Review: Logitech SqueezeBox Media Bridge Music Player

While computers and music servers are the new storage medium of choice for our music libraries, there is still a great need to listen to our music on sound systems that offer superior playback. One such solution to get that PC-stored music to a real sound sytem is Logitech’s Squeezebox. This attractive unit with a bright, blue LCD readout connects to your network wirelessly or wired via the Ethernet connection on the back panel of the Squeezebox. Digital (optical and coax) connections plus analog RCA jacks are provided for hook up to a sound system. Headphone jacks allow it to be used as a stand-alone device.

Before you can connect to a network, you must download the program SlimServer to your computer. Once the Squeezebox detects the SlimServer it automatically connects to the network. If you want to access more than one computer, then install SlimServer to each of them.

A remote controller scrolls through the Squeezebox’s set-up menus, playlists, Internet Radio stations and premium music services such as Rhapsody and Pandora. The large lettering on the Squeezebox display makes it easy to scan through and select all your choices quickly. If you have iTunes, Squeezebox automatically adds it to the Playlist menu.You can also direct it to look for music in designated folders on your computer(s).

The 24-bit digital-to-analog converter provides an exceptional sonic performance especially when using the digital outputs. For the most part music playback was flawless, as Squeezebox supports a variety of digital music files including uncompressed and lossless formats. However, it did exhibit problems with a few of my AIFF files and it won’t play copy-protected audio files purchased from Apple’s iTunes Music Store or PlaysForSure files from such online music services as Napster and Musicmatch.

The Squeezebox interface handles the basics, though for more advanced settings you need to access the Web interface. For instance, you need to designate your music folder (other than iTunes) in the Web interface. Also, some Internet Radio sites such as Live365 are member sites and you must register at the specific site first then enter your username and password into the Web interface before Squeezebox can access them. There is no documentation or directions on the main page, so you have to hunt and peck a little bit to find the correct menu and instructions for these and other personalization settings. A direct link back to the main menu at the bottom and top of each page would have made navigation much faster and easier, too.

Despite the awkward Web interface, my only disappointment with the Squeezebox was the frustration I encountered when trying to sync my computer, which is hooked up to a small audio system, with the Squeezebox so I could play the same music in two locations. A Logitech product manager explained that I needed to download yet another piece of software, called SoftSqeeze, for this functionality. I was never able to get it to completely sync with my Squeezebox. Close but never exact. In general, SoftSqueeze was glitchy and froze up often. It also seemed to slow down the Web interface. Basically, I found dealing with this piece of software to be a maddening endeavor. Sure, multiple Squeezeboxes can be synced together and this might be the better solution but SoftSqueeze is a free download.

It’s really a shame too because the Squeezebox is an awesome device with tremendous potential. Out of the box I fell in love with its sleek design, simplicity, ease of set-up and operation. However, the love affair began to fade when I tried to personalize the Squeezebox using the Web interface and sync it to Softsqueeze.

The folks at Logitech tell me they are aware the Web access needs some attention and that it’s forthcoming. yy