I'd not heard of the tunebase, but it seems I'm building something similar.

Sony had (I think they're being phased out) two jukeboxes with a video out GUI (CDP-CX90ES and -CX270) with internal memory for 12 or 15 bytes each of author and disk and track titles. Colby at Nirvis (mentioned above) is working on uploading track, title and author information from CDDB to the internal memory of the jukebox. I intend to display the video/out GUI information (which is at low enough resolution to work on most TVs) and use it to support whole house use
of the jukebox.

At some point, I may try to distribute the nirvis display itself around the house...

I'm now considering which programmable remote to use to support this and the rest of the whole house system; the pronto looks very appealing.

A Helpful Person:

Do you have the CDP-CX88ES? I have it and am currently trying to determine what's the best way to program the Pronto with it. If you have this changer and don't mind sharing on how you've setup your Pronto for it, please post or email me.

Do you have the Slink-e V2.0? If so, where did you get it and does it work well?

Thanks,
David T

I have a CDP-CX270. Buying the ES version (90ES) didn't make sense, as the main difference is a better D/A section, and I'm running digital audio from the changer directly into my Lexicon DC-1. I haven't done anything special on the Pronto to control it, just transferred the original remote functions over.

There's scope for a lot more, but to be honest, I listen to my DMX receiver more often than I use the changer. Ironically, the most useful aspect of the DMX service is being able to get the artist/track information on the two-way LCD remote provided, but of course the Pronto doesn't support that. So many cool hacks to do, so little time... :-)

I have the Slink-E v2.0, purchased directly from RiverSong Interactive, since I was beta-testing their changer software (for the Macintosh). I've been meaning to do some more experimentation with it, but haven't had time. Consequently I can't say that much about how well it works. Seems to be engineered pretty well, documentation and source code is available on the Nirvis site, which I always appreciate :-)

'TuneBase' is the name of a range of products from Escient. The TuneBase 100 is their entry-level model, though I'm not sure if it's available yet. It's a bundle of a controller and a service, the controller identifies the CD from the individual track times, and calls up their service to retrieve the cover artwork and all the artist/title/track information.

Escient also acquired CDDB a little while back.

The other company I know of in this field is Geffen, but their products are somewhat more expensive, and require a dedicated computer (I think they're Mac-only).

Anybody remember Frox, and their products? they had some pretty nifty changer control features (of an OEM'd NSM changer).