We Got Served

I’ve been looking around for a while trying to figure out the best way to get my music from my home server to my HiFi. For a long time I used an old laptop and just streamed stuff using Windows Media Player, took the output from the audio out socket and plugged it into my HiFi, not pretty and low quality. But having to fire up the PC and wait for Windows before playing air guitar to my favourite Pink Floyd track (Comfortably Numb if you must know!) was getting in the way of enjoying my music. I wanted something I could just turn on and quickly rock out. So I tried the Xbox 360 as a media extender, which gave a great improvement in audio quality, Dave Gilmore’s guitar solo sending shivers down my spine, but the noise from the Xbox fans ruined everything, and having to navigate to the music on a screen was a hassle - the whole experience needed to be more immediate and intuitive. 

But then I saw it. At first glance, its sleek black looks thrilled me, it’s simplicity astounded me. This was the one! The Squeezebox Duet and SqueezeCenter.

It really was a revelation. The promise of a discrete black box hidden away, connected by either wired or wireless network to my home server, and then to my HiFi all controlled from a simple handheld device. Album art and track listings in my hand via a colour screen to navigate with and, best of all, my music delivered seamlessly from my home server via a music server. But there’s more! A boundless supply of streamed internet radio with podcasts and news delivered to my hand as well as expandability around the house with the addition of further Squeezeboxes and remotes.

So did the SqueezeBox live up to my expectations? Read on! 

Slim Devices was founded in 2001 and alongside the original SqueezeBox developed SlimServer, the forerunner of SqueezeCentre, as an open source, community developed music server software which powers SqueezeBox, and Transporter as well as SqeezeNetwork delivering internet content to devices without a PC. Slim Devices became a Logitech company in 2006. 

At CES in 2008 the SqueezeBox Duet was launched to widespread acclaim. I started chasing down a SqueezeBox Duet in early February 2008, but no one had any in stock and I joined several waiting lists. Eventually my patience paid off and I got my Squeezebox Duet from my local Sevenoaks audio store in Cambridge. 

The Duet arrives in an attractively packaged box with the controller and receiver presented in matching black packaging and covered in protective plastic film and a robust metal base charger for the controller. 

The receiver unit connects to your home wired/wireless network and your amplifier and is minimalistic in design with one button on the front and at the rear, connections for power, ethernet, optical out and digital out and two analogue stereo connections on the back. As well as the power adapter and lead, the kit includes a phono stereo audio cable. 

The remote control has a colour LCD screen at the top, below which is a central button surrounded by a jog style wheel and four buttons at each corner. Button controls for volume, pause and next/previous track are on the lower part of the unit. There is a 3.5mm socket and window for the infrared emitter. The unit is supplied with a rechargeable lithium battery. Interestingly, the controller is a wireless network device in its own right, attaching either to your wireless network directly or through the SqueezeBox. Inside the controller is a slot for a compact flash card for an unamed future use - community suggestions include a portable MP3 player or portable streaming device, but no software yet.

A short guide to setting up the system is included with detailed documentation being accessed via the net.

After installing the supplied rechargeable battery and putting the controller on charge I moved on to installing SqueezeCentre on Windows Home Server.  

SqueezeCentre version 7.0 is a music server that will run on Windows Home Server and other operating systems to deliver your stored music  to the SqueezeBox receiver and HiFi via your network. The latest version of SqueezeCentre is downloaded from SqueezeNetwork and installed on the home server.

Initially I downloaded and extracted the file into the shared software folder on the WHS. I then used remote desktop to access the home server and attempted to run the software - however I could not get the installer to work. Eventually I resorted to accessing SqueezeNetwork through the browser on Windows Home Server and ran the install directly. This did mean I had to temporarily turn of some of the IE security settings and add Slimdevices.com to the trusted sites settings order to get this to work, and then re-enable them afterwards. 

Once setup is running you are asked to select the language of your choice: 

Next you are asked to select a destination drive and folder where SqueezeCenter is to be installed. DO NOT accept the C: drive destination folder.

On setup Windows Home Server creates a system partition for WHS system files. This partition is only 20GB in size  and will soon fill up if you install every thing into it. If you have not done so already create a new Folder on the D: drive called “Program Files” and install all additional programs here e.g. Orb, codecs etc. So use the browse button and navigate to D: data and then ProgramFiles and install SqueezeCenter here. 

 Now select Next:

 Accept the Start Menu Folder: 

And agree/disagree with the following Tasks:

SqueezeCenter is ready to install, hit Install!! 

Now the setup is complete:

 Hitting Finish automatically fires up a Getting Started web page and then opens the SqueezeCenter: 

Make a note of the address in the Explorer address box as this is your IP address that is used to access SqueezeCenter from another PC. 

Before leaving the WHS desktop, set up SqueezeCenter to start automatically if your home server has to do an automatic restart by running the SqueezeCenter Service Enabler. The Wizard prompts you to enter the WHS username (default is normally Administrator) and password.

Now you can exit out of your WHS Remote Desktop Session as SqueezeCenter can be accessed and configured from any IE browser on you network. 

Open your browser and enter the IP address and port that you wrote down earlier on, you did write it down didn’t you? Once in SqueezeCenter, navigate to General Settings and set up the Music folder by entering the path to the WHS shared Music folder and then leave it to scan your music library.

While this was happening I set up the SqueezeBox controller and receiver.   

I am going to use my SqueezeBox via a wired connection over my home network, so after digging around to find an Ethernet cable, (surely a nice black one could have been included in the package?) I plugged the receiver into my network and used the supplied audio cables to connect it to my HiFi. Then I plugged in the power. The button on the front of the unit is lit by multicoloured LED light to indicate the status of the unit. 

When the controller is turned on for the first time, on screen instructions guide you through language and region selection before choosing to connect the controller to your wireless network or connecting to your wired network using the SqueezeBox receiver.

At this stage the receiver set up is started by holding in the button on the front of the receiver for a few moments until the LED blinks red, indicating that it is in setup mode. On the controller screen I was asked to select the receiver I was connecting to. Once this was done I then moved to select a music source and sure enough there was the name of my home server. Using the control wheel I selected the home server, then navigated to My Music, then selected Album and choose my favourite album - you guessed it Pink Floyd: The Wall and Comfortably Numb!!

I was not disappointed as Dave Gilmour’s guitar solo washed over me, directly from my home server!

During Setup the player also displays a Player identification Number (PIN). This is used to identify each player when you set up a SqueezeNetwork account, which gives access to your Squeezebox from any internet connected PC.

The SqueezeBox is very easy to navigate through and use, my kids picked it up very easily! Choose between music on the WHS or switch across to SqueezeNetwork and a vast selection of internet radio.

I have only just grazed the surface of SqueezeBox and SqueezeCenter. There is a very active community on the net with a huge amount of experience. In particular there are a wide variety of plugins which have been developed to enhance the functionality of SqueezeBox…..sound familiar? These plugins do anything from additional screensavers for the controller LCD, a Scrobbler plugin linked to your LastFm account or adding news feeds to be viewed via the controller and many more including SoftSqueeze.

SoftSqueeze is a SqueezeBox emulator run on PC which will link into SqueezeCenter server and run a virtual SqueezeBox for accessing and playing your music collection from a PC. One fantasic feature is synchronising the PC SqueezeBox with any other actual SqueezeBox simultaneously playing the same track, So you can move from one room to the next with the same track playing in each location.

The SqueezeBox Duet has enhanced my music listening experience. By taking the grind out of accessing my WHS stored music collection, listening to audio is simpler than putting on a CD  with the added convenience of not having to get out of my chair to do it!