Logitech Squeezebox Duet Network Music System

Reviews: Multimedia

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Bradford Day
Kurtis
Logitech
Jun. 19, 2008

Specifications

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Set up

Getting started with the Squeezebox Duet first requires a trip to www.squeezenetwork.com. Once there you will need to sign up for a free account and download the necessary SqueezeCenter software. The software is available for Windows, Mac OS X and even Linux, so no one is left out. SqueezeCenter tells the Duet which computer will be hosting local music files and allows users to set up streaming music, podcast and playlist preferences. You can also monitor your music via a browser window as the Squeezebox plays.

All remaining installations are completed using the Duet remote. After you've decided where to place your Squeezebox receiver (I plugged mine directly into the RCA jacks of my 2.1 computer speakers), power everything up and the remote will prompt you for the rest. Adding the Duet to your existing wireless or wired network is no different than adding an extra computer. The Duet remote will ask you to confirm a few settings and then prompt you for wireless network settings, if required. Inputting the wireless SSID and WEP/WPA passwords using the scroll wheel is a slow process due to the lack of a keyboard on the remote. But considering the device, the interface is well conceived. Once the Squeezebox finds your network the small button on the face of the receiver unit will change from a red glowing Wi-Fi icon to a blue one.

Just like with iTunes, Winamp or any other music player, you first need to tell the Squeezebox Duet where to find your MP3 stash. Once pointed in the right direction, access will be granted to the full music library with a spin of the scroll wheel. Music services such as Pandora, Rhapsody, and Sirius will need to be set up though a SqueezeNetwork account before they can be selected with the remote. Likewise, podcasts and newsfeeds are configured through the account Favorites tab.

Don't let my previous generic uses of the word MP3 throw you. The Squeezebox will play most popular compressed music files including MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis, MP2, MusePack and WMA. It is also compatible with Apple Lossless, FLAC, WMA Lossless, AIFF, WAV, and PCM.

While the Squeezebox is able to decode AAC and Apple Lossless, music files purchased through iTunes (or any other DRM-wrapped music seller) can't be played over the Duet. While this is hardly the fault of Logitech, who can't be blamed for other company's iPadlocks (yet another reason to avoid DRM-riddled download services), I can't help but think that it will scare off a few potential buyers...or frustrate those who didn't bother to do their research ahead of time.

Daily Use

The integration of the music control and display into the remote expands the abilities of the Squeezebox and drastically sets it apart from the previous incarnation. Roaming the house, swapping out playlists for podcasts and streaming music is just a scroll-wheel-click away. My house isn't what most would call huge but I could easily swap tracks from any room or even when roaming outdoors with no concerns about running outside the remote's range. I did, however, experience a bit of menu lag when accessing my digital music cache. The SqueezeCenter software was installed on my laptop where I store only a few hundred songs, and my laggy laptop is more likely to blame than Logitech's system. Users who install the software on their dedicated media machine should experience less menu delay.

Using the Duet Controller is not much different than clicking around an iPod interface. However, the scroll wheel isn't nearly as responsive and refined as the iPod's. At times I found myself overshooting menus as the wheel's accuracy leaves a little to be desired. The home, back, and forward buttons that surround the wheel are useful and responsive and the overall effect is an easy to use interface that nearly all users will pick up quickly.

Sound quality is difficult to assess as it greatly depends on what type of system the Squeezebox Duet is attached to. That said, I noticed no difference between the quality of tunes when played through the Squeezebox as compared to WinAmp or iTunes. Finely tuned audiophiles may beg to differ when they've optically connected a Squeezebox to their professional grade sound lab systems. But to my ears and 2.1 computer system speakers everything sounds just dandy.

Accessing music and podcast services, as mentioned above, will require a bit of fiddling with your SqueezeNetwork preferences. Once everything is configured, listening to your favorite streaming music is as easy as browsing your MP3 stash. Depending on the music service, some features may or may not be available. For example, Pandora's thumbs up/thumbs down feature didn't appear to work at first. But after some menu searching I did find a way to do it, albeit cumbersome. Additionally, Pandora users will only receive 30 days of free service using the Squeezebox system. Continued Pandora use will require a paid subscription. Of course, Pandora isn't the only service in the SqueezeNetwork. Nearly any streaming service can be added. Sirius, Radio IO, Radiotime, Live365, Shoutcast, Last.fm, Slacker, Live music archive, and Rhapsody are automatically included in your configurable settings. Rhapsody and Sirius both offer free 30-day trials as well.

Filed under the list of confusing options are the Sounds & Effects menus included with the Squeezebox Duet. Nature sound machines are popular sleep aides and also help drown out the sounds of your neighbors playing Wii in the apartment next door. [Ed: Yeah, sure, that's what they're doing. Playing Wii.] Logitech has added 27 sounds of nature for your enjoyment. These make sense. What confuses me are the Music- and Sound Effect menus. The Music Effects are simply loops of various sorts of canned music, not unlike an elevator Muzak machine. The Sound Effects are even more confounding as they are little more than 1-3 second snippets of such bizarre, random and annoying aural interludes as an ambulance siren, passing freight trains, revving motorcycles and hair dryers all looped ad infinitum. Perhaps you could create your own miniature sound stage for home-based theatrical productions?

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Page 1: Introduction & First Looks
Page 2: Setup & Daily Use
Page 3: Conclusion

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3 User Comments

1 - Posted by MrO on June 23, 2008 - 11:21 pm

As a long time Squeezebox 2/3 owner I can tell you're quite the noob at this. You don't tell the SB where your music is. You tell SqueezeCenter (previously, and superior, SlimServer) where the music is. From there you have full control over your players and the ability to sync has existed for years. It's nothing new. In fact, I can probably sync faster through the clean interface of the SB2/3 than with the "new" remote or bloated interface of Squeezecenter. I personally do NOT like what Logitech has done with the branding. I have considered adding a SB Receiver to my collection so I can hide it in the attic above the kitchen. Maybe add a remote power or POE for control (reboots) when needed. I can say that is RARELY needed though. And while the specs for the backend can be quite low I'd recommend at least an old P4 with speedstep support. My server is set to clock throttle as needed so my music doesn't skip a beat. I could go on and on raving about how awesome (at least the SB2/3) these are but I'll stop.

2 - Posted by Kurtis on June 24, 2008 - 12:06 am

MrO: Thanks for the input and sharing your own experiences - though I think you're judging Brad a bit too quickly... for some additional reading, you might want to also check out his review of the Slim Devices Squeezebox V3 from back in June of 2006.

link: http://www.thetechlounge.com/article/284/Slim+Devi...

3 - Posted by handrail on June 24, 2008 - 12:43 pm

i'd certainly call myself a noob as i only have the demo model for a short period of time and don't intend to integrate it fully into any of my networks, especially not using a server as you have built. and i think you are taking my comments a bit too literally, but your point is well taken. although if you read the first paragraph of the Set up section, you'll see that i did acknowledge SqueezeCenter as the controlling entity and not the Squeezebox itself.

"SqueezeCenter tells the Duet which computer will be hosting local music files and allows users to set up streaming music, podcast and playlist preferences."

and i do greatly appreciate your input as a long time user, which i am not. i did like the addition of the remote, a new feature as far as i'm concerned as it now ships with the Duet. although you are correct, i was not aware that the syncing abilities are old hat. i've only been able to test one receiver at a time, so syncing is something that i've had to rely on press releases and user input to judge, hence the minimal coverage of the subject.

please feel free to leave a user review on either of the squeezebox articles!

thanks a lot!

brad.

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