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thomas marquart

Photography and IT

Squeezebox

Today, I got my newest tech-toy delivered: a Squeezebox2. I love it! It's an audio streaming client which means that it is a little box that takes all my music stored on my computer via the local network and plays it for the stereo on which it is sitting. Here are some of the things that I find most remarkable:

  • very good sound quality
  • bright and large display
  • setup in a snap: it recognizes a dhcp-server and finds a slimserver if it already exists in the local net -> it literally ran 20 seconds after I plugged it in.
  • totally remote controlled and smart menus that make it easy to browse a large sound collection
  • analog and optical outputs, ethernet input (wireless version can be obtained for little more money), headphone jack
  • server software:
    • it is an open source (GPL) perl script.
    • linux is officially supported.
    • since the box only understands mp3 and flac, all other formats are converted on the fly by the server (you choose the quality).
    • webserver-interface for configuration (each client separately) and control.
    • if you have more than one client (that is the squeezebox or a software-emulation of it, see below) they can be synced to each other.
    • the server does not only commuticate with squeezeboxes but also provides a raw mp3-stream that you can listen to with any player you like.
    • highly customisable: scroll speed of text, text size and content, even which menu entries are available via the remote control and in which order - you name it! (screenshot here - 130k)
  • easy playlist generation and storage - choose either via the remote or the webserver and mix the control mechanisms as you wish.
  • there is a one-to-one software-emulation of the box -> each computer can become a squeezebox. even my beloved ssh-tunnels are supported for listening over the internet without opening another hole in your firewall.
  • do not underestimate this last point: it means that you can go there now and download the server and software-client and try it before you order, or even use it for streaming your mp3-collection over
    the net.
  • native support for internet radio from shoutcast, live365 and others
  • active user community which provides additional plugins (want to read the slashdot-ticker on the box' display? no problem ;-))

This might seem like big advertisement but I promise I am not payed by them :-). I simply really like the product. It's easy to use and at the same time allows for "advanced usage" and customisation. The open source code and possibility to hack it yourself or write plugins makes it the perfect geek toy. I bought mine directly via their website and it came a few days later with UPS. I had expected them to charge me the customs and VAT costs, but I seem to have luckily gotten around those.
Update, June 7th: I was wrong. Today UPS sent an invoice with an additional 640 SEK. So I payed 2770 SEK in total which is still a little less than what the (few and suspicious) resellers want here.

Cool new application for SqueezeBox—a Sonos killer

Submitted by mark (not verified) on 21 July, 2005 - 18:52.

I just setup a Pluto Home system (smarthome + media server). It’s really cool and works great with SqueezeBoxes. Just plug the squeeze box into an Ethernet jack. When it sees the squeezebox request an IP address it automatically installs the slimserver and sets everything up on its own. There’s no software to install at all. And if you have a Bluetooth mobile phone, that turns into the remote control—complete with cover art, access to playlists, etc. Plus, it knows how to control all the other stuff too—so when I start playing music on my squeeze box it automatically turns on the stereo and sets it to the right input.

There’s only 1 problem… They have these interactive maps so I can see what’s playing around the house and make the same thing play in multiple destinations. If all the destinations are squeezeboxes, it’s great. But if some are squeezeboxes and some are media PC’s, Pluto uses slimserver to go to the squeeze boxes, and videolan to stream to the PC’s—and the 2 ‘groups’ are not in sync. They say it’s because the only slimp3 player that emulates squeezebox2 and runs under Linux requires Java. Pluto sends a network boot image to all the media pc’s in the house—that’s how it turns your other PC’s into set top boxes. They don’t want to add the whole java runtime to the net boot image and bloat it just to get a slimp3 player. There are 2 open source C++ slimp3 players that are small and lean, but they are old and don’t support the new protocols.

So, is anybody out there working on a C++ squeezebox2 player? This is the only small piece that’s missing. With that piece this would be a total sonos killer. You would still have a cool GUI with cover art. But it’s even better than Sonos’ because it uses your existing mobile phone—one less thing to lose—and your music follows you automatically as you move throughout the house. Plus it does movies—not just music. And controls a/v equipment and home automation too. And costs 1/10 the price.

Re: Cool new application for SqueezeBox—a Sonos killer

Submitted by thomas on 25 July, 2005 - 16:13.

I have no idea, unfortunately. I tried to sync the java-player with the box as well, but the lag was too big. I suggest you rather post your suggestions in the squeezebox community forums that are accessible via slimdevices.com. This site has too few viewers to attract enough attention to your great idea! :-)
cheers, /thomas

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