Alternatives to Apple TV and Logitech Squeezebox

[Loren42]

I am frustrated with both units after spending hundreds of dollars on equipment that locks up or simply looses its marbles periodically and requires gymnastic hoops to restore to its previous working state.

What other alternatives are out there to store and play music?

All I want is an ability to store all of my music in a repository so that I can easily and simply play it upon demand.

I don't want to have to fire up my desk top PC or connect my TV to some contraption every time I want to listen to music. It should be simple and fool proof to operate.

To date I know of no such systems. Any suggestions?

 

[thrang]

I am frustrated with both units after spending hundreds of dollars on equipment that locks up or simply looses its marbles periodically and requires gymnastic hoops to restore to its previous working state.

What other alternatives are out there to store and play music?

All I want is an ability to store all of my music in a repository so that I can easily and simply play it upon demand.

I don't want to have to fire up my desk top PC or connect my TV to some contraption every time I want to listen to music. It should be simple and fool proof to operate.

To date I know of no such systems. Any suggestions?

I've not used the Squeezebox, but I have three Apple TV's and they've worked flawlessly for years...not sure what issues you've had.

My approach is to rip Apple lossless to a Mac Mini/iTunes, run it headless, and stream to any one or multiple Apple TV's or Airport Express devices throughout my home connected to various av systems. I use my iPhone or iTouch and Apple's free Remote software to control iTunes remotely.

Or you could just connect an iPod loaded with your music (ideally with Apple Lossless encoding) to your system and play it that way.

But there are many other ways. Its not that hard.

 

[BMXTRIX]

There are any number of music servers on the market from companies such as Escient, iMerge, and AudioRequest. These are purpose built digital music servers which should have zero issues.

Yet, I have an AppleTV and haven't had any issues at all when I've ripped music via iTunes and had it in my iTunes library, it's worked really well.

The downside is that I basically need a dedicated PC in my basement for all my files to run constantly if I want full access.

You may want to consider Sonos as well as this is a newer way of doing things, but while I'm (far) less familiar with it, I've heard really good things.

 

[Loren42]

I've not used the Squeezebox, but I have three Apple TV's and they've worked flawlessly for years...not sure what issues you've had.

My approach is to rip Apple lossless to a Mac Mini/iTunes, run it headless, and stream to any one or multiple Apple TV's or Airport Express devices throughout my home connected to various av systems. I use my iPhone or iTouch and Apple's free Remote software to control iTunes remotely.

Or you could just connect an iPod loaded with your music (ideally with Apple Lossless encoding) to your system and play it that way.

But there are many other ways. Its not that hard.

One problem is software updates. Both the PC and the Apple TV need to be kept in sync. Right now both are at current SW revisions, but the Mac no longer can sync to the Apple TV. Even deauthorizing the library and retrying does not work.

I go through this routinely and I asked myself why? I don't do this with my toaster or phone. My amp doesn't need to be updated or deauthorized. I push the on button and it works.

There is no FAQ for my toaster. Apple used to stand for simplicity in use, which was the advantage they had. While I clearly can figure this stuff out, I have no interest in making a hobby out of keeping my equipment functional when it mysteriously stops working. I just have too many other things to do.

That is why I am looking for other solutions that do not need the maintenance or baby sitting that my current hardware has.

 

[adk highlander]

I have been using an Esceint SE-80 for about 8 months now with zero problems with the unit. I do feel the hard drive is too small at 80GB. It connects to my computer (Vista) with no problems and if the computer is not on will just play happily from the internal music. It also will not play apple lossless so I had to re-rip some music to Flac.

I use this mainly for my distributed audio for my house and having a composite video out was a big advantage for me. I use small 7" LCD's to view the playlists or other sources and the Apple TV's only have component.

If I was going to do video as well I would look at a popcorn hour or another type of media tank. I may try one of these just for homemovies to see how well they work.

 

[thrang]

One problem is software updates. Both the PC and the Apple TV need to be kept in sync. Right now both are at current SW revisions, but the Mac no longer can sync to the Apple TV. Even deauthorizing the library and retrying does not work.

I go through this routinely and I asked myself why? I don't do this with my toaster or phone. My amp doesn't need to be updated or deauthorized. I push the on button and it works.

There is no FAQ for my toaster. Apple used to stand for simplicity in use, which was the advantage they had. While I clearly can figure this stuff out, I have no interest in making a hobby out of keeping my equipment functional when it mysteriously stops working. I just have too many other things to do.

That is why I am looking for other solutions that do not need the maintenance or baby sitting that my current hardware has.

But when my toaster starts to burn half the bread, I can't download a fix....

Actually, more and more things DO either need or have the capacity for updates. Most AVR's and processors do offer updated features, as do PS3, Blu Ray players, Xbox, my Epson and JVC projectors - the list is growing, not shrinking.

I would agree if upgrades were cumbersome of flaky - they would introduce more troubles than they'd purport to solve. But Apple makes upgrading a breeze, and you get the benefit of fixes and new feature enhancements. The Apple TV will tell you if there is a firmware update, and Apple Software update will keep your Mac or PC automatically up to date with iTunes, as well as iPod or iPhone firmware. Short of choosing a closed system that was never upgraded or improved, I'm not sure how much simpler it could be.

Conversely, you could ignore interim updates until you were "forced" to perform some major update, and both your devices would work largely in sync for very long stretches. My Mac mini has been running uninterrupted for several months, save for a few restarts for normal updates. iTunes launches automatically, so there's no intervention required. If you're having more quirky issues, perhaps there something particular about your setup that's causing troubles.

If you NEVER want to see an update or a reboot, hmm, I don't know. Every Crestron, Elan, HomLogic, Control4, Escient, etc. system I've seen has needed reboots or updates.

 

[split0101]

I have been using a popcorn (NMT) connected to a NAS, and I like it. It has some flaws the biggest that it is a little clumsy. There is a bit of a learning curve with it, but once you set it up it pretty much plays every possible format.

I thought about Apple TV but I didnt want to commit myself to everything Apple. Have you looked at media extenders?

 

[bigred7078]

Well there are not many options out there if you do not want your TV on