Does anyone here have a squeezebox?

[Slosh]

And does your mama ever sleep at night? :rolleyes:

I've been thinking about getting one of these:

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/1205/slimdevices_squeezebox.htm

It seems a little pricey, though, but I like the idea that it's open-source based and does wav, wma lossless, apple lossless, and FLAC, along with the lossy codecs, plus lets you stream internet radio without having the computer turned on (assuming you have cable or dsl internet). It looks small enough that I could bring it back and forth to my main system or bedroom system as needed. In either case I would be using its coaxial digital output so I don't care what it sounds like on its own and I'll probably bump its settings up to 48kHz/24-bit, just because I can. :)

Any decent, cheaper alternatives? I don't like the Apple Airport Express because it only works with iTunes and the Creative piece only does mp3 and wma (does that include wma lossless?) and only has an optical out (but I can live with that . . . it's just that optical cables seem more fragile than coax and if I'm moving the device from room to room I'd rather stick with coax).

NP: Built To Spill - Ancient Melodies Of The Future

[N. Abstentia]

Actually, isn't it Mama that has the squeezebox? Daddy never sleeps at night. Mama wears the sqeezebox on her chest from what I hear. And FWIW it goes in and out and in and out.

[Kaboom]

indeed, momma's got the squeezebox, daddy never sleeps at night... Can't believe it took me up to N. Absentia's post to get the pun...
Mmmmm i don't know how comfortable i'd feel shifting that thing around the house, specially considering that the pricetag outweighs the thing itself. On the other hand all reviews seem to rave about the sound quality and features... I guess i'm lucky enough to have my computer and my system both in the same room.
cheers!

[Slosh]

I guess i'm lucky enough to have my computer and my system both in the same room.
cheers!I have a pretty decent Marantz/Mission set-up in my guest bedroom where the computer resides, but I have other rooms in my house too :p

Oops, shows ya how long it's been since I've listened to The Who :(

[dean_martin]

Check Mike Anderson's thread on the computer audio board.

[3-LockBox]

My grandma has one. When I was a kid, she'd take it out and let me play with it. In fact, I think I was the only one she'd ever let touch it. That always made me feel special. Funny thing, I never told anyone else about that until now...

She doesn't take it out much anymore, however. I asked her about it a few years ago and she said it was too old, streched out and lopsided to play with anymore. I insisted I give one more go, but she was right, it just didn't work for me.

Although new squeeze boxes might look better, they aren't as responsive as ones that are 'broke-in'. But if you don't take 'em out on a regular basis, they just go to pot. Use it or lose it, they always say.

[Davey]

My grandma has one. When I was a kid, she'd take it out and let me play with it. In fact, I think I was the only one she'd ever let touch it. That always made me feel special. Funny thing, I never told anyone else about that until now...

She doesn't take it out much anymore, however. I asked her about it a few years ago and she said it was too old, streched out and lopsided to play with anymore. I insisted I give one more go, but she was right, it just didn't work for me.

Although new squeeze boxes might look better, they aren't as responsive as ones that are 'broke-in'. But if you don't take 'em out on a regular basis, they just go to pot. Use it or lose it, they always say.
I don't know whether to take this seriously or if it's just a play on Townshend's silly sexual innuendo and double entendre in that moronic Squeeze Box song. Hmmm, cute story regardless, Todd. But that grandma image is kinda creepy if you're on the same vibe as the Who ;)

[BradH]

So who wears the cable? Could Mama wear the squeezebox AND the cable?

As Beaver would say, "Gee, Wally, it's kinda creepy."

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[3-LockBox]

I don't know whether to take this seriously or if it's just a play on Townshend's silly sexual innuendo and double entendre in that moronic Squeeze Box song. Q:You don't know whether to take it seriously?
A:don't





that grandma image is kinda creepy if you're on the same vibe as the Who ;)
My work here is done :p

[Davey]

that grandma image is kinda creepy if you're on the same vibe as the Who ;)
My work here is done :p
And done well too I might add. Might've been less creepy for me if it was your hot older aunt with the squeezebox, you know, more like Anne Bancroft in The Graduate, but hey, it's your story Harold!

[3-LockBox]

And done well too I might add. Might've been less creepy for me if it was your hot older aunt with the squeezebox, you know, more like Anne Bancroft in The Graduate, but hey, it's your story Harold!I guess it was the preverbial fork in the road: I coulda taken the quasi-sexy, egotist angle, or the sqeemishly creepy, immature angle. The booze won.

I'll have to scoot over to All Movie Guide to figure out the H&M reference.

[Davey]

I'll have to scoot over to All Movie Guide to figure out the H&M reference.
Harold and Maude used to be a cult classic back in the day (early 70s?), but may even be a "real" classic now. Haven't seen it in an eternity, but it's one of those movies that you'll never forget. Quirky and very funny, but with a dark underbelly too. Kind of like a mix of MASH and the aforementioned The Graduate. Anyway, I figured eveyone around here probably knew it since you all seem so much cooler and more knowledgable than me when it comes to film, but definitely read up on it and put it on your list to check out. Really a pretty special movie.

[tentoze]

Harold and Maude used to be a cult classic back in the day (early 70s?), but may even be a "real" classic now. Haven't seen it in an eternity, but it's one of those movies that you'll never forget. Quirky and very funny, but with a dark underbelly too. Kind of like a mix of MASH and the aforementioned The Graduate. Anyway, I figured eveyone around here probably knew it since you all seem so much cooler and more knowledgable than me when it comes to film, but definitely read up on it and put it on your list to check out. Really a pretty special movie.Reference my current avatar at obner. Ruth Gordon was genius.

[Davey]

Reference my current avatar at obner. Ruth Gordon was genius.
Hadn't noticed, but to be honest I can't really tell what it is ... http://www.obner.org/bb/images/avatars/7386337443c53b685d3bc.jpg

Is that a scene from Harold and Maude?

[tentoze]

Hadn't noticed, but to be honest I can't really tell what it is ... http://www.obner.org/bb/images/avatars/7386337443c53b685d3bc.jpg

Is that a scene from Harold and Maude?Harold chopping off his "hand" with a cleaver- IIRC, it was when his mother was trying to set him up with a date..

[Slosh]

Just in case anyone cares I may have found a cheaper alternative: the Roku M500 for $150. It seems to do just about everything the Squeezebox does and can even run on the (free) Slim Server software, as well as iTunes and WMP 10.

[Davey]

Just in case anyone cares I may have found a cheaper alternative: the Roku M500 for $150. It seems to do just about everything the Squeezebox does and can even run on the (free) Slim Server software, as well as iTunes and WMP 10.
Too bad, I think you just missed out on a $50 rebate for that one. Was it Radio Shack? Saw some people talking about getting them for $85 (or less) after rebate. It's only 802.11b so would slow down your wireless network if you already have one running 802.11g, and is pretty insecure, and isn't built to as high audio standards as the SB, but you probably already know that and more, and it might be plenty good for your needs.

[Slosh]

Too bad, I think you just missed out on a $50 rebate for that one. Was it Radio Shack? Saw some people talking about getting them for $85 (or less) after rebate. It's only 802.11b so would slow down your wireless network if you already have one running 802.11g, and is pretty insecure, and isn't built to as high audio standards as the SB, but you probably already know that and more, and it might be plenty good for your needs.Poking around various audio forums it seems the Squeezebox doesn't really do 802.11g either but may someday with a firmware upgrade or plug-in, etc. The Roku doesn't support audio above 48kHz/16-bit but that's certainly good enough. I don't have an HDCD (not that that would work with a wav file anyway) decoder anyway. It does pass 5.1 DD and DTS (not that I'd use it) which I believe the Squeezebox must convert to PCM.

I don't care what the Roku's DACs sound like since I won't be using them and I don't plan on using the thing for anything but music so security shouldn't be much of a concern. No big rush in getting one of these. I've lived without one for this long . . . :)

NP: Holopaw - s/t (think I need to hear me some Ugly Casanova next, "Hotcha Girls" more specifically)

[Kaboom]

having ONE b peer in you network doesn't slow the whole network down like it does with hard-wired networls. its just the communication between the router and that device that runs at 11mbps and the rest of the network still runs at 54mbps.
if you're only gonna be using digital outs, and not the internal DAC, i sure think the 150 beats the heck out of 500

[Davey]

having ONE b peer in you network doesn't slow the whole network down like it does with hard-wired networls. its just the communication between the router and that device that runs at 11mbps and the rest of the network still runs at 54mbps.
I know what you're saying, but I think if you're streaming music to a b peer, unless it's hardwired to the router, something has to give. And apparently some routers have to be switched to "b only" to support it. But I've no experience with it, just a semi-interested lookie loo :)

[Stone]

I wish I had a clue what you guys are talking about. Okay, maybe not....

[Dusty Chalk]

...networls...New word. (I realize it's just a typo -- I'm makin' fun of the fact that I actually know what a netwhorl is -- it's a chaotic network that resembles a whirlpool.)

[Davey]

I wish I had a clue what you guys are talking about. Okay, maybe not....
:)

A lot of people, though not necessarily me, have a dream of a near limitless supply of music through the ether so that one could sit on their comfy couch (or anywhere else in the house for that matter) and simply select with a couple clicks the music that perfectly fits that moment, in full CD quality played through their high end sound system, and have it happen like magic. With a wireless network and very cheap hard drive space and a music server like the $250 Squeezebox or one of the many less expensive variations, it's become a reality for many. And with some of them you don't even need the computer turned on when playing music, but in any case it doesn't need to be anywhere near your listening environment.

BTW, below is a simple setup where the guy is using an inexpensive Linksys NSLU2 box to hang the hard drive and run the Slimserver software, with Squeezebox connected directly and then to the stereo. Cool setup if you wanna run Linux.

<img src="http://lowfat.sytes.net/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=83&g2_serialNumber=9">

[GMichael]

My wife has one. It works great!