Slimdevices Squeezebox - £229


Our Rating: 4.5star.gif

Your Rating:

Rating: 2.6/5 (133 votes cast)


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Review By:
Andrew Taylor

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Slimdevices Squeezebox

The Squeezebox 3 is the latest basic model from Slimdevices

After the success of the Squeezebox 2, the product was taken one step forward with a dramatic redesign (the main compaint with the Squeezebox 2 was the design)

This new design means it looks as good alongside the hifi, as it does in the kitchen/bedroom

Sound quality from the unit is excellent and this is where it stands out from the competitors, especially with support for all lossless audio formats

The web interface is a very useful inclusion as it allows control of all Squeezeboxes from one computer, or wireless enabled PDA

Support for BBC Radio (via the AlienBBC plugin), synchronization across rooms and Internet Radio (including the excellent Pandora service) are yet more excellent features

For those who like VU Meters, this is available as one of the screensavers

The only drawback of this product is that setting up the software can sometimes be difficult

  RatingNotes
Price 4star.gif For the quality of components, the price is excellent, but compared to the competition it seems pricey.
Sound Quality 5star.gif Superb, high grade components and plenty of upgrades available. Digital output for use with a DAC
Ease of Use 4star.gif Once installed, it is very easy to use, however, installation can occasionally be problematic. Superb web interface allows control by PC, PDA, web tablet.
Compatibility 3.5star.gif Requires the slimserver software on a PC/NAS which does restrict options very slightly. No UPnP support. The inclusion of Pandora is a big plus point.
Looks 5star.gif Excellent, a great improvement over the previous SB2.
Audio Formats 4.5star.gif Supports WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, WMA, AAC Loses out only on lack of support for itunes purchased music. Also Squeezenetwork internet radio and BBC internet radio stations (via a plugin)
Reliability 4star.gif Initial problems with the screens now solved. Hardware is very reliable, but wireless can be temperamental
Networking Support 5star.gif
  • 802.11b and 802.11g
  • WEP 128-bit and WPA
  • Ethernet Port
Overall 4.5star.gif The choice for audiophiles and computer enthusiasts. Sound quality is superb, but may not be suitable for those not technically minded.

Advantages

  • Sound quality
  • Quality of components
  • Pandora Support
  • Audio formats supported
  • Looks
  • Plugins available/open source software
  • Web interface

Disadvantages

  • Can be tricky to setup
  • Lack of support for itunes purchased music
  • Wifi can be temperamental with some routers

Supported hardware/software

Top

Compatibility

Top
Music Format (Info) Compatible
WAV
yes
AIFF
yes
FLAC
yes
MP3
yes
AAC
yes
OGG
yes
WMA
yes
Wireless Method (Info) Compatible
Wireless B
yes
Wireless G
yes
WEP 64
yes
WEP 128
yes
WPA
yes
Top
Internet Radio Options Compatible
Operate Without PC
yes
Custom Presets
No
IPv6
No
HTTP Proxy
No
Multicast
yes
Clock Radio
yes

Comments to date: 3. This is page 1 of 1.

Job Chithalan   Goring, West Sussex-

Posted at 4:57pm on Sunday, April 8th, 2007

As usual, excellent, essential briefing without waffle.

Mike   Cumbria-

Posted at 7:52pm on Wednesday, January 17th, 2007

Andy, then software shouldn't be updating that often unless you are using different versions of slimserver on different computers.

The good thing with squeezeboxes is the upgradability. Help on Forums is excellent.

Andy Irwin   Nth Ireland-

Posted at 1:50pm on Friday, September 22nd, 2006

I now have 3 Squeezeboxes and am very impressed. Only slight issue is the constant software upgrades Slim Devices keep putting (it's too hard to keep up with them).

I had AudioFi build me a custom server with RAID disk array etc. Excellent after sales service and a general "good guy" to deal with.



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