Logitech Squeezebox Touch Owners Thread - Page 9

Hi all,

I am researching audio players for my next purchase, and the Logitech Squeeze Box touch has me interested. I already have a thread asking for help to decide between this and the Boxee Box.

However, this being an owners thread, I would like to ask you the owners whether you are happy with your purchase? Is the user experience still good after the initial shine wears off?

If offered a second chance would you still buy the SB Touch or would you settle for another device? If yes which one?

I suspect most owners will tell you they are ecstatic with their Touch's, and have been loyal to Squeezebox for some time (I have used them for about 6 years now, and have owned...at one point or another...like 7 different units). If there is "dissatisfaction", it is only in regard to what they know the SB could be...or maybe to Sonos.

AFAIC, those are the only two competitors at this level. None of the all-in-one, audio and video streamers (and I own several of those too, for video) offers the same experience. If all you want to do is put a playlist on for a party or something, then one of those devices is fine. But if you're going to be sitting in front of the thing, with a remote, navigating through a lot of music...these are the only two ways to go IMO.

CD

After a few hours of reading, I think I've found the right thread to post in - haven't been quite able to find the answer to my problem.....

I currently have five stereos in different locations of the house. I use an FM transmitter to (poorly) transmit Slacker to all of them.

I'd like to upgrade remotely control Slacker (skip songs, etc) and broadcast via wifi to each of the stereos. I'd also like three or more remotes to be able to control Slacker and each of the stereos from any point in the house (on/off, volume). I don't necessarily need to be able to play different stations on each stereo at the same time, but that would be a bonus. It would also be a bonus to be able to program a single button to turn everything on at one time.

Based on what I've read, I think I could buy a combination of Squeezebox(s) to control and broadcast the Slacker and also separate RF remotes to control the stereos and Slacker from multiple points.

I haven't been able to find a thread that helps me understand exactly what combination is needed and would also be most economical (or if I really need to pursue a different solution altogether).

Any suggestions?.....

Hey SB Touch owners...any news on fixing the "bug" where there's a drop-out in switching between hi-res tracks...or between hi-res and redbook tracks?

CD

Just got my Touch hooked up to my main system, and it is working great.

One thing nagging me though - since I use iTunes/Lossless exclusively, would I have been better off just getting an Apple TV and saving a few bucks? ATV handles lossless codec.

Not concerned about the touch control, since I have an app on my Android phone to control from my listening position. The same type of app appears to be available for iTunes control as well.

Appears that the ATV does a minor correction on the sampling rate, but I do not fully understand these numbers (other than the fact that the higher the number, the better the quality), so maybe this isn't that big of a deal.

Just curious of the member's thoughts on this.

Thanks,

Brad

Well did some additional research on this. Appears that Apple TV resamples everything to 16 bit/48khz. Since the Touch apparently outputs to native resolution it is the more flexible option.

Looked at the detail of my Apple lossless files - all are 16 bit/44.1khz, which is what I have set the MIDI setting on my iMac to - so there should not be any conversion taking place with the Touch.

Not that I can tell the difference between sample rates of 44.1khz and 48khz - just knowing that the signal is staying as pure as possible is good enough for me.

[quote=fullerms;19532259]Hi all,
(snip0
However, this being an owners thread, I would like to ask you the owners whether you are happy with your purchase? Is the user experience still good after the initial shine wears off?


I love it...for what I bought it for. And, that is music. I have 500+ CDs and wanted to ditch my Sony 400 and 200 disc players for a streamer. I couldn't afford many of the solutions available. I seriously considered Olive, but their new unit doesn't have digital, or video out and is $1000.00. The Touch is not even close in dollars and has digital out. I bought a Seagate 1TB external HDD and the Touch, ripped all of my CDs (dbPowerAmp) and all is good. I have a PS3 for Netflix (awesome). If needed, I will buy a Roku...do some checking. I was waiting on the Boxee Box and the Roku does more...for less money. Granted the Boxee does FLAC, which is what I use the Touch for. I plan on adding a 2nd Logitech unit in the upstairs bed room, so the seamless streaming is appealing. The only thing I would like added on the Touch is a video out. I do use my iPod Touch (with iPeng) as a visual remote, but a video to the TV would be perfect (IMO). Just go for what you want / need. Boxee for video, Touch is great for audio.

Hi all,
I am a new user of the SB Touch and I am having trouble in making it play FLAC 24/192. SBT just won´t play them! The scroll bar progresses but I got no music... The SB touch is connected via audioquest toslink to a Classe SSP 800 and the flac files are in my pc, so the SB Server is running. In the SB Server advanced->File Types, the FLAC option is set to native and PCM to flac. So as far as I understand, SB Touch should be able to play FLAC 24/192 downsampled to 24/96 via SB Server. Am I missing something here?
I even had dbPowerAmp to convert FLAC 24/192 to Wave 24/96, but I still get no sound!

By the way, the flacs in question (Handel, Concerti Grossi, Opus 3 - Il Concerto Barocco) were downloaded from Linn Records.
Thanks in advance,
Enrique

Do I remember there being an issue with hi-res through toslink? Any chance you can try coax?

CD

I'm getting SB Touch for Christmas, but I'm pretty sure it only supports 24/96. There is a review at Absolute sound http://www.avguide.com/review/logite...6?src=Playback

It does; but it will downconvert higher-res to 24/96...as colo suggests. I have 24/192 files that play just fine (really fine )

CD

Thanks. I will try a coax cable tonight
Enrique

Sorry if any duplicate questions are in here. I am new to streaming anything and this was a product recommended to me from another thread and wanted to check it out as on the face of it is everything I want. I will describe what I want to do and what I use and tell me if it will work, if so I will be buying my Christmas present. lol. Anyway this is what I want to do. Not interested in the wifi/wireless connection. I have an external PORTABLE HDD 500gb in NTFS that has to be powered by the unit, can it do this? I do realize it has a usb port but the site said something about flash drives or usb keys only I think? Secondly All my music files are in flac and I am not sure what they are? I use mediamonkey and I am guessing they are 16 bit and 44.1khz (Sorry not a real tech person when it comes to rates) I assume this as cd's as far as I know are 16 bit and 44.1K, and all the album artwork is embedded into the files. Will the squeeze box show the artwork from the file itself without wireless and play the flac music files gap-less? Thanks.

Yes to everything, except powering the drive. I run mine on a network...but at the prospect of taking it over to a friend's for some DAC testing, I tried running it in "standalone"...that is, SqueezeServer and some files on an attached drive. I was surprised to find it wouldn't drive my little 250G Passport...like this http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=440

However, it did work with a usb thumb-drive, so I guess it can't power a "bigger" drive on its own; needs to be a small, drive...it can power...or a drive that has its own power supply?

Since I don't do it regularly, perhaps someone else can confirm?

CD

CDLehner,
you were right. With a coax cable, SB Touch worked fine with FLAC 24/192.

Thanks
Enrique

Do you think this would work fairly quickly with a 128gb flash thumb drive? Also is there any settings ect to make aac files play without gaps between the tracks on this device? And lastly I assume this is a no brainer but would this work with harmony remotes by logitech? Thanks for everything everyone for the help. I did look at compatible flash drives but no one tried 128 gb flash drives or anything near it but I assume it could power that.

You will need a internet network connection to get started. And afterward it's quite desirable for updates, time display and internet radio.

Some bus-powered USB drives work fine with the Touch, and some other do not work well with the Touch. It seems best to use only drives with a single partition. NTFS is fine.

FLAC files are said to playback without gaps. Some MP3 files (LAME encoded?) are said to have gap-less playback on the Touch. My "gap-less" MP3s encoded via iTunes 10 have glitches on the Touch, though they are fine in iTunes playback. My solution - Re-encode using Apple Lossless. Perfect playback on the Touch.

I don't bother with album art, so no comments on that aspect.

At the moment my music files are on a PC, with some on a 16GB SD card. I plan to copy the files to a bus-powered USB disk (320GB Iomega eGo Compact) in the near future. I expect (hope) that this will work.

Large USB sticks should work but the economics are usually not favorable.

The real expertise on these matters is at http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34 -- the Squeezebox Touch Forum.

Here's a Christmas related question, for the Holidays. Is there a setting in SqueezeServer...that keeps artists from showing up, when you rip a title from "various artists"?

Here's how I mean; if I rip a title of Christmas songs, that includes say Nat King Cole; is there a way to keep Nat King Cole out of my Artists listing for that one track?

Thanks...and Happy Holidays,
CD

Wouldnt that come rather from your tagging? In other words when you tag, tag the artists as various artists and then when do the compilation tag format where the track name tag is actually ("artist name - track name")

Yup; that makes sense. Thanks

CD

Just ordered the Squeezebox Touch. So this can work with Soundbars with wireless Subwoofers or even small ipod players?

Anything with a stereo analog or digital input.

Just received my Touch today while at lunch. I think I have it all set up, but could not figure out how to get Pandora on it. Is it an app or internet radio? Thanks for your help.

I about to procure the SB Touch but I am a bit worried about speed. My file server includes 1000 cds in flac format*. This is about 13000 files. Can the SB Touch handle such a library?

One of the reason I am currently using a PC and Foobar is to be able to perform search.

Now I need to add music in two additional rooms and don`t like the idea of adding a pc in these rooms.

The SB Touch seams to be a nice option.

I know there are no keyboards but is it possible to perform search with key words?

Pandora is an included app.

CD

Thanks CD.

The squeeze box touch actually has an on screen keyboard. You can also search using an iphone/android app.

Any thoughts on the aftermarket linear power supplies for the touch? I wonder if they make a difference and if so, would you notice improvement with the analog outs more than using the Touch as a transport.

Guys,

Bought the Touch as a X'Mas gift to myself, and got it hooked to my Denon 1610 receiver. Audio quality is amazing, but I am still struggling with a few basics.

Need help on the following.

1. Playlists. How to create them on the Touch itself?
2. Can I have multiple playlists (One for each member of the family)
3. Album Artwork. Does the touch automatically download them?
4. High Res audio. Any free sources where I can download for testing? Will buy from Linn records if I like.
5. (EDIT) - Downloaded a few tracks from HDTracks, but these files are have an extension of .9624 and the SB touch does not see them. How to play them on the SB touch?