Music Server

[Thad E Ginathom]

(I use a Squeezebox Classic, which it now seems from Thad is going the way of the dinosaur)

It seems that the entire Squeezebox range has fallen to the Logitech Ice Age*. I haven't seen any news on this for a couple of weeks now, but I don't suppose anything has changed.

Sonos is, perhaps, the big name in multi-room music. It has always been marketed for that purpose, whereas Squezebox, which could have been, has been seen more as a way of connecting a computer to a hifi when wires are not possible or practical. The Touch then developed as a media server, not because that is how Logitech sold it, but because that is how people used it.

I don't understand Sonos technology. However, I believe that it does not use "ordinary" wireless networking and therefore needs some sort of server device as well as the receiving box[es]. The marketing departments of companies that do this will always find ways to justify it, and those that know nothing about networking will believe them. It's a great way of selling more boxes. Great value? Well, for a long time it didn't have much competition --- and now, the seemingly-better-value product has had the rug pulled from under its feet by a company that never had any idea how to exploit its potential and its potential sales.


*I think my history may be way off here, but hey, why let facts spoil a good analogy :lol:

 

[sarge_in]

I don't understand Sonos technology. However, I believe that it does not use "ordinary" wireless networking and therefore needs some sort of server device as well as the receiving box[es]. The marketing departments of companies that do this will always find ways to justify it, and those that know nothing about networking will believe them. It's a great way of selling more boxes. Great value? Well, for a long time it didn't have much competition --- and now, the seemingly-better-value product has had the rug pulled from under its feet by a company that never had any idea how to exploit its potential and its potential sales.

Sonos is certainly a delight to use, as also mentioned by someone earlier. And EXTREMELY reliable - literally, less than 3-4 hiccups in last 2 years I have had them, and even those were most probably related to my router. Its only falling is that it can't do hi-res music. Quite expandable as well - I have my cable tv as well as Apple Airport Express connected to it, so I can distribute those sources to any of my 'zones'.

As for the 2 box requirement - it really depends on your setup. The basic requirement is that at least one of the boxes MUST be hard-wired to your network. If you can do this at the place where you also have your amp/speakers, then you do not need any other box. It is only if you cannot that you then need another box (the Bridge - $49) to connect hard-wired to the network; the main box then connects to the Bridge using the SonosNet proprietary wireless network (which works VERY well, btw).

The SQ is also very good (though I have not done a direct comparison to Squeezebox). There are also mods available for this from Wyred4Sound to upgrade its internals further if desired (expensive!).

Irrespective, it was good to have Squeezebox around for competition, so too bad it was phased out.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

The basic requirement is that at least one of the boxes MUST be hard-wired to your network. If you can do this at the place where you also have your amp/speakers, then you do not need any other box. It is only if you cannot that you then need another box (the Bridge - $49) to connect hard-wired to the network; the main box then connects to the Bridge using the SonosNet proprietary wireless network (which works VERY well, btw).

Thanks for clearing that up. I had the idea that the hard-wired box would cost as much as the remote boxes, and I see it is not that bad at all.