Just received my new Duet (thank you Slim Devices for the free upgrade to overnight shipping), and as a first time Squeezebox user, I'm pretty happy with the purchase. I'm also a first time poster, though have been browsing the forums for some time in preparation for my selection. I thought it might be helpful to share my initial observations, and offer a few suggestions for improved usability.
My environment: (1) Squeezebox receiver, (1) Squeezebox controller, Intel 6750 2GB RAM Vista 64 PC (always on), DLink DNS 623 NAS, DLink DIR-655 Gb Wireless Router, Nokia N800 with N770 skin, whole house wired with Cat 5e to central location and in-ceiling speakers. Approximately 2K albums, mostly ripped from CD. NAS (over Gigabit) -> PC -> SBR -> Denon 4308 (4 zone receiver) -> 6 speaker selector -> speakers. Intend to upgrade to additional SBR's in the future, and probably will get an iPod touch or add'l SBC. Speaker selector has two inputs, and each of the six speakers can be set with A or B input and volume. I considered using the Denon receiver or my PS3 for whole-house streaming with remote control, and while supported, this is not an option due to the poor implementation of both. Denon has a web interface that is accessible over wifi and multi-zones, but beyond on/off and volume, it is buggy and cumbersome. Ive found that browsing of large music collections on the Denon and PS3 is unusable. Also considered Sonos and Roku. Squeezebox differentiators over competition included: value/price, SB Controller, SC7 robustness (also tried SlimServer, and SC7 seems much more polished), availability of great skins for Nokia and other devices, ability to control any (and listen) from PC, positive reviews, ability to try with SoftSqueeze before purchase, ease of use, future potential based on Slim Devices update history, Open Source, and Slim Devices forum involvement. Limitations that I considered, but decided to overlook: lack of direct access to NAS, PC reliant architecture (SN is an exception), inability to play more than three rhapsody streams simultaneously, theoretical limit of 6-8 SBRs due to architecture, smaller SBC remote screen than other controllers, centralized wireless (to router in upstairs closet) versus a mesh network. It remains to be seen whether any of these will become issues for me. System setup was straightforward (entering the SSID and shared key was a little tedius with the scroll wheel, but setup is done just once). SBR wired w/Cat5e to router, SBC over 802.11n with WPA2. Already had SC7 installed. System was up and running in about 15 minutesit simply works :). SBC and SBR both updated automatically upon connection. Usability: Ive found the controller to be responsive, though there are periods of delay, even with a good wireless signal (note my 4K+ albums). Periodically, selecting "Artists" or "Albums" to search or browse, results in a 10-15 second pause before presenting the list. For browsing, once the list is loaded, the remote is very responsive. Note browsing on the SB controller is MUCH better than the Nokia N800. Browsing by album or artist once the list has been accessed (cached?) makes good use of the scroll wheel, though I have noticed that the list will periodically pause during accelerated scrolling for about 10 secondsnot sure if this is a caching issue, as there are also times when there is no pause. It's not frequent or long enough to affect the overall experience. Hopefully, these minor delays can be addressed with a firmware update (I may also consider moving music to my server and off the NAS to potentially improve performance). For searching, I prefer the PC or Nokia N800, versus the current implementation of the SBC, due to the keyboard input. Navigating the menus to search (especially with the aforementioned delay), then entering text using the current scroll wheel method is a little tedius versus browse/scrolling. Volume level adjustment is near instantaneous. Access to Internet Radio stations is seamless and straightforward with the SBCnavigating is quick and easy, and the selection is large. I havent yet signed up for any premium services. Sound quality is very good through the Denon receiver. Also, I have synchronized with two PCs running SoftSqueeze, and synch of streaming music, including Internet Radio, is excellent through SC7 in my limited testing. While I am generally pleased after my first day, I do have a few suggestions for improvements, and I am interested in others feedback: 1. I find scrolling when browsing artists and albums could be improved (I haven't quite gotten consistent results from acceleration where it moves to the "scroll by letter" mode) with a large music collection (it appears I am not alone: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=44295&page=2). I counted the revolutions of the scroll wheel, and estimated from 35-80 turns (it seems to vary, though it may be that I'm not yet fully proficient) to get through the list of artists. Suggestion: It would be nice to have an option on the controller for a collapsible browse list, with numeric/alphabetic headings that could be selected with the center button to expand the list. This approach would enable much quicker access to selections in large collections. Options for collapsed browsing might be (none), (expand/collapse per heading), (expand/collapse all). 2. As noted, searching using the scroll wheel on the SBC can be somewhat tedius and time consuming versus scrolling. Suggestion: Searching would be much more usable if it utilized "autocomplete" logic (similar to MS Internet Explorer or Lazy Search) using the SC music collection for lookup, and limiting the available letters with each letter added. A cursory search resulted in this thread started by Stuart H., discussing possible ways to address this: http://www.hickinbottom.com/jive-lazy-search-idea-1 3. One of the biggest draws of the SB controller is the ability to have nearly anyone be able to pick it up and select and play music. I envision a jukebox using dynamic playlists, allowing the remote to be passed around at a party, and songs to be added to the current playlist. Unfortunately, its very easy for someone (even an experienced user) to select a song, and hit Play, thereby removing the dynamic playlist if it is not saved. Suggestion: It would be great to have the ability to be able to return to the previous playlist (essentially an undo feature) so a dynamic playlist isnt lost simply by pressing play. 4. When browsing on the controller, selecting an artist leads to a list of albums by that artist. Each album must be selected individually to view a list of the tracks on the album. Suggestion: For those of us with multiple albums per artist, it would be great to have the option to browse artist and upon selection, view all songs by the artist, and skip the album listing. 5. There is no Browse Songs. Would this be too taxing on the controller for large lists? 6. The pop-up notification of track added, track playing, etc. are great, though somewhat intrusive when browsing. Suggestion: It would be nice to have the option for this to close upon movement of the scroll wheel. If no movement, it could remain for the current duration and close. Bill -- BillS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BillS's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=15928 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=44425
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