How To Connect Hard Drive To Squeezebox Touch?

cloudbaseracer · « **on:** 4 May 2010, 01:30 pm »

We have all heard numerous times that one should not put a hard drive in your listening room. Since my house is all wired with CAT5e and the Touch has an ethernet connection, how do I best connect my external Iomega 1.5tb drive to the Touch? One interesting thing about the touch is that it does not require (that is what I read) a computer and can process and function as a server. As I have my "mechanical room" wired to be able to place the hard drive there how do I connect the two in the best way? The Iomega has Firewire, USB, eSATA but no ethernet jack. I cannot rewire between the two locations with USB so I am trying to work with what I currently have.

Is there a loss/change in sound quality if I connect the hard drive to a router that has USB input then send that signal over CAT5e to the Touch? There is a converter http://www.amazon.com/over-Cat5-Extension-Cable-Adapter/dp/B002WJ9S6Y for for USB to CAT5e but is this going to introduce jitter?

Sorry if this has already been discussed or if I am missing an obvious remedy. I have not purchased the Touch yet but will give it a try if I can find a suitable method to use my exisiting CAT5e wiring in a "direct connect" configuration.

Cheers,

James

mitch stl · « **Reply #1 on:** 4 May 2010, 02:37 pm »

I believe the internal Touch server only supports the direct connection of a USB hard drive or flash-type storage device.

If you use the ethernet connection, you have to run the Squeezeboxserver program on an external computer to stream over ethernet.

I have a Touch (along with a SB3, Duet and Radio) but run an external server to handle the music.

I experimented with the internal Touch server just to say I tried it. It works well with a small jump/flash drive but found the scanning very slow and cumbersome for a USB drive with my whole collection (46,000 songs). I much prefer the external server for that task.

cloudbaseracer · « **Reply #2 on:** 4 May 2010, 03:54 pm »

Well that is too bad! I had not heard this before and got excited at the thought of running the system without a computer.

Cheers

James

mitch stl · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 May 2010, 07:15 pm »

Quote from: cloudbaseracer on 4 May 2010, 03:54 pm

Well that is too bad! I had not heard this before and got excited at the thought of running the system without a computer.

A couple of suggestions. While I am extremely pleased with the performance of the new Touch in my system, as noted I've only experimented with using the internal server. Others have more knowledge in this area.

First, you might visit the Squeezebox forums at http://forums.slimdevices.com. There is an entire section devoted to the Touch. Many of the beta testers hang there and they have 6 or 9 months experience with the unit under their belt. I know a number of people are successfully using the internal server.

Second, this is a newly released product and I'd anticipate that the server and firmware software will continue to be updated over the coming months. This will likely address many of the issues some people are having.

Third, Logitech as a 30 day money back offer. You could certainly buy one and try it for yourself knowing you can send it back if things don't pan out for you.

lcrim · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 May 2010, 08:06 pm »

cbr:
Don't the CAT 5 cables that you ran all end at a common point that also has your internet connection? This is where you can put your music server. It doesn't need to be a windoze machine, depending on your IT background but even if you use a ms OS, the hdware can be cheap and used for that matter. You will need a USB 2.0 input and an ethernet card. There are alternative OS' that actually look like a nitelite and can be programmed to act as music server.
The vortex box is another possibility and use your terabyte drive as a backup.

cloudbaseracer · « **Reply #5 on:** 4 May 2010, 09:16 pm »

Actually the internet connection/wireless router is in a different room. Both of these are downstairs however and therefore away from my upstairs listening room. I am trying to avoid the purchase of a computer and the "always" on aspect that would be involved there. Also, the cost is not something I am excited about.

JEaton · « **Reply #6 on:** 4 May 2010, 11:43 pm »

No idea how it would sound, and it might be limited to USB 1.1, so would be slow, but there's:

http://www.amazon.com/Cables-Unlimited-Over-Cat5e-Extender/dp/B000NOAHS8

Steidl Guitars · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 May 2010, 02:50 am »

Quote from: cloudbaseracer on 4 May 2010, 09:16 pm

I am trying to avoid the purchase of a computer and the "always" on aspect that would be involved there. Also, the cost is not something I am excited about.

I had the same concerns. I built a dedicated music server for about $275, chose a very energy-efficient box (you can use an older PC if you have one collecting dust), and use VortexBox software that is Linux-based and is free (I donated $25). When I am done listening to music, I have the squeezebox hibernate the server; when I want to listen, the squeezebox wakes the server.

A quirk here and there, but for the most part, it works very well.