http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 2:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 3:19PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 6:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 2:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
This might not constitute a full explanation for this "phenomenon" but for me:

Car: Sometimes sports radio (FM) and my iPod- the occasional CD.

Home: My iPod plugged into my receiver, and iTunes. I just don't listen to the radio online. I don't know many who do. But again, perhaps that's just me.]]>Sep 21st 2008 2:36PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
It's a niche because most people are too stupid to use it and don't have a music/file server to justify owning one.]]>Sep 21st 2008 3:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
Stuff from Slim Devices not only works with internet radio, they also incorporate paid memberships, as well as music discovery services like LastFM and Pandora Radio. If you use those kinds of music streaming services, and you would like to hear them in more than one place, and you never want to watch streaming video, and you don't mind running a central server (either PC or NAS) Squeezeboxes are great. Excellent hardware, open source server software with a real developers' community, FLAC support -- a nice alternative to Sonos's zone player system or Apple's iTunes network system.

I guess that makes it a niche product. ]]>Sep 21st 2008 5:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/]]>Sep 21st 2008 2:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/

I probably don't speak for everyone but many of us aren't willing to pay extra money for internet radio, or the high asking prices of many internet radio devices.

When you buy a new car, it usually comes with XM radio as an option after an introductory trial. Alot of people aren't milling to spend an extra $10 a month on radio when gas prices are hurting their disposable cash. The same probably goes for the target audience of a device like this. If its entirely free, we'll take it, but if we've got a new bill, probably don't want it.

I have an idea. Since Cable and Verizon fios are so vicious to get us into telephone/Internet/television bundles, maybe they should allow us to stream internet radio for free via wifi with a player they give us free for signing up.]]>Sep 21st 2008 2:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
If you want to pay, Rhapsody's entire library, and Sirius Internet Radio are available.

Mike]]>Sep 22nd 2008 4:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
You don't need to sign your posts, we can see who said it.

El Taco]]>Sep 23rd 2008 12:00AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/

I probably don't speak for everyone but many of us aren't willing to pay extra money for internet radio, or the high asking prices of many internet radio devices.

When you buy a new car, it usually comes with XM radio as an option after an introductory trial. Alot of people aren't milling to spend an extra $10 a month on radio when gas prices are hurting their disposable cash. The same probably goes for the target audience of a device like this. If its entirely free, we'll take it, but if we've got a new bill, probably don't want it.

I have an idea. Since Cable and Verizon fios are so vicious to get us into telephone/Internet/television bundles, maybe they should allow us to stream internet radio for free via wifi with a player they give us free for signing up.]]>Sep 21st 2008 2:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 3:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 3:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
I also find that most of the radio stations in my area are terrible, or play music that I'm not into.]]>Sep 21st 2008 6:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 22nd 2008 3:16AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 3:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 3:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
Forget about internet radio. This is about listening to your digital collection anywhere in/around your house without having to carry your desktop around with you. With total control.

Catfish?]]>Sep 21st 2008 3:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
From the product page: "Simply plug in the power cord and follow the easy setup wizard. You'll be able to instantly browse all the music on your hard drive, tune to thousands of Internet radio stations, and access your favorite online music services."

]]>Sep 21st 2008 3:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
It streams your music from your home server.
It streams internet radio
You can subscribe to various services including raphsody and have it play, skip music, etc...just as you do on your iPod
You can play you custom play lists.
You can listen to internet radio for free...no need to subscribe to a service. Just "snoop" address of your favorite stations and make 'em a favorite.
Access to global stations - BBC, etc. Timeshifting of radio broadcasts.
Podcasts.
On demand radio from various services.
It just goes on....plus, a large and active open source dev community. Search for iPeng and see how you can control it remotely with your iPhone/Touch.

Basically, aside from being only semi-portable...its does an awful lot and...apparently sounds great. Yes, $300 is expensive. I just got it for $280 at B&H. They only had two...now they have one.

I bought this for my girlfriend. We just moved and really misses her favourite morning radio show. This way, even though she is 500 miles away from the station, she can wake up to it every morning.

Visit www.slimdevices.com for more info. The more you dig the more you find it can do.

]]>Sep 21st 2008 4:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 3:43PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 4:16PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/2. Not very portable. Everyone has an iPod or some other MP which is doing exactly what all the proponents are touting for this device. This device is a non-starter for wandering around the house, much less the neighborhood. The promo photo clearly shows the power cord.
3. No stereo separation. Even in 1980 you could detach one of the speakers and move it further away. Headphones, etc.
4. Freakin' expensive . Any of us could buy a PC for $100 more than this which would do everything this does plus 10,000,000 other things this doesn't do.

Total waste of time and money, which the sales figures accurately reflect.]]>Sep 22nd 2008 2:00AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 3:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 9:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
If you were reviewing a car I wouldn't you expect you to tell me "IT'S FOR DRIVING. YOU GET IN IT AND YOU DRIVE SOMEWHERE, OK?" but this isn't a car and more effort needs to be put into making sure people know what it does.

So to answer your question: where applicable, it should be.]]>Sep 21st 2008 10:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
First, the cost is about 10x over the $30 compact clock/radio you can pick up at any Wal-Mart. It requires "techie" set-up, which you don't have to do with the $30 job. It is also 10x too large. Seriously, do you even care about hi-fi music when waking up in the morning? Are you going to lay there and fiddle around with the controls, when you need to get your fat ass into the shower 10 minutes ago?

And anyway, didn't the whole "boom box" thing go out in the 80s? Nowadays we have things called PMPs, that fits in our pocket, have decent LCD screens that we can even watch movies on. Yes, only the high-end ones have WiFi to stream from the intarweb, but really, a boom box with big rotary knobs?!

Yes, I get its geek appeal. But sometimes, simple is best, and you can't get much simpler than the WalMart $30 special.]]>Sep 21st 2008 5:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 6:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Thats te freaking best thing on squeezeboxes! its totally great , im thinking of buying the boom so i can be woken up by the greates music that pandora will serve for me :)]]>Sep 21st 2008 5:34PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 5:50PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 6:25PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
The knob does act as a volume control when:
1 - You just pressed the volume up/down buttons
2 - You wait for the (default 20 sec) now playing screensaver to kick in.

I guess I'm too much of a Slimdevices fanboy, but I would like to point out that the Roku players started out as a simple copy-cat of the Slimdevices original Squeezebox 1. They even used to distribute a copy of the original Slimserver software with the box. The Roku devices can still talk to Squeezecenter due to the fact that Slim/Logitech haven't dropped backwards compatibility with any of their old products.]]>Sep 21st 2008 6:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
The SliMP3 had a very specific design approach -- it was a remote display and MP3 codec for server software that runs on a computer on the local network. It was a really smart, creative and innovative design. It did have a downside: the SliMP3 was a brick without that server, so the computer had to be on to use the player. Because it only supported MP3, formats other than MP3 had to be transcoded on the server.

The SoundBridge has a full-fledged microprocessor and software on-board, as well as native codec support for multiple formats, and from the start was designed to be flexible in the servers to which it would connect.

The SoundBridge, from the beginning, supported direct streaming from iTunes, something that the Slim Devices products have never offered. Roku also added support for Rhapsody before Slim did so, and was also among the first players to support Windows Media DRM, which I believe the Slim players still do not natively support. Roku's players were also first in being able to stream Internet Radio without the computer acting as the intermediary.

As noted in the article, Roku has had a tabletop radio version of the product for a couple of years. Now Slim and Logitech have been inspired by Roku to release a similar product (in which, I might add, they have addressed some shortcomings of the SoundBridge Radio, like its lack of a line input). The SoundBridge Radio is still the only tabletop radio that can stream directly from iTunes.

It's true that the SoundBridge also supported SlimServer. SlimServer was and is an open-source project, and Roku initially planned to make enhancements to SlimServer and then return them to the open source community. However, the response from Slim was extremely hostile, including public mockery of the SoundBridge on the Slim Devices web site (under cover of an April Fools "joke") plus one well-documented case of a Slim Devices employee posting misinformation about Roku's products under an assumed name in a public forum.

This led Roku to drop plans to enhance SlimServer, and to pursue a strategy of emulating a SqueezeBox with an unmodified server. Roku eventually dropped active maintenance of the emulation, because only a tiny fraction of Roku's customers used it.]]>Sep 22nd 2008 2:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
Look at the customer forum on Roku's website before purchasing.]]>Sep 21st 2008 6:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Unlike most people who are making comments here, I am one who only purchased these devices for the Internet radio capabilities. I have no music library or use an I-pods or similar device.
I specifically have the squeezebox for a Vacation home I have so I can listen to stations from "back home". It was great listening to the weather and Traffic for Philadelphia 95 miles away! The Roku radio at home is my alarm clock.
I also listen to old time radio, stations from many countries and many stations with specific genre, ie oldies and talk. There are over 10,000 radio stations. Satellite radio has a minuscule amount compared to this, plus you have to pay for it.
I think that others that want to have the greatest variety of music, entertainment and educational content should look into the devices that have internet radio. I have been waiting for these devices since the Kerbango was suppose to be introduced years ago.
I have not had any problems with my Roku radio or the squeezebox. Each has its own purpose and I may consider the Boom for my next purchase.
]]>Nov 24th 2008 10:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/I can understand all the focus on the operation, looks BUT:

All I wanted to know from the "review" was how it SOUNDS with those little speakers.

Are they "tinny"? At full volume does it crackle or rattle? Any thing at all would have been a nice touch.

]]>Sep 21st 2008 8:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 9:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 21st 2008 9:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
thanks travis. Anyone have experience with this vs. the Bose? Personally I don't like the Bose -too much emphasis on the top range which sounds like crap on NPR.]]>Sep 21st 2008 10:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
They released a white paper talking about the audio design:
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/uploads/a/ad/Logitech_Squeezebox_Boom_Audio_Design.pdf

Fully DSP managed bi-amplified 2-way speaker design. I had a $500 bookshelf speaker setup in my bedroom. The Boom is so much better that it replaced that setup.. now what to do with these old Definitive Procinema speakers.]]>Sep 22nd 2008 11:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
As for radio, I always admire those who can put up with it.
All in all, FLAC support ftw.
http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_boom.html#formats
http://flac.sourceforge.net

]]>Sep 21st 2008 9:05PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
Now incorporate it into an ipod and it might catch on.]]>Sep 21st 2008 11:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
You can have a Squeezebox Boom, Classic or Duet in every room in your home. They can be synced together, all playing the same music in perfect sync (you can stand between rooms and you will hear no delay between the units), or you can have different music in every room.

If you buy a Squeezebox Duet or a standalone Squeezebox Controller (included in the Duet) you can browse, select, and play your entire music collection and control your whole house of Squeezeboxen from the palm of your hand (it's a 802.11g Squeezebox remote control).

Your right, if all it did was play music on it's own it might not be exiting. But it does way more than that.

Mike]]>Sep 22nd 2008 4:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
We do support your music collection, if it's not DRM'ed. We will play any of the following formats:

Native support for MP3, FLAC, WAV, AIFF, WMA and Ogg Vorbis. Also transcodes from AAC, Apple Lossless, WMA Lossless, APE, MPC and WavPack.]]>Sep 22nd 2008 4:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
PS: For Roku Soundbridge owners out there with iPod Touch/iPhones, I have just released an remote control app for it if you'd like to take a look.

iTunes link: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=290002607&mt=8
]]>Sep 21st 2008 10:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/
Anyone who's used this device to it's full potential (or even a third of it's full potential) knows that's rubbish.. While it has an alarm function this (in my opinion anyway) is more of an addon. It's main function is not as an alarm - It's to listen to your music collection, with the ability to listen to streamed internet radio thrown in. There are other devices that can do the same thing, but this does it damn well.

I've had one for about a month, and was a bit iffy about the purchase because of the price - All doubt was gone within a day of me setting it up.

I'll admit that I can't say much about using SqueezeNetwork as I have SqueezeCenter running on my home media server, but this thing is nothing short of phenomenal. The sound is amazing for the size of the unit and the build quality is great. Every feature that I've wanted has either been available out of the box, or available with a plugin. The configuration lets you change such small details that even if there's something you don't like about it (aside from the actual hardware), you can probably change it to suit.

It's definitely not for everyone, but for anyone who wants an easy (yet very configurable) way to stream their music, it's definitely worth a look at.]]>Sep 21st 2008 11:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 22nd 2008 3:06AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 22nd 2008 4:27AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/21/squeezebox-boom-review/Sep 22nd 2008 11:19AM