With a host of analog and digital outputs, a bright display and connectivity to wired or wireless networks, the Squeezebox is great for anyone who wants to listen to their digital music collection away from their computer.

Summary

While the company Slim Devices has been around for over two years, we only just learned of their SLIMP3 networked music player this summer. We checked out the SLIMP3 for a review and loved it. In that review, we mentioned that the only thing it lacks are digital outputs and wireless capabilities.

Just as if the folks at Slim Devices had catered to our every whim, only a week after we posted our review of their SLIMP3 they were telling us of their new networked media player, the "Squeezebox".

We were the first review site to have our hands on the Squeezebox and unfortunately only had it for one day. But in that 24-hour period we used the Squeezebox as much as possible and tried everything we could. So did it improve upon the already editors-choice SLIMP3? Read on to find out.

For comparision, click here to read our review on the SLIMP3 network music player.

Introduction

Just like it’s predecessor, the Squeezebox is a networked audio player capable of playing streamed digital music stored on a computer through a stereo system. It is a small black box (8.5”W x 1.9”H x 4.5”D) that connects to a wired or wireless network.

It plays digital music in the form of MP3s at any bitrate (constant or variable), uncompressed audio (WAV or AIFF), and streaming Internet radio. It has a built-in MP3 decoder and can play other compressed media such as Ogg Vorbis, AAC or FLAC with server-side on-the-fly decoding. It also boasts some very useful features such as an alarm clock that lets you wake up to your favorite music, and a sleep timer that gradually decreases volume as it shuts the device off automatically.

The Squeezebox improves upon the SLIMP3 in a number of areas. First, it adds several new outputs, including the digital outputs that audiophiles have asked for. There is an S/PDIF optical port as well as a gold-plated digital coax port. The unit also features the same gold-plated RCA jacks as the SLIMP3, and adds a mini-plug headphone jack. The second major improvement over the SLIMP3 is the addition of wireless networking. The unit features an internal 802.11b wireless adapter and a 10baseT Ethernet adapter.

The Squeezebox as shown from the front (left) the rear (middle) and the right side (right)

Serving up tunes to the Squeezebox is the SlimServer software. It is a new version of the same software that has been powering the SLIMP3 since 2001. The software is open source and supports all major operating systems (Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, BSD, Solaris) and is frequently updated. We mentioned it in the SLIMP3 review and will say it again here – Slim Devices’ business model makes a lot of sense. By making their server software open source, it has benefited from a group of talented programmers and users all over the world. The software updates are implemented based on feedback from users and developers alike and at a rate of almost one update per month. In fact, in the time between using the Squeezebox and posting this review, the software was updated from version 5.0 to version 5.0.1.

What’s Inside

As was the case with the SLIMP3, the Squeezebox includes the unit itself, a gold plated RCA patch cable, an infrared remote control, power brick, and a CAT5 Ethernet cable. Our review unit arrived safely packed in a Slim Devices box made specifically to fit all of the pieces.

The Squeezebox package contents 

Being the curious type, we had to take the unit apart to see what it’s made of. As you can see from the pictures below, wireless access is obtained by use of a laptop-type PCMCIA network card. One undocumented feature that we were told about by the Slim Devices people is what they are calling the “geek connector”. This is the set of 18 pins at the bottom left of the image. The “geek connector” has connections to each output which may allow future developers or hackers to add specialized uses. This is again another product of Slim Devices’ open-source view – which allows for owners of the Squeezebox to tinker with it and potentially create a useful add-on that the company could incorporate into the product.

Inside the Squeezebox – the 18 pins bottom right are the “geek connector”

Look and Feel

The Squeezebox differs from its SLIMP3 predecessor in both looks and function. The Squeezebox looks more like a small appliance than the curved-plexi conversation piece that is the SLIMP3. It also features a different finish. Both the Squeezebox unit and the remote are finished with a black soft touch coating. It almost feels like a Papermate rubberized pen. We had wondered if the finish would be easily scratched off, but didn’t want to try on our review unit. However, the folks at Slim Devices assure us that it is a durable finish.

It uses the same Noritake 2×40 vacuum florescent display as the SLIMP3. In our SLIMP3 review we commented that the display was nice and bright, but at a distance can be hard to read. This is still the case, however, it is just as big and bright, or more, as most displays on home theater components.

While the unit will not fit in with other home theater components in a rack or cabinet, it looks at home on top of the TV or entertainment center. With its time and date display, it makes sense to have the unit out in the open where it can be seen. 

Installation and Setup

In our SLIMP3 review, we commented on how easy it was to set up both the hardware and the software. The same is true with the Squeezebox. Setup was again a breeze. The SlimServer software installs in just a few seconds and is very easy to configure. If you already have a library of music, you just point the server to the directory your music is stored in and it will automatically scan it’s content.

Setting up the hardware to work with a network was simple also. You have the ability to search for a DHCP server and obtain an assigned IP address or you can input the information in manually using the remote control. When using a wireless network, you can again search for available networks or type in the name of the network. This is beneficial if you have turned off broadcasting of your SSID