alternative to Squeezebox streaming???

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gordonmenninger

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so i just received my new iMac and have everything set up and my setup does not work with the Squeezebox server now. There is something with OS X that has to do with the computer going to sleep and therefore disconnecting from the server making SB pretty much useless! I have searched the forums and it seems that Logitech has abandoned the Squeezebox and no longer supports it! So what else is out there that my fellow ML'ers are using? I need something that is cheap like the SB and sounds great! I have looked at Sonos but I am not sure if i quite understand it yet... I don't want tiny crappy speakers streaming wirelessly all over my house - i want to stream my lossless tunes from my imac to my home theater in the basement. That's it.

any suggestions? thaNKS ! GORDON
 
yes Logitech has abandoned SB - darn shame.

i use SB and i use airport express - wirelessly, the AE beats out the SB (haven't run ethernet cable to the gear yet, so can't offer a comparison for wired AE vs SB).

however, your issue is with the mac going into sleep mode. you can change that. I did so that i could SSH into the mac remotely. look for powersaving and/or screensaver in the preferences. i have it set to power off the screen on the iMac, but not go into sleep mode.
 
Can you explain this setup a bit? How do I connect the airport express to my processor/preamp? I don't see any digital audio outputs. What software are you using to play back music - iTunes?
 
I would continue using the SB as there is nothing that comes close in terms of functionality. Yet. But as for what's going on with that crApple thing - I don't know. How about buying a cheap Core2Duo laptop on eBay for $60 and running it as a dedicated server with Linux Mint?

As for what you can do with that crApple rubbish......I don't know.
 
you can love or hate the apple stuff - i don't care. To me it's just a tool.

Gordon, you already have an iTunes library on a Mac, so if you are looking to an alternative to SB, then it would be silly not to even consider the airport express or appleTV. you are already drinking the apple juice.

the airport express has one of those 1/8" dual analog/diigital ports. if you plug a pair of headphones/buds into it you get analog. if you plug a digital cable into it you get SPDIF. then you run that into your DAC.

right now i'm running a 1/8 to RCA cable into my analog amp partly because my DAC is out of inputs, but also because I have not bothered to find the appropriate digital cable that fits into 1/8" mini. once i do that, i'll pull the SB and put it somewhere else, freeing up a port on the DAC.

the airport express shows up on any apple device (mac/iPhone/touch/iTunes) as a set of speakers to which you can send your music. Even on my XP running iTunes it shows up as a set of speakers. using the Remote app on my iPhone i can attach to any iTunes library on my network and play over the airport express. pretty slick.

similarily, any networked apple device can play to it. so if someone visits with an iPhone or touch they can play over the airport express. if my wife wants to play something that she has downloaded only to her mac, she can play it over the airport express. with other solutions the music has to be migrated first to the server before it is played.
 
you can love or hate the apple stuff - i don't care. To me it's just a tool.

Just not a very good tool as Gordon is now experiencing.

Although: Re-reading your first post - isn't this just a simple power setting?

Also, the Sonos is a good alternative, however it doesn't play high-res and it has a 64,000 track limit meaning the flexibility still doesn't match the SB.

Are you in fact using iTunes? Or do you have FLAC files, as the Apple stuff won't do FLAC.
 
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Just not a very good tool as Gordon is now experiencing.

Although: Re-reading your first post - isn't this just a simple power setting?

Also, the Sonos is a good alternative, however it doesn't play high-res and it has a 64,000 track limit meaning the flexibility still doesn't match the SB.
.
yep,

the power shutdown is a simple power setting that Gordon can set.

Applications .... System Preferences .... Energy Saver


you want to change "Put computer to sleep when it is inactive for:" to "Never"
set the "put the display(s) to sleep when the computer is inactie for:" to whatever you want.

that will solve Gordon's problem with the SB server going away.


if Gordon in on a Mac, he's on iTunes. i use it on my PC.

interesting tidbit, i have an old laptop in my toddlers room running nothing but iTunes. when he fusses in the night i can use the remote App on my iPhone to turn on some music for him. quite often that calms him down at 2am or so.
 
if Gordon in on a Mac, he's on iTunes. i use it on my PC.

Yes, but the issue is if he has any high res or FLAC files. Then iTunes won't deal with them so it won't be a complete solution. I don't know what your library comprises of, but that needs to be considered.

What about the Cambridge 6?

Not sure about that. It is definitely worth considering, however I don't know how it compares on the software side - the interface and control options. And the formats it supports.
 
Thanks for the info guys! I am really not doing any FLAC files, i ripped everything with DBpoweramp on my pc into apple lossless with good results. I want good compatibility with my apple ecosystem! Is there a similar ripper to rip ALAC on a mac, or should I just use iTunes???

Zaphod - thanks - I just followed your advice on the power settings and it works like a charm again now! Really did not want to change unless I had to! I actually also have apple tv but if i would ever use that in place of the SB, what do i use for a display to show what track is playing etc?
 
I know this thread is old, but some might still find this possibility interesting.

"Apple has non-publicly introduced high-def (also known as high-rez/lossless or the traditional high-fidelity) audio into the new iOS 8 mobile operating system...The high-def audio output would come through the lightning port at the bottom of iPhones, iPods, and iPads — the port which also charges the device. Apple solves the second-device problem by integrating a high-rez audio path into all existing mobiles devices (5th generation or later) running iOS 8."

So how would this technology change the landscape. You iPhone or iPad could double as a high-rez streamer. New streaming services like TIDAL could become directly usable through the Lightening port with cable or dock.

http://rainnews.com/apples-high-def-audio-might-steal-ponos-thunder/

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/apple...phones-support-arriving-in-future-ios-update/

https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/
 
I know this thread is old, but some might still find this possibility interesting.

"Apple has non-publicly introduced high-def (also known as high-rez/lossless or the traditional high-fidelity) audio into the new iOS 8 mobile operating system...The high-def audio output would come through the lightning port at the bottom of iPhones, iPods, and iPads — the port which also charges the device. Apple solves the second-device problem by integrating a high-rez audio path into all existing mobiles devices (5th generation or later) running iOS 8."

So how would this technology change the landscape. You iPhone or iPad could double as a high-rez streamer. New streaming services like TIDAL could become directly usable through the Lightening port with cable or dock.

http://rainnews.com/apples-high-def-audio-might-steal-ponos-thunder/

http://9to5mac.com/2014/06/03/apple...phones-support-arriving-in-future-ios-update/

https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/

It doesn't make sense. "High res" and "lossless" are not the same thing, and are never "otherwise known as lossless" or anything else.

I stopped reading there.

I don't waste my time reading inaccuracies. I figure that if the author can't take the care to get such basic terminology right, how many other inaccuracies are there in the article?
 

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