Some friends have a Russound CAM6.6T system to which they'd like to add Pandora and/or other internet radio capability. I'm aware of the Russound SMS3 server, but its internet radio capabilities seem extremely limited relative to its exorbitant cost, and they already have a Russound iPod Bridge so they have no use for the mp3 playback capabilities of the SMS3.
After a little googling, it seems the Logitech Squeezebox Radio and the Grace Digital Tuner Internet Radio are the most promising solutions, but I'm wondering which will integrate better with the Russound system, or if there is something even simpler/better out there. Simplicity and reliability are the primary goals.
Their installer has limited experience with Russound so I want to make sure I understand what the options are before I make any suggestions on what they should do.
At first glance the Squeezebox Duet looked great, but because the remote is Wifi based and not IR based, they would effectively need to buy an extra remote for each room if they want to be able to control it remotely and wouldn't be able to use the Russound control panels. Am I wrong about this? For that reason, I am looking at the Squeezebox Radio with optional IR remote (even though it has a built-in speaker we don't need).
The Grace Tuner device seems very similar but a little cheaper since it includes the remote and doesn't have the superfluous speaker. But I'm having trouble finding reviews.
Any thoughts on which is better for this application?
Also I'm wondering how well they can integrate control of one of these devices into the UNO-S2 keypads. Is it possible to program the CAM6.6T so that the same internet radio device shows up as more than one source--say one source for Pandora and another for "regular" internet radio--so they can program the keypad to do different things in Pandora mode vs. regular internet radio mode? For example, I'd ideally want to use the +/- keys as the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons for Pandora, but use those same keys to cycle through favorite "stations" in "regular" internet radio.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
After a little googling, it seems the Logitech Squeezebox Radio and the Grace Digital Tuner Internet Radio are the most promising solutions, but I'm wondering which will integrate better with the Russound system, or if there is something even simpler/better out there. Simplicity and reliability are the primary goals.
Their installer has limited experience with Russound so I want to make sure I understand what the options are before I make any suggestions on what they should do.
At first glance the Squeezebox Duet looked great, but because the remote is Wifi based and not IR based, they would effectively need to buy an extra remote for each room if they want to be able to control it remotely and wouldn't be able to use the Russound control panels. Am I wrong about this? For that reason, I am looking at the Squeezebox Radio with optional IR remote (even though it has a built-in speaker we don't need).
The Grace Tuner device seems very similar but a little cheaper since it includes the remote and doesn't have the superfluous speaker. But I'm having trouble finding reviews.
Any thoughts on which is better for this application?
Also I'm wondering how well they can integrate control of one of these devices into the UNO-S2 keypads. Is it possible to program the CAM6.6T so that the same internet radio device shows up as more than one source--say one source for Pandora and another for "regular" internet radio--so they can program the keypad to do different things in Pandora mode vs. regular internet radio mode? For example, I'd ideally want to use the +/- keys as the thumbs-up and thumbs-down buttons for Pandora, but use those same keys to cycle through favorite "stations" in "regular" internet radio.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.