Home > Consumer Reviews > Logitech Squeezebox Duet - WiFi Internet Radio receiver with wireless MP3 music streaming

I've owned Squeezeboxes for a little while now, but thought I'd wait a while before opting for the Duet, which I installed last week. After using it thoroughly over the past few days, I'm ready to review it. And it's a cracker!

First things first, the Duet works with your existing Squeezebox. If you already own one, then you just need to buy the controller - not necessarily both the controller and the squeezebox streamer (unless you want two Squeezeboxes - for example in two rooms).

I read the review that said that range was reduced (from the Squeezebox 3), and I just can't duplicate that at all. The controller operates via WiFi, so if you get a WiFi signal, then it's 'in range'. I wandered all over my house, into areas where windows reports the signal as 'poor' on my laptop, and the Duet controller worked just fine.

I also think that the reviewers who said this wasn't 'plug and play' do have a point - but then again, I have yet to come across a media streamer that is. In audiophile terms, the Burr-Brown DAC of Squeezebox is vastly superior to that used by the 'competition', and there are now customisers who can fit power supplies with audiophile components if you want to raise the quality to that esoteric 'golden ears' category - but it sounds just fine to me 'as is'.

The unit has a built-in wifi connection, and a 2.5" colour screen that really frees your music. It's like using your ipod to choose the music, but your HiFi playing it.

As before, there are essentially two seperate programs in the firmware. 1. You can stream media from any PC in your home and connect to web radio using Squeeze Centre (Last FM, ShoutCast, Live 365, Radio IO, Radio Time - which gets you local radio throughout the world and - for a payment of around £30 - Live 365 gives you 1000's of custom radio stations).
2. You can connect to web radio directly (without switching on your PC) through SqueezeNetwork.
3. You switch between the two in 'Settings', by choosing 'Music Source'.

To set up, you'll need a bit of organisation. Before doing anything, it's an idea to register with LastFM, Radio Time, and Live 365 free (or Premium with a payment). The web addresses are www.last.fm www.live365.com and www.radiotime.com. You also need to get the WEP or WPA key for your wireless network. Once you have login IDs and passwords, then go to slimdevices (who make the squeezebox) www.slimdevices.com and download SlimServer. Install this, create an account, and store your passwords for the stations that you just obtained. Then, you switch on Squeezebox and enter your wireless key - you're away.

In operation, I found it great. I had already given my music appropraie album art, and Squeezebox duet shows this on the controller, along with the time, RSS feeds etc. There have been two crashes since I bought it - one of which needed me to remove the battery and start again. It's a pain, but not the end of the world - and i have used it for much of the time (I'm on holiday for these two weeks).

Overall - very highly recommended. If you own a Squeezebox then you should go for it. If not, then be methodical and organised and it should all work just fine. The sound quality is great, the graphics excellent, and the unit feels high quality to me (in a metal-and-piano black holder that is very well-made. And you can download extras from the Slim Devices community - but I'd make sure your unit works well and is stable before doing that.

In short - don't hesitate - buy one. It's a fraction of the price of a Sonos (the only real competition)!

I own several products from Slim Devices/Logitech, including three different models of Squeezebox. I recently purchased a Duet system as well. So far I have been very happy with it! It works with my existing Squeezeboxes in addition to the new receiver that comes in the Duet package. It is very nice having a graphical remote that does not require line-of-site to the player. Getting the Duet also inspired me to download album art for all of my music, since it displays it so nicely.

Regarding the other review about the poor wireless range, this has not been my experience at all. I live in an average-sized home and I've had no reception problems anywhere in the house. I'm on several of the Slim Devices mailing lists where there has been much discussion of the Duet, and wireless range has not been a problem that has been mentioned much if at all.

A final note -- Slim Devices is perhaps the best company I've ever dealt with in terms of customer service, passion about their products, and supporting their legacy products well past the point when other companies would have stopped. They still release software which enhances their very first product, which is many years old now. And they take pains to ensure that all generations of their products work together seamlessly. The company bends over backwards to please its customers. How many companies have the head of the company posting on the tech support forums, answering questions and responding to customers?

I have never regretted any purchase I have made from Slim Devices, and I highly recommend any of their products.

A very easy to use, good great looking product that can be set-up and configured in around 1 hour.

All you need is your network WEP or WAP details handy, your pc switched on and you can send music from your PC to your hi-fi in no time.

The only draw back to this product is that unless you subscribe to Logitechs music locker you have to have your pc on when you want to listen to something on your hard drive.

I would rather turn my pc on than mess around looking for a CD.

Avoid this product until such time as they have got the bugs out. I have two receivers, one duet controller and an SB3. The SB3 works perfectly, which is why I "upgraded" to the Duet. The wireless range of the new receivers is much less than that of the SB3 but an even bigger problem is the instability of the wireless links. Every day I wonder whether the system will work today. If I switch off my computer I can then expect to spend an hour or so trying to reset the receivers, either the network will not be available, or the music library will not be found, or the receivers will not show up. What fun.

This is a great little product. Love the Album art, track metadata, FLAC playback, quality of the built in DAC, portability... I could go on!

As most other reviewers have mentioned, it's a bit tricky to setup so I'll walk you through my setup experience:

1) Firstly added the MAC addresses (handset and receiver) to my router's MAC filtering access list as I've opted for controlled wireless security in my home. This is not necessary unless you've setup MAC filtering.They are printed on each product.
2) Installed all necessary plugs and cables to each device. I opted for Ethernet and coaxial connections to my AV receiver and wireless router.
3) Placed the handset in the charging dock as the pre-charged battery life soon depletes quickly when initially setting up.
4) Registered the devices on the website link found on the printed flyer. Don't worry about the PIN at the moment.
5) Downloaded and installed SqueezeCentre from Slimdevices website to my computer.
6) On the handset searched for available wireless networks and entered my WEP key for my wireless router (assuming you have a secure wireless network)
7) Hopefully you should get a strong wireless signal showing on the handset screen. Update the handset's firmware from the setting menu.
8) After restart you should get a PIN number. Enter in the registration website for the products.
9) Then if not already done, pair the receiver with the handset. Press and hold the front button on the receiver until the logo turns solid white.
10) Finally make sure your playback device is set to the correct source, scroll to the music source (computer folder or NAS for example which you set up in SqueezeCentre's options menu - can take a while to scan the music files) and hit play!
11) Enjoy!

Hopefully this has helped iron out some of the initial setup problems that give many a headache if not too familiar with tech stuff.