"Official" Logitech Squeezebox Boom Owners Thread

Should I buy the Squeezebox Boom? I want it mainly to stream radio stations, including the BBC (which I hear is tricky because they use realplayer format). Any suggestions?

HUH??? God, add this to the misinformation file I guess. Any of the SB products...the Boom, or a Duet or SB Classic...will stream BBC.

I'm no BBC expert, but I'm looking at mine right now and here's what I see: under Internet Radio, World, National Networks, BBC there are 6 featured stations...BBC 5 live, BBC 7, Asian (?), BBC 1 Xtra, BBC 5 live sports xtra (?), and BBC 6 Music. Then if you go to BBC World Service, there are 8 stations...WS Europe, WS News, WS Arabic, World Service, WS Russian, WS Chinese, WS Mundo, and WS Persian.

Now again, I'm no expert on the BBC, and for all I know that's like 1% of the stations they broadcast...and may seem like the answer is they don't really broadcast BBC...but as long as the BBC stream you want has a URL, which I can't imagine it wouldn't...SC can stream it.

CD

Alright that's good to know, thanks. How well does this Logitech box stack up to the Sangean? I think I might order the Squeezebox Boom this week, but just wondering if anyone's tried both of them. CNET gave a glowing review to the Squeezebox Boom.

Unfortunately it's not that simple.

Some of the BBC URL streams are GeoIP blocked from being streamed outside of the UK.

BBC streams are being majorly overhauled at the moment, like increasing kbps from 24 to 64 and even 128 on some streams, and changing stream formats to more hardware friendly formats like WMA and MP3. But the GeoIP blocking of the current blocked streams is not scheduled to change.

So what did you end up getting?

Did Glados say he wanted to stream BBC outside the UK? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that sounds like a violation of some kind of broadcasting law (the UK equivalent of the FCC)? So, I'm going to assume that most devices...Sonos, Roku, etc... are not in violation of worldwide braodcasting standards; silly me. So if someone comes into a forum and asks "will Boom (or SB for that matter...anything that streams from an SC) stream BBC", I'm going to assume he means as opposed to other devices he may be considering; not "is this a pirate-radio box, that I can hack into and break worldwide laws with". Again, guess I had the OP pegged all wrong.

CD

No. But he did not say he lived in the UK either.

Your statement "...as long as the BBC stream you want has a URL, which I can't imagine it wouldn't...SC can stream it." could be misunderstood by anyone reading this forum that any BBC URL can be played anywhere.

I wasn't challenging you, just saying there are limitations to some BBC streams. Blame the music industry lawyers for making things so complicated and confusing.

Fair enough; I guess I should have said "...as long as the BBC stream you want has a legal URL...". I did say I was no BBC expert.

CD

Yeah, I'm no big BBC fan either.

Luckily for those wishing to hear BBC streams the vast majority of their streams have no such Geo restrictions.
But, apparently, some of their more popular streams are Geo restricted.

Logitech/SqueezeBox/SlimDevices has just added two new streaming services, the long awaited and much anticipated Napster service and the MediaFly service.

Here's a quick list of existing streaming services and types currently available to SqueezeBox owners. This is not a complete listing, but covers the more popular available services.

Completely Free Services, No Membership Required, they come preloaded on server menu (SC or SN):
RadioIO +
Sky.FM +
Live Music Archive
DI.fm (Digitally Imported)
BBC (not all streams supported outside of UK)
ShoutCast
SomaFM +

Note: + = additional services offered for a paid membership

Streaming Services with MULTIPLE stream stations, preloaded on server menu with RadioTime free account:
1.FM
181.FM
1Club
.977 FM
AOL Radio
Got Radio
Yahoo! Radio
……and others

Completely Free Services, but Membership Required:
RadioTime
Last.fm (Free in US / UK / Germany, only PAID subscriptions everywhere else)
MediaFly
Deezer (EU only)

Paid Subscription Services:
Live365 *
Classical.com (30)
Napster * (30)
Pandora *
Rhapsody (30)
Sirius (30)
Slacker *


Note: * = offers free limited services with a free membership
Note: (30) = free 30 day trial of full services

MP3Tunes with 60 day free trial. (upload your own mp3 library for online access, no computer needed to play these files with a SqueezeBox hardware player)

Not all services are available everywhere, check your location with Logitech and the stream provider. Also, be careful of services available on your computer but NOT available to your SqueezeBox device! Two examples:
LastFM can be used and played on your computer in Canada, but will NOT play on your SqueezeBox in Canada.
Deezer can be used and played on your computer in USA, but will NOT play on your SqueezeBox in USA.

How is the free version of Pandora on the Squeezebox limited? For a while it was a 30 day trial and then a small fee. But now it seems like they have dropped the fee?

I believe they limit skips per hour on the free version. The free version will probably have ads eventually as well, though this has not been implemented yet.

Interesting. I don't mind the lack of skips. But if they implement ads, I'll probably turn elsewhere or pony up.

Anyone have a sub attached to their squeezebox boom? I just got a boom and am looking for a small budget sub to attach to it. Recommendations?

No. We use the Boom almost exclusively as an alarm clock -- attached sub would definitely make for an interesting wake-up call.

You might consider these:

http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/co...3201/549100087

I have one on mine, really opens up the sound stage for louder playback.
Mine is just a Kenwood SW 35 (8", 100 watt, front fire, self powered, auto sensing) purchased used for $40 on Craigslist.

For lower volume playback I hear little (if any) real difference. For higher volume blayback it offers much more "thump" and releases the Boom's small speakers from struggling to produce at the low end. I never heard actual distortion at higher volume absent the sub, but you can definitely hear the Boom's DSP based speaker playback struggling to produce full range at such volumes.

I just thought I'd point out that GeoIP blocking is easy to circumvent. I pay about $8/mo for a VPN service that has British IP addresses. That gives me unfettered access to all of the BBC television and radio content I want, including iPlayer.

Hi all

My Squeezebox boom was delivered yesterday but it just won't connect to my wireless network. Wondering if anyone has any tips?

The WEP key is definitely correct (I have entered it carefully three times). My laptop can connect to the Wi-Fi and shows "Excellent" signal strength from the same location.

The manual seems to suggest that the Boom will ask if you want to enter a WEP or WPA during the set up process. However, this step does not appear on my screen during set-up. Could it be mistakeing my WEP with a WPA?

Any help would be appreciated.

Did you install Squeezebox Server first?

On the Boom setup screen, after selecting your network, you scroll down to select encryption type.
Also is your SSID hidden? MAC filtering on?
If still having a problem try temporarily disabling your WEP (which isn't really doing you much good anyway, but that's another topic ).

This won't do him much good if he can't connect the Boom to his network first.

I honestly haven't had to connect my Boom to my network since I bought it a year ago, so I can't really be much help. Try using WPA though.. You did purchase a good product though, I still use mine daily.

Good idea. This will help isolate where the problem is. If it works without encryption, then you know encryption is the problem.

I'm guessing pravy either got his Boom working, or returned it.

Squeezebox Boom is the Vann's Deal of the Day.

Hi All-

Got the boom a few weeks ago. Love it. BUT- we have a consistent issue getting to the "Like" or "don't like" when using pandora. Hitting right on the remote or the wheel button on the boom 90% of the time takes to "Now Playing: Artist and track", and it is impossible to get the like or don't like to show up. Anyone else have this issue?
So frustrating!
Have firmware 51, maybe this is addressed in an update somewhere?
Help!
THanks,
Paul

I believe you must be on the Now Playing screen to "Like" or "Don't Like".

Select your station and press the Home button. Then you can press the Right Arrow to select "Like" or press Down and then Right to "Don't Like" as well as a few additional options.

Hope this helps.

Just a quick heads-up.

"From February 15 you will need to be a subscriber to listen to Last.fm Radio stations on devices, including your Logitech SqueezeNetwork player.

No other features are affected by this change."

http://blog.last.fm/2011/02/07/lastf...inment-devices

http://www.last.fm/help/faq?category=104#508