Music servers, your thoughts?

TONEPUB · « **on:** 28 May 2007, 06:18 am »

Just got my hands on the Sooloos Music server and it is KILLER....

It's super user freindly and lightning fast. I know, before you send
the snarly emails, the darn thing is a little spendy. But it has been
fantastic to use!!! I've never had so much fun listening to music EVER!

In case you are intrigued:

www.sooloos.com

And yep, I have a Squeezebox and a Transporter too...

Also have the McIntosh MS 300 in for review as well.

What are you guys using and what do you like/dislike??

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 May 2007, 06:32 am »

Jeff....
What is the retail price on the Sooloos Music server ? Thanks......

Chris

senad · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 May 2007, 06:46 am »

It better be! The list price is $12000. Even if I had that kind of money to spend on the audio source, I would rather buy RWA modded Olive and put the rest of the money toward the rest of the setup. Would you rather have pretty icons or better sound (unless you can afford both)?

The user interface does look nice though.

Tweaker · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 May 2007, 07:34 am »

Quote from: TONEPUB on 28 May 2007, 06:18 am

What are you guys using and what do you like/dislike??

For a server? I built one from parts ordered from Newegg and it cost me about $450.00. Feeds a SB2 using a wireless router. Not very sexy but does the job. I like the fact that I can repair/replace anything that wears out or breaks easily and cheaply, not to mention the ease of upgrading if I want or need to. The only thing I dislike is a couple times a year I have to take it outside and blow out all the dust and cat hair that have been sucked into it by the cooling fans.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 May 2007, 09:37 pm »

yep, that cat hair will get you every time...

TONEPUB · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 May 2007, 09:46 pm »

Hey Chris:

As you can see from the post, the Sooloos is pretty spendy...

However, after living with a number of these things for a while
now, it is quite a nice luxury if it's in your price range. It is
completely seamlees and user friendly.

I've talked to a number of people that have spent a lot of time
importing their files, getting the artwork together, etc and that
is a lot of front end work. Again, a lot of people have more time than
money, so I understand and that's why the Squeezebox is such
a cool little piece of gear!

But if you want the big Lexus (or insert your favorite luxury
car here) the Sooloos is the way to go. It's actually three servers
in one: the first one rips everything in FLAC/lossless, then everything
is also backed up to a second RAID array, so if you lose a hard
drive, you just drop another one in and the array repopulates the
drive you just replaced. It also runs an MP3 stream to another part of
the server so that you can download to your iPod or other MP3
player as well.

The interface is sexy and VERY easy to use. That's really the key
here. All you need to know is how to put a disc in the slot and it
does the rest. We will have a full review shortly explaining all of the
functionality in great detail.

I know it's expensive, but after using the other stuff, it's sure an
easy way to listen to your favorite music. I know at 12k its not
for everyone, but that's why we are reviewing stuff all the way down
the line!

tomjtx · « **Reply #6 on:** 28 May 2007, 11:16 pm »

The soolos shills were roundly trounced on the slim forums about 6 months ago. They have a pretty cheap dac and the sound quality is not that good.

The owner gave a load of BS about designing the software, not realizing where he was(an open source forum populated by pro designers)

ventually the soolos crooks gave up and stopped posting.

I have heard the soolos and it doesn't come close to Transporter OR SB.

It is a device for people with more money than brains.
I don't mind spending money( I have 28,000 speakers) if the cost is justified.
But the soolos people are just another bunch of high end crooks out to fleece us audio fools.

of course IMO

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 May 2007, 01:58 am »

Thanks Jeff......

csc · « **Reply #8 on:** 29 May 2007, 04:29 am »

I am a Sonos user. A before that, Squeezebox. The Sonos is quite a bit more money, but I went for the convenience of the controller, support of NAS, and no need for server side software,

That said, I always recommend Squeezeboxes and Sonos to friends.

I saw the Sooloos demo at CES....it is very slick, but I can not afford it.

Papajin · « **Reply #9 on:** 29 May 2007, 06:01 am »

Yeah darn. I was interested until the list price was quoted. Way out of my league. If the sound quality is weak on top of it, then no thanks. Right now I'm running a Boulder Modified SB2 (analog outs), but considering switching to a Sonos and outboard DAC.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #10 on:** 29 May 2007, 06:00 pm »

I have a squeezebox and a transporter, both with good luck. I am very intrigued with the Sonos
because of the price point....

So far the Sooloos has been a real joy to use, the interface is great. As for the sound, no
complaints so far, the DAC is ok, but they are coming out with a standalone later in the year.

For now, I've been using it with the new Wadia 521 DAC and am very happy. I guess I wouldn't
go so far as to say they are crooks. What they offer over what I've seen in the others is an aesthetic
and an ease of use that is appealing to quite a few people.

The geeks that want to kluge their own stuff together are always grumpy about highly priced stuff
in a nice package.

It's a big world, both approaches are good as far as I'm concerned.

The more money than brains comment is pretty immature, because most of the people I know
with a lot of money didn't get it because they are stupid. Time is a very valuable quantity to
that customer, so they don't want to build their own server and write code. It's a completely
different approach and market. It's all about convenience, look and feel for that group.

Our job is to report. We tell you what it costs, what it does and how it sounds. Whether
you want a Squeezebox, a Sooloos or something inbetween is up to you.

I just want you to enjoy listening to your system, no matter how much (or how little)
you've spent on it!

JEaton · « **Reply #11 on:** 29 May 2007, 10:05 pm »

Quote from: TONEPUB on 29 May 2007, 06:00 pm

The geeks that want to kluge their own stuff together are always grumpy about highly priced stuff in a nice package.

There you go. End of discussion.

tomjtx · « **Reply #12 on:** 29 May 2007, 10:19 pm »

Quote from: JEaton on 29 May 2007, 10:05 pm

Quote from: TONEPUB on 29 May 2007, 06:00 pm
The geeks that want to kluge their own stuff together are always grumpy about highly priced stuff in a nice package.

There you go. End of discussion.

Not really,
I am not a computer geek, one could say that I am rather computer illiterate.

It is pretty easy to use itunes and load slimserver. Then all you need is a laptop as a remote and a computer with a large external HD.

If I can put that together , anyone can

Then you have a good interface.

My comments about the soolos have to do with it's unjustifiable price.
The soolos owner got into bogus justifications for the "advanced" expensive software and the open source developers there exposed his arguments as innacurate (to say the least)
The soolos guy also had a female shill posting breezy comments and the whole thing was very cheesy.

Go to the slim forums and do a search on soolos and you can follow the thread.
The soolos guy really gave a bad impression of his company.

I could see 4,000 IF the soolos dac was as good as the Transporter, OK , even 6,000> But 12,000?

Nothing in the hardware or software justifies that cost.
And that is why I stand by my comment "more money than brains"
Yes, someone intelligent can suffer from financial stupidity at times

The whole slant of soolos seems aimed at an affluent consumer that is NOT discerning in his purchases, but is purchasing status more than quality.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #13 on:** 29 May 2007, 10:41 pm »

Quote from: tomjtx on 29 May 2007, 10:19 pm

And that is why I stand by my comment "more money than brains"

It's always relative. I mean, I think Bill Gates probably looks at $1200 and $12000 and doesn't think there's that much of a difference to his wallet...

I don't consider that to be a matter of "more money than brains" as much it is "Enough money that it doesn't matter"...

tomjtx · « **Reply #14 on:** 29 May 2007, 10:51 pm »

I see your point, Phil and I basically agree. To some 12,000 can be like 12.00

I don't know if you followed that soolos thread some months ago but I am probably reacting also to the company's marketing strategy which I think is a bit insulting.
Also I think we are just seing the beginning of streaming audio and the soolos type product will probably be available for 2,000 or less in a few years.

That is another reason I wouldn't buy it.

woodsyi · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 May 2007, 02:04 pm »

I won't ever know what it would be like to not care if it's $120 or $1200 or $12000. What I know is that I don't want to be had. No matter what the cost, I want to pay a commensurate amount. I would kick myself for spending an extra $20 if other stores carried the same stuff for that much less. OTOT, I don't begrudge spending $300 on a bottle of Hennessy Paradis even though I can get a bottle of VS for $30. If I feel the price is right, I will pay it if I want it and could afford it. This one; I will pass.

mcullinan · « **Reply #16 on:** 30 May 2007, 07:47 pm »

I have a Squeezebox v3 that I run with my PowerMac which is upstairs. I run the optical out of the SB3 to a Lavry DA-10 DAC which seems to be a very good combo. The SB3 is easy to use, well organized and pretty simple to set up, (on a mac) I can even access the server from my PSP to scroll through songs and see album covers etc. Great lil device.
Mike

viggen · « **Reply #17 on:** 31 May 2007, 11:07 pm »

I wonder what the cost driver is, the software, hardware, marketing or the model on the webpage. I am planning on getting an IBM tablet with multitouch hooked up to an USB dac. This Sooloos really caught my eye until I saw the mentioned price tag.

cytocycle · « **Reply #18 on:** 13 Jun 2007, 02:15 am »

I run 2 Squeezeboxes and I use my TablePC via web browser to control my collection by album art just like sooloos.... Definitely cheaper and with the Bolder Mods it sounds great... Prices and front ends will come down in price and hopefully sound good. I bought the Sonos (easiest to setup), but trying to locate one song with 40,000 songs takes forever from the remote... if your collection is small and your patient (spin spin spin around the dial to rotate the letters..) ... I would buy a multiple Sonos system for my parents house because of the cool remote.

TONEPUB · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 Jun 2007, 07:25 am »

As always, I think whatever system works for your budget and level of technical
expertise is great!

What's really cool is that this is such an interesting way to mixup and enjoy
your music collection! I'm still a hardcore analog person and love my vinyl,
but when freinds are over (and having a few beers) it's nice to turn em loose
with the music server and well away from my turntables or good cd player....