Folks,
I'm considering getting a Squeezebox Duet. But one things I am concerned with is gaps between tracks. On many CDs by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and countless live and classical CDs, one track flows into the next without any gap or pause between tracks. How well is this handled by the Squeezebox?
On my current media player (el-cheapo from eBay) I do get the gaps. Are the gaps a function of the media server or the media player?
I figure I'll rip my CD collection to FLAC stored on a NAS and serve from there to the Squeezebox.
If you have personal experience with the Squeezebox, feel free to share your learnings and tips.
Thanks,
~Tom
I'm considering getting a Squeezebox Duet. But one things I am concerned with is gaps between tracks. On many CDs by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and countless live and classical CDs, one track flows into the next without any gap or pause between tracks. How well is this handled by the Squeezebox?
On my current media player (el-cheapo from eBay) I do get the gaps. Are the gaps a function of the media server or the media player?
I figure I'll rip my CD collection to FLAC stored on a NAS and serve from there to the Squeezebox.
If you have personal experience with the Squeezebox, feel free to share your learnings and tips.
Thanks,
~Tom
No problems with gaps, but I have had many problems with the Duet. Sometimes it's a struggle to keep it working.
It's not all the Duet, but keep in mind that the whole chain of PC->server software->network->squeezebox contains many points of failure. I love it to death when it works, but it's frustrating when it doesn't and my wife is not as technically apt as I am and often gets stuck with no music until I get home and fix things.
FWIW, I have a squeezebox classic and that has far fewer issues. It's a much more mature product. Also, if you have an IPod Touch/IPhone, there is a squeezebox control application that is a reasonable stand-in for the Duet's controller. An IPod Touch and a Squeezebox classic might be a more reliable substitute for a Duet.
It's not all the Duet, but keep in mind that the whole chain of PC->server software->network->squeezebox contains many points of failure. I love it to death when it works, but it's frustrating when it doesn't and my wife is not as technically apt as I am and often gets stuck with no music until I get home and fix things.
FWIW, I have a squeezebox classic and that has far fewer issues. It's a much more mature product. Also, if you have an IPod Touch/IPhone, there is a squeezebox control application that is a reasonable stand-in for the Duet's controller. An IPod Touch and a Squeezebox classic might be a more reliable substitute for a Duet.
From what I can gather, the Squeezebox supports a gapless playback feature. Does this require a specific audio file format or bits set in the meta data?
Gapless playback isn't a problem (according to me it's standard), and neither is stability. The trick with the Duet is to get a software version that works and stick to it. I've built a small dedicated server using an ALIX board (PC Engines custom embedded PC hardware and firmware design), FreeNAS and SlimNAS (Some SlimServer Stuff - Michael Herger's Homepage). That's a reasonable priced solution, which uses a very low amount of energy (7W including HDD).
For me, the nightly builds work best. The previous version I used ran for almost 1.5 years (that's non-stop), and I would still use it if it hadn't been for a power failure that cut off the server. After that, I decided to upgrade and now run for 55 days using 7.4.3 - r30375 (the "release" version 7.4.2 didn't work - as usual).
For me, the nightly builds work best. The previous version I used ran for almost 1.5 years (that's non-stop), and I would still use it if it hadn't been for a power failure that cut off the server. After that, I decided to upgrade and now run for 55 days using 7.4.3 - r30375 (the "release" version 7.4.2 didn't work - as usual).
Squeezebox is gapless, and this works well. FLAC is easy to implement, and was done years ago; MP3 gapless was only about a year ago, and is apparently more complicated to program. But if you're using FLAC, it will be fine.
From my extensive experience with pretty much all Squeezeboxes, I would *strongly* recommend getting an SB3 or Touch, and iPod Touch if you want a fancy remote. My Duet regularly fails and annoys me, while my SB3/iPod/iPeng (actually playing through a Linn DS) works perfectly all the time. (Except for the Linn bit, but these issues are non-Squeezebox.)
The SB3 was my first SB, and now I have half a dozen. If the Duet had been my first, I would have none by now.
From my extensive experience with pretty much all Squeezeboxes, I would *strongly* recommend getting an SB3 or Touch, and iPod Touch if you want a fancy remote. My Duet regularly fails and annoys me, while my SB3/iPod/iPeng (actually playing through a Linn DS) works perfectly all the time. (Except for the Linn bit, but these issues are non-Squeezebox.)
The SB3 was my first SB, and now I have half a dozen. If the Duet had been my first, I would have none by now.
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