Logitech Squeezebox Duet WiFi Internet Radio

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!

This is less a review and more of a warning. It does play a mean game of musical chairs, though! Just choose a song and wait to see when it stops and rebuffers, then maybe it will play again or maybe not.

One Positive Note: I discovered mp3tunes dot com when using this product, which can host all of my music that would normally require my computer to be turned on. Now, as long as I have internet access, I can listen to my music collection - this will let me avoid using squeezenetwork as well so when I get rid of the Duet, I will be able to access my music collection wirelessly with a different item (I'm thinking ipod touch).

After a year of working off and on (more off than on), I am ready to unload this garbage on some other poor person so I can finally get back to enjoying my music. The last straw today is that after spending 2 hours on tech support yesterday to get it working after the recent 7.4.1 update, I can not listen via the Squeezebox Controller Beta feature - which worked ok prior to the update (except for the times when nothing worked).

I just spent another hour this morning to talk to tech support and as usual, the answer was to reboot and set everything up again. When I asked to speak to a level 2 tech support since I had just done the rebooting 5 times the day before the TS says they are too busy right now to have someone talk to me. What does this tell you about the Squeezebox products that after waiting for 20 minutes their level 2 is too busy with consumer issues?!

Before spending close to $400 on this item which promises so much but has so many flaws, perhaps you should look into more stable alternatives...I will be doing this over the weekend. For this price, I could buy a used Mac Mini and a basic ipod touch, then stream everything controlling with the ipod touch - this also gives me the extra bonus of video from the Mac Mini streaming to my TV and a computer. Just one alternative I will look into.

The Squeezebox Duet has been an exercise in frustration and patience. This product is great if you want a new hobby - not listening to music/internet radio, but rather troubleshooting a beta technology that is not ready to be released to the general public.

Unless you are a networking expert and have a perfectly set up wireless network, don't expect this product to work via wi-fi more than a few days before it stops for no apparent reason. Then, start re-setting your controller by pulling out the battery and entering your long network password with a scrollwheel. Do this about 5 times, every third day and you may be able to listen to some music for a few hours before some other problem pops up. Don't be suprised if in the middle of a party or an intimate time, your Squeezebox stops playing music with no warning.

When you need to call tech support, prepare to wait for anywhere from 5-20 minutes on hold before talking to someone who just tells you to reboot and reprogram everything. The last tech support guy I had told me it usually takes 3 times of rebooting for it to work properly - are you kidding me? What kind of nonsense is this for a $400 device?

The software is so buggy it requires an update every few weeks. They are already on revision 7.4.1 and it's only been released a couple of years - how's that for robustness?


Just Google: "squeezebox duet problem" and have fun wading through the thousands of posts.

Perhaps there are some people who have had no issues ever with their Duet, but I imagine they are few and far between. Even the 4/5 star ratings online describe the same issues I have described..."needs to reboot every other week" - how can you give a product such a good rating when it stops working every other week???

I am excited to find an alternative and start listening to my music again without wondering when it will stop. By the way, I have two computers and a phone service working wirelessly on my network without issues, so I don't see why this product can't work also.

I have suspected that music servers would most likely become the future of high-end music reproduction. The advantages seemed obvious. But it wasn't yet clear to me what platform, configuration or companies might provide that solution.

My epiphany came when I found a 2006 article by John Atkinson on Stereophile's website. He reviewed a Squeezebox Classic, comparing its output with an Ayre C-5xe ($5,995 universal player). Both were connected to a Mark Levinson No.30.6 Reference D/A processor ($16,950).

"Comparing the original CD on the Ayre C-5xe disc player, its digital output driving the Levinson DAC via a 1m DH Labs AES/EBU link, with SlimServer feeding an Apple Lossless-encoded file to the Squeezebox with its digital output feeding the Levinson via the AudioQuest OptiLink-5, I was hard-pressed to hear much of a difference."

He couldn't hear a difference!

Well, if this Stereophile reviewer admitted that he couldn't hear a difference between a $6,000 CD player and a $249 Squeezebox using a high-end DAC, I figured that I had found my solution. I just needed something more `affordable" than the $17,000 Mark Levinson DAC.

I began searching reviews of various DACs at all prices. I liked what people said about Music Fidelity's V-DAC, but I wanted to use XLR connections. DACMagic had them. The V-DAC did not.

The professional reviews had all been good for the DACMagic, but I was most influenced by Lars Tackmann's comments here on Amazon. So I decided to give it a trial in combo with a Squeezebox Duet.

I connected the Duet using RCA interconnects and the DACMagic using XLRs to my Krell integrated amp. My speakers are MartinLogan electrostatics.

I had expected a volume difference between these interconnects but it was far too great to compensate; it measured close to 15 db. I reconfigured everything using just RCA interconnects.

Afterward, the comparison still sounded like I had a large imbalance. To my ears, the DACMagic sounded at least 6 db louder, or so I thought. I ran a 1-khz test tone through both outputs and measured the volume with an SPL meter. I was shocked. There was only 1 db difference.

When I realized there was no significant difference, I listened again and decided what I was hearing were actually improved micro-dynamics within of the music. The DACMagic made the system sound more like live music.

I listened to a vocal performance by Josh Groben accompanied with an acoustic guitar, about as simple and clear as it gets. The most obvious difference the DACMagic made was in the detail, decay and reverberation of the performers. There was much less of this from the Duet alone. The sound was a bit more like I had thrown a blanket over the speakers.

I've now listened for dozens of hours rediscovering my library. And yet, I continue to be impressed by the sound quality; a precision I never remember hearing from CDs or even SACDs on my Sony or Denon players of the past. The combination offer outstanding performance and value for the price.

The product I received would not link to my WiFi. I've never had trouble before linking to my WiFi on any other product (laptop PC, etc.... has no problems...brainless, in fact). Logitech's website boasts of ease of use: "Just plug it in and you are half way there." I guess the second half of the journey is the Himalayas because I spent two weekends trying to figure out why the piece of junk could not connect, and after sacrificing two weekends, I have given up. I read the "bad" reviews and observe its a common theme to have network connectivity problems. I am just one of the guys who could never get a link...Lucky me.

There is no way Logitech will reimburse me for my two weekends wasted, I fear trying to get a replacement unit and wasting more time.
I have opted for a refund, and go back to my CD changer. I would like to see a letter of apology from Logitech's CEO, and a check for my time.
What is frustrating, is the product is a great concept, it's just incompetently implemented. And to charge $350 for junk....LARCENY!
Is it any wonder why China/Asia is taking over the consumer electronics market?

I tried everything: calling customer support, powering down, powering up, resetting units, disconnecting everything else, and guess what...? You get to re-enter the router encryption security code using a thumb wheel for every iteration attempt...Hooray!!!!. The controller would recognize my "unique" SSID, but would not link. Yes, I did disable the firewall settings, scratched my belly and rubbed my head. I live in the sticks, too, so there is little WiFi interference.

Speaking as a design engineer of electronic products (> 20 years experience), the user interface isn't that great...I would even give it a 2 star rating,...I mean a thumb wheel for entering a WPA-Personal encryption code? Puuleease. After entering the encryption code for the n-teenth time, you do get pretty competent at it....I figure on my last iteration of trying to link, I had that process down to about 1 minute.

In reality, I really could do without the controller, and just have the computer use the WiFi to broadcast music through my house...that is enough. But you need it to use it...another strike against Logitech. Oh, well, Logitech missed the boat on that one. I will never buy anything from Logitech again. Caveat Emptor!

I read many positive and negative things about the squeezebox prior to my purchase 3 three weeks ago and I am sending it back for a refund.
The product is a great concept and is sold at a low price but it simply does not work well.
In the 24 days I have owned the Duet system 4 calls to tech support was required in each instance except the last call (more about that later)the issue was resolved.
The system constantly needed to be tweaked,reset etc.No owners manual is included in the box only a quick start set up foldout, a help blog system or the tech support number is what you get when you click on the web based control panel HELP button.
The number of topics on the help blog (flag) will blow your mind and takes too much effort to get a specific issue addressed.
My last issue and the straw that broke the camels back was the additional receiver I purchased for another room dead yesterday it was only two weeks old; after an hour on the phone with a helpful tech he suggested I send it back "sounds like the jacks failed" is what the tech told me... very polite person but the last straw.

I have ordered a Sonos system I have yet to see a bad /problematic review about the Sonos product; it cost twice as much but based on what I read the Sonos system simply works flawlessly.

I really wanted the Squeezebox to work for me but in my opinion unless you have lots of time to kill monkeying around with the controler or on the phone with tech support take my word for it and pass on the squeezebox Duet it is still a work in progress and "not ready for prime time" as others have commented.

Too bad it is a bargain compared to the Sonos system but as the saying goes you get what you pay for.