As you may remember from previous postings I have ripped all my music and stored it as audio files on my network storage server. So, you might ask, what are you gonna do with it there? Well, I agree, music is no good on a server if you can’t listen to it. So to listen to it I have bought a network music player called Squeezebox. Squeezebox from Slimdevices (now Logitech) is a Hi-Fi network music player supporting almost all music formats including MP3, WMA, AAC, AIF, WAV and FLAC. It also has a hi-grade Burr-Brown DAC with solid stereo cinch connectors in addition to both electrical and optical S/PDIF output for connection to a even more serious DAC, if you have one. I have connected mine to my Rotel Processor, not because of the audio quality, but because this one supports even more audio formats like HDCD and DTS.

The audio quality of this device is very good! At least in my ears. It is definitely as good as a dedicated CD player in the same price range (299 USD). As a consequence my Pioneer SACD/CD player is no longer in use. At least not for playing ordinary CDs. SACD and DVD Audio however is an other story. But anyway, I’m to lazy to get up from my chair to put on a SACD so I end up listening to the standard CD version through my Squeezebox anyway. That’s how good it sounds. If you want something better, you can either upgrade to Slimdevices Transporter, which is their absolutely high-end alternative, or add a Benchmark DAC 1 to your Hi-Fi system.

To actually be able to play back music from my network storage server i had to install Slimserver on it. Slimserver is free and available from www.slimdevices.com. It is easy to install and it automatically imports all your iTunes libraries. This is if you are running a standard OS such as Microsoft Windows. It’s not quite so easy if you are using something else, such as my Linksys NSLU2. But it is definitely manageable.

The Squeezebox is my absolute best buy of 2007 what so ever! An it still is in 2008!

Links for more information on the Squeezebox:
www.slimdevices.com - Slimdevices homepage
www.stereophile.com - John Atkinson’s review of the Squeezebox, September 2006

Links for more information on the Linksys NSLU2:
www.linksys.com - Linksys homepage
www.nslu2-linux.org - How to install Linux and Slimserver (and lots of other stuff) on your NSLU2