[sxr71]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sxr71 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pardon my French but it's all a big cluster***** over there at Slim Devices. Over 2 years this is the conclusion I have. It's a great system but it really isn't consumer level. It's very highly techie oriented and you need to know whats going on with schema changes, with database changes, and simultaneously figure out if your favorite plug-in's author is supporting it still and on which version and which database version etc. In defense of Slim Devices, for much of the 2 yrs you mention, the villain is Logitech, and not Slim Devices. As an early adapter, I agree with with your comments on recent software, but encourage you to name the right villain. Baz I guess I don't know how to quote. Apologies.

You're right. Logitech has put too much pressure on the team.

 

[realmassy]

I've been reading many posts on the official touch forum about the built-in server (so using an hard drive attached to the USB input).
It looks like there are many issues: scanning the collection takes up to 10 hours for 500 gb of music, and scanning for new music takes 90 minutes. This is rubbish IMHO.
And someone says it takes 40 seconds to start a playlist...
When people ask for help the developers reply to login to the server using ssh, execute some commands and post the output. This is far from being a stable commercial product.

 

[MadMan007]

Long scanning time over USB 2.0 doesn't really surprise me at all, that's got to be where the bottleneck is. What they ought to have is a way to scan a HD on a PC and then import the database info to the SB Touch. Any added 'new music' scan would take much less time then. This wouldn't help the less tech savvy but a computer geek like me would have no problem taking a drive out of an external enclosure to scan then putting it back in to use on the Touch.

But when it comes to niggling problems the SB has always had some quite frankly. It's not a perfect system but it's quite powerful too with the flexibility. I guess if they wanted to make it more locked down they could make it better.

 

[sxr71]

I don't know if I already said so in this thread, this is exactly why I keep a copy of my Music in ALAC a well as FLAC so I use iTunes/Airtunes/Remote as a backup.

The Squeeze product excels in capability thanks to some great plug-ins but unfortunately it is not a product ready for consumption. It is more of something to play with or experiment with or just test out.

I notice some weird performance issues with SBS like how even though I've done *everything* in my power to make that software run fast it just can't handle it.

I have my SBS installed in entirety on a RAMDisk. The Database is on the RAMDisk. I have set up the server to read the album art from an album art folder which is on the RAMDisk. I notice that when I browse my albums it somehow needs to wake up my HDD just to display the album art. Why?

There is a whole cache folder which contains the resized representations of the album art that is used in the web interface album view. The actual album art is also on the RAMDisk. WHY does it need to spin up the HDD to display the album art then?

That server baffles me sometimes.

But it seems that since the Logitech acquisition they have been forced to adapt the software for a whole slew of new requirements. They are working so hard on getting these things done that performance optimization probably has never entered the picture.

As good as the Transporter is said to be, the fact that it only works with this software scares me away from ever considering it. The touch is tempting though just for the 24/96 capability and I hope it is improved in some way for jitter being a more modern design.

 

[gooky]

To be honest, I wouldn't mind forgoing album art, and all the little features on the touch if it were only faster and more stable. I've already erased the little squeezebox file on my hard drive and rescanned 7 to 10 times now, and I've had it a week. The worst thing is if you turn on all your gear, listen about five minutes, and then the touch loses contact with your hard drive. Then it's another 20 minutes to fix it, so I have to turn everything off...

 

[realmassy]

I'm actually thinking of moving to a different kind of product and I'm looking for some impressions and opinions of Linn's systems. The Sneaky DS costs 3 times the touch and uses a upnp server you can install on your NAS. You can control it with yoour IPhone and has even a 20w amplifier.
One more option is to use the IPhone/IPod as a upnp client and the Onkyo dock to get a bit perfect signal and feed my dac.

 

[ishmael]

I was also interested in the Touch but now I'm not sure. Isn't there anything like this in existance without all the extras? I don't need wireless, I don't need touch screen, I just want a simple player with coaxial output to my DAC. Kind of like a giant QLS QA550 with support for flac instead of just wav. Is there anything like that out there yet?

 

[Dimitris]

Yes. Its called SB3 Classic

 

[dura]

As mentioned earlier in this thread, TEAC makes a serie of devices with possibilities similair to the Squeezebox.
And there are devices from Philips and Sonos, and some more expensive machines from f.i. Linn and Olive.

What i'm waiting for is a good mediaplayer with HDMI out and digital out and a nice screen and GUI to navigate through my music library so that I can use the same device to view movies as well. Sadly almost all mediaplayers that play video also play audio have digital out and support WAV/FLAC/MP3 etc. but none of them has a decent screen. And I do not want tot turn on my flatscreen everytime I want to hear music.

 

[Eagle Eye]

I am with you ishmael that is exactly what I am looking for. Seems like they have not caught up with the market or something as I can't find a simple solution either. I do not use itunes and do not own a ipod device.

 

[realmassy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dura /img/forum/go_quote.gif As mentioned earlier in this thread, TEAC makes a serie of devices with possibilities similair to the Squeezebox. And there are devices from Philips and Sonos, and some more expensive machines from f.i. Linn and Olive. What i'm waiting for is a good mediaplayer with HDMI out and digital out and a nice screen and GUI to navigate through my music library so that I can use the same device to view movies as well. Sadly almost all mediaplayers that play video also play audio have digital out and support WAV/FLAC/MP3 etc. but none of them has a decent screen. And I do not want tot turn on my flatscreen everytime I want to hear music.

That's exactly my thought: I'm happy with the TEAC, it works perfectly, it doesn't need a PC, just a USB drive.
But the TEAC has no coax output, and I think a PC or a Mac Mini probably sound better. My 20 years old CD player connected to the same dac (DacMagic) sounds noticeably better. Now I'll try with the coming Ref.5
All other music servers need a connection with a monitor/TV, and this is something I don't want.
The Sonos has a nice controller and is said to sound better the squeezebox, but does not support hi-resolution files. The Linn needs a NAS with a Upnp server, the Olive would be perfect, but it's pricey, and does many things I don't need.
The only real alternative I've found is the Sonore (SONORE by Simple Design.......the sound has to be in concert with the music.......) which is a small box, with an internal storage, and a really good sound card. You can control it with an IPhone app, or through a web browser. The S/PDIF output is up to 94/26, but you can also use the USB output with a USB to S/PDIF converter.
I asked for a quotation, but I think it's pretty expensive.

 

[transient orca]

sorry double post

 

[transient orca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ishmael /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was also interested in the Touch but now I'm not sure. Isn't there anything like this in existance without all the extras? I don't need wireless, I don't need touch screen, I just want a simple player with coaxial output to my DAC. Kind of like a giant QLS QA550 with support for flac instead of just wav. Is there anything like that out there yet?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dimitris /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yes. Its called SB3 Classic

SB3 doesn't work as a standalone player using SD cards and USB drives.

 

[Equus]

I really haven't had a whole lot of problems with mine so far, but I'm using it as a network player off my desktop, so I'm not using it as a unit-side server at all. Guess my needs are a little different than others.

 

[Eagle Eye]

Aybody know of any other solutions to this problem.