Squeezebox - some questions

Been looking at the squeezebox route, but got some (hopefully basic)questions that I need answering if thats ok.

a)Whats the range of the wireless version like? Plan atm is to have the squeezebox itself in the bedroom whilst keeping the qnap ts (whichever size I go for, 300 seems to be a good compromise atm) in the room with the pc. This is at least a few metres apart whilst going through walls etc.

b)Routers. I currently am connected to the net via a netgear router. Unfortunatly at the time I bought it I didn't figure I'd need wireless. Would getting the wireless version be ok or are there others that you use that are better than netgear?

c)Directorys. Does the slim software see separate directorys or is it just one big one? Part of the plan is to convert a large number of audio stories that I own and shove them on to the drive, so would like to store them in different directorys if possible.

Any other (helpful!)comments gratefully recieved

Cheers

 

a) It depends on the router, thickness of walls, inteference etc. How far is the distance?

b) I have used mine with a netgear router quite happily, no problems. Have also had it running with d-link devices.

c) You point it to one directory, but that can have as many sub-directories as wanted, it can also have shortcuts to directories elsewhere.

Andrew

 

Dave,

Spend a bit extra and buy one of Andrew's servers.

I know the 300Gb Qnap looks appealing but you may be surprised how quickly you run out of space (if you're using Flac that is, if mp3 then ignore me).

I dunno if the Qnap storage can upgraded down the line, but if it can't 300Gb may seem a bit weany in a years time. With Andrew's servers, it wouldn't be much of a problem to slot in a new hard drive in 12-18 months time when larger (i.e. >500Gb) hard drive prices tumble.

I was thinking the Qnap option myself but am pleased I didn't now.

 

Its about 7 metres in a normal house from room to room. Standard doors etc. No idea on interference tbh!

[/QUOTE] c) You point it to one directory, but that can have as many sub-directories as wanted, it can also have shortcuts to directories elsewhere. [/QUOTE]

So does that mean its set up so I could have it like :-

Main Directory>Artist>Album(s)>songs?

Sorry for being thick, its been a long day at work

Out of curiosity whats the size of the hard drive on your server? Particularly the high end one?

Cheers.

 

Yes, thats exactly how the directory works.

7m shouldn't be a problem as long as the walls aren't 3 feet thick!

If you want me to price up a server, just drop me a pm and an email.

Thanks for the recommendation Andy, your rails arrived this morning, so I'll post all of the bits to add a new hard drive on Friday, just got to screw them together.

Andrew

 

Dave,

I recommend getting a system that can have the hard disk easily upgraded in 12-18 months time and buy from someone who can guide you through the relatively painless process.

 

Any directory structure you want to work with ought to be fine. FWIW mine is set up \Artist\Album\Tracks. It really doesn't matter that much, just use whatever structure works for you.

Whilst you can navigate your music by the directory structure, SlimServer is more geared around use of tags in your music files, which are used to generate a database of your music. This, if your files are tagged consistently, allows a much more flexible interface, enabling you to easily search by Album or Artist or Genre or Year or whatever.

 

Anyone thinking of using one of the Qnap TS-101 NAS devices should check out the Slim Devices Forums page - there's a very long thread on it and it's not particularly positive.

These storage devices seem to be giving alot of people some serious hassle.

Andy

 

Heh, well as "luck" would have it I did order the qnap. It seems a few people are having teething problems but thats to be expected with a new product like this. Have been impressed with the willingness of the manager of the company to discuss problems and also post updates to firmware to allow things like acc and ogg compatabilty.

I eventually ordered a wired squeezebox3 and a qnap 500 gig (you can never have enough space right? ) from amazon market place using advanced mp3 players as they said they had them in stock AND would deliver to work. So ordered friday night. Sunday night got an email saying my order had a new status of shipping. Got home last night to find that the order had a new status of "awaiting stock"! Now considering the only reason that I ordered from them was because they claimed they had both sb3 and qnap in stock at the time of ordering I'm not particularly happy right now. My guess is that they've shipped part of the order (most likely the qnap) and run out of stock of the sb3. I've emailed them to ask whats going on and am now waiting a reply. The annoying thing is that as it was supposdly instock I had them sent to work address as I couldnt guarantee that anyone would be in to sign for it.

I still have a couple of hundred cds to rip (I've made a start, but its slow process!)so not in a hurry for it but annoying none the less. If anyones intrested I'll let you know how I get on with the setup. Fwiw I plan to use it in the bedroom once its been setup correctly, so it would be :- Qnap>wired sb3>amp>speakers.

Hopefully with a simple setup like that and no network activity I shouldnt have too much hassle with the thing

 

I hate that when internet companies do that. I had that problem too when I ordered mine from another company. If you get any hassles maybe try these sites as they are offering good prices (on the SB3 at least):

http://www.broadbandstuff.co.uk/
http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/

Good luck with it all and I agree that if you can keep the set-up simple, you should be OK.

Make sure you have a play with internet radio when you get it all going - "Pandora" is a real hoot!

Andy

 

Whats sound quality of the squeezebox like then? I guess its as good as the dac circuit which can be tweaked or replaced? Is it worth putting with high end gear as it stands, tweeked or with external dac? Preamp?

 

Sound quality is better than expected but still not as good as my Primare D30.2 (unfair comparison really). I suspect a good £500 CD player would be able to keep up, or even beat, the Squeezebox.

Even though it's into it's 3rd generation (well 4th actually), there is still loads more evolution/development to be done. Things will really get interesting if either Slim Devices offer an "Audiophile" version (probably won't happen as it would degrade image of there "Standard" player) or the Squeezebox "modders" start to move their units in greater volumes with resultant price reductions (hopefully).

If sound quality is your main criteria, maybe hold off for now.

If you want convenience, jump in now.

 

as a stand alone player it's good - as has been said on a par with a £500 quid cdp which is pretty good in isolation. however treat it to a decent psu and feed a good dac with it and it can sound very good indeed. i've only done head to head comparisons with the older squeezebox models but from my (admittedly flawed) audio memory the squeezebox 2 is better than an arcam alpha transport and only slightly behind a dpa transport (can't remember the model). the latest squeezebox is essentially a squeezebox 2 in a different case and a slightly optimised circuit board so it all fits on 1 pcb. there may also be some extra / better power regulation but i'm not certain about that.
the trick to getting the best out of it (when used as a transport only at least) seems to be a good power supply.
cheers


julian

 

I'm sorry to say it takes a fair bit more than a better PSU to get the best out of it. If you are willing to invest the time and/or money, much better results can be achieved - realistically up into the £2K+ CD player bracket.

 

I guess some of the mods on this are do-able with a basic knowledge? Esp the cap replacements and hardwiring.

 

david,
yes you can throw loads of time and money at the thing but at the end of the day it's a 200 quid gizmo - the addition of a 20 quid psu improves things enough withough ending up spending many times the initial investment. a significant portion of which would go towards rehousing the thing as there isn;t really the room inside the stock box for serious mods.
i'm of the mind that as long as you have a decent external dac and the digital out of the squeezebox is 'good enough' (the sb1's wasn;t, the sb2's is imho) then you are going to get more bang for your buck spending your hard earned on the external dac. if you want a single box product without all the faff of dacs, psu's and cables then a product such as yours is the way to go. the destination is the same, the route taken different.
cheers

julian.

 

Hi Julian,

I think we'll have to agree to disagree about this, as in my experience the digital o/p (SPDIF o/p) of the standard box actually leaves a lot to be desired.

The fact that it starts out as a £200 box doesn't really come into my thinking, the important factor is the level of performance that can be garnered, which in my opinion is a long way ahead of some very well respected (and expensive CDP's).

I don't agree that the "destination is the same" when using an external DAC on the standard box, and we have carried out trials to this effect using a Benchmark DAC amongst others. As always though, YMMV.

 

fair enough - hi-fi is an extremely subjective hobby after all.

 

So how much ££ needs to be thrown at it to take it to the 2k player league? And what does it involve?
What are the must have/cost effective changes and which are the money no object changes?

 

i'd suggest you take a look int the audiophile section of the slim devices forum. here's a good starting place
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=22300

cheers


julian.