The Good:
Great design; clear display; refined software; handles native WMA files; plays Internet radio stations without need for a computer.The Bad:
Some Internet radio stations no supported; flimsy remote with small buttons; The New Squeezebox is a stunner.The Verdict:
One of the best wireless music players on the market.
REVIEW:
The digital music world may have a new iconic product to go along with the Apple iPod. Slim Devices, a small California company, passionate about both music and technology, has released the New Squeezebox ($250 U.S.), a third generation of its critically acclaimed wireless digital music player. The New Squeezebox is a stunner.
For newbies, a wireless digital music player is a device that connects to your home (or office) Wi-Fi wireless network — wirelessly — and to your home stereo system by cable. You install a piece of server software on the PC(s) and/or Mac(s) where you store your ripped or downloaded MP3s or other digital music files. The server software "streams" music from the computer in one room over the wireless network to the player in another room — which then passes it to your stereo.
Digital music sounds way better when played over a stereo system instead of the tinny, distorting speakers attached to your computer. Plus the wireless music player brings the music to where you actually want to listen.
The original Slim Devices Squeezebox was among the rash of such products that began to appear two years ago. It was one of the best, remarkable at the time for being able to stream Internet radio stations as well as locally stored music. But it remained an aficionado's choice, not something you could easily buy at retail. You more likely had to purchase it on-line.
The New Squeezebox is a successor to Squeezebox2, introduced earlier this year. It's marked by the kind of stunning industrial design that helped make Apple's iPod such a mass market phenomenon. Indeed, the design is a little reminiscent of the iPod in its extreme, utilitarian simplicity and moulded contours.
About the size of a hardback book, the New Squeezebox, unlike past versions, stands erect, propped by an elegantly simple metal stand. The front surface features a large high-resolution vacuum fluorescent display (320x32 greyscale pixels) at the top and a blank panel, either white or black, below.
Exterior design is by far the biggest change since Squeezebox2. Although the company has also made some interesting refinements in the SlimServer software — about which more in a moment — the interface is virtually identical to past Squeezeboxes. It features a TV-style remote controller which allows you to navigate the hierarchical menus displayed on the player's screen to browse or search for music and adjust settings.
The New Squeezebox doesn't just look good. It also works well — albeit with some niggling, slightly disappointing exceptions which I'll discuss. Most importantly, it sounds great — at least it did in my tests.
I tested it with a recent model receiver from the Canadian manufacturer, NAD — the DVD Receiver L53. I hooked the L53 to a three-way speaker system from another Canadian company, PSB — two Image B15 bookshelf speakers and the SubZero i subwoofer. Nice clear, unaccented sound.
I rip my CDs to high bit-rate variable-speed Windows Media Audio (WMA) files — typically from 280 to 320 kilobits per second (Kbps). This means they jettison less essential musical information than standard 128-Kbps MP3 rips. One of the new and very welcome features of the SlimServer software for me is that the device now handles native WMA files rather than converting them on the fly, with dubious results, as in the past.
