Squeezebox/PC questions?

okay, I've got the green light to set up a PC+squeezebox(es) system but I've got loads of questions which could do with loads of answers. Feel free to point out the obvious by the way as I may have assumed the wrong thing in some cases.

Hardware

My PC I'm considering is an ex-work 700mhz, P11 (I think), 256MB Ram running XP. This will only be used for music, nothing else (although it will be connected to the network for net radio etc.). I've got another PC which I'll use for the net and work stuff.

- Is this an okay spec do you think?

I'll be adding a USB2.0 PCI card to it and running an external hard drive, probably 250 or 300 Gb. I figured this would be okay as I've only got around 300 CDs

- Any suggestions as to which drives are suitable/good vfm? Dabs have a Lacie 250Gb for £85. Is there a particular spec I should buy - cache size, speed etc.

The network I'm going to set up will be wireless (I'm thinking of using the US Robotics router see http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=3WNG ) and the Squeezebox will probably be wireless too as the PC will be located some way from the listening room. Is there any consensus as to whether wired is better than wireless for the SB connection? Absolute sound quality isn't really the main thing - the main thing is not having dropouts.

Any other hardware issues I should consider?


Software

I was considering ripping the CD as lossless using Media Player 10. What do you reckon? I realise a lot of people use EAC and rip to .FLAC but is this better than using Media Player Lossless?



If there is a good guide as to how to set all this up then I'd appreciate it. Cheers

 

Good place to start here

Use Flac, it's the best. Your PC spec is fine. You may want to think about ways to backup IE second disk. No difference is quality between wired and wireless but if worried about dropouts then use wire.

 

Yep, PC spec is fine, if you plan of having a lot of Squeezeboxes, I'd consider increasing the RAM to 512Mb

For the hard disk, you could get something like the IcyBox and just put any hard disk you want in it, thats what I have for backup. I would personally avoid Maxtor though, they are IMO unreliable.

Wireless should be fine as long as you get a wireless G router and don't have it too far from the Squeezebox

I'd also suggest FLAC, I use CDex and FLAC which work perfectly

If you need any help, just send me an email (andrew at audiofi.co.uk)

Andrew

 

Actually, if you want, I can email you a setup program which will install CDex pre-configured to rip to FLAC.

I have to pop out for the afternoon, but if you send me an email, I'll get it sent to you tonight.

Andrew

 

thanks Andrew. I'll email you for that.

I take it that ripping using MP10 lossless isn't as good then?

What about wireless routers? I take it I'll need a 802.11g router - any good ones which suit this type of system? - would the US Robotics one above be okay?
The idea of using VoIP sounds interesting.

 

Make sure you use encryption (128 bit WEP is fine).

Don't broadcast your network name.

Scan for any neighbouring networks. To minimise interference, use a channel which is at least 5 channels away from any that your neighbours are using. If that isn't possible then talk to your neighbours and devise a scheme that will work for all of you.

Twin-aerial routers have good coverage to front and back and less out to the sides so angle your router to optimise the signal for both the squeezebox and the PC.

Some people had performance issues with SlimServer 6.2 but the 6.2.1 beta is much better so download that instead.

 

Oh, one other thing. If you have a PCI Wifi card in the PC, keep other cables away from it, especially video, USB and FireWire cables.

 

Absolutely crucial! I build PCs as a sideline/hobby and I've had three Maxtors die on me in the last couple of years.

 

Can I also suggest avoiding any hard-drive with any words that appear like 'deskstar'. I've had three IBM Deskstar drives die (out of four) and so I would simply suggest avoiding them at all costs. Best bang and reliability for the buck seems to be the Seagate Barraccuda drives (5 year warranty, fast, reliable, quiet, not too dear). I'd also recommend the LaCie external drives if you don't want to build an external drive/enclosure yourself. I've a 320Gb LaCie Big Disk D2 (non USB - a FW800 drive) which is very nice indeed.

 

It might just be my bad luck but I would avoid Netgear as I've had 2 Netgear modem/routers up and die on me in thunderstorms. So this time I bought a Billion wireless one instead as it seemed well featured and has a four port hub for my wired network. I've not had much success with wireless in the past but this time it might work.

I guess I'll know how well it works when my Audiofi server arrives tomorrow. Yay!

 

Hitachi bought IBMs Deskstar technology. Reliability was an issue with the deskstar - earned them the dubious moniker of Deathstar. There is a possibilty that reliabilty under Hitachi has gone up but i would agree with jtc and avoid them.

 

I've found there's a certain amount of pot luck involved in HDD's.
I have still got an IBM Deskstar drive from the 'infamous' period that's running fine OTH I had a Seagate die after a year in a work machine. I got the Seagate as I'd been told by the supplier that my other choice (Western Digital) were suffering a high return rate.

What are the Samsung drives like, I've not seen much about them so does that mean they're reliable?

 

I've had 5 seagates (4x200GB and 1x80GB) and 4 western digitals (2x40GB and 2x 36GB) in the past 3 years and had no failures for either brand, whilst over the same period I've also had 3 Maxtors (2x80GB and 1x160GB) and 2 of them broke. They were replaced quickly under warranty but thats not the point - you can replace a drive but not lost data (and having to restore from backups is still a pain in the ass).

Personally for a storage application I wouldn't have anything other than seagate now - very quiet, very reliable, fast enough and with a great warranty

 

I agree, I prefer Seagate and Western Digital

Mat - your server shipped this afternoon (and has a Western Digital hard disk you'll be pleased to know!)

Maddog - sorry about the branding on the install program etc. I just altered a previous installer slightly

For those interested, I'll be placing a trade advert for a pre-built server based around the Hoojum designs for those after an attractive solution

Andrew

 

cheers for the advice fellas.

I shall now start to spend spend spend

 

They're excellent. The Samsung Spinpoints are the quietest drives I've ever used and no reliability problems.

 

You could try one of these Qnap's instead of the PC:

http://www.multitask-computing.co.uk/catalog/

 

I think I'm almost there now...

My intention is to buy:

- a LaCie 250GB external hard drive
- a Draytek wireless router/ADSL model (2600VG)
- a wireless squeezebox 3

(plus various PC cards to get it all connected)

It's taken me a few days to get up to speed with all the jargon and formats and whatnot but I think I've got it all sussed now.

If the wireless SB experiences dropouts I'll just wire it in instead.

 

anyone want to buy my Sonneteer CD player.....


... or swap for a DAC..