Logitec SqueezeBox Touch

[admin_exported]

Hello,

l would be grateful for forum members opinion as to the Logitec SqueezeBox Touch (SBT). l have, recently, bought a pair of AVI ADM9T's, which l'm very inpressed with & suit me down to the ground. At present they are fed via a laptop (windows), USB out, into a CYP D-150 DAC & then optical out. l listen, mainly to Spotify (premium) & the sound is excellent.

However, l'm looking to the future & freeing up the laptop, from a fixed connection & considering the options. My first thought was the Apple Airport Express & use Airfoil on the laptop, which would give me the wireless option. However, more recently l've been considering the use of the SBT, which l believe will give a good SQ & option for better resolution in the future.

l would value peoples opinion on these options & any other potential solutions, that are practical, reliable & fairly simple to set up & use.

Particularly, if l was to use the SBT can l use it independantly of a laptop/PC, as the, albeit limited material l have read; doesn't make this clear.

Thank you in advance.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

SBT can be used with a NAS (check compatibility on SB site) or with an HD attached to SBT directly via USB (ckeck if the HDD can be powered from SBT as not all can be).

 

[fatman]

have used an airport express & also a digital dock for an ipod. bought a squeezebox touch several months ago and it is by far my most highly rated gadget in the house. as you rightly identify, frees up the laptop - although you can control sbt from laptop (or phone etc) which is much efficient than the remote for spotify. i mostly use for spotify premium and internet radio, check radio paradise out. for your own library you need a laptop/pc/nas running with the squeezebox software but not required for spotify.

as long as you have a decent internet speed, buy one and you'll never look back. the DAC on the squeezebox is very good too, although i guess you'd go digital into the avi's.

if you are patient, amazon have been known to drop the squeezebox down to £150 for short periods - use zeezaw to email you alerts.

squeezebox and adm9t, killer simple set up.

 

[John Duncan]

squeezebox and adm9t, killer simple set up.

Not for me, but +1

 

[fr0g]

Hello,

l would be grateful for forum members opinion as to the Logitec SqueezeBox Touch (SBT). l have, recently, bought a pair of AVI ADM9T's, which l'm very inpressed with & suit me down to the ground. At present they are fed via a laptop (windows), USB out, into a CYP D-150 DAC & then optical out. l listen, mainly to Spotify (premium) & the sound is excellent.

However, l'm looking to the future & freeing up the laptop, from a fixed connection & considering the options. My first thought was the Apple Airport Express & use Airfoil on the laptop, which would give me the wireless option. However, more recently l've been considering the use of the SBT, which l believe will give a good SQ & option for better resolution in the future.

l would value peoples opinion on these options & any other potential solutions, that are practical, reliable & fairly simple to set up & use.

Particularly, if l was to use the SBT can l use it independantly of a laptop/PC, as the, albeit limited material l have read; doesn't make this clear.

Thank you in advance.

You can use it independantly, but not with your own music collection unless you use a NAS (I use a Readynas Ultra 2 which is superb), or you plug in a USB harddrive as far as I am aware (I use a duet, which has no usb, so I am not sure).

But you can still use all the services, such as Spotify and Shoutcast etc when not connected to your own collection (through mysqueezebox.com)

The Squeezebox is a superb bit of kit, with a great, intuitive web portal, can be controlled by its own remote, or Android and iPhone remote apps (free on Android).

It's also pretty simple to set up.

One other thing I hadn't realised, is how quick it is. I bought a WD Live this week, and it's SLOOOOOOOW. The fact that you install your server software on a PC/Mac/ decent NAS means it's much quicker than boxes that rely on a piddly processor to navigate.

 

[John Duncan]

You don't fancy a Sonos instead then, fr0g? ;-)

 

[fr0g]

You don't fancy a Sonos instead then, fr0g? ;-)

I'd love to try one John. But the Squeezeboxes just work, so there's no real reason to try.

I love the flexibility. I happen to have a Spotify, WiMP (nordic) and Deezer account all working at the moment, and they all work fine on the Squeezebox.

The Squeezebox is a great, cheap(ish), easy to setup piece of kit. It's gapless, multi-codec, quick and doesn't lose connection and require rebooting when there is no signal (unlike certain other devices).

I could bore you all day long about its merits

 

[John Duncan]

I recommended a Touch to a friend and you're right, it's great, but haven't got much experience with Sonos tbh; I was round a friend's house last weekend and he suggested that I download the iPhone app. I did so, connected to the Sonos to control it and...it stopped working. So their mesh network thing maybe has the same problems as any other wireless network...:-D

 

[fr0g]

I recommended a Touch to a friend and you're right, it's great, but haven't got much experience with Sonos tbh; I was round a friend's house last weekend and he suggested that I download the iPhone app. I did so, connected to the Sonos to control it and...it stopped working. So their mesh network thing maybe has the same problems as any other wireless network...:-D

Of course it does, the advantage of course is it doesn't have to compete with the missus watching Youtube or the kids playing COD!

 

[John Duncan]

Guess so. Luckily there were three IT professionals in the house...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all for the opinions, views etc.

l think, for me & what l need, the SQT is the way to go, as to be honest Spotify is now the prime source of listening; though l will check out more radio.