Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 66 total)
  • wireless (wifi) multiroom hifi
  • cynic-al
    Free Member

    I got an airport express a while ago, struggling to set the ****er up, and got thinking about sonos/logitech yesterday as I browsed a hifi store.

    The pros of the latter systems seem to be ability to play different music in different rooms and access to spotify, radio etc. I’ve not worked out if a NAS would work with them (i.e. no need for always on pc). They obviously cost a fair bit more than the £80 odd (old) airport express and would use similar remote (my android phone).

    It’s only for 2 (now, maybe 4 later) rooms, 1 of which houses the pc, which I’m happy to have on during walking hours (recently bought a big HD for all the music but pc itself is old and creaking, but unlikely to be replaced for a few years). I want good quality sound but have a decent dac, 2 x amps and 3 x speakers.

    Any comments on quality, ease of use, cost, value etc?

    Drac
    Full Member

    Reconditioned ones are cheap http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/special-offers/blemished-box/devices/7116 they work with NAT I have an older version it really is very good.

    alfabus
    Free Member

    Hi Al,

    Pretty sure I was the one who replied to you last time you asked this question 😉

    Logitech Squeezebox is excellent. For similar money to the airport express you can get a squeezebox receiver, which has no direct interface (no buttons or screen), but can be controlled by your phone or PC.

    If you get more than one of them, you can do the multiroom stuff you mentioned (same track/radio station in every room, or a different one in each room) – the iPeng app is really good at controlling this.

    If you have a NAS that can run squeezecentre (my netgear readynas duo had it installed as standard) then you won’t need to have a PC on (unlike airport express). My NAS controls its ‘on’ hours, so it is only using power when I think I might need it – or it is one button to get it to boot up if I need it any other time. It uses *A LOT* less power than my PC, and also does bittorrent and dlna streaming to my projector 🙂

    If you want to spend more, I can recommend the squeezebox touch – having it sat in the corner of the living room on top of my amp makes it seem like more of a normal stereo – which helps when luddites visit and they want to choose tracks; I don’t want to have to give them my phone!

    I have friends with the squeezebox radio (little screen, mono speaker built in) and they love it – I’m thinking about getting one for my kitchen.

    Dave

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    pedalhead
    Free Member

    +1 for the Squeezebox. I’ve had a couple for ages & they’re excellent, and actually surprisingly good in the sound quality stakes if that floats your boat.

    Markie
    Free Member

    We’ve got two Logitech booms and a duet. The duet plugs into an amp and then plays through your hifi system, the booms are self contained. All very easy to set up, the squeezebox server (software used to provide your music) runs on most NASs, plenty online about which ones are supported.

    Duets were discontinued, but if you have a smartphone I’d say one would be the perfect choice as the squeezebox app is great and does away with the need to navigate your music on a single line led display! Quality of the bits I’ve got is great, very solid. Value has been great for us, though I think the second boom cost just two thirds what the first did!

    bazzer
    Free Member

    Just ordered one of those box blemished duets.

    This is something I have wanted to get working for a while.

    I hope I can get the third party spotify plugin working for it. Have any of you done this ?

    pedalhead
    Free Member

    yes the 3rd party Spotify plugin works fine on my SB3 (or “classic” as I think it’s been rebranded).

    t_i_m
    Free Member

    Sonos is excellent. Will do everything that you’ve requested and is staggeringly easy to install and use.

    bazzer
    Free Member

    Done a quick google search and its no clear where to get the 3rd party plugin from. Any clues would be welcome.

    alfabus
    Free Member

    don’t you just get it from the squeeze network site?

    thered
    Full Member

    I use Sonos and the sound quality and useability/ease of installation are both excellent, even my technophobe wife has no problem with it. Napster at £5 p/m is outstanding, you simply don’t need to buy albums any more

    ukmgranger
    Free Member

    Not sure if it is a concern or not, but if you have been using iTunes to purchase music DRM **could** be an issue.

    **Not researched

    I personally use a combination of Mac mini with iTunes, appleTV in the kitchen/bedroom and airport express for other areas. Works great for me over WiFi. I also use a Netgear NAS connected to my router for staorage of music / DVD’s etc.

    stevehine
    Full Member

    the 3rd party spotify plugin is by Triode; it’s available through the list of recommended 3rd party plugins once you’ve installed the software. Works fine; I use it on my SB3 (classic) as it doesn’t support the official spotify plugin – also means I can sync spotify streams across all of my SB devices (I seem to remember the official one won’t do this)

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Thanks all.

    Logitech sounds easier, no less versatile and not much more £ than my Airport Express…

    the wbe says this, is it for real?

    Works when your computer is off
    You’ll enjoy a reliable wireless connection from up to 10 m with virtually no interference. And it’s pre-configured, so you’ll be ready to go right away.

    Elfinsafety
    Free Member

    Can I have yer Airport Express cos you don’t need it anymore then?

    bazzer
    Free Member

    I think I am being a bit thick !!!

    If I go into the App Gallery I can only see the official plugin. I can’t see any way of installing 3rd part ones.

    I am new to this literally just installed the software to have a look before box arrives.

    bazzer
    Free Member

    Sorted had to add the triode repository to the list 🙂

    glenh
    Free Member

    I use multiple airport expresses, all controlled from my iPad.

    It works a treat. Losssless audio (or spotify) is streamed from my computer to wherever I want. Yes the imac uses more power than a NAS, but it only switches on when I want to play music (the ipad remote wakes it up).

    p.s you can get airport expresses for £50 is if you get reconditioned ones from apple 🙂

    p.p.s. I’ve also used a squeezebox remote + NAS system and it’s also very good, but I already had the computer and ipad.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Fred – if I go logitech no problem – £50?

    simons_nicolai-uk
    Free Member

    I’ve used all three. Have Squeezeboxes myself.

    If you’re on a Mac then Airport Expresses look a good option now but it’s not a whole house system and doesn’t do sync.

    Squeezeboxes are great and good value (pick up some older ones off eBay if you’re on a budget). I’ve never really had any problems with set up, config or reliability. The desktop software isn’t the best – there are both advantages and limitations to running through a web interface – but using a phone or iPad as a remote is really the answer.

    Sonos *is* really good now. Using an iPod/phone as a remote is way better than the original Sonos remote. The kit is very nicely made and there are some stability and sync advantages to their custom (non standard wifi) networking. The desktop app is faster than the SB web interface. On the downside, it’s stupid expensive – the unit to connect to your own amp/speakers costs more than the SBTouch which has a display and touch interface – and IME the sync on SB works fine.

    Running SB off a NAS was very disappointing in my experience – they don’t have the processing power so make it very slow and laggy to use and don’t support a lot of the plugins that make it useful. This was a few years back so they may be more powerful now. If you run it on a PC or Mac that’s networked with a cable rather than Wifi the SB’s will send a wake-on-lan signal so you have a server when you need it but not when you don’t. An old PC or mac mini would be perfect for this.

    bazzer
    Free Member

    I have just got spotify running on squeezeserver but it does not show any of my play lists of music. I can browse new stuff and top ten etc.

    Sorry for the hijack !!!

    BlobOnAStick
    Full Member

    Al,

    Why haven’t you considered your Arnova as a method of streaming over your wifi? Simply plug in Amp and Speakers?

    Ben

    theflatboy
    Free Member

    anyone who uses logitech stuff combined with itunes, can you confirm how effectively squeezeboxes recognise itunes file tags? i have a lot of music, and am considering getting a squeezebox duet but if it means my music can’t be accessed properly cos of tag issues then i probably won’t.

    thanks.

    exilegeordie
    Free Member

    Another Squeezebox (receiver + radio) user here. Very happy with the quality of sound. I’ve got the SqueezeCenter software running on my NAS, so no need for a dedicated PC. I bought the receiver cheap and configured it using the NET::UPDAP software. This meant I didn’t need to buy the frankly ludicrously expensive controller (I use SqueezeCommander on my Android phone).

    The only issues I’ve had is if my router needed re-starting, or if Geordie junior pressed the OFF button (little monkey), it would re-assign the NAS with a different IP address from a range. This meant the receiver would go Huh? Where’s SqueezeCenter? I’ve got round that by simply assigning it with a static IP address and fingers crossed, that seems to have fixed it.

    As people have already said though, very good kit for the money.

    marting
    Free Member

    +1 for Sonos. Really easy to set up, and multi-room streaming is seamless. Only downside is cost.

    If you go for this, worth researching which NAS to use, as compatibility varies a bit (eg if NAS goes to sleep and won’t wake up on demand).

    ericemel
    Free Member

    I am a keeping it simple believer and I run a Sonos and love it. Spotify works a treat out of the box.

    I have a ZP90 into a DAC and Hifi & ans S5 in my bedroom – the whole thing is effortless and genius.

    Crell
    Free Member

    Another Sonos user here. It’s one of the nicest bits of technology I’ve owned. My wife likes it, which in itself is a massive compliment as she hates technology.

    With Spotify it’s brilliant, and no issues with a QNAP NAS or Media Server. Having playlist integration across a range of devices, in or out of the home is a real plus for me.

    Their online support is excellent as well.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Blob….I move the Arnova around a fair bit, and want something simple and multi room.

    t_i_m
    Free Member

    If you go for this, worth researching which NAS to use, as compatibility varies a bit (eg if NAS goes to sleep and won’t wake up on demand).

    FWIW, Synology DJ110 NAS works fine with Sonos. Takes up to 20secs to automatically spin up if asleep and Sonos want to stream from it.

    Also, Sonos indexes my large iTunes library perfectly.

    breatheeasy
    Free Member

    Sonos was a piece of cake to set up and run. Thankfully the iPhone app makes it easier to use than the old remote.

    I was in the same position as you, multiroom, using NAS, PC off, blah blah blah. It got expensive (see Sonos!) when I finally realised for my needs an iPod dock (or docks) connected to the hifi was really all I needed, so I flogged all the Sonos stuff (for a profit on eBay).

    oddjob
    Free Member

    I’m thoroughly confused by most of the above.
    I have all of my music on an ipod classic since my cd player died this year. I have an iphone and an ipad and use itunes for my music so i guess apple would be a logical way to go.
    If I want to play music in other rooms (other than some speakers of some sort) can I achieve this with an airport thingy?
    Do I just plug the ipod into the airport (via a dock maybe?) and then what with the amplifier? How do I control it etc etc?
    I am usually farily tech savvy (I think) but this seems to be missing several pieces of the jigsaw to me.

    simons_nicolai-uk
    Free Member

    anyone who uses logitech stuff combined with itunes, can you confirm how effectively squeezeboxes recognise itunes file tags? i have a lot of music, and am considering getting a squeezebox duet but if it means my music can’t be accessed properly cos of tag issues then i probably won’t.

    Haven’t noticed any problems in some years – *seems* to pick everything up. It won’t import artwork from iTunes by default as iTunes hides it in a complex database. On the Mac I run a script called ’embed album artwork’ which embeds the artwork in the individual MP3 files (ran once on whole library then on new music)

    Cougar
    Full Member

    I’ve got round that by simply assigning it with a static IP address and fingers crossed, that seems to have fixed it.

    <tangent>
    Best way of doing this is to reserve an IP address for it’s MAC address in the DHCP’s scope. This avoids a number of potential ‘gotchas’ with static IPs on a DHCP network.
    </tangent>

    As you were.

    oddjob
    Free Member

    😐

    exilegeordie
    Free Member

    Cougar – can you expand on the above, or point me in the direction of any resources that explain this (realise this is way off topic). Cheers.

    theflatboy
    Free Member

    simons_nicolai-uk – Member
    anyone who uses logitech stuff combined with itunes, can you confirm how effectively squeezeboxes recognise itunes file tags? i have a lot of music, and am considering getting a squeezebox duet but if it means my music can’t be accessed properly cos of tag issues then i probably won’t.
    Haven’t noticed any problems in some years – *seems* to pick everything up. It won’t import artwork from iTunes by default as iTunes hides it in a complex database. On the Mac I run a script called ’embed album artwork’ which embeds the artwork in the individual MP3 files (ran once on whole library then on new music)

    thanks mate, good to finally get an answer to that as i’d never been able to find out for sure up to now!

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    If I got a duet & remote (£119 package, “multi room controller”), it looks like a squeezebox wouldn’t be controlled by that remote…can anyone confirm?

    theflatboy
    Free Member

    ok, i’ve gone for a blemished box squeezebox duet from logitech. at £120 for the unit and controller it was too hard to resist!

    looking forward to it!

    Elfinsafety
    Free Member

    Actually, What I’d like is something like an Apple TV what can stream iPlayer/4OD type stuffs from my Mac. Is there something like that? To replace that POS PC that does not in any way even bloody work anyway I’ve tried oh I don’t know what’s wrong with the bloody thing I give up.

    The Apple TV has almost all the features I’d like, but not quite all. 🙁

    bazzer
    Free Member

    The Apple TV has almost all the features I’d like, but not quite all.

    Apple TV with XBMC on it ?

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 66 total)

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