SB2 can't handle downloaded music?

JLM · « **on:** 4 Sep 2005, 11:27 am »

According to this article (thanks Paul Bui) SqueezeBox 2 doesn't work with iTunes, Napster, and other downloaded music formats:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/061805dnbussqueezebox2.1d8322e0.html

Does it work with any such formats?

Anyone know if this will/can be corrected in the future?

thanks.

zybar · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 Sep 2005, 12:33 pm »

While the SB2 won't work with certian proprietary formats, it does interface with iTunes and can certainly play songs that are encoded in the following formats:

MP3, WAV, FLAC, WMA, AAC, and Ogg Vorbis

I think the issue here isn't so much with Slim Devices as Apple or others trying to protect their downloads.

George

Ferdi · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 10:59 am »

It seems to me the issue here is not one of format (MP3, AAC,..) but of DRM used that SB2 cannot decode.

Doesn't bother me but might be an issue for others.

JLM · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 11:56 am »

O.K. I'm very interested in all this minimalist digital sourcing, but I'm a computer dunce. The idea of simply downloading audiophile quality music is very appealing and necessary in the future I'm seeing as bricks and mortar music sources, like stereo shops, continue to close and fossil fuels become more and more scarce/expensive. Why should I drive to a store (time/fuel/potential accidents/auto wear & tear) to buy something I can't audition and costs more?

Sorry all, but now the above link doesn't seem to work (expired?) and Ferdi I don't know what "DRM" is.

thanks again

Ferdi · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 12:19 pm »

HI, not being a computer "dunce", I know what DRM is but I am a communication "dunce" for assuming everyone does.

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management. In practice, this term is used to describe those measures used to stop you from copying music or sometimes copying more than once.

Apple iThe Music Store uses a type of DRM that allows a limited amount of sharing of downloaded music between Macs/PCs on a local network and has some other limitiations/features, all this using iTunes.

It is understandable (from some points of view) and annoying (from others) that Apple and other online music stores have put in place some limitations to copying.

This is where the problems are coming from with SB2. It is simple to copy a physical CD you own to a PC and play that music from the PC to an SB2. With downloaded music with DRM features, playing back through SB2 is a problem because the DRM features are not supported by SB2, although the file format/encoding format used may be.

Not sure if using more words makes it better....

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 03:46 pm »

I think Jeff has brought up a valid point. Music lovers should be able to sample and purchase online only the songs they like in WAVE or FLAC or several other formats that stream devices similar to SB2 can read. So I hope Slim Devices will upgrade their firmware to that compatibility level. Plus, that would save many of us the time and effort in ripping CDs.

On the other hand, some others (at least me included) seem to afford the time and labor to enjoy the ripping process. I experimented with several formats and variations of ripping and have found which I like most, making it which sounding best to my ears. The SB2 is that good.

That led me to get more serious about ripping CDs, and I am considering getting a Plextor drive just to do the task.

Sorry for the off topic rambling.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 05:08 pm »

Paul, I would doubt that this is off topic - the way I read this, is member JLM looking around at options, and folks posting their thoughts.

sure, the initial request is about downloaded music, but sharing your experience with ripping, and your direction with doing so, makes sense to me.

I am waiting a while, to see where this SB2 thing is going - not to say that I don't want one, but I don't want to again be getting the early, or middle mods for something - I have been on the early curve for a few things lately, and am waiting this one out for a little longer.

Most of the music I want to listen to is on cd, captive in my house, or on the drives of friends, so I expect to invest in an outboard HD, and then hook it up in the basement, full of ripped music, in FLAC, and run the SB wired. Just my thoughts.

If I start reading more about great wireless experiences, in the suburbs, and including 2 floors of separation between PC and SB2, then I will feel more comfortable with the wireless thing.

Now THAT was off topic!

Hope that eventually the SB2 will support downloads for such formats including DRM, and since the company appears to be forward thinking (support LINUX, willing to partner with modders etc), I suspect it will happen.

zybar · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 05:15 pm »

Quote from: mcgsxr

If I start reading more about great wireless experiences, in the suburbs, and including 2 floors of separation between PC and SB2, then I will feel more comfortable with the wireless thing...

I have my system setup in a basement and my wireless router is on the second floor and the other side of the house.

I have not had a single glitch or dropout with my SB2 and I live in the 'burbs.

I don't have an extender or booster on my Linksys Wireless router.

George

Wayne1 · « **Reply #8 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 05:20 pm »

FWIW Mark,

My SB 2 wireless will pick up the streams from my router 2 floors distant.

I am quite definately in the suburbs.

Wayne

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #9 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 05:51 pm »

Quote from: Wayne1

FWIW Mark,

My SB 2 wireless will pick up the streams from my router 2 floors distant.

Wayne

Same here!

I'm using a Linksys 802.11g router.

Come on, Mark, jump on in!

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #10 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 06:29 pm »

Quote from: Vinnie R.

Quote from: Wayne1
FWIW Mark,

My SB 2 wireless will pick up the streams from my router 2 floors distant.

Wayne

Same here!

I'm using a Linksys 802.11g router.

Come on, Mark, jump on in!

Ditto!

Did I mention the SB2 passed the acid test with headphones? As the source, it's so musically impressive via the Beyerdynamic DT831/Decware MLB headphone setup that I wanted to see how a more ambitious setup like AKG K1000/ClariT monoblocks would perform.

JLM · « **Reply #11 on:** 5 Sep 2005, 10:12 pm »

The house we're building is wired with CAT5 and RG6 coax to 16 locations. The house is within 500 feet of only three other houses, but I didn't want them sharing our wireless network/data. I can certainly live with purchasing CDs for a while, but agree with Mark in that I don't feel like being the trailblazer on this. My Sony S7700/Ack dAck! v.2 is plenty fine for now, although it would be nice to have internet streaming and the digital volume control.

mcgsxr · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 Sep 2005, 01:00 pm »

Apologies to JLM for poaching his thread, but I cannot resist some more detail about this!

Good to see that some are using wireless over some distance, I will try to be more concise about what I have, to see if y'all think it would work out well.

The new house is a 2 storey, with full basement. This is to say that you walk in on the main level, and from there, you go up to where the 4 bedrooms are, or go down to where the system lives.

So, the PC is presently living up in bedroom 3, top of the stairs, and front right side of the house, if standing and facing the house from outside. The system, is on the bottom level, and back left...

So that leaves me with both horizontal distance, and vertical distance. I would hazard a guess that the horizontal distance is around 20-25 feet. The vertical distance would be roughly 30-35 feet. There are two full floors (carpet on upper level, tile on main floor).

Still think it works?

I know I know, I should go get a darn router and try it with wireless G, but since I don't have anything wireless to check it with... I would have to buy ALL the gear, to try it.

I am interested in this way of listening, and I would like to make it work, but I am not sure that simply using this method would not work better.

http://www.audioasylum.com/forums/pcaudio/messages/4983.html

That way, I could simply park an HD, wired with Ethernet, somewhere in the basement, and KNOW it would work... plus I could turn off the PC when not in use.

Really just trying to find the $400-$500 it will take!

Thanks,

JLM · « **Reply #13 on:** 6 Sep 2005, 02:30 pm »

Mark,

No problem. Maybe what folks like me need is to wait for the "SqueezeBox for Dummies" book to come out.

I have an old P2 computer sitting around that could hold a couple of big drives.

I suppose that our wired network/router at home could handle another PC that could be kept remote.

zybar · « **Reply #14 on:** 6 Sep 2005, 02:35 pm »

Quote from: mcgsxr

The new house is a 2 storey, with full basement. This is to say that you walk in on the main level, and from there, you go up to where the 4 bedrooms are, or go down to where the system lives.

So, the PC is presently living up in bedroom 3, top of the stairs, and front right side of the house, if standing and facing the house from outside. The system, is on the bottom level, and back left...

So that leaves me with both horizontal distance, and vertical distance. I would hazard a guess that the horizontal distance is around 20-25 feet. The vertical distance would be roughly 30-35 feet. There are two full floors (carpet on upper level, tile on main floor).

Still think it works?

YES!!!

As I posted above, this is how I am setup and I have NO issues.

George

zybar · « **Reply #15 on:** 6 Sep 2005, 02:37 pm »

Quote from: JLM

Mark,

No problem. Maybe what folks like me need is to wait for the "SqueezeBox for Dummies" book to come out.

I have an old P2 computer sitting around that could hold a couple of big drives.

I suppose that our wired network/router at home could handle another PC that could be kept remote.

I am using an old P III (700Mhz) to host my files and it works fine.

The only issue is that when ripping cd's I max out the cpu during the compression phase with FLAC.

George

Papajin · « **Reply #16 on:** 6 Sep 2005, 03:00 pm »

Quote

The only issue is that when ripping cd's I max out the cpu during the compression phase with FLAC.

And you don't necessarily have to rip from the same machine you normally serve from.

Vinnie R. · « **Reply #17 on:** 6 Sep 2005, 03:55 pm »

Quote from: JLM

Maybe what folks like me need is to wait for the "SqueezeBox for Dummies" book to come out.
.

Hi JLM,

I was at the bookstore the other day and noticed that there is an "iPod and iTunes for Dummies" book out, so who knows!

Recently, I had a customer buy a SB2 and had it sent directly to me for mods, and he told me that he only knew the basics of computers and had a lot to learn. He was very willing to learn, and it turns out that he is now ripping CDs with EAC, using FLAC, and having fun learning! I was very proud of him, and I'm sure he is very proud of himself for learning and embracing this new and hot technology. It may take some time to get up to speed, but YOU CAN DO IT! Slim Devices has phone support, and people on the forums (Slim Forum, Audiocircle, etc.) are usually very kind to help out, and you'd be surprised how much you can figure out on your own by reading and experimenting.

Regards,

Paul_Bui · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 Sep 2005, 08:50 pm »

Jeff,

I went to the Public Library and borrowed 10 music CDs. Later on I found out that I could borrow maximum of 20 CDs at a time.

Papajin · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 Sep 2005, 09:35 pm »

Not to mention illegal.