Logitech Squeezebox Duet Wi-Fi Internet Radio by Logitech
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Our Price: $434.34 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $186.40 (click here) Category: Speakers See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Logitech Squeezebox Duet Wi-Fi Internet Radio
Digital camera Review: As great as your newtwork performance
Summary: 5 Stars
I will say that my wife and I love this product, but that its performance is directly related to your network's performance. We found that our network was having difficulties moving the files - we were having dropouts and other unpleasant occurences when I decided to run a 100ft ethernet cable (that may have been driven by the fact that I have saved my entire music collection in FLAC format for sound quality). That improved things 100% but kind of defeats the purpose of having a wireless networking device. The remote is brilliant - kind of like having an ipod for your home stereo which might make you think that maybe you should just use an ipod with a dock. That would surely work, but I will say that this device turned me on to two music services - Pandora and Livefm. I love both of those free services and I think that they are my favorite part of having the Squeezebox. I would recommend this product for the technologically patient - once you get it set up it is a joy to use and I payed about 1/4 the price of the leading Sonos system (it appears that this is a much easier system to set up, but it should be at that price). It really should be 4.5 stars - had the wireless worked effectively it would have been 5.Digital camera Review: Audiophiles will love this
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I miss Triple J, the radio station in Australia, and often would listen to it online. But my computer speakers left a bit to be desired, and trying the Squeezebox would give me the opportunity to stream not only Triple J, but Pandora, other radio stations, or i-tunes via my wireless network.
Setup: very straightforward. I'm not much of a techie, but have managed on my own to set up my wireless network, my Tivo, and my stereo. This was about as challenging as I've had to deal with, and it wasn't terrible. BUT, while typing in (a bit cumbersome I might add) my WEP password, I must have made an error, and there was no going back. So, I figured I'd just hit up the website FAQ, but nothing there. I emailed tech support and never received a response. NEVER. A few weeks later I got the standard "how was our customer service? email" to which I responded with some harsh words about their complete lack of response. And I received a complete lack of response.
Fast forward a week or two: I managed to figure this one out on my own, through much tearing of hair and gnashing of teeth.
Was it worth it? Well, the thing is pretty cool. It seamlessly moves from one track to the next. Radio stations come in clearly (depending on your internet connection). It's pretty nice, and does everything it says it will do.
Overall, its a pretty neat gadget, although fairly spendy. Even in today's economy, I would expect true audiophiles to not only want, but need a squeezebox. For the casual music lover, its not really a necessity.
My attitude toward the Squeezebox was really soured by my poor customer service experience. I suppose I could have tried harder (multiple emails or something) but for this kind of money, I shouldn't have to.
So I give it 4 stars for its coolness, and take 1 away for support issues.
Digital camera Review: Awesome Addition To My Home Audio System
Summary: 5 Stars
Received my Squeezebox Duet yesterday and had it up and running within 1 hour. I was impressed from the moment I opened the box, very nicely packaged. The Squeezebox is smaller than expected and tucks away nicely with my home audio system. I followed the instructions provided and setup was smooth. Connection to my wireless network was surprisingly simple. Once I loaded the software on my computer and pointed to my music library I was up and running. Internet radio feature is great.
The remote is the masterpiece of this system. Function is flawless, very intuitive control and AWESOME display. The album art displays very large and clear. The remote can even sense movement. It turns off the display after a preset time to save battery life I assume, but turns back on upon movement.
Sound quality is very good. Unit uses a superb digital to analog converter, giving the music a very lively presentation.
Overall satisfaction with this product is Excellent! I would not hesitate to recommend and/or brag about this product to family and friends. I've owned or own several Logitech products and honestly I have never been disappointed.
Digital camera Review: Awesome Product from Logitech
Summary: 5 Stars
the product is an awesome alternative the more expensive sonos. I have it wired to play in the living room and the outdoor patio area. It was very user friendly to set up on the computer and to use the remote. I picked it up for a very good price on amazon. for someone who wants music in multiple rooms at a good price, this is your unit. we now can listen to music from all over the world many for free.Digital camera Review: Awesome device--needs some polish
Summary: 4 Stars
The Squeezebox has been a very popular item and has been extensively reviewed, so I'm going to try to give you my summary. A little background--I played with it at a friend's house, ended up liking it so much I came home and ordered one for myself.
Pros:
- User friendly interface. The Squeezebox WiFi Controller is stylized to resemble the iPod and uses a similar interface. It uses a "click wheel" to access a menu system. The click wheel, however, is a mechanical wheel and not a touch wheel (like on the iPod), and is, at times, somewhat inaccurate (too easy to overshoot, for example). Functionally, it works, and it probably doesn't infringe on any Apple patents. Also, the one Squeezebox controller can control ALL of your Squeezebox devices, not just one of them. In that manner, if you don't require a separate controller for each receiver, you can save by purchasing the Squeezebox Receiver instead of the Squeezebox Duet for your additional zones.
- Cost. Compared to either (1.) wiring your own multizone home system or (2.) going with a product like the Sonos system, the Squeezebox has got its competitors on price. By buying the Squeezebox Duet (which consists of the Squeezebox Receiver and the Squeezebox WiFi Controller), you can add zones simply by buying additional Squeezebox Receivers (if you have an amplified location) or by buying a Squeezebox Boom or Squeezebox Radio for your unamplified locations.
- Doesn't require any other specialized hardware (no dedicated music server, for example) other than for the controller and the receivers/radios
- Lots of media options. Plays media off of your PC, multiple internet options (Rhapsody, Napster, Pandora, Sirius satellite radio, internet radio, etc.). I was blown away by the multitude of (both paid and free) options.
- Synchronization!!! You can synchronize all of your squeezebox devices across your house (your network) so that your entire home is grooving to the same music. (Obviously, you can also direct each zone to play individually as well.)
Cons:
- Requires a running PC. The Squeezebox server runs as a process on a networked PC. If you don't already have a PC that you leave on 24/7 (or at least while you want to listen to Squeezebox), you're going to leave one on.
- WiFi blows. I just could not get this thing setup on WiFi. Spent hours with it. Had it right next to my primary WiFi router--no go. Had it right next to the WiFi WAP that it is currently hooked up (via ethernet) to--no go. Now granted, I have a somewhat complex WiFi setup (no SSID broadcast, WPA2/TKIP-PSK with a long passphrase, MAC filtering), but I have setup plenty of WiFi devices on my network with much less difficulty. Setting up the controller took 4 tries (and typing in the passphrase 4 times with the click wheel is no picnic, let me tell you) with a full reset in between each attempt before I finally got the controller to recognize the network. I was NEVER able to get the receiver on the network. This was after at least a dozen attempts or so. Fortunately, I was always planning to use a wired ethernet connection (using one of these) because (a) I wanted to have a ethernet connection for my PS3 sitting right next to it and because (b) I wanted to have a more reliable connection to the Squeezebox (in the basement). Fortunately, network setup over ethernet was a piece of cake.
Overall, this device is unnecessarily difficult to setup, but once it is up and running, wow! The ability for synchronization is great and the diversity of media offerings is astounding. Of note, I have the Squeezebox receiver connected to my AVR via a digital optical cable. It's pretty sweet knowing that I have a completely digital bitpath from the internet all the way to my AVR!