Customer Reviews

Squeezebox Network Music Player - White

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Why are audiophiles buzzing about this inexpensive product? It is the first mass consumer unit to sound as good as much more expensive audio products. I had it up and running with my wireless network in 15 minutes, and was simply stunned by how good it sounded playing my music on computer. Even the internet radio playing through this unit sounded better than any standard radio tuner. Read my experience at musicserver.blogspot.com

I have a huge investment in my current audio system (more than $20k). I read about the Squeezebox on one of the audiophile websites, and was intrigued by having all my music accessible on a computer, but with sound quality to match my high end CD player. After a month of living with the Squeezebox, I can confirm how good it sounds, how simple it is to set up, and how versatile it is. I have not turned on my $3000 CD transport in 2 weeks, and plan on selling it shortly.

I encourage anyone ready to set up a computer system to visit my blog at musicserver.blogspot.com to see how easy it was to set up your music collection on a computer.

For the 95% of people out there who don't understand or care about audiophile quality sound, don't worry. A stock Squeezebox playing your music stored on your computer will sound better than anything you can buy for any reasonable amount of money.

For the uninitiated, a Squeezebox is part of a system of storing your CD collection on computer, and you use the Squeezebox to access/browse your computerized music collection. You need a computer, of course, and to get the best sound quality, you need to rip your music using a high quality format, like WAV or Apple Lossless or FLAC. It works with computers running Windows, Linux or Apple operating systems, and it does not require an expensive computer. Many users are running it with a laptop! It connects to your computer either wirelessly (using built in wifi connection) or via an ethernet cable.

After a month of playing with this unit, I cannot see how I could ever go back to using a CD player.

For audiophiles who are dubious about how an inexpensive box can compete with separates, read my blog. This box is the real deal, and when upgraded using a few simple tweaks (and when used with an external DAC), it is awesome!!! If you don't have or don't want a external DAC, the Squeezebox can be modified by a number of companies to upgrade the existing DAC and produce great quality sound.

The audiophile press and internet gurus are abuzz about this product for good reason. I was pretty skeptical, but it was so cheap I figured I had little to lose. I am not one to gush about gear, but this box is just phenomenal!!!

I have to admit that I'm totally taken with this product. Over the past years I have purchased well over 5 of these devices (starting with the original 'SliMP3'), in their various incarnations.

The squeezebox is a mature product, having aged *very* well both in hardware design and software.

The software part is open-source (and so good that at some time even competitors like Roku used it to base their product on), and has more features that I can remember. Setting up the server is a two-step process:

First you set up your PC as music server. This means that you need to have a PC that is always turned on (at first I used an old Windows 2000 based laptop, but have since exchanged that with a Mac mini that does nothing else but serve up media content). Installing and starting the server is very simple for anyone but the most basic users (it requires your PC to enable web serving, and you must configure your firewall accordingly). The server starts up, and immediately begins scanning your music library. It integrates very nicely with both Windows Media Player and (particularly well) iTunes.

Configuring the server is done using a web interface, and can be done from anywhere in your home LAN where you can reach the server. This is especially nice if you have more than one PC in your home. You can remotely control any Squeezebox that is connected to the server (more than one can connect to a server and play independently from each other), and even build playlists on the fly.

The Squeezebox itself you set up next. Basically, installing it involves connecting it to a stereo or active speakers, connecting power, and turning it on (the wired variant requires you to connect an ethernet cable as well). The 'box starts up, and guides you through the setup process. You control all aspects of setting up the box with it's remote. Set-up is quick, but I highly recommend you use your wireless security features (in this case, setting it up takes an additional but painless step). After roughly a minute, your Squeesebox is connected to your LAN, and has access to all the music that is stored on your PC. The more recent squeezeboxes also now have access to Internet streams, making it possible to listen to Internet radio even without your local server being on.

You can remotely control the Squeezebox either via Web interface, or a (rather cheaply made) IR remote control unit. This remote control is actually the low-point of the device, and I have replaced it on most devices with a much better-feeling remote from Logitech (who, ironically, have now acquired SlimDevices, SqueezeBoxe's manufacturer).

Sound quality is good in my opinion - but then I'm definitely not an audiophile. Some albums that are meant to be played gapless (e.g. Rush's 'Hemispheres' or Pavarotti's interpretation of Verdi's 'La Traviata') have noticeable short gaps between songs as the server switches beetwen songs. This can be annoying, but are no show-stop for me (it *is* a bit jarring in Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' and 'Wish you where here')

Since the Squeezebox is actually 'just' a smart frontend to your fully fledged computer, it can do a *lot* more than just play music. You can easily configure it to be an alarm clock (with different alarm times for each day of the week, alternating play lists etc), an internet stock/news ticker, weather forecast etc. I really love the versatility of this thing.

An annoying shortcoming (hardly a fault of the manufacturer) is the fact that it currently can't play protected (DRM's) songs (at least neither iTunes nor Zune). I'm still hoping that this changes in the future. On the other hand, it also plays some of the more obscure music formats available (some natively, other using a technique called transcoding).

The SqueezeBox uses only a tiny fraction of your LAN's available bandwidth, so you can use it without problems on low-bandwidth networks such as Ethernet-over-Powerline or 802.11b wireless.

Unexpected benefits
- Squeezebox also acts as wireless bridge
- Mini-Games available
- Internet radio available even if server off-line

Room for improvements:
- Synchronous play for multiple Squeezeboxes
- Playback of DRM'd songs

All in all I can heartily recommend this device to anyone who looks for a painless method to play their computer-bound music library on the stereo (which traditionally is not connected to the LAN - this is where the wireless connection comes in handy).

I just picked up the Squeezebox over the holidays and it has quickly become one of my favorite toys. I mostly listen to music in my car and living room and was transporting my iPod between both places and to the computer to add new files. This arrangement caused several inconveniences. I always had to update the iPod playlists before I could listen to new/seasonal music. I was limited to listening to what my iPod could hold. My wife had no music at the house while I was in the car and I had to shuttle the docking station between my stereo and PC.

The Squeezebox has resolved all these issues and more. Now I have access to my entire collection from the living room. All my iTunes playlists and artist/album/genre/song/etc information is available and searchable. The remote control is constantly being passed around when I have friends over, the intuitiveness of the product means that everyone finds their favorite songs in seconds.

While I didn't buy the Squeezebox for internet radio I find myself regularly using it. It gives you easy access to thousands of stations, many commercial free with no fees like satellite radio. Since the signal is digital each radio track displays artist and song info. Whatever you listen to, you will find several stations that beat the ClearChannel garbage on traditional radio. For some reason I get a kick out of having a choice of 5 Russian stations.

Setup is a cinch, and I have not experienced any technical difficulties that were caused by the squeezebox. The Squeezebox is a fraction of the price of Sonos and technologically superior to the Roku Soundbridge. Definitely a worthwhile purchase, highly recommended.

I bought this item primarily to listen to [...]custom radio stations. For Pandora and a bunch of other internet radios you don't need to have your computer on to listen. Only your internet connection and router have to be on.
If you would like to listen to music from your computer, squeezebox wakes your computer up from a "stand by" mode. For me this was fantastic !
The menu structure and interface are very good, but of course it takes time to scroll and find your music, unless you use the numberpad or arrows to "type" in your search. However this can be easily circumvented by creating playlists on your computer.
The device also accepts your itunes playlists, which can save you a lot of time. I haven't tested the "smart playlists" of itunes to see if they are compatible.
Also, you can operate the device (or devices - you can have multiple squeezeboxes synchronized or playing independently), from your computer. On your computer you can turn on, pause, select music to play, playlists, synchronize the players, etc...
AGAIN, MUCH BETTER THAN I ANTICIPATED. You can also have a daily alarm and another for each day of the week with a different tune everyday. The alarm plays a whole bunch of nice sounds, but according to the manual you can also wake up to a particular playlist that you create (I have not tested this yet).
STRONGLY RECOMMEND !! Much better than D-Link 520 for music. However the D-Link 520 also plays video... I have both!

When Apple finally enabled lossless format files to be ripped and managed through iTunes, I thought it was time to finally transfer and store all the CD music. I had experimented with playing MP3s on the home system (plugging in the iPod, burning MP3 CDs--even wirelessly through TiVo), but I was always thoroughly underwhelmed by the playback quality; no matter how much 'fixing' you could manage by way of EQ, etc., there was a distinct lack of "presence" in the music. On a decent home system, playback is only ever going to be as good as the source, so lossless became the way to go. But how to port the playback??

Enter Squeezebox.

First let me say that this marvelous device (or, more specifically, the SlimServer software that powers the thing) is not really ready for the masses. Although I am no IT wizard, I am fairly adept at common computer technology issues (at least on the Mac platform), and this was definitely a bit of a challenge for me. In fairness, I have always found that any new new technology worth having somehow seems to come with its share of hair-pulling; I can't really think of any sophisticated device or application that was actually a breeze to set up and learn. My situation was also not the most common: I have two iTunes music libraries, one filled with low-quality files (MP3s, AACs) for sync with the iPod, and one on an external, 320GB hard drive exclusively for home playback. SlimServer does not handle this circumstance partcularly well. When you first set it up (which I did twice, because I acquired a new Airport), SlimServer will automatically find and scan your "most local" iTunes library REGARDLESS of how you have set the preferences. Twice I needed to "clear library and rescan everything" in order to get access to the right library. Plus, the scan can take a long time, and there is no scan progress indicator (this definitely needs to be added in a future release).

For those familiar with the ease and intuitiveness of the iTunes interface, SlimServer will be a bit of come down (and you DO manage playback through SlimServer--not iTunes; I wasn't at all sure of this when I purchased or set up the system, for it is not explicitly stated anywhere; what you can continue to use iTunes for is MANAGING the library and the playlists). SlimServer has all the features you want, including album cover art, and it works, but it is considerably more cumbersome than iTunes.

All that said, however, the technology is, in a word, breathtaking. CD quality sound, and your entire music archive managed from your desktop. Plus, an absolutely elegant readout device (the Squeezebox itself) that not only displays the currently-playing song data, but facilitates library and playlist browsing via the remote. Sweet. I've only had the set up for a couple of weeks, so I'll have to see if I run into problems down the road (I note several comments here about issues emerging later on), but as long as it continues to perform as it does now, it has been more than worth the temporary frustrations in set up.

I'm another giddy owner of the SB3. My CDs now live in a box in the basement. When I buy a CD, I rip it to FLAC or WMA, and play it via the SB3. Sounds better than my $400+ player... but why shouldn't it? No carriage, no moving parts, just an error-free digital stream going thru the BurrBrown DAC every time.

But aside from the listening advantages, the player displays all track info, and it's easy to surf your collection. The pre-set radio stations are good fun to stumble upon.

Every other option looks anachronistic compared to this machine.
Buy it.
JL

Like other reviewers, setup was relatively painless and I got it working on day one (familiarity with wireless networking needed). After a week's time, with new songs and playlists added to my library, the bugs started to appear, and now I can't get it to play anything (though it does receive the data with no problems over my network). Numerous rescans, software re-loads, and interaction with the help desk couldn't get humpty-dumpty back together again. I am hoping that the open software has some good engineers behind it so that the bugs will be worked out and I can use it. Great concept and great while it worked. Sitting broken on my shelf - not so good.

September 2007 - since a recent software update, the device is back up an running (so far without flaws). If you are willing to go through some computer-related stress to get results, it's a solid product that makes your library of music sound great on any decent hi-fi setup.

If I could update my star rating, I'd bump it up to 4 stars, since I've been 3 months without problems and I'm pleased with the performance.

I too can relate to all of the reviewers who can not get sound. Slim Devices drops my wireless signal about every three minutes. It is very rare that it will play a whole song. I have tried a linksys G router, a US Robotics router, and now a D Link router. I am not using other wireless resource while it is playing besides my latop. All of my other wireless devices show "excellent" signal strength while this thing can not seem to locate a network. Customer support said it was my router's power settings. I am on my third router from three different manufactures and I think it is the sqeezebox. I would recommend passing on this product as I am sitting here playing MP3s on my laptop speakers looking at my Squeexebox screen stating its usual "Problem, can't find a wireless network" message.

I am a gadget freak and this is without a doubt the COOLEST toy I own. After ripping my entire CD collection to WMA lossless and later converting to FLAC to get the advantage of replaygain volume leveling, I can now instantly play any song or playlist from over 400 CDs, quickly searching via artist name, album, genre, or a custom playlist. The networking setup is not quite as easy or simple as it should be, especially if you are using wireless or multiple PCs running multiple servers. But it's not that hard, either, and I was able to figure it out and once I did, it works consistently and very, very well. The sound quality is absolutely as good as from the original CDs. The remote is not bad, but it could be even better, but it's just as easy to run the interface from a laptop using wi-fi, even if your music library is on another network computer or hard drive. The support on the slim devices forums and knowledgebase are very good, and if you really need some hand-holding you can call them and talk to a live person for help. Seriously, you set this up and you will start feeling like a pro DJ- all you need is a VIP guest list...

I'm not going to do an in-depth review of because so many other folks have, but I'll give my two cents. I've owned a Squeezebox for over 2 years now and it has worked flawlessly the entire time. Setup was easy from what I remember (it's been a while), sound quality is fantastic (especially when using FLAC files), and it looks so good sitting on my shelf with my Onkyo TX-NR901. In fact frustration with Onkyo's built in music server is what prompted me to buy the Squeezebox. This is one gadget I have never had one iota of buyers remorse for... ever.

** Update (Feb 1, 2010)**
I bought this device back in 2007 when it was still produced my Slim Devices. I gave it 5 stars. Sadly, Slim Devices was purchase by Logitech recently. Where the original Slim Server, written by Slim Devices, worked out of the box, I cannot say the same for more recent versions produced by Logitech. I have recently updated to the most recent version of SqueezeBox Server and have had nothing but problems. The most serious is the inability to use my music library. It's simply not there. It was working two days ago and is now nowhere to be seen in the SqueezeBox menu, and Squeeze Server is unable to see the files though they are playable through traditional players. Previous versions produced since Logitech's acquisition have had their own share of issues. If you're going to buy a Squeeze box, beware the software.