Squeezebox Discussion Thread *

[fjhuerta]

The Squeezebox is, quite frankly, the most exciting device I've ever found since the CD player.

It has completely changed the way I listen to music at home. This is no joke... it's mind-blowing.

I didn't notice I wasn't listening to much music because of having to stand up and search for my albums... or simply because I wasn't in the mood to listen to an entire album in one sitting.

With the Squeezebox, I just select what I want to play and do it. The interface is simply incredible - finding any song from my PC takes 3 or 4 seconds. It takes a little longer from the Squeezebox itself.

It sounds great. It has all my music. I've created tons of playlists. Suddenly, someone asks "why is this thing displaying the news"? And you casually answer - "Oh I have it set up so that it brings me breaking news as they happen".

Watch jaws drop.

What. A. Product.:righton:

[DaveN]

Welcome to the club! Between the convenience and the sound quality, the Squeezebox is every bit as revolutionary as the ipod.

David

[Shakey]

Welcome to the club! Between the convenience and the sound quality, the Squeezebox is every bit as revolutionary as the ipod.

David

Ten-Four that! :agree:

plus once I rip everything to the server I can put them away from my two Huskys, who seem to like chewing everything and anything.

[sberger]

i've had my eyes on a squeezebox for a while. my only concern is the amount of space i would use on my computer to get benefit of this. when i normally load up my ipod, i rip a cd, put it on the ipod, and delete it from my hard drive. here, if i'm understanding how the squeezebox works, my music collection would have to either stay on my hard drive, or i would have to buy and external drive. am i right?

[Metoo]

What's the difference between this product and Transporter. I see that Transporter is more 'audiophile', but what does that mean in this context.

[RicP]

when i normally load up my ipod, i rip a cd, put it on the ipod, and delete it from my hard drive.

So what happens when the hard drive on your iPod fails, or you have to do a restore?

[DaveN]

What's the difference between this product and Transporter. I see that Transporter is more 'audiophile', but what does that mean in this context.

The Transporter has some higher quality internal components and an aguably better DAC. In fact, it has a digital input so that you can use it as an outboard DAC for another digital source.

That said, the SB really sounds great. I'd stack it against almost any cd player in the sub $2k range. I'd have to have my retirement saved, children through college, and be debt-free to even consider buying the Transporter. The SB costs a fraction of that and probably delivers 90% of the sound quality.

David

[SamS]

Does it work with Windows Media Connect?

I'm assuming it has some sort of iTunes interface, right?

[DaveN]

i've had my eyes on a squeezebox for a while. my only concern is the amount of space i would use on my computer to get benefit of this. when i normally load up my ipod, i rip a cd, put it on the ipod, and delete it from my hard drive. here, if i'm understanding how the squeezebox works, my music collection would have to either stay on my hard drive, or i would have to buy and external drive. am i right?

:bigeek: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

You have your only copy of your digital files on the ipod???? Goodness but that is placing quite a bit of trust in that little hard drive. As we say in the consulting business, that is not a 'best practice'.

The SB requires you to have your music files stored somewhere on your network. Frequently, people have them stored on the same computer as the Slimserver is running from. The size requirements depend entirely on the bitrate that you rip. In a worst case scenario, you get 3 albums per gig with Apple Lossless or FLAC. If you can live with some digital compression, you can do much better.

Hard drives are cheap. I'd get one and rip everything to my hard drive. Then you should get a second drive to make periodic backups.

David

[Metoo]

I see that this product only sells in the US. Even though Logitech bought the company it is not availbale in Europe.

[DaveN]

I see that this product only sells in the US. Even though Logitech bought the company it is not availbale in Europe.

The SB works on the internet protocol using ethernet or wi-fi. I don't know why it wouldn't work in Europe. Of course, you'd have to use a transformer to get a 110V power source rather than 220V.

David

[DaveN]

Does it work with Windows Media Connect?

I'm assuming it has some sort of iTunes interface, right?


No idea on the WMC question, although I think that the answer is 'no'. The system works with an open-source server called Slimserver. The server will scan your music libraray and builds a database based on your tags. This is how the SB can search for music by artist, album, song....and so on.

There is a link to iTunes that enables the server to read the itunes libraray files. In my experience, this does not have much of an effect and I turned the feature off. The most important thing to remember is that the SB cannot play any DRM files at all - from any source.

David

[SamS]

No idea on the WMC question, although I think that the answer is 'no'. The system works with an open-source server called Slimserver. The server will scan your music libraray and builds a database based on your tags. This is how the SB can search for music by artist, album, song....and so on.

There is a link to iTunes that enables the server to read the itunes libraray files. In my experience, this does not have much of an effect and I turned the feature off. The most important thing to remember is that the SB cannot play any DRM files at all - from any source.

David


Sorry but I'm confused by your above statement. It can read/play/select files from your iTunes library?

[Shakey]

i've had my eyes on a squeezebox for a while. my only concern is the amount of space i would use on my computer to get benefit of this. when i normally load up my ipod, i rip a cd, put it on the ipod, and delete it from my hard drive. here, if i'm understanding how the squeezebox works, my music collection would have to either stay on my hard drive, or i would have to buy and external drive. am i right?

Yes.

[Grant]

How much are Squeezeboxes? I'm seriously considering one for the wife. Me? I can just play from the computer to the stereo.

Next question, what file type are you all ripping to?

[DaveN]

www.slimdevices.com

They are going for $249 wired or $299 wireless.

As for filetypes, I use the iTunes software simply for the convenience factor. (I have an ipod and I want a single music library.) My ripping is done in Apple Lossless so as to preserve a bit-perfect copy. Others here use FLAC to do the same thing. To my ears, Apple Lossless through the Squeezebox sounds better than the original disc in my Denon 2900.

David

[DaveN]

Sorry but I'm confused by your above statement. It can read/play/select files from your iTunes library?

The Slimserver software constructs its own library (database of tags) from the physical files and tags on your hard drive. If you used iTunes to rip all of your cds then SS will 'scan' your drive and will build the library appropriately.

There is an option in SS to 'use iTunes'. This causes SS to read the iTunes database file to get a jump on the scan. It is supposed to use this instead of actually reading the hard drive. In theory, it should save time and provide a consistent view of your library between SS and iTunes. In reality, it still seems to read the hard drive and doesn't save any time at all. I have this option checked 'off' and everything works just fine, thank you.

David

[SamS]

The Slimserver software constructs its own library (database of tags) from the physical files and tags on your hard drive. If you used iTunes to rip all of your cds then SS will 'scan' your drive and will build the library appropriately.

There is an option in SS to 'use iTunes'. This causes SS to read the iTunes database file to get a jump on the scan. It is supposed to use this instead of actually reading the hard drive. In theory, it should save time and provide a consistent view of your library between SS and iTunes. In reality, it still seems to read the hard drive and doesn't save any time at all. I have this option checked 'off' and everything works just fine, thank you.

David

Ok, that makes sense.

Here's a (semi) related question:

If I already have a network cable run to my A/V equipment, can I use just a simple network hub to add more devices? The wired option would be fine for me, I just only have one Cat5e, but more than one device needing to use it.

[DaveN]

Ok, that makes sense.

Here's a (semi) related question:

If I already have a network cable run to my A/V equipment, can I use just a simple network hub to add more devices? The wired option would be fine for me, I just only have one Cat5e, but more than one device needing to use it.

Yes. The SB is a networked device in the same manner that a computer or printer is. Just put in a switch and run more Cat5 to whatever devices need to be connected. Unless you are downloading huge files or are mapping the human genome, your SB connection should work just fine in that configuration.

David

[SamS]

Yes. The SB is a networked device in the same manner that a computer or printer is. Just put in a switch and run more Cat5 to whatever devices need to be connected. Unless you are downloading huge files or are mapping the human genome, your SB connection should work just fine in that configuration.

David

Cool, thanks David!

So, would there ever be any reason to run more than one network cable from a router to a set of devices? I have the chance to run some Cat5e now, and I only want to do it one time.

One more question.. the SB remote: is it RF or IR?

[Onward]

I see that this product only sells in the US. Even though Logitech bought the company it is not availbale in Europe.

It is in norway... http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.asp?sku=319759

[DaveN]

Cool, thanks David!

So, would there ever be any reason to run more than one network cable from a router to a set of devices? I have the chance to run some Cat5e now, and I only want to do it one time.

One more question.. the SB remote: is it RF or IR?

For a wired star-point network, you need a single cable for each distinct device. The good news is that a switch is a device. This enables you to expand your network as you see fit. The only downside is that you'll have visible cables (non-WAF) unless you go to the effort of running them in-wall. If you are running new cable now, I'd recommend two cables per room on opposite walls. This will give you maximum flexibility.

The remote is IR. But there are a number of products that convert IR to RF for 'hidden' setups.

David

[sberger]

:bigeek: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:

You have your only copy of your digital files on the ipod???? Goodness but that is placing quite a bit of trust in that little hard drive. As we say in the consulting business, that is not a 'best practice'.

The SB requires you to have your music files stored somewhere on your network. Frequently, people have them stored on the same computer as the Slimserver is running from. The size requirements depend entirely on the bitrate that you rip. In a worst case scenario, you get 3 albums per gig with Apple Lossless or FLAC. If you can live with some digital compression, you can do much better.

Hard drives are cheap. I'd get one and rip everything to my hard drive. Then you should get a second drive to make periodic backups.

David

my digital files are only rips of cd's that i still own. if something happened to the ipod, no biggie. in other words, there's nothing of real importance on the ipod that i can't easily replace. im not concerned with losing any music i rip. what i am concerned about is saving large files to my computer hard drive and possibly affecting the overall performance of the computer. but as you pointed out, probably the best solution is just buying an external drive and using that exclusively for ripping cd's to for use with the squeezebox.

[DaveN]

my digital files are only rips of cd's that i still own. if something happened to the ipod, no biggie. in other words, there's nothing of real importance on the ipod that i can't easily replace. im not concerned with losing any music i rip. what i am concerned about is saving large files to my computer hard drive and possibly affecting the overall performance of the computer. but as you pointed out, probably the best solution is just buying an external drive and using that exclusively for ripping cd's to for use with the squeezebox.

As an example of the lowest common denominator, I ran the Slimserver/wireless squeezebox architecture from a Dell laptop with all of my music on an external USB hard drive. I never had a single hiccup.

As for the 'I have the cds as backup' argument, I say no way. Technically your assertion is true. (I have all of my music stored in binders) However, I am unwilling to reinvest the 3 months that it took to rip all of this music. My first attempt at this was a RAID-0 implementation that worked just fine. Until one of the drives went south. I lost 3 months of ripping and had to start over.

Please take my advice. View spinning hard drives with some suspicion. Have at least two redundant backup plans if you migrate to the digital world.

David

[digital]

.
Heres some 'odd thoughts of the day':

1) With the wireless version, the sheer volume of data thats being transmitted through the air (maybe 800KB/s Lossless .FLAC / 1400KB/s .WAV), in your immediate vicinity... does that concern anyone? Seems like holding a massive cell-phone up against one's entire body, hour after hour, non-stop to me - but I may be way off base with this one??? (Sounds like a conspiracy-theory, I know...)

2) I have my entire network wired to both of my main audio systems: what do the Logitech devices do for me that the PC won't?

Andrew D.
Cdnav (www.cdnav.com)
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