Computers & Electronics

How to give 8yr old access to music?

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Jul 15, 2003
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How to give 8yr old access to music?

Just trying to get some ideas on how to let my 8 yr old listen to offline music on his own. Right now the home theater pc has a large mp3 archive and he can choose from winamp playlists (that we previously set up) to listen in the living room. Ideally i want him to be able to listen in his own room.

Wondering what others use.

I considered a cheap mp3 player and a cheap portable speaker.
Or maybe an old android phone (i have a nexus 5 i don't use but battery life isn't great) if there is a good player to play off of a nas.
Or a chromebook/laptop but now cost is starting to really climb.

Any fun/easy ideas out there?
31 replies
Deal Expert
Feb 24, 2007
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Buy him a Walkman from a garage sale with a stereophonic headset. Get him to realize that the digital age had to grow through much of the analog technology. He will be responsible for buying and replacement of the batteries. Cassette tapes are still available
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Aug 2, 2004
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eldiablo wrote: Buy him a Walkman from a garage sale with a stereophonic headset. Get him to realize that the digital age had to grow through much of the analog technology. He will be responsible for buying and replacement of the batteries. Cassette tapes are still available
That’s brutal and I’m sure he loves his kid

Who wants to fast forward and rewind to find music?
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Feb 24, 2007
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Gee wrote: That’s brutal and I’m sure he loves his kid

Who wants to fast forward and rewind to find music?
Appreciation for finer things grows from pushing forward/rewind buttons and eureka moment when you find that track. ;)
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Aug 2, 2004
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eldiablo wrote: Appreciation for finer things grows from pushing forward/rewind buttons and eureka moment when you find that track. ;)
What did you get for your kids? A 4 channel 8 track?
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Feb 24, 2007
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My kids are grown up and have their own toys..lol

I will have to see if I can still dig that 8-track for my grand kids however??
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I already did the tape deck. I still have an old 2 cassette dubbing tape deck that had an audio in so i could record mp3s onto tape from the pc. It was fun at first but he quickly asked me if there was a faster way to switch between songs. I'm willing to go digital now.
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Dec 11, 2003
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Do you have a budget for this or are you looking to use stuff that you have lying around the house?

I assume since you're asking then you would consider buying something. I'm unsure if my suggestion is possible but a Windows tablet might be able to access the NAS on your network. I believe it works in the same manner as a Windows computer but this is the part I'm unsure about. If the Windows tablet can access your NAS then you can do this and connect to a pair of speakers (bluetooth or wired but I'm sure your son would love a pair of bluetooth speakers).
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ds2chan wrote: Do you have a budget for this or are you looking to use stuff that you have lying around the house?
I didn't think this out well before posting. it's redflagdeals so yes i'm trying to keep costs as low as possible. But i am willing to spend a bit. Something like a $50 mp3 player and a $50 portable speaker was my first gut reaction. i figure that would satisfy both home music needs and (with a set of headphones) travel music needs as well. Not that he listens to music outside of the house at all right now.
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Kevinck wrote: I didn't think this out well before posting. it's redflagdeals so yes i'm trying to keep costs as low as possible. But i am willing to spend a bit. Something like a $50 mp3 player and a $50 portable speaker was my first gut reaction. i figure that would satisfy both home music needs and (with a set of headphones) travel music needs as well. Not that he listens to music outside of the house at all right now.
I would think that the cheapest option would be using an old phone/tablet that's lying around and putting music on it. If there is no SD card slot then you're obviously limited to the storage size on the phone.

I have not heard of a way to access a NAS from an Android phone though. But I have heard that some apps were designed to do this but only within the app. This is why I was thinking a Windows tablet might work and save you some headaches. There are some "cheap" Chinese Windows tablets out there but I can't comment on the quality of them. I think they range from around $90 to $150 (for the cheap ones).

As somebody else said, you might be better off signing up to join a Spotify or YouTube music group. The YouTube music app gives you access to some videos on YouTube as well.
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Deal Guru
Feb 9, 2006
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If you have a plex server it can serve up music just like movies to your N5. Or You can use something like BubbleUPNP server and app.

My niece just learned to drag and drop music from a NAS over to her own Android phone it doesn't get much easier than that.
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Sep 23, 2013
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peteryorkuca wrote: No one suggested radio?
When we're in the car and i turn to pop radio stations, the hosts drive me nuts! They all talk like idiots. "like omg....YASSS bruh"

Perhaps I have become that 'old guy' that I despised growing up, but I don't want my kids listening to that on the regular.

I dont think this helps you very much given your large mp3 library, but I've been doing the spotify family thing for years now. I havent set up my kids with their own profiles, but I have created an always-evolving kids playlist that they listen to. Paired with google home, it's a pretty slick setup.
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Feb 24, 2007
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peteryorkuca wrote: No one suggested radio?
Sorry, but the 85% of the time allocated for the advertising may cause the child irreparable damage. We are trying to teach him to love music and not hate it.
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I have the 'old guy' problem too. i have my mp3 playlists i listen too. i have trouble finding 'new' music. Maybe i should branch out into this spotify type world to get him (and me) exposed to more than my old standbys.
Member
Mar 3, 2012
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Montreal, QC
Kevinck wrote: Just trying to get some ideas on how to let my 8 yr old listen to offline music on his own. Right now the home theater pc has a large mp3 archive and he can choose from winamp playlists (that we previously set up) to listen in the living room. Ideally i want him to be able to listen in his own room.

Wondering what others use.

I considered a cheap mp3 player and a cheap portable speaker.
Or maybe an old android phone (i have a nexus 5 i don't use but battery life isn't great) if there is a good player to play off of a nas.
Or a chromebook/laptop but now cost is starting to really climb.

Any fun/easy ideas out there?
Spotify app is free on Android and iOS. Can skip song but it's limited.
Just need WIFI
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Dec 28, 2010
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I got my son this. He's autistic and just uses one of his brother's computers to put music on. He has a headset and not only he loves it, I do too. (Although if he starts to sing along with the music all the dogs in the neighbourhood start to whine.)
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Aug 2, 2004
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Kevinck wrote: I have the 'old guy' problem too. i have my mp3 playlists i listen too. i have trouble finding 'new' music. Maybe i should branch out into this spotify type world to get him (and me) exposed to more than my old standbys.
Welcome to the club. I subscribe to Google Play Music and I still end up playing my old time favourites.

I decided it is not worth fighting. There are plenty of music that I like from the old days and there really is no need to listen to new music.

But you can't beat asking google to play a specific song.
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Feb 24, 2007
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VESTEGAARD wrote: I got my son this. He's autistic and just uses one of his brother's computers to put music on. He has a headset and not only he loves it, I do too. (Although if he starts to sing along with the music all the dogs in the neighbourhood start to whine.)
I do that too after a few beers..Face With Tears Of Joy

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