[JamesF]

The Squeezebox also has a digital preamp level setting, so you can attenuate the maximum signal level if you want to. This might be good if you go directly to a power amp, so that the max volume won't blow your speakers.

I'm another enthusiastic Squeezebox owner. I've got 5 of them and it's great to be able to hear any of 17,000 tracks at every location. Even got one in the garage. First thing I do when I buy a CD is put it on the server so I can listen no matter where I am.

I do a lot of listening in the bedroom while I read, or I put on some good ambient music while I sleep. In a quiet, dark room you can really appreciate the total silence of the thing, and the high-tech display is extremely legible - gorgeous, really. I like using the analog VU meters and the 30-band digital meters as screensavers. I also have a nice information screensaver for when the music is powered off. It shows a local weather forecast, stock quotes for my portfolio, and scores & schedules for any sports teams I follow. It's really useful not only as a music player, but as a way to tap all kinds of information without having to plop down in front of a computer just to check a stock price or a baseball score.

I like how reasonably priced they are, and how the value keeps increasing. I don't mean the monetary value so much as the usefulness. Every time I add more music to my collection, or add information (lyrics, album art, year, genre, or composer tags) to my music files, or the Squeezebox people add new features, or an independent programmer creates a new plugin or screensaver, all of my Squeezeboxes become better, more useful, and more fun to use. Free upgrades forever, and new stuff added all the time.

 

[viator122]

Do any of you guys find it difficult/annoying to navigate large collections with either the Squeezebox or the Soundbridge? It seems like the screen is pretty small and won't display very many lines at once.

 

[bangraman]

I do. Which is why I only have one working right now, and it's in the kitchen.

 

[AndreasG]

Hi everybody,

My setup at the moment is:

Apple Powerbook/iTunes/Apple Lossless files --> Airport Express --> Lavry DA10 --> active speakers/headphones

I am seriously considering buying a Squeezebox because I would be able to use the remote volume control feature (unfortunately the Lavry does not have remote volume control).

Before I buy it, could anyone please answer the following questions:

1. As I understand, the Slimserver software can be synchronized with iTunes. Is there any way that I would still be able to use the iTunes interface for playing my songs when I am sitting at the computer (I like the iTunes interface very much...)?

2. Is there any way that the information about the songs I play can be sent to "last.fm"?

3. The digital volume control of the Squeezebox is done after a 16-->24bit conversion. Is there a way to disable the digital volume control completely and get a bit-perfect 44,1/16 data stream out of the Squeezebox? (Pure Redbook CD-quality PCM 44,1/16 audio?)

4. If volume control is enabled and turned to maximum (AFAIK this means that I am getting digital data in the format of 44,1kHz/24Bit), would there be any sonic disadvantages in comparison with the pure 44,1/16 Redbook audio data (in combination with my Lavry DA10)?

Thanks for any answers to my questions.

Best regards, Andreas

 

[Oliver :)]

I think what makes all the wireless solutions attractive, be it the Squeezebox or the APX, is the fact that the computer does not have to be in the same room. You do not need to invest in an especially aesthetic and or silent machine.
(A lot of people would call this "high WAF" Well, not me, though my GF smirked at the plasticsack full of quarz on my DAC the other day and said "now that's pretty, do you collect sand?", and when I attempted to explain why it was there she would just say "yes, I know what it's for, I'd probably do the same". Am I lucky or what?

)

Since I upgraded my home network to full 11g I have zero trouble with my APX. I have an iBook connected to it via Ethernet since it does not have 11g, and I use a VNC solution for iTunes (NetTunes) which will give me full control. Make or change a playlist? No problem. Organize the iPod remotely? No problem. Have iTunes playcounts for what I play on my big rig? For sure. No more searching for a certain CD or song ever... unless they are on SACD

While the APX + Notebook/Cellphone/PDA approach approach offers the most control, the Squeezebox itself can be tweaked, and probably is more attractive to people who want to eliminate the impression of their setup being a "PC-rig".

 

[JamesF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by viator122 Do any of you guys find it difficult/annoying to navigate large collections with either the Squeezebox or the Soundbridge? It seems like the screen is pretty small and won't display very many lines at once.

I don't have a problem with it. The 2-line display actually gives a lot of information, and it's easy to navigate once you're used to it.

For example, to find a specific album, I go to "browse albums", then hit the number key of the LETTER I'm looking for, like you do with a text message. Looking for "Layla" I'd hit the "5" key 3 times (for J-K-L). That gives me the first album starting with L and Layla is a short scroll from there. I can pull up anything in my collection within about 6 seconds.

I could also go to "Search Albums", key in L, then A, (555,2) hit the RIGHT ARROW, and it'll take me to any albums starting with LA

If you have good file tags it's very easy to navgate. I rarely want to play just one song or even one album. I'm usually in the mood for one certain "kind" of music. Like I may want to hear Progressive Rock. Just go to Genre, hit the "7" key, and that gives me any Genre starting with P. I don't want "Pop", so I ARROW DOWN, hit PLAY and I've cued up all 887 of my Prog Rock songs. If an ELP song comes on I might decide I just want to hear only ELP for a while. No need to find them in the full Artist list. I just hit the RIGHT ARROW from the current song, it displays the current ARTIST, I hit PLAY, and I've cued up all 61 ELP tracks.

I've got accurate YEAR tags for all my songs, so I can cue up any YEAR and be instantly transported back to that part of my life. The Squeezebox really frees you from the limits of the individual album and you begin to use your collection in new ways.

One feature that was just added is a menu for "New Music". This is stuff you've recently added to the collection and it's very easy to find and play anything you recently bought. It's even listed in the order you added it, newest first.

 

[JamesF]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndreasG Before I buy it, could anyone please answer the following questions: 1. As I understand, the Slimserver software can be synchronized with iTunes. Is there any way that I would still be able to use the iTunes interface for playing my songs when I am sitting at the computer (I like the iTunes interface very much...)? 2. Is there any way that the information about the songs I play can be sent to "last.fm"? 3. The digital volume control of the Squeezebox is done after a 16-->24bit conversion. Is there a way to disable the digital volume control completely and get a bit-perfect 44,1/16 data stream out of the Squeezebox? (Pure Redbook CD-quality PCM 44,1/16 audio?) 4. If volume control is enabled and turned to maximum (AFAIK this means that I am getting digital data in the format of 44,1kHz/24Bit), would there be any sonic disadvantages in comparison with the pure 44,1/16 Redbook audio data (in combination with my Lavry DA10)? Thanks for any answers to my questions. Best regards, Andreas

1. Yes, you can still use iTunes at the computer. Any playlists you create in iTunes will be available on the Squeezebox.

2. Yep. There's a plugin that sends info about what you listen to on the Squeezebox to your Last.fm account.

3. Yep. There's a player setting to disable the digital volume control. I use this on the Squeezebox in my home theater, because I often play DTS surround tracks through the Squeezebox, and if you alter the bitstream in any way when playing these files, you just get white noise. (This is one good test to make sure you're getting a bit-perfect signal - anything other than bit-perfect and your surround processor won't recognize it as DTS).

4. AFAIK, you'd be getting 44.1/16, not 44.1/24. There's no upsampling or signal conversion, it's just that the DSP chip can work in 24-bit resolution for audio processing tasks like digital volume and crossfading.

 

[viator122]

Thanks for the info, bangraman and JamesF

 

[AndreasG]

Hi James,

thanks for your reply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesF 4. AFAIK, you'd be getting 44.1/16, not 44.1/24. There's no upsampling or signal conversion, it's just that the DSP chip can work in 24-bit resolution for audio processing tasks like digital volume and crossfading.

I am pretty sure that the SB3 does a 16-->24bit shift if you use digital volume control. Read my thread here:

http://www.lavryengineering.com/lav...ween the songs... Thanks again, Andreas

 

[Grahame]

This thread discusses the issue at length.

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=19807

The summary is that Squeezebox supports gapless playback if the format supports gapless playback.

i.e. Flac supports gapless playback (as all Rio Karma owners are prone to tell iPod owners

)

as for other formats

"
WMA - no gapless possible (format is broken)
AAC - no gapless possible (format is broken)
MP3 - no gapless possible (format is broken) - some hacks do exist
WAV - works fine
Vorbis/OGG - works fine
"

e.g. My Pink Floyd albums in FLAC are ripped/stored as multiple tracks, but transition just the same as the vinyl - without the need to get up and flip the album half way through

 

[episiarch]

To Grahame's note I will add that despite MP3 not officially supporting gapless, I was able to play sequential MP3 tracks on the Squeezebox with apparently perfect continuity.

On The Dandy Warhols' Welcome to the Monkey House album there is a single spoken sentence that begins at the end of track 5 and continues into track 6. Through the Squeezebox it sounded to me just like playing the CD, with no gapping between the tracks. (LAME APS MP3)

 

[AndreasG]

Thanks Grahame,

so I guess that the SB does not support gapless playback with Apple Lossless...?

Apple lossless does not specifically support gapless playback, however it works just fine from iTunes if crossfade is enabled and set to 0 seconds.

Andreas

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kin0kin what's so wonderful? 1) Dead quiet. No moving parts, no spinning noise. 2) Wireless, and it acts as a wireless receiver as well. 3) Lots of format supported (ape, flac, alac...w00t!) these three points are good enough to convince me to buy them. but of coz, i'd only get them if i had a dac

By APE do you mean Monkey's Audio support? When was this added?

 

[Grahame]

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Pak By APE do you mean Monkey's Audio support? When was this added?

I had a look in the Server Settings->File Types page. (For slimserver Version 6.2)

This lists the supported File Formats, and how the are handled (built in format support on player (FLAC, WAV, MP3, WMA), or transcoded on the fly to one of the supported formats)

In the case of Monkeys Audio - it looks like its transcoded - from an ape file - on the server side to WAV using mac (Monkeys Audio conveter ? - supplied with slimserver) , and then streamed as WAV (PCM) to the SB, or transcoded from WAV->FLAC (using FLAC) , or WAV->MP3 (using LAME - not supplied due to licensing issues - but can be downloaded and installed)

Of course, you could just do a one time transcode of your ape files to flac, keeping the tags, and avoid all the on-the-fly transcoding, unless you have a particular reason for keeping the files in ape format.

 

[J-Pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grahame I had a look in the Server Settings->File Types page. (For slimserver Version 6.2) This lists the supported File Formats, and how the are handled (built in format support on player (FLAC, WAV, MP3, WMA), or transcoded on the fly to one of the supported formats) In the case of Monkeys Audio - it looks like its transcoded - from an ape file - on the server side to WAV using mac (Monkeys Audio conveter ? - supplied with slimserver) , and then streamed as WAV (PCM) to the SB, or transcoded from WAV->FLAC (using FLAC) , or WAV->MP3 (using LAME - not supplied due to licensing issues - but can be downloaded and installed) Of course, you could just do a one time transcode of your ape files to flac, keeping the tags, and avoid all the on-the-fly transcoding, unless you have a particular reason for keeping the files in ape format.

Thanks, I was just wondering when APE support was added more out of curiosity since its licensing is a little funny. I do have a bunch of albums encoded in APE that I haven't had the time to convert to flac.