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Logitech Squeezebox Touch Owners Thread - Page 31

post #901 of 937
1/21/13 at 8:53am
I didn't think about disabling the plugins before reading this either. I am interested in what changing the Server Based Decoding will accomplish audio wise. I run it wireless using the analog audio outs, so disabling the audio outs & WLAN don't seem like anything I would try any time soon. I don't really want to disable the Touch Screen either as it is part of the appeal of this unit. So I did the basic setting recommendations and will do some tests to see if I hear any improvements and report it here. Would be interested in what you discover as well. Keep us posted.
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post #902 of 937
1/21/13 at 9:40am
I'm not looking for audio improvements. When it works, whether the Squeezebox, the headless player from the Duet system, or the Boom, it works reliably and I don't notice any audio problems, either through a marantz or denon AVR -- that is, it sounds as solid as the same music played on a CD digitally into the same converter/amps/speakers.

But I have never been happy with the stability of the server. To many disconnects and laggy response to controls, etc. So I was mostly interested in trying the items mentioned in order to achieve more stability.

I'll admit to being a little confused by his comments about server based decoding. My understanding is that FLAC can be natively decoded by the players. Why not send it to them natively? I guess there is a step to unpack the FLAC to PCM for digital output, but I'd almost prefer that happen at the client. FLAC would appear to be less prone to timing errors, so would be a better transmission medium. And since I have both wired and wireless clients, any edge in terms of reliable transmission is worthwhile, imho.
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post #903 of 937
1/21/13 at 9:49am
I've been looking around for a Squeezebox Touch, but nothing. Ebay has them, but they want too much for them. I've seem some for over $1000. I think I am going to give Sonos a try.
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post #904 of 937
1/21/13 at 6:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nathan_h View Post

I'm not looking for audio improvements. When it works, whether the Squeezebox, the headless player from the Duet system, or the Boom, it works reliably and I don't notice any audio problems, either through a marantz or denon AVR -- that is, it sounds as solid as the same music played on a CD digitally into the same converter/amps/speakers.

But I have never been happy with the stability of the server. To many disconnects and laggy response to controls, etc. So I was mostly interested in trying the items mentioned in order to achieve more stability.

I'll admit to being a little confused by his comments about server based decoding. My understanding is that FLAC can be natively decoded by the players. Why not send it to them natively? I guess there is a step to unpack the FLAC to PCM for digital output, but I'd almost prefer that happen at the client. FLAC would appear to be less prone to timing errors, so would be a better transmission medium. And since I have both wired and wireless clients, any edge in terms of reliable transmission is worthwhile, imho.
I do not really understand about the Server Based Decoding settings either only that his recommendations are based where the conversions are done, the server, or the touch. But it also warns that original settings may be better in some cases. It is easy enough to go back to factory settings so why not try it. Let us know of your results, positive, negative of no difference. Good luck.
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post #905 of 937
1/21/13 at 6:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GusGus748s View Post

I've been looking around for a Squeezebox Touch, but nothing. Ebay has them, but they want too much for them. I've seem some for over $1000. I think I am going to give Sonos a try.
I picked mine up new from Amazon for $231 last March and now prices are way too much as you stated.
You can try used on Ebay, Amazon and here is one on Audiogon. http://app.audiogon.com/listings/media-servers-logitech-squeezebox-touch-2013-01-16-computer-audio-61821
I have heard good things about the Sonos and are reasonably priced new. If you get one let us know how you like it. a
All the best in your search.
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post #906 of 937
1/21/13 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tune_man View Post

I picked mine up new from Amazon for $231 last March and now prices are way too much as you stated.
You can try used on Ebay, Amazon and here is one on Audiogon. http://app.audiogon.com/listings/media-servers-logitech-squeezebox-touch-2013-01-16-computer-audio-61821
I have heard good things about the Sonos and are reasonably priced new. If you get one let us know how you like it. a
All the best in your search.

Thanks for the link. He wants over $300 for that which is way over priced. I will be buying a Sonos as soon as I replace my center channel speaker. Or I might just go ahead and get a new AVR.
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post #907 of 937
1/22/13 at 8:02am
I agree with you. The Squeezebox Touches available are overpriced or very overpriced or extremely overpriced. The Sonos has a good foothold in the market and looks like it will be supported in the future and the Squeezebox Touch has been discontinued. Good luck with all your future purchases.
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post #908 of 937
1/22/13 at 11:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tune_man View Post

I agree with you. The Squeezebox Touches available are overpriced or very overpriced or extremely overpriced. The Sonos has a good foothold in the market and looks like it will be supported in the future and the Squeezebox Touch has been discontinued. Good luck with all your future purchases.

Thanks. I'm very happy with my Squeezebox Radio, which I bought for $44 dollars and 2 years extra warranty at Best Buy. I mainly use Pandora to listen to music. So, now I am thinking of replacing my AVR for a network AVR that supports Pandora. We'll see how that goes. It's a shame that Logitech discontinue the Squeezebox.
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post #909 of 937
1/22/13 at 11:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GusGus748s View Post

Thanks for the link. He wants over $300 for that which is way over priced. I will be buying a Sonos as soon as I replace my center channel speaker. Or I might just go ahead and get a new AVR.

The Sonos looks like a great system, but the 64k limit on files (smaller, apparently, if you have a lot of meta data) makes it a non starter for me. I understand it also cannot handle high res files. Otherwise I might jump ship, or at least experiment and see if the stability is better. Certainly the access to new, polished hardware is better.

If I stick with "logitech" I'll have to try out soe of the homemade headless clients (discussed above and elsewhere) because my system really needs at least two more clients.
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post #910 of 937
1/22/13 at 5:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GusGus748s View Post

Thanks. I'm very happy with my Squeezebox Radio, which I bought for $44 dollars and 2 years extra warranty at Best Buy. I mainly use Pandora to listen to music. So, now I am thinking of replacing my AVR for a network AVR that supports Pandora. We'll see how that goes. It's a shame that Logitech discontinue the Squeezebox.
Yes, it is a shame they discontinued the SBT. I also listen to Pandora on a regular basis. My listening is divided between Pandora, Radio Paradise, Spotify Premium and my CD's ripped WAV and FLAC on an external HD and streamed through the SBT. Quite a number of the newer AVR's support Pandora & other Internet options, could be a good way to go. Keep us posted on your progress.
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post #911 of 937
1/27/13 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drdaveol View Post

I need help with a couple of problems with my Squeeze Box Touch

1. I often get message, Cannot find file.

When this happens it freezes the system and I can not get it to go away easily.
I have files on my IMAC in Itunes folder, HD Tracks folder and Flac copies of much that is in ITunes folder in Phile Audio Folder--When I rip cd's I make AAC copy and FLACC copies
Is the duplicate copies a problem for software ?

I used to download in FLAC and manually make second copy in AAC or alac or WMA lossless. Reason was because each front end would only play either apple (ATV) iTunes or Xbox 360 media extender playing only WMA. What I was doing was manual "transcoding". With DLNA uPnP servers like dbpoweramp or jriver, you do not need to manually make multiple copies of the same music as they can be told to convert FLAC to alac on the fly when you pick that song. Plus having multiple versions creates a mess and causes the file problems you describe. Do some reading on the oppo bdp83 DLNA thread and it has lots of great info on making DLNA actually work. Hope this advice helps you.
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post #912 of 937
3/6/13 at 8:59am
Wow, just when I finally get a NetGear ReadyNAS working as my music server as of 6 months ago, and have made good progress on re-ripping my 1200+ CD collection to FLAC, I read here that the SBT is disco'd. frown.gif It makes me sad that Logitech ever bought Slimserver. I hope mine works for a long time, and I wish they'd spin it off to some third party.

Nevertheless, I do have a couple of questions--I've searched this thread and don't see them answered, would appreciate it if somebody could help.

1. What is the best resolution/size for displaying album art?

2. If I have fixed volume set to 100, how does ReplayGain work on tagged tracks? I assume that turning it on overrides fixed volume, but how? Does it only bring up lo-volume tracks, or does it also decrease loud ones?

Thanks.

*EDIT* The great thing about my SBT --and the dedicated remote for my older Duet -- is the display of album art, track info, etc. (In addition to sound quality and functionality, that is.) As a dedicated cheapskate, I have steadfastly refused getting any kind of smartphone or tablet computer. However, for Christmas I got my wife a Google Nexus 7. With the OrangeSqueeze app installed, the Duet remote immediately became redundant. With other options like DLNA-certified receivers and other apps, it's easy to see why the Squeezebox devices are obsolete. I mean that from a market-based perspective. I love my SBT and will use it until it dies, but everybody I know including those who don't have a pot to you-know-what in have a smart phone. There just aren't enough buyers of SBT to keep it going.
Edited by Goes to 11 - 3/6/13 at 10:14am
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post #913 of 937
3/6/13 at 2:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goes to 11 View Post

Wow, just when I finally get a NetGear ReadyNAS working as my music server as of 6 months ago, and have made good progress on re-ripping my 1200+ CD collection to FLAC, I read here that the SBT is disco'd. frown.gif It makes me sad that Logitech ever bought Slimserver. I hope mine works for a long time, and I wish they'd spin it off to some third party.

Nevertheless, I do have a couple of questions--I've searched this thread and don't see them answered, would appreciate it if somebody could help.

1. What is the best resolution/size for displaying album art?

2. If I have fixed volume set to 100, how does ReplayGain work on tagged tracks? I assume that turning it on overrides fixed volume, but how? Does it only bring up lo-volume tracks, or does it also decrease loud ones?

Thanks.

*EDIT* The great thing about my SBT --and the dedicated remote for my older Duet -- is the display of album art, track info, etc. (In addition to sound quality and functionality, that is.) As a dedicated cheapskate, I have steadfastly refused getting any kind of smartphone or tablet computer. However, for Christmas I got my wife a Google Nexus 7. With the OrangeSqueeze app installed, the Duet remote immediately became redundant. With other options like DLNA-certified receivers and other apps, it's easy to see why the Squeezebox devices are obsolete. I mean that from a market-based perspective. I love my SBT and will use it until it dies, but everybody I know including those who don't have a pot to you-know-what in have a smart phone. There just aren't enough buyers of SBT to keep it going.
Yes it is stupidly sad that the SBT is dead. But its easy to see why considering the majority of people dont know anything about audiophile anything and think 99 cent MP3 played on $5 earbuds "sound good". 99% of the population doesnt have the know how nor equipment to tell the difference between a CD and an MP3, so amazing pieces of technology that are compact, user friendly, and feature rich at offering up CD-quality audio through a network doesnt mean anything to them.

1) I usually use at least 500x500px which seems to be a standard, but have used 300x300 on occasion if nothing else is available. Just get your album art from www.albumart.org and youll be fine.

2) No idea what that is. I just rip or download FLAC albums to the server and play them as is with the volume at 100% as they are outputted via S/PDIF to amps they are hooked to throughout the house.

Thats sad you havent gotten into the Smartphone/Tablet world. It really is amazing what we can FINALLY do. The technology has taken WAY too long to get here and is just now really starting to become hardened. I truly look forward to watching the next few decades unfold in the technology world.
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post #914 of 937
3/6/13 at 2:49pm
Hi Ben--

And thanks for replying.

ReplayGain is a tag you can add when ripping which marks the relative volume level so that when playing back you can--if you wish--have the player equalize the volume. Very useful when playing a random jukebox mix. Take the original CD of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, not the recent re-master. To hear it, you literally do have to go to 11. And then if you forget to turn your amp down before the next song starts, look out!

Best

Gt11
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post #915 of 937
3/6/13 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goes to 11 View Post

Hi Ben--

And thanks for replying.

ReplayGain is a tag you can add when ripping which marks the relative volume level so that when playing back you can--if you wish--have the player equalize the volume. Very useful when playing a random jukebox mix. Take the original CD of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, not the recent re-master. To hear it, you literally do have to go to 11. And then if you forget to turn your amp down before the next song starts, look out!

Best

Gt11
Huh, well seeing as how I rip all my albums to FLAC with EAC, I might have the ReplayGain tags already in there. I wonder if its on by default in EAC...
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post #916 of 937
3/6/13 at 4:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ben_r_ View Post

Huh, well seeing as how I rip all my albums to FLAC with EAC, I might have the ReplayGain tags already in there. I wonder if its on by default in EAC...
If enabled, EAC will normalize the tracks toward full range, so it doesn't normally need ReplayGain (by default, it won't put it in). If you have existing tracks where the volume is not in line with your other tracks, adjusting the ReplayGain tag is a simple way to fix it. I don't use ReplayGain, as my CD rips are normalized by EAC, and I normalize my vinyl copies with Audacity.
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post #917 of 937
3/6/13 at 8:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkHotchkiss View Post

If enabled, EAC will normalize the tracks toward full range, so it doesn't normally need ReplayGain (by default, it won't put it in). If you have existing tracks where the volume is not in line with your other tracks, adjusting the ReplayGain tag is a simple way to fix it. I don't use ReplayGain, as my CD rips are normalized by EAC, and I normalize my vinyl copies with Audacity.
Ah, well that explains why I never needed to worry about it before.
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post #918 of 937
3/7/13 at 8:21am
What I will add to this is to say that I prefer to use the ReplayGain tag as opposed to actually normalizing the volume of each track. This is because if the volume of the tracks are normalized, let's say I'm listening to (dating myself here) Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Songbird is going to be just as loud as Go Your Own Way. I would prefer to hear the album presented the way it was intended by the producer and artist. When I'm listening to a random mix, I'm not that finicky, I prefer not to be fiddling with the volume all the time. Of course this is all just my preference, yours may be different!
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post #919 of 937
3/7/13 at 11:04am
Howdy everyone, does anyone have some tips that might improve the randomness of the SBT's random playlist function? Mine is far, far from random, more obsessive compulsive disorder than attention deficit disorder! Thanks for your ideas!

Trey
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post #920 of 937
3/7/13 at 11:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drtrey View Post

Howdy everyone, does anyone have some tips that might improve the randomness of the SBT's random playlist function? Mine is far, far from random, more obsessive compulsive disorder than attention deficit disorder! Thanks for your ideas!

Trey

Can you explain? If I go my music--> random mix --> by song, it is completely random. However, I have over 10,000 songs in my ripped library. If you have a much smaller number, it is easy to think it is not random, when it truly is.

*Edit* also, you could try this, although to be honest I don't know if it matters when you have already chosen random song mix. Before selecting random song mix, do 2 things: 1) clear your current play list and 2) in settings, turn on shuffle.
Edited by Goes to 11 - 3/7/13 at 11:53am
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post #921 of 937
3/7/13 at 12:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goes to 11 View Post

What I will add to this is to say that I prefer to use the ReplayGain tag as opposed to actually normalizing the volume of each track. This is because if the volume of the tracks are normalized, let's say I'm listening to (dating myself here) Fleetwood Mac Rumours, Songbird is going to be just as loud as Go Your Own Way. I would prefer to hear the album presented the way it was intended by the producer and artist. When I'm listening to a random mix, I'm not that finicky, I prefer not to be fiddling with the volume all the time. Of course this is all just my preference, yours may be different!
. . . a very good point, and something I sometimes obsess about.

For CD's, EAC normalizes by default, and I've just let it do its thing. I have noticed times when it didn't produce the best results. I wish there was an easy way to deal with this on CD's. I have too many to tweak by hand, and the mastering varies too much to not normalize.

But when I normalize my vinyl manually, I have to normalize one whole side together, as it is one large FLAC file. So I make sure I adjust both sides the same (or all four sides for a double album), so the relative volume between tracks stays as the artist originally had it. In effect, the whole album is normalized with the loudest part at full scale, and everything else down below that.

Maybe EAC needs an option to normalize the entire CD as a whole, like I do with vinyl.
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post #922 of 937
3/8/13 at 10:57am
Thanks for the help Goesto11, I too have a big library. I choose Random song mix and perhaps 15% of the songs were not on the last random song mix. Which is frustrating! But the idea of clearing the current playlist and/or current "random" list might certainly work. I tend to leave the ST on shuffle, but cycling through the various settings might improve my random results. I will pay more attention to my actual process and give you more to work with. Thanks for taking the time to think through and try to solve this with me pal!

Trey
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post #923 of 937
3/10/13 at 11:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drtrey View Post

Thanks for the help Goesto11, I too have a big library. I choose Random song mix and perhaps 15% of the songs were not on the last random song mix. Which is frustrating! But the idea of clearing the current playlist and/or current "random" list might certainly work. I tend to leave the ST on shuffle, but cycling through the various settings might improve my random results. I will pay more attention to my actual process and give you more to work with. Thanks for taking the time to think through and try to solve this with me pal!

Trey

I run into a similar problem quite often.. If you go into the web interface there is a section which let's you select what music is going to play on a random mix. I have found that when it seems to be playing the same songs it's because most of the genres are not selected to be played. I think it's from messing with the random mix or genre settings on the box itself and for some reason it will keep those settings and I can't figure out how to reset them on the box. I would give a better step through but I am not at home and won't be for at least 6 more months. Hope this helps
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post #924 of 937
3/11/13 at 12:40pm
That is a wonderful place for me to start! Makes sense to me, now let's see what I can get done. I appreciate it pal.

Trey
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post #925 of 937
3/13/13 at 2:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ben_r_ View Post

Just get your album art from www.albumart.org and youll be fine.

I would use the Album Art Exchange (www.albumartexchange.com). Lots of high quality cover scans from people very picky about their album art. Sizes generally start at 600x600 and go up. For more common albums multiple sizes are available. I always check there first before I source elsewhere.
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post #926 of 937
3/13/13 at 3:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drunkmunk View Post

I run into a similar problem quite often.. If you go into the web interface there is a section which let's you select what music is going to play on a random mix. I have found that when it seems to be playing the same songs it's because most of the genres are not selected to be played. I think it's from messing with the random mix or genre settings on the box itself and for some reason it will keep those settings and I can't figure out how to reset them on the box. I would give a better step through but I am not at home and won't be for at least 6 more months. Hope this helps

Trey, I also think the above is a good suggestion. When I answered you I had forgotten that I had something similar going on once, and I discovered that somehow I only had classic rock checked. Checking them all fixed that, and I think there is a line on the box that says "check all" or "select all," so it's easy to do.
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post #927 of 937
3/14/13 at 11:44am
Thank you guys, I did as you suggest, and problem fixed! Happy listening at my house now, and happy listening to you guys as well!

Trey
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post #928 of 937
3/15/13 at 9:12am
I love my Squeezebox Touch too, and rue the day that it should ever fail to function. I've been looking at possible options and found that one really doesn't exist. Sonos is the only competition, but their inability to play HD 96khz/24bit files without first downsizing them is a non starter for me. Neil Young needs to aquire the Squeezebox Touch tech and merge it with his Pono idea. That might be a marriage made in heaven.
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post #929 of 937
3/15/13 at 12:30pm
Let me be the first (one of the first?) to say I would be willing to make a substantial contribution to a Kickstarter project to build a new SBT-type device, that would communicate with the existing mediaserver software. I know some of the former Logitech employees have the know-how. I wish they would do it.
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post #930 of 937
3/15/13 at 1:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Goes to 11 View Post

Let me be the first (one of the first?) to say I would be willing to make a substantial contribution to a Kickstarter project to build a new SBT-type device, that would communicate with the existing mediaserver software. I know some of the former Logitech employees have the know-how. I wish they would do it.
See this thread:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=113075.0

Another option, if you have a spare idevice, is to dock it with a Pure i20 and use the ipeng playback app.
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