Home > Consumer Reviews > Squeezebox Wireless Network Music Player - All Black

I ordered the squeezebox with some trepidation. I have previously owned the Philips Streamium (clunky software, and not fully Vista-compatible) and the Logitech Wireless DJ (looks great but really isn't a finished product) and neither really lived up to expectations. Squeezebox, however, is different.

As other reviewers have noted, the Squeezebox (it's now a logitech product and will come with a Logitech logo on it - rather than the SlimDevices logo shown in the pictures on this page) has the 'finished product' feel that the others lack.

Setup was really straightforward. First you download SlimServer from the web (which is fully Vista compatible) and it searches your hard drive for any music files. It indexes them in the same way as I-tunes automatically. The interface is web-driven and worked fine for me in IE7, Firefox 2 and Opera 9. Next you connect Squeezebox to your router (use an ethernet cable) and key in your wireless network settings. Squeezebox accepts WEP, WPA and WPA-2, which is much better than the Roku Soundbridge (for example). You use your remote control to enter the WPA key and you're away.

In use, Squeezebox is fast and straightforward. There are basically two separate programs in the firmware. One is the SlimServer, which you can use to play your music collection (it supports nearly all file formats), or to browse internet radio. You'll benefit from a Live365 passowrd (which you get from www.live365.com and is free), which you key in to the web at www.slimdevices.com. The web links to your own Squeezebox through a PIN. Live365 gives you access to 1000's of web radio programs (though to avoid adverts, you would need to buy a live365 subscription at around $50US). The second is the SqueezeNetwork, which lets you access the internet radio (Live 365, Pandora etc) and RSS newsfeeds with your PC switched off. Pandora is only available in the US, though....

Sound quality is excellent, and the display size can be varied to suit the short-sighted, or with some basic (but fun) visualisations. I've had no buffering problems or drop-outs at all on a standard home broadband connection.

Connections to your amp can be by RCA phono plug (the usual red-and-white cable) or by optical or coaxial audio cable.

All-in-all I'm very - VERY - pleased. If you're in the market for a streaming, audio-only device to connect to your HiFi, this is the one!

I have been searching for an audio streaming solution for some time and all the reviews of other options were very mixed, especially on multi function equipment which just seems to try to do too much. The Squeezbox works and works very well indeed. I set mine up in ten minutes, after reading the manual first (breaking the habit of a lifetime), no problems so far, sound quality is excellent considering where its coming from and I gave up Audiophile status in the 1980's. I am happy with what I hear, no dropouts, wireless is very reliable and the server software for the resource PC is very simple and effective. I was a bit concerned about being able to see the screen from across the room, but the display is superb and is easily visable at its largest setting from 10-12 feetaway. buy one today!!

Well, I agree with the majority of reviewers who report how good this is, and wonder if the solitary disappointed reviewer has got a bad example - the alternative explanation is too terrible to contemplate! I also am a hi fi buff, with several £000s of Linn etc high end separates in my regular sound system - and am VERY HAPPY with what the Squeezebox does. One thing I did notice is that the Squeezebox does not sound at all good played through my Linn amps (very muffled sound), so maybe there are incompatibilities with some specific systems?

My main use is for streaming Internet radio through my secondary hi fi system (a very nice little Denon micro setup), the installation worked fine, and the music quality is excellent. Try radioparadise.com for a superb eclectic mix of music from the 60s to the present, without adverts.

EVERYONE who has listened to this in my home has been impressed, and many are now considering buying one themselves .............

Say goodbye to searching through your cds. Simply rip them losslessly and stream them with the Squeezebox to any amplifier and speakers; as long as the range is not more than 40 feet. Fidelity is as good as the original CD. One point of information, since the Squeezebox includes a very good Digital/Analog Converter (DAC) you will actually get better fidelity using the analog RCA connectors rather than the digital optical or coaxial connectors, unless you are feeding the signal into a high level DAC of your own.

Now, I'm a massive gadget fan, as my bank and credit card balances will testify. I'm also a massive music lover, so as you can imagine this product, before I ordered it, had the capacity to tick all of my proverbial boxes!

Thankfully, upon it's arrival and installation, I realised it's far better than I ever thought it would be.

Firstly, the server software for this device must be downloaded from the internet (the Slimdevices website), for free obviously.

Before I splashed out and made my purchase I downloaded and installed it to see how it'd run on my PC and how easy it was to use etc. I think that's probably a decent bit of advice for anyone interested in buying one too.

Basically you install the software onto the PC/Mac/NAS (you don't even need a PC to be on if you use a compatible NAS - check the Slimdevices website for a list of compatible NAS equipment) on which your music is stored and let it scan your music folder(s) for your tunes which it then makes available via Artist / Album / Genre / Year selection menus!

For this scanning it relies heavily on your file ID tags (artist, track number, album etc) being correct etc although I believe this is not an absolute must. If your music is well tagged and organised however, it makes the whole process, and the interface with the device itself, much, much easier to set up and use.

Connected to my Aego M 2.1 speaker set up I can assure you the Squeezebox is absolutely stunning in terms of it's sound and performance. It has a high quality Woolfson bit of gadgetry inside that ensures the sound quality is absolutely perfect with well-ripped, decent bitrate music - I'd suggest for MP3 192k as a minimum to ensure decent quality.

The remote control works intuitively and, as the device is entirely menu driven using the up, down, left and right keys on the remote (or via the web interface if you prefer) it's child's play to use.

There are plenty of plugins available for the device too, all easy to install. For example listening to BBC live and listen again streams is a simple task with the AlienBBC plugin. I have a screensaver plugin installed which enables me to keep abreast of live football scores as and when the goals go in. Genius!

The internet radio feature is excellent too. The world is basically your oyster when it comes to which radio stations broadcasting on the net you want to listen to. If the station you want isn't in the myriad of listening options already configured on the player, you can add it yourself with a couple of clicks of the mouse. Excellent!

The device works well both wired and wirelessly in terms of it's connection to the internet and/or your PC/music server. Wireless performance is good, with no drop outs to report. It can be connected to powered speakers (I can recommend the Aego M 2.1's I use, unreservedly) or a full hi-fi / amp set up. Basically it can be connected to anything with the standard RCA inputs!

I don't have a single gripe or negative about this device apart from maybe it's price which I suspect is off-putting for a lot of people, understandably.

But I assure you, when all is said and done, it's a quality device, with quality support and third party plugins and it definitely produces a quality sound which is well worth every penny.