Any Squeezebox users here???

[sts9fan]

Man I love this thing!! I took my old cpu that was collecting dust and threw in a couple 300gb hard drives, ripped my ~500 cds to FLAC and now i am loving life. This is one of the greatest things i have ever bought. As for wow factor this thing makes even no audio geeks say "Wow that thing is sweet!"

 

[Audioholics]

Its a very cool streaming media server... I think its one of the better products available.

 

[~JC~]

Without a clue

Must confess, I have no idea what you are talking about. What does it do??

 

[sts9fan]

check it out..

www.slimdevices.com

 

[sleepysurf]

Throw in a decent outboard DAC, and you're in Audiophile heaven. Streaming Internet Radio (I prefer radioio.com) streams can be quite good, and compatibility with Pandora (pandora.com) is forthcoming. I've now got a total of three Squeezeboxes in my home, the other two in my Master BR and Game Room. This device is revolutionary, as evidenced by legions of folks raving about it all over the net. Only caveats are that some folks with funky network/wireless setups might encounter some roadblocks setting it up, and the Slimserver software is still a little clunky (but improving with every iteration).

 

[MDS]

Squeezebox 2 and 3 already use Burr Brown DACS. Why would one need to use an outboard dac?

 

[sleepysurf]

Although the native Burr-Brown SB DAC is certainly very good, it's not their top-of-the-line chip. Many "audiophile" SB users are opting to use an outboard SS (or tube) DAC. I've found a definite improvement in overall fidelity with the Benchmark, plus the Benchmark is easier to use direct to amp (eliminating preamp path altogether), thus further improving fidelity.

 

[sts9fan]

I am sure the benchmark sounds great with the sb3 but the internal dac is very good. I am considering having mine modded by Redwine Audio though.

 

[tomd51]

sts9fan's sig...

"verbal wreckage", now that's good humor...

 

[sleepysurf]

I am sure the benchmark sounds great with the sb3 but the internal dac is very good. I am considering having mine modded by Redwine Audio though.

I considered both the Bolder and RWA mods, and I'm sure they offer improvement, but what do ya do when the Squeezebox4 comes out? I can always feed a new (? better) PC-Audio device to the Benchmark.

 

[buckyg4]

I have an SB3 modded by RWA hooked up directly to my power amp. Sounds great. I ripped all of my CDs to FLAC and sold them to the local used CD store.

 

[MDS]

I have an SB3 modded by RWA hooked up directly to my power amp. Sounds great. I ripped all of my CDs to FLAC and sold them to the local used CD store.

I hope you have a good backup strategy for the hard drives. It would be a shame to have a drive go bad and lose all of your music. I keep the CDs around as a physical archive. Music goes out of print and if you no longer have a CD you may never be able to get that music again if the CD is out of print and no longer made.

 

[buckyg4]

Thats not a concern. I have a 2TB Level 1 Raid.

 

[ScottMayo]

Thats not a concern. I have a 2TB Level 1 Raid.

That's about as safe as live computer data gets.

Which is to say, one lucky lightning strike, and it's all gone. Regardless of what the UPS and RAID companies try to tell you.

There is *nothing* like having backup media in a fireproof metal box. The original CDs are one form of backup. Burning your music to DVD data disks is another approach; having complete, cold-spare disk drives with duplicates of everything is another. (Not cheap, but convenient).

I've been a computer guru for enough decades to have learned that computers are great devices - as long as you don't do something silly, like actually trust them to keep your data intact for the long term.

 

[ScottMayo]

Although the native Burr-Brown SB DAC is certainly very good, it's not their top-of-the-line chip. Many "audiophile" SB users are opting to use an outboard SS (or tube) DAC. I've found a definite improvement in overall fidelity with the Benchmark, plus the Benchmark is easier to use direct to amp (eliminating preamp path altogether), thus further improving fidelity.

The SB is glorious, but I'm getting the best sound by using its optical out, not the analog out, into my Bryston SP1.7. It's just that little bit cleaner. And my CD player (Denon, modded) still does a slightly better job than either of those options. But the difference is so small, and the SB is so convenient, that the only disks I bother to spin anymore are 5.1 SACDs.

I even use my SB as an alarm clock - Curtis Reid's "Application for President" blasts me out of bed each morning.

I also find my kids and wife are more prone to play music if they don't have to fuss with disks - and the disks last longer that way. Everybody wins.

Except my electric bill. Having a computer on 24/7 has not been good for that.

 

[sivadselim]

Except my electric bill. Having a computer on 24/7 has not been good for that.

What's it cost you, a dollar a month?

 

[sts9fan]

Yeah I back up to external drives that I keep at work. So unless a meteor strikes I think I am all set.

 

[sleepysurf]

Have y'all tried Pandora yet? Yet another amazing Squeezebox addition (although paid subscription after 90 day freebie runs out).

 

[JVC]

Mama's got a squeezebox, she wears on her chest
When daddy gets home, he never gets no rest
Cause he's playing all night, everything is alright
Mama's got a squeezebox, daddy never sleeps at night.....................