For sells - Squeezebox Duet

[DaveE]

Hi all,

Not sure if anyone on here is interested, before I put it on eBay, Facebook...

I'm selling my Squeezebox Duet.

Boxed, all instructions, leads, controller, battery for controller etc.

It's basically "as new" - mint condition.

£100

DM me if interested...

Thanks,

https://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/ ... sic-system

[Jobbo]

I assume they still sell for decent money. What are you using instead, Dave?

[DaveE]

Yeah, they still go for good money.

I now use a small (and growing) collection of Raspberry Pis.

A Pi 4 hooked up to a 12TB USB-C external drive as the server, and various other Pis (including the small Zero), with DAC boards attached as the receivers.

I use a combination of apps and the Logitech Media Server web UI to control everything.

[JonMad]

That looks interesting though I assume it needs to be plugged into an amp? I'm using Pis as well and streaming stuff just to various Alexa devices with connected bluetooth speakers in some cases. My separate amp and speakers (and CD player) have sadly been relegated to the loft Though my units full of CDs are still in their home - they make a handy shelf for my router and hide all the cables.

I need a Pi 4 as my Pi Zero is a bit slow to power a NAS - the transfer rates are not up to much!

[DaveE]

Hi Jon,

You can get various Pi "HATs" - including some amps - not sure how good they are, they may be OK for lower powered/more sensitive speakers or where ultimate output/fidelity isn't a primary concern.

If not, then yes, you'd connect a Pi + DAC HAT to an amp/speakers as per any other line-level device.

If you're so inclined, you can get pretty "audiophile" with it - DAC boards that are separately powered (via a "clean" PSU etc) to try and remove issues when they're directly connect to and powered by the Pi itself.

A Pi4 + external USB-C/3 disk makes a great server. Pi4 because it's much faster/more powerful than a 3 and has USB3 ports (so disk read/write is quick enough for "NAS" use).

For reference, these are the stats for my music library (99% FLACs):

Total Tracks: 149,549
Total Albums: 10,275
Total Artists: 35,627
Total Genres: 178
Total Playing Time: 13513:24:34

I think it's something in the region of 6-7TB, the last "new and updated" scan I ran (yesterday) took just over 4 minutes to complete.

There's sometimes a slight delay (couple of seconds) when playing music from a "cold start" (i.e. first thing in the morning when it's not been used for hours) but other than that, no performance issues at all.

[Rich B]

Does it play Spotify?

[Sundayjumper]

What about 78s ? Does it play those ?

[DaveE]

Does it play Spotify?

Yes, there's a Spotify plugin for the Squeezebox server software (which is still free and open source btw).

Once installed, you open your Spotify app and can select it (the SB) you then authorise the SB server as a "device".

You can then stream directly via the SB and control everything from either your Spotify app, or (depending on which SB controller app you use) from that.

e.g. I use an app called Orange Squeeze on my Android phone to control things. I can search for music via that app either in my own library, or in Spotify, and then stream to whichever SB receiver I choose.

It's very simple and intuitive IMO.

A nice functional addition would be to be able to search "anywhere" - and not to have to specify either my or Spotify's library - e.g. I don't care where it comes from, I'd just like to be able to listen to my selected choice...

[DaveE]

What about 78s ? Does it play those ?

There is actually a way to connect a turntable to SB server and stream vinyl across the network.

e.g. you could have a turntable in room A, and stream its output to room B via SB.

[JonMad]

Hi Jon,

You can get various Pi "HATs" - including some amps - not sure how good they are, they may be OK for lower powered/more sensitive speakers or where ultimate output/fidelity isn't a primary concern.

If not, then yes, you'd connect a Pi + DAC HAT to an amp/speakers as per any other line-level device.

If you're so inclined, you can get pretty "audiophile" with it - DAC boards that are separately powered (via a "clean" PSU etc) to try and remove issues when they're directly connect to and powered by the Pi itself.

A Pi4 + external USB-C/3 disk makes a great server. Pi4 because it's much faster/more powerful than a 3 and has USB3 ports (so disk read/write is quick enough for "NAS" use).

For reference, these are the stats for my music library (99% FLACs):

Total Tracks: 149,549
Total Albums: 10,275
Total Artists: 35,627
Total Genres: 178
Total Playing Time: 13513:24:34

I think it's something in the region of 6-7TB, the last "new and updated" scan I ran (yesterday) took just over 4 minutes to complete.

There's sometimes a slight delay (couple of seconds) when playing music from a "cold start" (i.e. first thing in the morning when it's not been used for hours) but other than that, no performance issues at all.

Cheers. My 'that looks interesting' comment was actually aimed at the Duet, not your Pi setup

I have Kodi on one Pi Zero talking to my NAS (on another one) but mainly use MyMedia for Alexa, running on the same Zero that's running my NAS.

[DaveE]

Ah right, yes the Duet receiver has line outs as well a coax and optical digital - so it needs a powered speaker/amp.

You only actually need the remote that comes with the Duet to configure it btw - after that, you can use apps, web browser UI etc (much easier).