[Closed] sonos vs squeezebox

I've had a squeezebox for a couple of years and hardly used it. It does work but takes a while to rescan my itunes library (admittedly itunes may be the problem!). I recently bought an airport express and now can easily stream music from my macbook or iphone through my amp & speakers. You don't mention apple above so the squeezebox might work better for you. My pal has sonos and it is much slicker (and more ££).

I'm fairly sure the squeezebox won't work from a NAS device unless it already runs the squeezebox server soft or you fart around to put it on in some way. The NAS devices I have seen tend to run twonky instead which squeezebox doesn't work with

i use my dlna blu ray player connected to the tv which can access my nas that hidden away in the spare room.

its a hp microserver which runs ubuntu, the blu ray player is a sony bdps370 and i connect them up with ethernet over power.

you could use the laptop as a nas with ubuntu easily enough, theres a learning curve with linux though but plenty of guides around for ubuntu or you could just use windows home server if you happy to buy it.

for dlna i use serviio
for laptop, phone, pc, ipad browsing i use subsonic

then use webmin for server admin

i rip everything to flac and serviio and subsonic transcode with ffmpeg to mp3

works brilliantly streaming hd videos or music

you could even use xmbc for a front end if the server/laptop is in the same room

I got lost just after you said 'i use my...'

lol yes i can see how a lot of my post may be difficult to understand if not familiar with this sort of thing

dobo, dead interested in this stuff, but, like STATO, didn't understand most if what you just said... any chance of translating?

Sadexpunk, sorry for the slight hijack.

I love my Sonos. No complaints. You won't regret it.

I also love my sonos setup, such an uncomplicated device! No nas software required and works a bloody treat!

I have tried many solutions (PS3/PC/Mac/SB/Naim Streaming) and the Sonos is the winner!

And it really comes into its own when you have 2.

youngrob, yep, i didnt mention apple cos i dont get on with the devices. i have an ideal situation in my head of relaxing on the sofa, and using an app on my android phone as a remote control to access all my music and play it through the speakers. course, that wouldnt be necessary with a squeezebox remote.

dobo, thanks for all that, but seems a bit toooo complicated for my ideal 'ease of use' set up. i can find my way round some technical stuff, but that seems a bit much for me thanks.

looking at the reviews, it does mention nas with the squeezebox, so i assumed thered be no probs with that.

are there many differences in the add-ons, such as spotify, napster, internet radio stations etc? and what about remote access to music whilst away? would i be better off just buying a decent set of portable speakers to plug into my laptop and keep it separate from the sonos/squeezebox setup?

thanks a lot

Got a Sonos starter kit a week ago. The bridge which is connected to my router, and the connect plugged into my audio system. Also downloaded the controller to my iPod, Mrs M's Galaxy SII, and two laptops. Comments:

1) I can't believe how simple it was to set up the whole system, including downloading the apps and getting them connected
2) The integration with Spotify (premium), music on my laptop and internet radio is brilliant
3) The sound quality is absolutely superb

Will be adding more rooms and a NAS device when budget allows

it does mention nas with the squeezebox, so i assumed thered be no probs

Be careful with the language used. In many cases it says the logitech software [i]can[/i] be installed on a NAS device - but it may not be easy. Wikipedia suggests that "Logitech only supports the Netgear ReadyNAS NAS devices". I can tell you that the squeezebox doesn't work with my Western Digital NAS although my Avox Indio player does.

The squeezebox is nice though

I think you will be happy with either as they are both good. I have a Squeezebox Touch connected to the hifi and a couple of radios dotted about the flat, all synchronised together and they work great that way. With the Touch, you have three options - Stream music from your PC/laptop, stream it from a supported NAS box, or plug a USB storage device directly into it and play music direct from that. There is also a free app made by Logitech for iThings and Android to use as a controller. I find I use the app more than the remote, as it replicates the interface of the Touch almost identically.

Squeezebox supports Spotify, Last.fm and a couple of other streaming music services too (Napster and something else I can't remember). There's no remote streaming access that I know of, but you could install something like The Orb for that.

I'm fairly sure synology NAS devices have squeezebox comparability .

I have used the squeezebox stuff and it works a treat. Heard people say the Sonos is better at multi room, but i have a boom and squeezebox and using the Ipeng app on my iphone or ipad it controls the devices in two different rooms with ease.

I have a few internet radio stations added to favourites, easy to access that way.

Loads of plugins, like Last FMetc too.

I use my PC without using itunes, many NAS devices are available with squeezecentre already installed.

The squeezebox is smaller than the sonos, which i think is better if you already have hifi as its easier to hide the box.

Jambox might do it?

No experience with Squeezebox but definitely recommend Sonos: not cheap but incredibly easy to set up, iPhone/iPad app works seamlessly (I don't have a Sonos controller) and Napster links perfectly- great VFM at £5/month

My squeezebox was incredibly easy to set up also.

I don't see any need to spend more on sonos, tho I didn't dem one against the other.

was hoping to have my mind made up, but still just as confused 🙂 looks like good experiences with both.

so..... if i decide to go the cheapest route (squeezebox), then id like to double check a few points.
if 4 of us in the house all have different music on our laptops, the squeezebox will play anyones music from their laptop when they ask it to? and later, a compatible NAS would hold all the music combined anyway?
all our cds can be ripped to flac easily on the laptop first. (by windows media player) does sonos support flac, or a different file extension thats just as easy to rip to?)

the sonos uses the wifi, then uses its own 'mesh' network which is better i believe. anyone had any problems at all with squeezebox just using the normal wifi signal? and would there be any problems in streaming if say both lads were killing baddies on their xbox lives at the same time?

charliemungus, was that jambox suggestion for a laptop speaker?

thanks a lot

Can only really speak on behalf of the squeezebox here - as long as the laptop has Squeezebox Centre/Logitech Media Server installed then the Squeezebox can play its music. However, you will need to select the library that you want to get the music from and it will stay connected to that until it loses connection (If the server is shut down) and asks if you want to connect to another library. If no libraries are online then it can still connect to squeezebox.com and get Internet Radio, Last.fm etc through there.

I've had no problems with the wifi whilst having several devices connected to the router (3 Squeezeboxes, 3/4 phones and 2/3 PCs) but probably haven't used it as intensively as you describe - might be more dependent on your router.

i've not used sonos or squeezebox but i almost got a squeezebox, they both seem pretty good to me but at some point you will say to yourself i wish it could do this or that and then your stuck

if your going to use a sonos or squeezebox with a nas then save your dosh and build your own system based around a nas, especially if you have an android phone as you can access and control it all from there.

fwiw i just checked the ubuntu apt repository and it has squeezebox server and squeezeplay packages but i dont use them.

oh mr dobo, youve done it again 🙂

dont know what youre on about but sounds promising. any chance of an explanation in laymans terms? 🙂
(basically what takes place of the squeezebox/sonos box and how?)

btw, just did a google on ubuntu apt repository squeezebox 😯

are you talking ubuntu solely because thats what you use, or would windows work that way too?

Well the jambox was for a bluetooth speaker, run from my ipad or my phone,o laptop ifi wanted. I know it's not waht is on your spec. But it does a lot very well. And the sou d quality is very good, stunning for the size of the package

sadexpunk, squeezebox server will run from windows just fine and give you dlna functionality sharing your music so your dlna enabled devices to play them, like my phone and blue ray player.

basically i use my tv, amp and blu ray player in the front room to access stuff like radio, photo, video, music all from the blu ray player remote.

if i'm in a different room i plug my htc android phone into cheap powered speakers (or you could use an expensive amp) to access all the shared media on my NAS.

clearly this doesnt have the full ability of having synced sound in all your rooms like a sonos can do, but i dont really need that and this is massively cheaper.

if you are buying a sonos for just one room i dont see the point.

edit: i missed one important point, the phone connects through wifi, not using its own slow data.

sonos seems preety slick but the price...

Squeezebox (which I have) is good. It works well out of the box. It does provide more scope for "fiddling" so can perhaps seem a but more techie.

I get the impression that the Sonos (which I don't have) is probably a bit slicker, and a bit more plug & play. It does cost more. If I had cash to splash I might opt for the Sonos (albeit not having investigated the respective merits of both in detail).

To get the most of either system I'd guess that you'd want to have a dedicated machine running 24/7 that holds your music. Having to boot up a laptop every time you want to listen to something will get tiresome. You don't necessarily need a NAS as any old PC will do (and having a PC may "feel" easier as at least you will be able to attach a monitor to see what's going on...)

You'll probably need to experiment if you want to access either system remotely and do things like set up a VPN connection etc. It is possible - and not too difficult - with Squeezebox, and I'd guess you follow a similar process for the Sonos.

Have a think about what's involved in setting up a decent well-tagged music library. At the end of the day the most important thing is that you have a decent library that you can move from one system to the next as easily as possible (e.g. when a Squeezebox/Sonos successor arrives). You won't want to re-rip everything! I keep as much of my library as possible in FLAC as being non-proprietary I am assuming it will be easiest to transcode if necessary. That said MP3 has stood the test of time - in terms of breadth of support - although being lossy any transcoding will mean that some of the music detail is lost.

At this point it's worth mentioning iTunes. You will probably either be happy with how iTunes manages your music - and so use it control your music library - or refuse to let it anywhere near your music. As a non-Apple person I don't have to deal with it, which suits me as I don't like its clunky approach to tagging. That also means I don't have to get into DRM questions (which is a relief).

Also consider whether you might want a separate copy of your music library in smaller file sizes for use on a portable device (e.g. iPhone). That may lead you down the path of running batch processes to keep a parallel lossy library maintained.

And don't forget to back up your master library. Definitely factor that into your plans as having to recreate your library from scratch would not be good for your sanity.

dobo, dont know what dlna is, and if you were to explain i prob wouldnt understand, but it sounds like basically youre saying my equipment would be fine?
im fine with using my phone as a remote if thats what id have to do. and im also fine with getting a nas if thats gonna be easier to store all my music. are you saying you plug your phone strraight into amp and speakers, and use it as a remote? dont entirely understand it.

luther, yep, id rip everything to flac on a nas or laptop (mebbes both for when im working away with laptop), dont think id really bother with mp3s for my phone. and id back stuff up elsewhere too.
dont really understand tagging, so not sure about a well-tagged library. would ripping tag the files adequately?
i also despise itunes and apple 🙂

i imagine myself to end up with a laptop/nas full of music. an amp and speakers to play it with, streamed over the wifi. and basically i need the middle man sorting out.
that may be squeezebox, sonos, or if you chaps are suggesting an easier cheaper way, id like to understand what i need to do please. im sort of thinking youre saying all i need is my android phone to use as a remote, which id be well happy with.

more details needed please 🙂

to add to this... I don't get what squeezebox and sonos [i]are[/i]. Do I need speakers, and an amp in addition? And what about a NAS?

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depends really mate, on what youve got already. i got decent amp and speakers, so need a basic middle man. if youre starting from scratch, theres a sonos box with built in amp, theres seperate units that come with amp and speakers, you can get different units for different rooms etc. and im thinking squeezebox would have roughly the same sort of versatility.
what they 'do' is....... take digital music files (flac/mp3 etc) from a place of storage in your house (laptop/nas/pc for instance) and send em to your amp/speakers over the wifi. so theyre streamed rather than playing a hard copy of a cd for instance.
ive only just found about these myself, so still learning, but i just like the thought of being able to access all my music from one place rather than playing separate cds. i just need to fine tune what i need.

[url= http://www.pcworld.com/article/173905/build_a_wholehome_audio_system.html ]this[/url] makes interesting reading in explaining all the different options.

cheers

just a bit of a bump, to see if someone can answer my question above. for just one room, do i [i]need[/i] a sonos/squeezebox, or can i stream my music from laptop/nas to my amp/speakers using server (squeezebox server?) software and my android phone?

cheers

Music from laptop...you don't need a squeezebox etc but you will need either the laptop or another device like airport express to get an analogue signal-no idea re. NAS.

its this quote from dobo that intrigues me...

if your going to use a sonos or squeezebox with a nas then save your dosh and build your own system based around a nas, especially if you have an android phone as you can access and control it all from there.

fwiw i just checked the ubuntu apt repository and it has squeezebox server and squeezeplay packages but i dont use them.

cheers

If you are happy to use your lappy to play the music and your amp to do the amplification then an airport express is a nice solution and sounds very good as well. You need to use iTunes on your lappie to play music to take advantage of the airport express.

Squeezebox is nice if you want a standalone player that doesn't require a PC.

I have both but prefer the squeezebox for radio and the airport express for music.

I think your quote about building your own solution involved using an old PC to do the music playing duties. I wouldn't bother unless you are short of cash or really enjoy doing that sort of thing.

why would it have to be an old PC, and not the laptop that the music was stored on?

cheers

I think that the reference to an "old pc" is more to do with the fact that you can build up a machine as a NAS and put it somewhere out of the way. If you use a laptop then you always have to switch the lappy on to listen to music.

This thread has inspired me to sort out music provision in my kitchen: I already have a QNAP NAS, so have put the Squeezebox software on that ( which was very easy to do ) and have ordered a Squeezebox Touch and some Acoustic Energy speakers.

hmmm you sure? im quite willing to buy a nas. i was sort of under the impression from that quote that my option to buy sonos/squeezebox feeding from a nas/laptop, could be made cheaper by just buying the nas, and using my android phone in some way to scroll through songs/albums on the nas and play them through the amp. 'build your own system around a nas'. might be wrong tho. wheres the man in question to explain it all? 😀

thanks

If you only need one room, it's a good excuse to buy an X-Box/PS3 if you so desire - this will do all you need, plus give you a big boys toy.

Just another idea - it's what I use to get my music to my hi-fi.

im not into games, but...... it has been pointed out to me that PS3s are good bluray players, which we were also toying with the idea of getting. if itll do hifi streaming as well then that makes it more interesting.

could you explain how this set up would be configured please mate?

cheers

EDIT: just been googling and dont think the PS3 is the route i want to go down really. although if it seems to be the best option for what i want ill have another look 🙂

99% of the above is way out of my league 🙁

But we bought a Smart TV recently, that connects via WiFi & it plays all the music/videos etc, that are stored on the pc in the dining room. You could get a new TV & connect it to an amp/better speakers...

how does it do that mate? we got a new telly thats connected to amp/speakers, but i dont think itll do wifi. be interested to hear how you got it all set up. and how do you access/play your music? what interface?

its not going to be possible to explain every detail, you have to figure some of this out for yourself, i would say that if you got the money then sonos will be the least hassle for you.

most likley the ps3 approach and takisawa2 tv both use DLNA/UPNP to access there music library whether its on a dedicated NAS like me or on a desktop pc or a laptop or even a mobile phone.

have a read up on http://www.dlna.org/digital_living/how_it_works/

its fairly easy to setup and works very well for just one system i.e your main tv, ps3, hifi, blu ray player setup.

determine if you have a phone tv media player that can use DLNA and have a play, use squeezebox server if you like

i'll list some other DLNA software i use

android phone
skifta http://www.skifta.com ( a bit complicated and not that slick at the moment)
upnplay http://bebopfreak.wordpress.com/upnplayer/

nas or pc
subsonic (all web enabled devices, also check out the demo on link below)
http://www.subsonic.org

serviio http://www.serviio.org/

i am linux/freeware biased but no doubt theres some funky apple apps for iphone/ipad etc £££

if you want multiple rooms then sonos or squeeze is the way to go.

If you want a cheap and easy way of playing music from your laptop, Logitech make a little bluetooth box (about £30 I think) that you plugs into the back of your stereo and it can then pick up music played from anything with bluetooth. Never tried one though so i don't know what the quality is like, I guess it depends a lot on the laptop etc.

As for the Squeezebox Touch I believe that it has a media server built in. That means that you could just back up all your music onto a USB stick/hard drive and leave this plugged into the Squeezebox, you wouldn't need to turn your laptop on to access your music. You could always then move the hard drive to a NAS box at a later date.

Finally I believe there is a Squeezebox app for Android so you could use your phone as a remote, the Logitech remote doesn't have a screen so you'd have to have a good view of the box.

dobo, just looked at some of those links. fascinating. i didnt realise all this interoperability (sp) existed! which means im even more determined to make sure i get this right and dont buy something i live to regret later cos it wont do something i need it to.

i just looked at my tv details, a sony bravia, and was pleased to find out its dnla certified, which meant nothing to me before. which now leads me to believe i may be able to access video from a nas onto it. so im starting to think about 'ripping' music dvds to a nas for easy watching. (if that is indeed what you do to dvds)

ive just checked google to see if my phones dlna too, (desire HD) and see that it is, so thats good too. (am i already able to watch phone vids on the tv then somehow??)

mjb, my laptops not bluetooth, and i get the impression bluetooth wouldnt be as good as wifi, so im thinking i should go bigger and better than that thanks mate.

threads starting to expand a bit now to include tv/video as well as music 🙂 but its all starting to make a bit more sense now, and im starting to see possibilities of linking everything up.

i assume my old amp and speakers arent going to be a stumbling block? theyre decent quality and im hoping that i can keep them in the loop somehow.

thanks

blimey, ive just had my phones photos up on the tv, and also played my phones music using the 'connected media' app on my phone!! it wouldnt play my phones vids tho, said the player (tv) couldnt play them. thats a shame. i need to keep the momentum going and get all this sorted out 🙂

keep at this please, I bet I'm not the only lurker on this thread !

Thanks...

yep, ill certainly keep at it mate 🙂 technologys great innit 🙂 ill just update on my thoughts this morning after a nights sleep on it.

ive been thinking about what im doing now against a squeeze/sonos system. squeezebox will take music from a nas/laptop using its remote, utilising its own server software and sending it to amp.

ive just played an mp3 from my phone (so next step will be rip cd to laptop and try and play it) on my tv using my phone as remote and can play through my speakers.

thoughts are..... has my tv now replaced the squeezebox as the middle man? as digital music is just a series of 1's and 0's, is the sound quality exactly the same using tv rather than squeeze? or do they travel through different cables to different input (av?) on amp and lose quality?
as far as interfaces go, the tv showed what track was playing, same as a squeezebox would but bigger. maybe it wont show album art, but not too fussed.
small problem that should iron out ok, my phone found my wifes laptop on its search and could access her files, but didnt find mine. something to do with homegroups which i dont understand. ill look into that.

i still think im going to hit a limitation somewhere thatll mean i still end up buying a squeezebox, but for now its looking promising.

at work for a few days now so not as much time to play, but ill get a chance tonight maybe 🙂

For me, the squeezything is useful as I have a good stereo (and spare decent audio cable for it), and I wanted to play my music over that rather than some other stand-alone device, or relying on the TV being on to play it.

thoughts are..... has my tv now replaced the squeezebox as the middle man? as digital music is just a series of 1's and 0's, is the sound quality exactly the same using tv rather than squeeze? or do they travel through different cables to different input (av?) on amp and lose quality?

All cables should be equal, but if you are sending a digital stream over a poorly shielded coaxial cable then it could pick up some interference.

The key determinant of the sound quality at the end of the day will be the speakers and amp that you are playing the music through.

At some point the 1s and 0s will have to be converted into an analogue signal. The quality and price of the digital to analogue converters (DAC) varies enormously.

In terms of overall sound I remember reading a good rule of thumb for what the sound is like is 60% speakers, 30% amplifier and 10% DAC.

dave, i understand that, as im struggling a bit with the phone to see my laptop, and whether mine and my wifes laptops need to be part of a workgroup to be seen. dont really understand them. didnt get chance to experiment last night, but ill be on it again tonight 🙂
but your point is exactly the same reason i think ill end up getting one, unless i find an easy way of doing this the tv way.

ho hum, thats good to hear as i got some decent floor standing mordaunt short spakers and an arcam amp. quick question about the DAC. at what point does it get converted? is the squeezebox a DAC, or does it 'contain' a DAC? and same for tv? does this convert digital to analogue itself then?

cheers

Squeezebox has a dac, so both audio and digital out.

If you keep an eye on Logitech's website you may get a steal on the blemished box section.

EDIT

The key determinant of the sound quality at the end of the day will be the speakers and amp that you are playing the music through.

Hmmm I think the source still has importance - dac and psu. Both likely to be way better in an audio WiFi player than a tv but still capable of improvement. Back in the day do equal spend was suggested for source/amp/speakers (with enough for cabling and support)

Cynic-al is absolutely right, the source is not only important but critical. No matter how good your speakers and amp are they are completely dependant on the information they receive. Try it for yourself. Rip a Track off a CD at 128kbits/s and then the same as WAV or FLAC. If you have even a basic HI-Fi system set up correctly the difference will blow you away. Amp and speakers will still provide lots of power and presentation but data gives the accuracy.

The key to any music system is balance, both in terms or performance and investment.

Sorry, I should have said that the 60:30:10 rule applies to systems that are reasonably well balanced in the first place.

If the system is not well balanced then the old rule of garbage in garbage out will apply.

cynic-al is right about the squeezebox having a dac and from what I have read it performs quite well.

Anybody else use Vortexbox? I'm currently ripping my CD collection in FLAC format so I have a Gold Copy using an old laptop that I've installed Vortexbox on. Very easy process, pop in a CD then Vortexbox downloads track information, cover art etc and ejects the CD when finished.

Also acts as a NAS and best of all is free.

Just thought I'd add my experiences, I have a Squeezebox set-up which consists of a Touch, a Classic, a Radio and 3 Booms.

I run the Squeezebox server on a QNAP 4 Bay NAS which is based on a dual core Intel Atom chip.

I have all my music ripped to FLAC and stream it wireless to most of the players.

I can't really fault the setup, the NAS makes a massive difference as I have run the server on lower spec NAS devices and it did struggle at times.

The QNAP has easy to install software "packages" and the Squeezebox server is available as one, so installation is as simple as a couple of mouse clicks.

I've played different songs on each player or even sync'd them all together (a simple menu option) and had them all playing the same songs around the house, and in the garden!

As has been mentioned some people are put off by the Squeezebox set-up because it can seem a bit complicated as it is so customisable.

I love my set-up and wouldn't change it for anything else.

Spent yesterday evening at a Sonos equipped house.

We came up against its limits (for me at least) in that it wouldn't play from youtube, or anything else that it didn't 'know', wheras from my simple pc plugged into hifi approach I can listen to anything. Hopefully the TV centered hub thing would retain this flexibility.

I know this is horrible from an audio point of view, but sound quality is largely irrelevant in my case, due to playing guitar in punk bands and tearing round on noisy motorbikes in my youth...

Cynic-al is absolutely right, the source is not only important but critical. No matter how good your speakers and amp are they are completely dependant on the information they receive. Try it for yourself. Rip a Track off a CD at 128kbits/s and then the same as WAV or FLAC. If you have even a basic HI-Fi system set up correctly the difference will blow you away. Amp and speakers will still provide lots of power and presentation but data gives the accuracy.

flapjack, not toooo bothered about being able to access youtube on whatever system i go for, but am i right in assuming if ive got the 'phone/tv/laptop' setup, my laptop could play youtube through the telly?

pembo, never heard of vortexbox, so ill check that out.

cynic-al, you say the SB has a DAC. does the tv too? and is it a case of a DAC is a DAC is a DAC? or are some better than others?

thanks

Any device that plays digital files will have a DAC, more audio centric ones will have better ones and deliver superior playback. A quick correction on your terminology to help understanding. 1's and 0's don't get better or worse, that would be impossible, you simply have more of them when ripping to a supirior the audio format. That's why (for example) a track ripped to 128kbits/s mp3 may be around 1Mb in size whereas ripped to FLAC would be say 5Mb or so. Lots more 1's and 0's describing the music so bigger file.

I think you'll struggle to find a TV that supports playback of FLAC. Not something I'm aware of but could be wrong.

This TV thing got me thinking. If you're happy using your TV as your GUI (sorry, Grapical User Interface) then you could consider such devices as Boxee and Apple TV - I'm aware of your dislike for Apple but Apple TV has a pretty easy user interface and includes Internet radio (and YouTube Flap_jack). Not as fast as Sonos and check audio support but will be heaps better than using a TV. Only £99.

I still advocate Sonos and Squeezebox as they are much, much better for music, but this would be viable and brings quite a bit of video fun to the party too. Even if you added Sonos etc... at a later date you'd still have use for both so the investment is sound.

my laptop could play youtube through the telly

That's what shocked me about the Sonos system I saw was it's apparent prevention of what seemed like ordinary connectivity. If you've not got a fancy box in the way I guess you can do anything (guessing though - I don't have a modern telly yet).

Good luck.

just thought id quickly rip a cd to flac and try and find it on tv, but..... ive just found out that windows media player doesnt do this. i googled it and seen a few programs mentioned, but all seem to say i need to instal plug-ins :-/

whats the general concensus of opinion on here for ripping to flac? what do you use?

thanks

http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/

This is what I have seen recommended on a few hi-fi forums that I visit.

thanks mate, just downloaded it now and am having a go at converting a cd to flac. bit baffled by it but have just sort of gone along with their own settings. couldnt see where to convert to flac but a quick google showed i have to convert to wav, then on to flac. hopefully ill get it figured out and the rest will be easier.

ta

Not Sonos or NAS based but for boosting an iPod/iPad/Android device playing mp3's, Spotify, internet radio (Radio Paradise) in a kitchen or other 'non-Hifi' room I can really recommend the Creative bluetooth speakers e.g. D100. It's a doddle to connect, decent sound, runs on 4 x AA or mains. It's been brill over xmas playing tunes whilst following recipes on the iPad.

itunes rips lossless...AACC or something?

EDIT and what lossless format you use and how you rip it are irrelevant.

I don't see how any 10:30:60 system can be balanced.

sadexpunk - Member

cynic-al, you say the SB has a DAC. does the tv too? and is it a case of a DAC is a DAC is a DAC? or are some better than others?

I dunno about any TV having a DAC - I ghuess it must do as it produces sound from digital signal. Bound to sound crap tho.

Some DACs are better than others - a whole industry is based on it! I expect noise can be introduced through the digital signal also.

Why not go the whole hog and and build your own HTPC. Get a small form factor PC running something like XBMC or windows media centre and attach it to the back of your TV with a big NAS box to store all your music, films etc. Connect the audio to your amp (you could add a stand alone DAC for better quality) and the video to the TV and run your TV aerial/satellite feed through the PC. Then you have one interface from which you can listen to your music, play your films, look at photos, stream music/films from the internet, browse the internet, watch/record/timeslip TV. Control via remote or through your phone/laptop. Simple...

Why not go the whole hog and and build your own HTPC.

Get a small form factor PC running something like XBMC

Simple..

dont understand that mate, so not too sure its the way to go for me. does it mean buying another pc? in which case the squeezebox is probably a better and more simpler option for me. i hear what youre saying about video too, but are you saying that it could all be controlled from phone?

ask1974 and cynic-al, i see your points about apple tv and itunes, but its become a bit of a mental thing with me now, i just dont want to use anything apple 🙂 i just gave my ipod classic away to someone for this reason and i spose itd be like admitting i should really not have done that 😀

thanks

I'm no apple proponent. Squeezebox will make you happy, it has done for me...sounds great, pretty easy to set up, controllable from your phone, and reasonably priced.

right, latest problem for me is.......ive ripped a cd to flac on my laptop, and im trying to 'find' the laptop through my phone. im using 'connected media' app. i can see my wifes laptop, and her files on my phone, but not mine. we're both connected to the same 'homegroup', but i dont really understand homegroups.

any ideas? (yes i know....just buy a squeezebox!) 😀

right click on my computer and properties and it should show workgroup which i assume is your homegroup.

the default i believe is WORKGROUP, some services require this to be the same on all machines on that local area network.

if you have a work laptop this will likey be different and would not recommend trying to change this, and you will probably find it wont work anyway.

i'm not familair with that app so cant help

dont forget to install subsonic on laptop/pc and your phone to see what can be done 🙂 it will transcode to all formats and bitrates, only downside is, its a web or app program only at the moment

I gave up reading all the long replies but thought I'd add my 2p.

I have a decent hifi and wanted something that would plug into it and play my library of tunes as my CDs are all in storage elsewhere. Since my hifi has a great DAC in it, it made sense to have something just plugged into it, rather than a standalone device, or something that relies on a different machines DAC.

So I went with the Squeezebox Duet, which has a wifi remote (ie it doesn't have to be line of sight), and a receiver that plugs into the back of the hifi, through digital out or analogue through using its own built-in Wolfson DAC. I also have a spare netbook that I installed SB server on.
So if I just want to listen to BBC 6Music, I turn on the hifi and stream that through the SB. For digital music, the SB pulls it from the netbook and pumps it through the hifi.

It works well on the whole, and it's a heck of a lot less buggy than it used to be. There are fairly regular firmware updates that get pushed out, and they have helped with the stability, which was previously an issue. And there are a number of apps that you can add to the system, to support Spotify and so on. Internet radio functionality is also great, and if you want later to add more receivers (standalone or for other hifi units) you can, and control them all from the one remote.

Personally, I'd recommend that route, particularly since the Duet is available for cheap as it's discontinued; but I haven't explored the other options available.

OT - Sadexpunk - Are you still living over Lincoln way?
If you are, bad news I'll be over there in a couple of months...

dobo, just installed subsonic on laptop and phone. spent ages configuring laptop to run server. i keep getting firewall messages every few seconds even tho i 'remember my answer', ive followed instructions to set up the phone to talk to it, but it keeps failing to connect.
im not even sure what im sposed to get out of it even if i did connect it 🙂

its all got me pretty sure its just not worth the hassle. a squeezebox would just be so much easier. i just cant seem to access my laptop music on my phone firstly, to even try and send to a tv :-/ im ready to give up 🙁

i just found out the basic htc desire which my wife has doesnt support this anyway, so itd only be my phone able to be used as a remote.

as has been recommended already, ill just buy a squeezebox i think. im not technically minded enough to solve the problems im coming up against.

thanks everyone for your help. its much appreciated.

john - yes, still living here, altho shamefully i havent been riding for months now. sort of lost my mtb mojo and have been more into weights than cardio recently. the other lads i used to ride with just go road riding now which doesnt interest me, so im out of practice and fitness 🙂 always pleased to meet up for a beer tho 😀

always pleased to meet up for a beer tho

Click on my user name and drop me an email and I'll give you a shout.

duets come up SH on fleabay but seem a 'mare to set up without the controller (which is supposed to have a dire battery life) - I have one I got and am not sure what to do with it!

dont understand that mate,

Have you by any chance got windows media centre on your laptop already? If so you could plug the laptop into the stereo and try it out before spending any money on a dedicated machine. Later on if you are feeling adventurous you can start to include things like playing DVDs streaming videos/music, browsing the internet and recording TV.

... but are you saying that it could all be controlled from phone?

as far as that small pc, wouldnt that just cost the same (maybe more) than a squeezebox? or are you suggesting it for the versatility of vids and photos as well?

just had a look at windows media centre and pointed it towards my music folders. how do i connect it to amp? what leads to which connections? and are you saying those phone apps will 'find' my laptop running media centre and play my music through the amp without me touching laptop? i ask as my 'connected media' app cant find my laptop.

cheers

Interesting stuff. I'm going through similar thought processes. My Blu ray player is a DLNA client and I've had it hooked up to both a PC and Mac using Windows Media player andiTunes/Twonky respectively. The biggest issue is for me the usability of the client. If picking music to play from a pretty big library is too much faff I won't bother. That's why the Apple TV and iPhone as a remote looks good.

mjb, just been following your link on that pc and reading up on it. i hadnt considered a 'media centre' pc as such, and im interested in it now. but..... it looks like it needs me to get separate drive/ memory etc and instal everything myself. am i right?
might be too fiddly for me to do, id prefer something that works out the box. can you advise me on this?

am i right in thinking this pc would be a box instead of a squeezebox, that would play flac to the same quality (good DAC?) yet also play vids, youtube, internet radio.....in fact everything im likely to need?

thanks

What're the advantages of having a separate media centre PC? I don't get the idea of having a box tucked away somewhere as a media server because I don't understand how you then rip CD's onto it quickly and easily.

I just leave my Mac on and can either access my entire library via Home Sharing on my iPhone (and hence each and every hi-fi or docking station) or via my DLNA client (the Blu Ray player) using Twonky Server which is plugged into my main stereo and TV.