 5 clients at once if you encoded at 256 kbps or 320 kbps. I decided to do a stress test using the single client I had. Sending a PCM stream about 60 feet across the house, up the stairs and at the complete opposite end of the room, I was able to make the unit periodically pause and cache during playback. Moving the server just a couple feet closer allowed it to play uninterrupted. I was also able to sustain playback when I utilized MP3 files instead of PCM streams. This is typical behaviour for 802.11b, and I could duplicate the effect with my laptop.

The Keyboard Type page is self-explanatory, allowing you to specify whether you are using an English (default), French, German, or Japanese keyboard.

Standby Mode enables you to specify whether activating a client will turn on the MCX-1000 unit or whether the server can only be activated via the Standby/ON function of the remote or front panel. You can set the FL Dimmer (front panel display) to be either "Dark", "Medium" or "Bright". I set mine to "Dark" but would like to see another option: "OFF" as I really didn't use the front panel display during operation. The MCX-1000 may be classified as a consumer audio device, but to me it functions more like a limited PC audio server.

Using the Hard Drive Utilities you can delete all library songs (you get a warning!!! screen before all your hard work can be erased) or just delete PCM data. Unless you're really starved for space and have done the math, I recommend using the submenu in the Library Menu to delete selected albums or artists' PCM data. This will allow you to keep PCM data for the albums and artist you want in the highest fidelity possible, while your daughter's Britney Spears bubblegum classics can exist in their more than sufficient MP3 format. The last screen in the System Setup Menu is the System Utilities page where you can initiate a system reset or update your MCX-1000 OS with an update CD from Yamaha. I found it odd that Yamaha provided no way to receive OS updates via the Internet. This would be a great feature and presumably less hassle for them should they find a bug that needed squashing.